Enlightened Tutor
Instant
Search your library for an artifact or enchantment card, reveal it, then shuffle and put that card on top.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $36.19
- EDHREC rank
- #122
Enlightened Tutor puts any artifact or enchantment on top of your library for one white mana at instant speed — that's an absurd range of targets for an absurdly low price. In competitive shells like Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver, it's the missing piece finder that collapses your setup from three turns to one.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver is a Treasure-fueled combo deck, and Enlightened Tutor is the line-finder that grabs Underworld Breach, Jeska's Will, or any other artifact setup piece the turn you need it — nearly 89% of Dargo // Tymna lists run it for exactly that reason.
Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful
Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful leans on artifact and enchantment-based combo infrastructure, and Enlightened Tutor at instant speed means you can fetch the missing piece at the end of an opponent's turn and deploy it immediately on yours.
Zirda, the Dawnwaker
Zirda, the Dawnwaker's entire game plan lives in finding activated-ability payoffs and cost reducers, and Enlightened Tutor grabs the artifact piece of that equation on demand — half the deck is legal targets.
Elsha of the Infinite
Elsha of the Infinite wants to set up the top of the library and chain spells, so Enlightened Tutor doubling as a topdeck-setter is a direct mechanical synergy, not just a generic tutor.
Sythis, Harvest's Hand
Sythis, Harvest's Hand needs enchantments and needs them fast, and Enlightened Tutor finds the best enchantment in your deck for a single mana — the 41% inclusion rate understates how strong this is in the deck's best draws.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Enlightened Tutor is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker — and it's genuinely powerful in all of them, though Commander is its natural home. In Legacy and Vintage, the sorcery-speed delivery matters more, but one-mana access to any artifact or enchantment is still good enough to see fringe play in combo and control shells. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's dynamics almost exactly: instant speed plus one mana plus a wide target range equals a near-auto-include whenever white touches artifacts or enchantments. The card is banned from Modern and Pioneer on down, which tracks — unrestricted tutoring at this cost breaks formats built around consistency constraints.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Idyllic Tutor is the most direct substitute at roughly $2–3, hitting any enchantment at sorcery speed for three mana — you lose the instant speed and the artifact reach, but the effect is recognizable. Open the Armory is under $1 and grabs Equipment or Auras specifically, which covers a narrower slice of what Enlightened Tutor does but costs almost nothing; neither replacement fully replaces the instant-speed artifact line, so in combo-heavy builds the gap is real.
Price Context
Current price
$36.19 premium tier
At $36.19, Enlightened Tutor sits in the premium tier — justified by its ubiquity across white combo and stax builds with no Modern-legal reprint pressure keeping the price anchored. It's a staple with consistent demand, so the price is stable rather than inflated, but budget builders should treat the alternatives above as the real entry point until they're ready to commit.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
- Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful
- Zirda, the Dawnwaker
- Elsha of the Infinite
- Sythis, Harvest's Hand
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.