Dragon's Eye Savants MTG Card
2014-09-26 - Number 38
2018-03-16 - Number 54
2019-11-07 - Number 356
2020-09-26 - Number KTK-38
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Human Wizard |
| Abilities | Morph |
| Power | 0 |
| Toughness | 6 |
Key Takeaways
- Recurring insight from morph ability aids in informed play, elevating strategic MTG decision-making.
- Knowing opponent’s hand compensates for mana cost and potential strategy exposure risks.
- Remains meta-relevant, aligning with hand disruption and counterspell strategies in competitive MTG.
Text of card
Morph— Reveal a blue card in your hand. (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for . Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) When Dragon's Eye Savants is turned face up, look at target opponent's hand.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Dragon’s Eye Savants offers unique morph ability, revealing a blue card in hand to flip it face up. This ability can be a strategic choice, allowing players to potentially reveal the same card multiple times for recurring insight into the opponent’s plays while maintaining your hand’s volume.
Resource Acceleration: While the card itself is not a direct accelerant, the ability to know what your opponent is holding without spending additional cards can help optimize your mana expenditure in subsequent turns. This enhanced decision-making process indirectly contributes to resource acceleration by preventing wasted turns and mana.
Instant Speed: Although Dragon’s Eye Savants operates at sorcery speed, its hidden information mechanic can impact the game at instant speed. Knowing an opponent’s potential moves in advance allows for instant-speed-type interaction and response, ensuring that your mana and spells are used at the most opportune moments.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Engaging with the morph mechanic means concealing Dragon’s Eye Savants comes with the drawback of having to unveil it for its ability. In doing so, you are exposed to the pitfall of revealing essential parts of your strategy to your opponents, potentially relinquishing the element of surprise—a critical tactic within the MTG strategies.
Specific Mana Cost: Dragon’s Eye Savants commands a particular mana combination that necessitates both blue mana and generic mana. This requirement can prove restrictive and hinders the card’s adaptability across a diverse array of gameplay strategies, potentially limiting its incorporation to blue-centric decks where its potential can be magnified.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Delving into the dynamic world of MTG, Dragon’s Eye Savants emerges with a mana valuation that some may consider high for its base stats and the effect it enables. Astute players might find this cost somewhat disproportionate when juxtaposed against other creatures in the format with similar or even superior abilities who ascend onto the battleground with a more economical mana imprint.
Reasons to Include Dragon’s Eye Savants in Your Collection
Versatility: Dragon’s Eye Savants offers valuable flexibility in blue-focused deck builds. Its morph ability allows players to conceal the card’s true form, adding an element of surprise that can be pivotal during gameplay. Whether you’re up against aggressive opponents or control decks, its face-down play can serve as a strategic defense or information-gathering tool.
Combo Potential: Aside from its morph ability, when flipped face up, Dragon’s Eye Savants reveals an opponent’s hand, aligning seamlessly with strategies that capitalize on knowledge of the other player’s resources. This can be combined with hand disruption or counterspell tactics to dismantle an opponent’s strategy effectively.
Meta-Relevance: Knowing the composition of the opponent’s hand never goes out of style in the constantly evolving metagame. Players who can predict and preemptively respond to threats hold a significant advantage. Dragon’s Eye Savants offers this edge, maintaining its relevance in a variety of matchups, positioning itself as a mainstay in decks seeking to exploit the power of foresight.
How to beat
Dragon’s Eye Savants stand as a peculiar wall-like card in the Magic the Gathering universe. Mainly serving in the Blue color deck archetype, they offer an insightful peek into your opponent’s hand. With a Morph cost that lets you reveal a Blue card in your hand, Dragon’s Eye Savants will unmorph, providing strategic advantage without compromising board presence.
Overcoming the card relies on strategic resource management. Utilize removal spells that don’t necessitate targeting, such as board wipes or cards like Doom Blade, which can handle the Savants before or after they are turned face up. It’s also effective to outpace the value generated by the card with more aggressive creatures or strategic threats that demand an immediate answer, rendering the Dragon’s Eye Savants less impactful.
