As Magic: The Gathering players cram for the Secrets of Strixhaven release this week, I brought a handy cheat sheet with five cards on it that will give you an A+ in upgrades to the 99 cards in a Commander Deck.
Class is back in session at Strixhaven University! It has been exactly five years to the day since Strixhaven: School of Mages landed on the tabletops of MTG, and this week, its highly anticipated return is here with Secrets of Strixhaven. The new set in the Plane of Strixhaven has also decided to bring back a fan favourite: the Mystical Archive bonus sheet (referred to as Source Material in both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), loaded with powerful reprints from MTG history.
The previous bonus sheet dropped bangers like Demonic Tutor and Teferi’s Protection in 2021, and Secrets of Strixhaven is bringing back Vampiric Tutor and Force of Will. These will come in two separate artworks: one denoting a Strixhaven Archival frame, and the other featuring Japanese-centred artwork, showcasing the Plane’s spellbook-inspired inspirations.
While many of the cards on the Mystical Archive bonus sheet could be considered “auto-inclusions” in most Commander Decks, today I am talking about cards specific to the Secrets of Strixhaven main set that are easily overlooked and won’t shoot up your bank to secure.
Everyone who plays Magic: The Gathering (and even some friends of MTG players) have undoubtedly heard of the return of the Power Nine Ancestral Recall on the card Emeritus of Ideation, along with the other four beefed-up “Emeritus” variants exclusive to each colour that have been released in SOS. It’s no secret… These cards are very powerful (alongside anything with the keyword “Paradigm”). We are looking for cards that aren’t being focused on, genuine Secrets of Strixhaven.
The cards discussed below are true hidden gems for existing Commander decks, and can be slotted into future deck plans or even draft and prerelease events with their built-in versatility. This versatility, combined with currently modest projected prices, makes them worth considering when class is back in session.
Flow State
This card is an absolute must for spellslinging Commanders, and a nightmare for opponents. Without a sorcery and instant in your graveyard, this card is at worst a watered-down version (and one mana cost less) of Stock Up from Aetherdrift, which is also included in the Mystical Archive bonus sheet. The effect still helps a player circulate their deck and get the cards they need faster.
At its best (when you have the requirement), for only two mana, a player can get three cards ahead of their opponents, giving you card advantage and more versatility to deal with opposing threats. Due to Flow State’s cheap mana cost, it’s a dream for spellslingers like Kess, Dissident Mage, and Stella Lee, Wild Card. Flow state allows you to get an extra cast from the graveyard with Kess to make a deck run more consistently, or copy it straight up with Stella Lee for a six-card deck filter.
This card can also combo into other spellslinging combo-makers like Storm of Saruman from The Lord of the Rings set to rain a storm of hurt on opponents. Gandalf and Saruman can work alongside one another with Flow State synergy, as Gandalf, Friend of the Shire, allows this sorcery to be played anytime an instant could be, letting players filter their deck during their opponents’ turn and devise plans on defence. It also helps that Flow State can be thrown into nearly any Secrets of Strixhaven Prismari or Quandrix-leaning deck, and it can make many of those decks more consistent to play.
Daydream
By all intents and purposes, Daydream is casting a sorcery to copy an ETB ability for just one mana, and it adds a +1/+1 on top of that. This card can also be used to save a commander creature from commonly played Enchantment Aura cards that otherwise neuter your strategy, and like abilities that transform your commander into another ability-less creature (looking at you, Darksteel Mutation/Witness Protection). What this card loses in efficiency on other players’ turns with Instants like Ephemerate, it gains by giving your creature a buff counter.
On more of the plus side, this card can also trigger an ETB twice for a low cost, and even without all of the Instant and Sorcery synergy in Secrets of Strixhaven, you can use this a second time from the graveyard. On expensive commanders with ETB abilities like Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Pantlaza, Sun Favored, you can abuse their ETB triggers without running into pesky commander tax from a recast from the commander zone. Daydream has utility inside and outside the classroom, and combos with other Secrets of Strixhaven cards superbly like Eager Glyphmage and Ennis, Debate Moderator.
