I'd like to know what it means for something to "leave the battlefield."
It would seem that destroyed, exiled, phased out, and flickered permanents all "leave the battlefield." Permanents that are returned to the players hand would also seem to "leave the battlefield." Oblivion Ring and Journey to Nowhere both trigger actions when they "leave the battlefield." When using one of these two enchantments, does it matter at all whether the card is destroyed, exiled, phased out, flickered, or returned to the owner's hand?
For a permanent to leave the battlefield it has to go from being on the battlefield to not being on the battlefield. Where it goes doesn't matter. That means, that any zone changes from the battlefield count as leaving the battlefield (so going to hand, library, graveyard, exile, or command zone). Which makes phasing NOT count, since that is only a change in status, not a zone change.
For the purposes of O-Ring and JtN to return the exiled cards, how the permanent leaves doesn't matter, only that it leaves. Again, phasing will not count.
"leave the battlefield" refers specifically to any action that causes the permanent to change zones from the battlefield to another zone.
400.1. A zone is a place where objects can be during a game. There are normally seven zones: library, hand, battlefield, graveyard, stack, exile, and command. Some older cards also use the ante zone. Each player has his or her own library, hand, and graveyard. The other zones are shared by all players.
Phasing doesn't cause a permanent to leave the zone just modifies its status.
702.25d The phasing event doesn’t actually cause a permanent to change zones or control, even though it’s treated as though it’s not on the battlefield and not under its controller’s control while it’s phased out. Zone-change triggers don’t trigger when a permanent phases in or out. Counters remain on a permanent while it’s phased out. Effects that check a phased-in permanent’s history won’t treat the phasing event as having caused the permanent to leave or enter the battlefield or its controller’s control.
In regards to your specific question. It does not matter what action causes the permanent to leave the battlefield zone. The only requirement is that it does change zones. Phasing would not work because the permanent doesn't change zones.
Edit: Removed un-intended sentence.
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It would seem that destroyed, exiled, phased out, and flickered permanents all "leave the battlefield." Permanents that are returned to the players hand would also seem to "leave the battlefield." Oblivion Ring and Journey to Nowhere both trigger actions when they "leave the battlefield." When using one of these two enchantments, does it matter at all whether the card is destroyed, exiled, phased out, flickered, or returned to the owner's hand?
For the purposes of O-Ring and JtN to return the exiled cards, how the permanent leaves doesn't matter, only that it leaves. Again, phasing will not count.
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400.1. A zone is a place where objects can be during a game. There are normally seven zones: library, hand, battlefield, graveyard, stack, exile, and command. Some older cards also use the ante zone. Each player has his or her own library, hand, and graveyard. The other zones are shared by all players.
Phasing doesn't cause a permanent to leave the zone just modifies its status.
702.25d The phasing event doesn’t actually cause a permanent to change zones or control, even though it’s treated as though it’s not on the battlefield and not under its controller’s control while it’s phased out. Zone-change triggers don’t trigger when a permanent phases in or out. Counters remain on a permanent while it’s phased out. Effects that check a phased-in permanent’s history won’t treat the phasing event as having caused the permanent to leave or enter the battlefield or its controller’s control.
In regards to your specific question. It does not matter what action causes the permanent to leave the battlefield zone. The only requirement is that it does change zones. Phasing would not work because the permanent doesn't change zones.
Edit: Removed un-intended sentence.