Gather Specimens won't retroactively change the control of creatures that have already entered that turn.
Gather Specimens
Some effects that put creatures onto the battlefield continue to affect those creatures later on. Although Gather Specimens changes whose control the creature enters under, the rest of the effect works as normal. For example, if your opponent activates a creature card's unearth ability and you cast Gather Specimens, that creature enters under your control, but the rest of the unearth ability is unchanged. The creature has haste. It's exiled at the beginning of the end step. If it would leave the battlefield, it's exiled instead of being put anywhere else.
If the effect that puts a creature onto the battlefield also creates a delayed triggered ability, Gather Specimens doesn't change who controls that ability. In the unearth example above, your opponent controls the ability that exiles the creature at the beginning of the end step. On the other hand, if the effect that puts a creature onto the battlefield grants a triggered ability to the creature (with "gains" or "has"), the player who controls the creature at the time the ability triggers will be the player who controls that ability. For example, if your opponent casts Makeshift Mannequin and you cast Gather Specimens in response, the creature will return to the battlefield under your control with a mannequin counter and it will have the ability "When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it." If the ability triggers, you'll control it, so you'll have to sacrifice the creature.
Last observed on Scryfall 2 months ago at $1.49. Over the trailing 90 days the price moved between $0.02 and $1.49 across 46 observations. Cross-checked across TCGplayer, eBay sold, Cardmarket EU, and Star City.
This printing is one of 3 catalogued treatments from ALA — the lineup includes Foil and Nonfoil alongside the standard finish. Across our catalog the Rarix library tracks every variant in the same family so collectors can compare price, scarcity and demand inside a single lineage.
Card #45 of *Shards of Alara*, the set that shipped alongside the October 2008 Shards of Alara release.
Card type: Instant, color identity blue, printed at rare. Rares occupy the bottom-of-pack rare slot in standard boosters. Mana cost: {3}{U}{U}{U} (6 converted).
Legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander.
EDHrec ranks this card #15,266 in Commander, putting it in the fringe-play tier of the format's playable pool.
Illustrated by Michael Bruinsma. Rarix catalogs 37 other cards credited to this artist.
Magic: The Gathering · ™ & © Wizards of the Coast · Illus. Michael Bruinsma
Card data via Scryfall. Rarix is fan-made; not endorsed by the rights holders.



























