Illuminated Wings MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant
Released	1999-06-07
Set symbol
Set name	Urza's Destiny
Set code	UDS
Number	34
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Jim Nelson

Key Takeaways

Grants significant card advantage and options for more responsive play.
Enables faster mana accessibility, quickly changing the game’s pace.
Instant-speed allows surprises and tactical plays during crucial turns.

Text of card

Enchanted creature gains flying. , Sacrifice Illuminated Wings: Draw a card.

For a moment, Urza thought not of war and destruction, but of the freedom of the skies.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Illuminated Wings offers players the potential to build substantial card advantage. Being able to draw additional cards can often be the determinant between winning and faltering in a match, as it equips you with more options and responses to the unfolding game.

Resource Acceleration: This card can function as a key tool for mana acceleration, a crucial aspect for casting high-impact spells sooner. Speeding up your access to necessary resources can set the pace of the game, putting you squarely in the driver’s seat.

Instant Speed: One of the most tactical features of Illuminated Wings is its capacity to be played at instant speed. This flexibility allows you to adapt to the game’s flow, react to your opponent’s moves, and retain the element of surprise, potentially outmaneuvering opponents during critical turns.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of Illuminated Wings is the need to discard another card to utilize its effect. This can be particularly taxing in situations where your hand is already depleted or when every card you hold is crucial to your game strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Illuminated Wings demands a precise mana combination to cast. This can create issues in decks that run multiple colors or those that have a limited mana base, potentially leading to a scenario where the card remains unplayable in your hand for several turns.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When you weigh the mana expenditure against the benefits provided by Illuminated Wings, you might find it lacking. Decks aiming for efficiency might bypass this card in favor of others with a lower cost or offering more impactful results, making it a less attractive option for competitive play.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Illuminated Wings offers a unique blend of enchantment utility and creature enhancement. Its ability to grant flying to a creature ensures it can be a strategic fit in a variety of decks, enhancing both offense and defense capabilities across numerous playstyles.

Combo Potential: In decks where flying creatures or enchantments matter, Illuminated Wings stands out. It can work seamlessly with cards that trigger whenever an enchantment enters the battlefield or whenever a creature gains a keyword, opening up avenues for potent synergies.

Meta-Relevance: With a meta that emphasizes the importance of board presence, having creatures that can avoid ground stalls by gaining flying can be critical. Illuminated Wings not only aids in evasion but can also be a surprise element against opponents unprepared for aerial threats.

How to Beat Illuminated Wings

Illuminated Wings is an intriguing enchantment card for creature boost in Magic: The Gathering. Designed to enhance your creatures with flying, it can quickly change the dynamics on the battlefield. The card becomes a target for opponents who must find ways to mitigate its advantages. One way to counter this enchantment is by using instant-speed removal spells, which can disrupt the timing and utility of Illuminated Wings. Additionally, spells that target enchantments directly, such as Disenchant or Naturalize, can effectively remove Illuminated Wings from play, negating its benefits.

Another strategy to overcome Illuminated Wings is to control the battlefield with cards that impose flying restrictions or provide reach to your creatures, thereby neutralizing the card’s effect. Cards like Windstorm or Spidersilk Armor can also be pivotal in tipping the scales. Ultimately, the key to beating Illuminated Wings lies in readying a flexible response, whether through targeted removal or board control tactics, ensuring that your opponent’s creatures never quite take off as intended.

For MTG players looking to maintain an edge, understanding how to thwart cards like Illuminated Wings is essential. It is the crafty player who preempts airborne threats by incorporating versatile card strategies, who will often soar to victory.

Cards like Illuminated Wings

Illuminated Wings is an enchantment card that offers unique utility in the realm of creature enhancement within Magic: The Gathering. Found in the kinship family with other aura cards, it bestows flying onto the enchanted creature, which is a trait seen in familiar parallels like Leap or Flight. What makes Illuminated Wings stand out, is that it also provides the additional perk of enlightenment, allowing for an additional draw if the creature has this characteristic.

The comparison with other enhancement auras such as One With the Wind is noteworthy. That card solely gives a creature a larger stat boost along with flight, without any card draw benefits. Meanwhile, Cards like Angelic Gift also grant flight and card draw upon entering the battlefield, but miss out on the enlightenment synergy that makes Illuminated Wings a valuable inclusion in specific deck archetypes.

Assessing their impact in gameplay, Illuminated Wings brings double value to a deck that leverages the enlightenment mechanic effectively. It caters to a strategic niche among flying auras in Magic: The Gathering, offering versatility and potential card advantage to savvy players who can exploit its unique properties.

Cards similar to Illuminated Wings by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Illuminated Wings MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Destiny, 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 Illuminated Wings and other MTG cards: