I'm so sorry if this has already been asked, but searching hasn't turned up anything on this...
I'm looking at Unforgiving Wasteland and it requires that a card be removed from the game. Does a card so removed go to the trash, or is it removed entirely?
Essentially, is it "destroyed without triggering 'when destroyed' effects", or is the card returned to the box such that it can't come back from the trash (which is how I initially interpreted "removed from the game").
Your original interpretation is correct - removed from the game, placed in the box, exiled from any possible interactions with any other cards until the villain or the heroes are defeated.
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When a card is taken out due to Unforgiving Wasteland, it is remvoed from the gam entirely instead of being "destroyed", ie any "when this card is destroyed…" effects don't take place. Therefore having this card out alongside a Horrid Skunk Ape versus the Matriarch is a really amazingly good thing :D.