Adapting to the tempo and understanding the significant resource that is information will certainly tilt the match in your favor. Keep in mind that while the Savants offer foresight, it’s the actions taken with the gathered intel that ultimately carve the path to victory. Proper deck construction and knowing when to apply pressure can neutralize this cards strategic edge swiftly.
Cards like Dragon's Eye Savants
In the world of Magic: The Gathering, Dragon’s Eye Savants stands out for its unique blend of defensive stats and information gathering. It shares similarities with cards like Augury Owl and Omenspeaker, both of which provide valuable insights about upcoming plays through scrying. However, Dragon’s Eye Savants takes it a step further with an additional defensive layer, offering a high toughness that can be unveiled through the morph mechanic, without a direct card draw.
Seeking comparable functionality, Wall of Omens enters the fray. This card provides immediate card draw upon entering the battlefield, which is a boon for the early game. However, Dragon’s Eye Savants has the potential surprise factor with its morph ability that Wall of Omens lacks. Furthermore, the utility of Serendib Sorcerer aligns closely when considering control over the board, as its ability to manipulate creature’s power and toughness can be likened to revealing Dragon’s Eye Savants for a strategic block.
Altogether, Dragon’s Eye Savants offers a unique package for players who value defensive gameplay while nursing their strategic plays. Its flexibility and the element of surprise give it a special place among creatures with reconnaissance abilities in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Dragon's Eye Savants by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Dragon's Eye Savants MTG card by a specific set like Khans of Tarkir and Masters 25, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Dragon's Eye Savants and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See Magic products
Printings
The Dragon's Eye Savants Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2014-09-26 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Jason Rainville.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2014-09-26 | Khans of Tarkir | KTK | 38 | 2015 | normal | black | Jason Rainville | |
| 2 | 2018-03-16 | Masters 25 | A25 | 54 | 2015 | normal | black | Jason Rainville | |
| 3 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 356 | 2015 | normal | black | Jason Rainville | |
| 4 | The List | PLST | KTK-38 | 2015 | normal | black | Jason Rainville |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Dragon's Eye Savants has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Dragon's Eye Savants card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-09-20 | A permanent that turns face up or face down changes characteristics but is otherwise the same permanent. Spells and abilities that were targeting that permanent, as well as Auras and Equipment that were attached to the permanent, aren’t affected. |
| 2014-09-20 | Any time you have priority, you may turn the face-down creature face up by revealing what its morph cost is and paying that cost. This is a special action. It doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. Only a face-down permanent can be turned face up this way; a face-down spell cannot. |
| 2014-09-20 | At any time, you can look at a face-down spell or permanent you control. You can’t look at face-down spells or permanents you don’t control unless an effect instructs you to do so. |
| 2014-09-20 | Because the permanent is on the battlefield both before and after it’s turned face up, turning a permanent face up doesn’t cause any enters-the-battlefield abilities to trigger. |
| 2014-09-20 | If a face-down permanent leaves the battlefield, you must reveal it. You must also reveal all face-down spells and permanents you control if you leave the game or if the game ends. |
| 2014-09-20 | Morph lets you cast a card face down by paying , and lets you turn the face-down permanent face up any time you have priority by paying its morph cost. |
| 2014-09-20 | The face-down spell has no mana cost and has a converted mana cost of 0. When you cast a face-down spell, put it on the stack face down so no other player knows what it is, and pay . This is an alternative cost. |
| 2014-09-20 | When the spell resolves, it enters the battlefield as a 2/2 creature with no name, mana cost, creature types, or abilities. It’s colorless and has a converted mana cost of 0. Other effects that apply to the creature can still grant it any of these characteristics. |
| 2014-09-20 | You must ensure that your face-down spells and permanents can easily be differentiated from each other. You’re not allowed to mix up the cards that represent them on the battlefield in order to confuse other players. The order they entered the battlefield should remain clear. Common methods for doing this include using markers or dice, or simply placing them in order on the battlefield. |
