What it does
Detain is a temporary lockdown effect, most famously from Azorius cards like Lyev Skyknight and Detention Sphere's cousin, Lavinia of the Tenth. When a permanent is detained, until your next turn it can't attack, block, or have its activated abilities activated.
The key nuance: detain only freezes the permanent's current state—it doesn't stop triggered abilities, doesn't affect static abilities, and doesn't remove the permanent. So a detained creature still gives its static buffs, and a detained planeswalker can't be activated but loyalty already on it stays. Also, detain locks the specific object; if it changes zones and returns, it's a new object and no longer detained.
In Commander, detain is a soft, one-turn tempo tool—useful for pushing damage or surviving a swing, but never a permanent answer, so don't rely on it to handle a real threat.
Iconic cards with Detain
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