Pointed Discussion

Make all the cats bigger with Ajani's Choosen.

This is going to be strong in draft and seems playable in constructed for sure.

Unique and unusual. Can't be said of a lot of auras.

Card reads "you may return Ephara's Enlightenment to your hand."

does this mean from ANYWHERE? Grave and Battlefield or just Battlefield?

Mark_ray, when they don't specify where, it's implicit that they mean the battlefield.

Very strong in limited. Play it on a creature, attack with it, then play another creature post-combat to get more heroic triggers and more counters. Probably one mana too much to be playable in constructed, but it's cool that you can flash in creatures to save the aura if you want.

Very strong in limited.

However, very very mana intensive for Standard purposes. It would only find a home in a super-super grindy constructed deck that badly needs repeated (and reliable) heroic triggers.

An odd thought, but...despite the cost, could this work as a way to "repair" persist creatures?

Disgusting in limited. I got rolled by a WU player with this and Favored Hoplite in MTGO. Then drafted the same combo and rolled somebody else afterwards.

Works nicely with Deputy of Acquittals, if you just use the stack correctly, you can save both the creature and Ephara's Enlightenment at the same time from your opponent's kill spells on their turn even. (And bonus points if you have Ephara herself for the extra card-draw too). All of which are wrapped up nicely in the same color combination...

This card is more deck-dependent than most, but a solid entry when used well.

@SkyknightXi
No. The +1/+1 counter doesn't eliminate the existing -1/-1 counter. The creature ends up with both. They cancel each other out with regards to power and toughness values, but the counters aren't removed from the creature.

When the persist creature dies the second time, it has a -1/-1 counter on it, so persists doesn't trigger. The presence of a +1/+1 counter doesn't change that.

@Linkcharge
You're 100% incorrect. Persist creatures are, in fact, reset by putting +1/+1 counters on them.

'121.3. If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, N +1/+1 and N -1/-1 counters
are removed from it as a state-based action, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it. See rule 704. '

So Ephara's Enlightenment would work as suggested by SkyknightXi.

Cast on Tethmos High Priest, return a creature to the battlefield, return this to your hand. Cast on Tethmos High Priest, return a creature to the battlefield, return this to your hand...

I can't wait to play this with Sage of Hours

Edit: Upon seeing the art of this card in HD, I realized that Ephara's eyes aren't closed like I originally thought. They are actually wide open and have no pupils. Creepy.

One of may favourite cards in Theros block! Combo with Battlewise Hoplite to create a 4/4 flyer. Then do it again, and again! Great in any UW heroic deck.

As fun and exciting as the idea of Heroic is, the reality is that the mechanic, as well as this card kind of suck. They are designed for the limited format. Sure, I could play a Battlewise Hoplite and then make it 4/4 flier with this card the following turn, but I'd much rather make a 3/3 for 2, put a counter on it with Ajani, Caller of the Pride, and then give it flying double strike the following turn, possibly for the win. Or just skip the counter and throw the 3/3 double strike over the top right away. My point is, they just didn't make Heroic good enough to have any constructed application. Why bother going through all the trouble and wasting all your mana and spells trying to put counters on a crappy 1/1 or 2/2 heroic creature when you can simply play a 3/3 for 2 mana, a 4/4 for 3, or a 5/5 for 4. By the time you'd actually be able to get a heroic creature beyond that point, you should have won already. You can take all those "heroic trigger" spells, such as this one, and replace them with other 3/3 for 2, 4/4 for 3 etc creatures.