Mentor's Guidance MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mentor’s Guidance provides a potential double-trigger for card drawing. If you control a creature that shares a creature type with your commander or is a planeswalker, Mentor’s Guidance lets you scry 1 and then draw a card–twice. This creates a significant advantage as you replenish your hand, helping to outpace your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: While Mentor’s Guidance itself does not directly generate additional mana or tokens, the cards drawn from it can lead to increased resource acceleration by giving you access to more lands or spells that ramp your mana. Keeping your hand fueled is a crucial step towards playing more impactful turns.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of Mentor’s Guidance is not hindered by its sorcery speed. Although it doesn’t benefit from instant-speed reactivity, its ability to trigger on casting another spell can lead to beneficial interactions on your turn. This can effectively offer a surprise element, as you can play a creature that synergizes with your commander and immediately follow it up with Mentor’s Guidance for a doubled effect.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When you cast Mentor’s Guidance, it necessitates having a specific type of permanent to copy the spell, otherwise, you’re only getting half the value. This can be restrictive and often requires you to build your deck around this synergy to fully benefit from the card.

Specific Mana Cost: Mentor’s Guidance has a color requirement that includes both blue and white mana. This can be challenging for decks that aren’t specifically designed to accommodate such mana needs, potentially making it a less versatile choice in a more color-diverse deck.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, including specific colors, there can be more mana-efficient options available for players looking to gain instant card advantage. In a game where tempo is crucial, Mentor’s Guidance may not always represent the best use of a turn’s resources.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Mentor’s Guidance is a multifaceted tool ideal for decks that seek an edge in card draw. Its ability to potentially replicate its effect adds immense value, catering to decks that harness the synergy between its spell type and creatures or planeswalkers you control.

Combo Potential: This card shines in combination-rich environments, unlocking sequences that can turn the tide of the game. Integrating Mentor’s Guidance into your deck boosts the prospects of linking spells and abilities together, capitalizing on its cloning effect for an amplified outcome.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta dominated by spell-intensive decks, Mentor’s Guidance offers a pivotal advantage. Its scalability with the number of nonland permanents you have increases its impact, giving spell-slinging decks a crucial push against a variety of opponents.

How to Beat

Mentor’s Guidance in Magic: The Gathering is a card that poses an excellent opportunity to create card advantage. By casting creatures or planeswalkers that share a type with others, you’ll draw cards and potentially cascade into further plays. It’s a card that rewards you for having a board presence aligned in creature type or planeswalker allegiance.

To counteract this spell, consider strategies to minimize your opponent’s board presence before they can cast Mentor’s Guidance. Effective removal spells or board wipes ensure that even if Mentor’s Guidance is played, the benefits gleaned will be minimal. Additionally, playing aggressively can force the opponent to use resources on defending instead of setting up the ideal conditions for their Mentor’s Guidance. Instant speed disruption, such as countermagic, can directly negate the spell, preventing any advantage it could provide. Keeping the board clear and applying pressure ultimately diminishes the potential impact of Mentor’s Guidance in any game.