<p><strong>Creatures will only be exiled by that ability if Rayami is on the battlefield.</strong></p>

<p>In general, abilities on permanent cards only function while the card is on the battlefield. There are some exceptions, but they mostly boil down to "Does the ability only make sense in another zone, or specifically say that it works in another zone?" The details are in <a href="https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Ability" rel="noreferrer">rule 113.6</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-08T18:18:09.923Z
2019-12-08T18:18:09.923Z
murgatroid99
<p>So if <a class="mtg-autocard" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bRayami%2c%20First%20of%20the%20Fallen%5d">Rayami, First of the Fallen</a> is your commander and has yet to be played, does his ability still exile creatures that would normally be destroyed, or does he have to be on the battlefield for that to happen?</p>

<magic-the-gathering><mtg-commander>
If Rayami, First of The Fallen is in the command zone, does his ability still activate?
ChaldeaMaster217
# If Rayami, First of The Fallen is in the command zone, does his ability still activate?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-08)

So if [Rayami, First of the Fallen](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=%2b%5bRayami%2c%20First%20of%20the%20Fallen%5d) is your commander and has yet to be played, does his ability still exile creatures that would normally be destroyed, or does he have to be on the battlefield for that to happen?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering, mtg-commander


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-12-08. Score: 5

**Creatures will only be exiled by that ability if Rayami is on the battlefield.**

In general, abilities on permanent cards only function while the card is on the battlefield. There are some exceptions, but they mostly boil down to "Does the ability only make sense in another zone, or specifically say that it works in another zone?" The details are in [rule 113.6](https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Ability).


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