It reads: Action: Choose an enemy engaged with a player. Return that enemy to the staging area.

What happens if you play this card after step 3 of combat?  The enemy is no longer engaged with the player.  Does it still deal its combat damage?  From the combat rules I assume so, but that still seems odd to me.

Entropy42 said:

Play the card when it gets dark.

So you want to know if you can play this card after the shadow card is revealed?  I'm in favor of allowing the enemy do deal damage as a general rule, but using the card as training wheels for the improvement of shadow card gambling seems fine, too. I expect you'd take damage.

The safest bet is to use it right after engagement checks are made and before dealing the shadow card. I'm not certain, but once the card has been dealt might be too late, as the enemy may already be considered to be attacking. At that point, it becomes a wasted card because what is the point of returning an enemy to the staging area after it has attacked? Now, you can't attack it, it's threat will count against you next turn, and more than likely if it was already engaged, it will be able to engage again.

Titan said:

I would say that as long as you don't start the combat steps with that Enemy (Choose it in part 1 of Resolving Enemy Attacks) then you could put it back in the staging area. Once you pass that point the Enemy is attacking and he have to deal with it. 

In multiplayer the card the better because you can use it to change who a Enemy is engaged with because another player can engage it next turn.

Yeah, thanks.  I think I should have chosen a different title, as I was really just wanting to know if I could avoid combat damage by playing it after the Shadow card is revealed.  This came up in my last game, as I had an attack that was going to kill the defender, on account of a bad Shadow card being revealed, and I was wondering if it was legal to save it with A Light in the Dark.  Seems the consensus is no.

Canceling Shadow effects what Hasty Stoke is for, yet another reason I like Spirit decks.

I agree, the game is rather non-interrupt from what I have seen (ie not always reactionary like Magic), so you'd have to pre-empt the shadow card in the first place or things are already in motion and cannot be interrupted until another pause in phases. You have to kind of gamble a bit how to play best since you don't know for sure how things will turn out. Like you have to pre-emptively think how to use healing.