Magic the Gathering (MTG) - Dragons of Tarkir Enlightened Mastery Intro Pack Review

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

The Enlightened Mastery Intro Pack for Dragons of Tarkir features a defensive tempo strategy built around the dragon Pristine Skywise. The deck also features some very useful cards including Anticipate, Myth Realized, and Silkwrap. There are also seven different cards (10 total copies) with Rebound in the deck, which allow you to get two casts from one card.

Here's the list:

Creatures (17)

2 Zephyr Scribe
1 Dragon's Eye Sentry
3 Elusive Spellfist
1 Orator of Ojutai
2 Updraft Elemental
2 Student of Ojutai
1 Ancient Carp
2 Strongarm Monk
2 Cunning Breezedancer
1 Pristine Skywise

Instants (6)

2 Anticipate
2 Artful Maneuver
2 Ojutai's Breath

Enchantments (4)

1 Myth Realized
2 Silkwrap
1 Skywise Teachings

Artifact (1)

1 Ojutai Monument

Sorceries (7)

1 Mystic Meditation
1 Sight Beyond Sight
1 Taigam's Strike
1 Great Teacher's Decree
1 Void Squall
2 Ojutai's Summons

Land (25)

1 Evolving Wilds
13 Island
11 Plains

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First, we'll take a look at Pristine Skywise, the cover card for this deck. It's a 6/4 flying Dragon that costs 6 mana (4WU) to cast. Whenever you cast a non-creature spell, you untap Pristine Skywise and it gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. There are several ways to use this protection to your advantage. You can use it defensively, untapping Pristine Skywise and giving it protection from the creature it's going to block. It can be used in response to removal, as well, by choosing the color (or one of the colors) of the offending removal spell. You can also use this ability while attacking to make it so Pristine Skywise remains untapped even after attacking and force through an attack by choosing the color of any potential blockers for protection.

In addition, you have two copies of Cunning Breezedancer, which is only a 4/4 for 4WU, but gains +2/+2 until end of turn whenever you cast a non-creature spell. With all of the cards with Rebound in this deck, you'll get some extra triggers for sure.

None of the other creatures in the deck are incredibly exciting, but there are some interactions with non-creature spells that are at least interesting. Zephyr Scribe provides a way to card filter for a single Blue mana and a tap. But whenever you cast a non-creature spell, you untap the Scribe. The most interesting creature, however, is probably the Elusive Spellfists. They cost 1U to cast and begin as 1/3 creatures that can gain +1/+0 and can't be blocked until end of turn for each non-creature spell you cast. Strongarm Monk gives your creatures +1/+1 until end of turn for each noncreature spell you cast, but as base 3/3 creatures for 4W, they're a bit underwhelming.

Non-Creature Spells

Since the creature lineup is rather light on the offensive side, the noncreature spells need to make up for it. First, we'll take a look at the valuable rare in the deck, Myth Realized.

The hope with Myth Realized is that you can drop it on turn one. With each non creature spell you cast, it gains a lore counter. For only a single White mana, it can become a creature until end of turn with power and toughness equal to the number of lore counters on it. The Myth has its own ability to have lore counters added onto it for 2W. These lore counters can be added at any time, too, so they can be added during your opponent's end step if you have open mana.

Another interesting Enchantment in this deck is Skywise Teachings. For a casting cost of 3U, you get an Enchantment that gives you the ability to create 2/2 flying Djinns for 1U whenever you cast a non-creature spell. On paper this seems pretty good, but can become quite a mana sink. On the other hand, Silkwrap is a nice efficient removal spell for 1W that deals with your opponents' creatures that cost 3 mana or less. Eliminating your opponents' early threats is pretty useful, especially as they trigger the non-creature spell effects.

The gameplan of this deck mostly revolves around the Rebound spells. The first is the Instant speed Artful Manuever, which for 1W gives a target creature +2/+2 until end of turn. With Rebound, the spell is exiled, and you then get to cast it again for free from exile. Oftentimes, you may find yourself casting it on your turn so that you can use it again on your next turn. To get the full effect, it seems best to use this offensively, rather than defensively.

Ojutai's Breath is another Instant speed Rebound spell. This one costs 2U and taps down a creature. That creature then can't untap during its controllers next untap spell. It's definitely a defensive tempo play that's probably better used later in the game to tap down any opposing flyers (or creatures with reach) to get your Cunning Breezedancers and Pristine Skywise through for landing game-winning hits.

The remaining Rebound cards are all at Sorcery speed. Sight Beyond Sight is simply a worse Anticipate, although you get two casts from it, and it triggers the effects of several of your creatures. Taigam's Strike costs 3U but gives a creature both +2/+0 and unblockable. Getting that effect twice from one card is pretty good. Great Teachers Decree gives all of your creatures +2/+1 until end of turn for 3W, and again, you get that effect again during your next turn. Void Squall is a bounce spell for 4U, which is a bit pricey, even being able to cast it twice. Lastly, there's Ojutai's Summons which puts a 2/2 flyer into play for 3UU. Getting two 2/2 flyers for 5 mana isn't all that bad, but there's more efficient ways to spend mana.

Improving the Deck

The creature that this deck would benefit the most from using is Seeker of the Way, which has seen a lot of play in Standard, as not only does his Prowess ability give him +1/+1 for each noncreature spell cast, but Lifelink as well. The other creature that would greatly benefit you is Monastery Mentor, which not only has Prowess, but creates 1/1 tokens as well. Playing the popular Soulfire Grand Master here doesn't make a ton of sense, since he doesn't interact well with Rebound spells, as they exile themselves.

Dragonlord Ojutai is awesome in this particular deck. Being a 5 drop dragon that can't be targeted by your opponents as long as it's untapped, you also get an Anticipate effect whenever it deals combat damage.

The new creature line-up would look something like this, including a more aggressive one-drop.

3 Dragon Hunter
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Elusive Spellfist
4 Monastery Mentor
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Cunning Breezedancer
1 Pristine Skywise

That's 19 creatures, dropping the Ojutai Monument (not terribly necessary in this deck) and one of the sorcery spells, probably Mystic Meditation or Void Squall. Skywise Teachings could be replaced by another copy of Myth Realized. With this revamped lineup, you want to focus on offense. That being said, the two copies of Ojutai's Breath are probably a bit too slow. Two more copies of Artful Manuever would probably be better suited to the more offensive shift in the deck. You could also go for a more control-based deck, although the Rebound spells may not be quite as good in that case.

Overall, Enlightened Mastery isn't exciting at first glance. However, given a good number of creatures on board with the right Rebound spells played at the right time, this deck can get the job done with better creatures added into the mix.