I was thinking of a spell that made creatures leave the field for a time. The name would be Exile or Ordeal.
Thematically people who were exiled or went on an ordeal/journey went away for a long time, and then returned. So a creature could leave for 2 turns or so and come back in. Often those that return are changed in several ways.
This would be considered unique.
I still have doubts about the value of the "exile" zone (especially since the grave was vetoed). I feel it has a lot of redundancy with delay.
I feel it has very little redundancy with delay.
Delayed:
1. Keeps creatures on the field, vulnerable to CC
Exiled:
1. Does not do the above stated.
2. Yes, i see your point about a zone.
3. One trick to this is that after things have been gone for a while, you forget about it. So this adds a surprise element to time. Delay just sits there.
4. Death effects not triggered