No, Exiling a card is not the same as having it die in Magic: The Gathering. Although both actions can remove a card from the Battlefield, they put that card into different Zones with very different rules for interaction.

When a Creature dies, it is put into its owner's Graveyard. Once there, it can still be affected by cards and abilities that interact with the Graveyard. Meanwhile, Exiling a card moves it to the Exile Zone. While Exiled cards can still be interacted with, those interactions are generally more limited and require an effect or ability that specifically refers to the Exile Zone.

The Graveyard

After an Instant or Sorcery is cast and resolves, it is placed in the owner's Graveyard. The same is true for Creatures, Artifacts, Enchantments, and Lands, but these cards are classified as Permanents and are only placed in the Graveyard if they are destroyed or otherwise moved there.

Once a card is in the Graveyard, it is no longer considered in play. However, this does not mean that a card placed in the Graveyard is gone forever. There are plenty of mechanics and cards that allow you to replay cards from the Graveyard. Let's quickly go over a few of them.

Flashback

Flashback is a mechanic that can only be used from the Graveyard and can only be found on Instants and Sorceries. Flashback reads:

"Pay : You may cast this card from your Graveyard for its Flashback cost. Then Exile it."

A spell cast using Flashback can only be cast at the same speed as the card type it is printed on. Some good examples of cards with Flashback that can be cast from the Graveyard are Think Twice and Chainer's Edict.

Think Twice is a Blue Instant for and reads, simply, "Draw a card." Think Twice also has Flashback for . Chainer's Edict is a Black Sorcery with a mana value of and reads "Target player Sacrifices a Creature" with a Flashback cost of .

Reanimate

Another way to interact with Creatures in the Graveyard is to bring them back from the Graveyard to the Battlefield. One classic example of this type of effect is the Enchantment Animate Dead.

Animate Dead is an Aura that costs . Animate Dead reads as follows:

"Enchant Creature card in a Graveyard.

When this Aura enters, if it's on the Battlefield, it loses "Enchant Creature card in a Graveyard" and gains "Enchant Creature put onto the Battlefield with this Aura." Return Enchanted Creature card to the Battlefield under your control and attach this Aura to it. When this Aura leaves the Battlefield, that Creature's controller Sacrifices it.

Enchanted Creatures gets -1/-0."

There are a lot of lines of text on this Enchantment, but it essentially allows you to bring back a Creature from a Graveyard to your Battlefield with a debuff of -1/-0 on it as long as it is Enchanted by Animate Dead.

Exile

Just as the Graveyard is its own Zone, Exile is also a separate Zone. When a card is placed in Exile, it is effectively removed from regular play. There are a few interactions with Exiled cards, but these interactions are relatively niche.

Cast from Exile

Cards such as Runic Repetition allow you to return cards with Flashback to your hand from Exile.

Runic Repetition is a Blue Sorcery with a mana value of and reads "Return target Exiled card with Flashback you own to your hand."

Runic Repetition allows you to return Think Twice from Exile to your hand, letting you cast it again and draw another card for a total of four cards drawn from the two uses of Think Twice.

Meanwhile, Misthollow Griffin is a 3/3 Blue Griffin Creature for . Misthollow Griffin has the keyword Flying and the ability "You may cast Misthollow Griffin from Exile," which makes it impossible to fully remove from the game.

Cascade

There are also some abilities that purposely place cards into Exile to limit interactions when you want to make sure an ability resolves. One of the most noteworthy abilities is Cascade.

Cascade reads:

"When you cast this spell, Exile cards from the top of your Library until you exile a nonland card that costs less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost if the resulting spell's mana value is less than this spell's mana value. Put the Exiled cards on the bottom in a random order."

Take a look at Maelstrom Wanderer, for example.

Maelstrom Wanderer is a Legendary Creature for . Maelstrom Wanderer is a 7/5 body and has the following abilities:

"Creatures you control have Haste.

Cascade, Cascade."

So, when you cast Maelstrom Wanderer, you would reveal cards from the top of your library and place them into Exile until you reveal a nonland card that has a mana value of less than and cast that card without paying its mana cost. You would then repeat this process a second time.

Maelstrom Wanderer is particularly strong when cast from the Command Zone, giving you the opportunity to play multiple big spells from your 99.

Conclusion

Exile and the Graveyard are two different Zones of play for Magic: The Gathering. While both represent Zones where cards have been removed from the Battlefield, they do not offer the same forms of interaction.