Ojutai's art is the epitome of the Tarkir
block's Last Airbender / Legend of Korra
influence, and for that alone I would give him a
glowing review. But he also has game text, and
it happens that it's pretty strong. White-blue
decks are great at getting more cards at the
best of times, but when they're doing so every
turn at the same time as they're attacking with
a dragon who's mostly vulnerable only if you can
time a countermove right (which is itself a
clever translation of a martial arts concept
into rules text), you're probably going to have
a bad time.
Today's card of the day is Dragonlord Ojutai
which is a five mana White and Blue 5/4 with
Flying, Hexproof while untapped, and whenever it
deals combat damage to a player you look at the
top three cards of your library and keep one
then put the rest on the bottom of your library.
This obviously benefits greatly from an effect
adding Vigilance or untapping effects, but it
works well defensively or as an evasive source
of card generation. Even though the
effects are opposed to each other it can be
worked around, with Brave the Sands likely the
best option, or Gleam of Authority with careful
timing of the tap effect. The overall
package fits well for a Blue/White control
theme, so this is highly likely to see play
across current formats and possibly reach
competitive levels.
In Limited this is a strong first pick in
Booster even with the two color aspect as it
offers many advantages for an efficient mana
cost.
In Sealed one color can be splashed and there is
little better than an elder dragon to build
around.
All of the Elder Dragons are big and powerful.
Ojutai has the lowest casting cost, so he can
come out faster than most. A 5/4 flyer for 5
mana isn’t bad in itself. Hexproof when untapped
means it’s got a good chance of staying on the
board until you get to attack for 5 and try to
connect with the second ability. If you get him
through and you built your deck right, the odds
turn strongly in your favor as you get to look
at 4 cards and draw 2 of them in the next turn,
which makes finding whatever protection or
support you need pretty likely. Find a way to
give Ojutai vigilance and it’s a real nightmare
for your opponents.
