If I play Cursed Sarcophagus and send all my units in the trash to be banished, and then play Zero Drive and pay 3 energy and 1 blue power to "play all units banished with this, ignoring their costs," do I play all units that were banished from the trash too from Cursed Sarcophagus or only the units that were banished with Zero Drive?
No, you will not play the units banished by Cursed Sarcophagus when you activate The Zero Drive.
According to the cards' effects and established rules:
Reasoning
- Unique Tracking: Abilities that interact with banished cards are strictly bound to the specific effect that performed the banishment. RiftJudge FAQ #175 explicitly states: "Each [card] can only return units that were specifically banished by that individual [card's] effect. Cards can only refer to things banished by their own effects, not by other cards with the same name."
- Separate Sources: Cursed Sarcophagus and The Zero Drive are entirely different cards. When Cursed Sarcophagus banishes units from your trash, it creates a pool of banished cards linked specifically to Cursed Sarcophagus. The Zero Drive only tracks units that it has specifically banished itself (typically via its own Deathknell or other effects).
- No Inter-card Access: Because the units were moved to the banishment zone by Cursed Sarcophagus, they are not "banished with" The Zero Drive. Activating The Zero Drive will only play units that were previously banished by The Zero Drive.
Summary of Mechanics
- Cursed Sarcophagus's ability to play units from banishment only interacts with the units it sent there.
- The Zero Drive's ability only interacts with units it sent there.
- Moving a unit to the banishment zone via one card does not make it eligible to be played by another card's "play banished units" ability.
This is my interpretation based on Rule 427.3.a and RiftJudge FAQ #175. No official FAQ exists for this specific two-gear interaction, but the principle of linked abilities and specific card-referencing in banishment is well-defined.