Vibrant Outburst
As far as a solid, cheap instant goes, Vibrant Outburst can set up some pretty nasty combos and deal some serious damage with the right setup. Or, it could be used to erase cheaper costing threats like Yuriko, The Tiger’s Shadow or Vivi Ornitier without breaking a sweat (and on an opponent’s turn).
Other setup pieces like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER and Super Shredder quiver in sight of this card without protection, and all it does is three damage. Vibrant Outburst is a Lightning Bolt +1, so when you’re able to trigger copies with cards like the aforementioned Stella Lee, Wild Card, or, if you’re playing Storm, Force of Nature herself, you can toss this and others at opponents to punish life totals. You can also stop opposing blockers by tapping them before your combat step as a bonus with no extra cost, or stop an opposing attacker before an opponent declares their combat step, dealer’s choice.
It’s also worth mentioning that this card is an absolute beast in smaller Secrets of Strixhaven formats like Pick-two Draft or Pre-sealed decks with a Prismari leaning strategy. “I’ll show you a ‘colorful insult’!” indeed.
Arnyn, Deathbloom Botanist
Arnyn, Deathbloom Botanist, could be a kill-on-sight target. It’s not a secret, Secrets of Strixhaven has really upped the power level on combos, and it shows with this Legendary Vampire Druid. Not only does this card absolutely punish opposing life totals, it combos with other salt-level threats like Skullclamp without effort. With an every turn token generator like Horn of Gondor, this card can tee off when you have every turn sacrifice commanders in play like Marrow Gnawer or Caesar, Legion’s Emperor.
This card can become especially nasty when you have a swarm of creatures on the board. In Silverquill (or Orzhov) decks, you can use Squall, SEED Mercenary (or a Sun Titan) to replay an Accursed Marauder or Cathar Commando from the graveyard to deal four damage to an opponent and recover four life on top of crushing more opposing threats (and recur Arnyn if an opponent kills her). Using an Inkshield to stop a mortal wound, and then turning around on your turn to counter with Pest Control or Withering Curse while Arnyn is on the board will spell doom for an opponent, and you’ll smugly gain their life as an insult to injury.
Topiary Lecturer
Topiary Lecturer is a +1/+1 counter commander deck’s dream card, and as it becomes stronger, it taps for even more mana to set up bigger plays. If a player can get a single cast of a two-cost off, Increment will add a single +1/+1 counter, and Proliferate decks can scale him up from there. Increment also means any spell and it can happen more than once per turn, so the scaling and mana this Lecturer can produce becomes pretty substantial. With cards like Seedborn Muse, and Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler, you can untap a scaled up Topiary Lecturer to tap the creature a second time, giving you a double infusion of mana (on your opponents turns where Seedborn Muse is concerned).
In elf decks, Topiary Lecturer shines the brightest. In a Tyvar, the Bellicose commander deck, Topiary Lecturer scales himself up with Tyvar’s built-in effect (when mana abilities activate, your creatures get +1/+1 counters on them for the amount of mana produced) and becomes a nuisance to opponents trying to keep up. Topiary Lecturer can also benefit from a single turn buff from a card like Preposterous Proportions, and tap for a sweltering 11 green mana to throw down a huge play at opponents. This Secrets of Strixhaven Lecturer can really hurt opponents if you prepare well, and he can fill in as a substitute for Marwyn, The Nurturer in a pinch.
That wraps the Top 5 Hidden Gems from Secrets of Strixhaven list. This list serves as just a small study guide on what can be possibly overlooked from the viable cards from Secrets of Strixhaven, and doesn’t represent the only good cards from the set.
As a matter of fact, I included three more cards (pictured above) that can be used in tandem with the list from Secrets of Strixhaven and with many commanders, using the strategies listed above. These are some of the many cards I can’t wait to put in my decks when the full Secrets of Strixhaven set launches on April 22. Secrets of Strixhaven events are also happening this week, so fans can head to the official WoTC website to check for any events near them.
