Is Mishra's Bauble delayed trigger considered as a trigger that change the zone of a card? If a player misses it and notices it later, will the trigger be put compulsory on the stack?

The short version is “nope”.

The longer version: that part of policy is meant to ensure that the 4/4 Angel token from Geist of Saint Traft doesn't stick around, just because it was forgotten for a while - i.e., it's there to ensure the proper outcome from things that do something, then clean up after themselves later. Dash is another good example.

Technically, the DTA from the Bauble moves a card from the library to hand - but that's a side-effect of “Draw a card”. I'm sure some will want to nitpick this explanation to death (please, don't, that doesn't help anyone), but I am also sure that the distinction is fairly clear.

d:^D

Can I ask how this relates to Necropotence and Ignorant Bliss (the return part, not the draw part)? ^^;
Technically they both move cards directly to the hand without drawing.
But philosophically, while Ignorant Bliss “cleans up” after itself later, Necropotence seems more akin to Mishra's Bauble. It gets you a new card rather than returns things to a previous state. Although you could get technical again and say that it's cleaning up the exile zone.

In a more general sense, is the “cleanup or not a cleanup” or the “direct zone change or indirect zone change” the most important takeaway here?

Edited Toby Hazes (Feb. 9, 2016 05:17:19 PM)

I would argue that Necropotence fits more in the cleanup camp - you're drawing the cards, but they go into exile temporarily and then that state ends and they're put in your hand.

Mishra's Bauble just has a trigger unrelated to anything else going on.

Ah, would it be correct to think of it this way: it's only cleanup if the affected object is specified/determined when the delayed trigger is created.

In all regular cases such as temporary tokens, temporary exile (including Necropotence), dash, etc, the object that's changing zones is specified. A cleanup is later performed on that object.
Whereas with things like slowtrips it's not a specific card that's going to change zones. The top of the library can change. So this is not a cleanup of a specific object. It's an action on an unrelated object.

EDIT: Another example: Stone Giant and Rally the Ancestors clean up specific objects. Bearer of the Heavens is just a board wipe that's not related to any specific objects.

This leads to 2 cards I'm now unsure about. Ideas Unbound and False Memories. Kinda the reverse of Necropotence. They look like cleanups at first glance. But they're not cleaning up specific objects. It's just an action that's thematically related to the first action. In the case of Ideas Unbound it might be argued that “discard” is like “draw” also?
So with my current understanding I'd say that these do not count as cleanups.
(The above rule of thumb could still be useful regardless of whether these count or not)


Another way to look at it would be what could happen if you apply the fix 3 turns later. In the case of a temporary token or a Necropotence card, that specific object is fixed 3 turns later. But in the case of a slowtrip or Ideas Unbound, completely unrelated objects might be moved as a fix.

Edited Toby Hazes (Feb. 12, 2016 02:30:51 AM)

I think your general assessment is accurate.

So to paraphrase Toby Hazes in an effort to make sure I understand, we have the following:

• “Theory of Specific Relationship” - The object(s) to be cleaned up are clearly and specifically set forth at the time the DTA is set up and the effect will follow its target(s) regardless of re-ordering of that zone (until and unless the object changes zones at which time is just a new object).
  
• “Theory General Relationship” - The object(s) to be cleaned up are determined by the contents and order of the zone when the DTA resolves.
  

If a card falls under Specific Relationship, we can go back and fix it.
If a card falls under General Relationship, we should not go back and fix it without further compelling reasons.

If I have that correct, is this solid enough to lean on? Or are there perhaps some edge cases that might invalidate this?

PS - A little Einstein reference in honor of the recent confirmation of yet another of his predictions.

To paraphrase myself as well, to make it more maginese:

• A cleanup is looking for a specific object, which can be recognized by the words “it/them”, “this/that/those (object)” or “the/each (object)”
  

it/them examples
- Obzedat, Ghost Council
- Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
- Dash: Alesha's Vanguard
- Unearth: Dregscape Zombie
- Elemental Mastery

this/that/those examples
- Geist of Saint Traft
- Necropotence
- Berserk
- Rally the Ancestors
- Ignorant Bliss
- Aethermage's Touch

the/each examples. These cards would read confusing if they said “it/them/that/these/those” so they specify which object they refer to exactly.
- Flamerush Rider
- Rescue from the underworld
- Sudden Disappearance
- Memory Jar (the “return each card” part)
- Sneak Attack (this one should probably just get updated oracle text)


Examples of things that aren't cleanups under this system:
- Slowtrips: Mishra's Bauble
- Slow tokens: Rukh Egg, my almost namesake Hazezon Tamar
- Ideas Unbound and the discard part of Memory Jar
- False Memories
- Bearer of the Heavens
- Synthetic Destiny
- Shambling Swarm (compare the card text and the oracle text)

Edited Toby Hazes (Feb. 12, 2016 06:14:29 AM)