Secrets of Strixhaven Card Review (for Brews and Bad Decks)

Magic: The Gathering · by Andrew Ahern · April 27, 2026

There is a surprising amount of potentially Legacy playable cards in Secrets of Strixhaven, a Standard-legal set. There are also a few from the adjoining Commander product worth a look.

I doubt most of these cards will see significant Legacy play. These are one brewer’s thoughts on this month’s set.

The Mechanics

Prepared

I think the creatures need to stand on their own, without the prepared ability, to be worth playing. Entering prepared is good, but you still have to find the mana to cast the spell. A creature that needs to become prepared is likely too much to ask in such a fast format. It also broadcasts what the opponent needs to prepare themselves for.

Repartee

A neat take on Prowess that allows for more powerful effects due to your opponent playing creatures for your removal to matter, or you playing with pump spells. Is {Feather, the Redeemed} playable in legacy?)

Opus

Essentially Prowess+. Needing to spend the mana for the bonus is a gate we’re seeing more and more, and for good reason. (*cough* {Up the Beanstalk} cough)

The Commander Set

{Herald of Amity}

This is an interesting take on {Academy Rector}. Auras are generally bad, but we’ve seen a few in Legacy over the years, more specifically, curses, including {Cruel Reality}, {Overwhelming Splendor}, and {Maddening Hex}.

{Academy Rector} requires a sacrifice outlet but allows a single copy of a few haymakers. {Herald of Amity} won’t require any sac’ing, but you’ll have to fill your deck with auras to be worth playing.

{Herald of Amity} creates a neat deckbuilding puzzle that will not likely be played much (if ever) in Legacy.

{Quintorious, History Chaser}

In some ways, this is similar to {Forth Eorlingas!}, with aspects that might make you consider trying it over, or alongside, {Forth Eorlingas!}

In place of the Monarch (which can be taken), {Quintorious, History Chaser} offers a +1 that digs deeper (and can’t be taken). The number of creatures created isn’t capped by mana, necessarily, and if they all die, you can make more. Starting loyalty of 5, {Quintorius, History Chaser} can be tough to remove (without {Hyrdoblast}, {Blue Elemental Blast}, or {Erode}). Finally, the -4 alpha strike won’t leave you vulnerable to a crack-back due to the vigilance.
Yes, the +1 draws cards, which is dangerous against {Orcish Bowmaster}, but in a control deck, there should be enough removal to make {Orcish Bowmaster} more of a speed bump than a brick wall.

A late game turn with {Quintorious, History Chaser} in a 4+ Color Control shell might look like:

Next turn attack for 24 vigilant damage, and {Quintorious, History Chaser} is still by your side.

{Ominous Harvest}

Gravestorm cares about “each permanent put into a graveyard.” This means Cheerios, Fetchlands, {Zuran Orb}, etc. Again, draws cards, but we’re in black already, so we have {Orcish Bowmaster} too, right? Gravestorm 10 can kill someone if you have an {Orcish Bowmaster} in play.

{Furygale Flocking}

Six evasive haste power for [r][r] is a pretty good rate. Eight is steep, but possible when built around. Make sure to cast this in the second main phase if you don’t want them tapped, since they must attack the turn you cast it.

{Renegade Bull}

“Without paying its mana cost.” I like those words. We have “sol” lands and {Seething Song} to help cast it. Red has a ton of rummaging; the only things lacking are haste and an existing shell. Luckily, it’s in red, where haste is given frequently.

There is a plethora of pitch spells that clear the board of creatures or artifacts. {Boom//Bust} can clear all the lands and cause direct damage to clear the opponent.

{Spirit of Resilience}

The obvious thing to do is pair this with {Emrakul, the Aeons Torn} or {Blightsteel Colossus} for a quick win.

Honestly, I’m not excited by this card, but that’s likely because I don’t enjoy Show and Tell decks. I would not be surprised, however, to see this across the table in the near future.

Secrets of Strixhaven Set

{The Dawning Archaic}

Cost reduction and “without paying its mana cost!?” Sign me up! It’s like {Dreadhorde Arcanist}, a banned card, and {Cryptic Serpent}, a definitely-not-banned card.

Yes, 10 mana is a lot, it’s legendary, and it doesn’t have haste (or eyes), but the potential of a [0]-mana 7/7 that casts spells from the graveyard...I gotta at least try it.

Filling the graveyard isn’t hard in game one; keeping it filled in games two and three may be more challenging.
{Quiet Speculation} could be really great with this; reducing the cost by [4], can bin {Reckless Charge} to solve the haste issue, {Otherworldly Gaze} and {Faithless Looting} can help fill the yard, too, and {Seize the Day} for an extra attack with a 10/7 haster.

You don’t have to go all-in, though. I could see this in some version of {Death’s Shadow} that leans more toward instants and sorceries, which might be desirable given {Flow State}. You could get super dangerous and {Reanimate} this, pumping [Death's Shadow} and putting a creature with Reach on board.

I’ll be picking a playset of this up for sure.

{Ennis, Debate Moderator

I’m sure this doesn’t make the cut in Death & Taxes, but I’ve only had the pleasure of playing against that deck. {Aether Vial} and {Karakas} could make this a tricky annoyance. With {Recruiter of the Guard}, you’d only need one copy, and with 80 cards already, what’s one more?

{Erode}

This removal/ramp spell looks pretty great. Destroy ain’t exile, but the ability to hit planeswalkers is pretty nice for control strategies. When you can’t pressure planeswalkers with creatures, there is a lot of weight put on countermagic. Control might still be in a rough spot in the meta, but this will definitely help. Additional utility with {Erode}:

{Exhibition Tidecaller}

I don’t know where to put this, but if you need to fill your graveyard...

{Flow State}

A good card is good. This card has been talked about a ton already. A ban wouldn’t surprise me in the near future, given its similarity to {Expressive Iteration}. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see this last a while, with how much the format has evolved since {Expressive Iteration}'s dominance.

The upside of "putting" both cards in your hand is real. The downside of needing a sorcery in the graveyard is somewhat trivial, depending on the deck. Maybe {Stormchaser’s Talent} and {Boomerang Basics} will become more common in [u][r] Tempo due to {Flow State}’s requirements and the double spell for {Cori-Steel Cutter}. There’s also {Lorien Revealed}, but islandcycling is not what Tempo strategies want to spend time on.

[u][b] meets the sorcery requirement easily via {Thoughtseize}. I’m not sure it matters much that {Flow State} doesn’t transform {Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student}. There is plenty of card draw to flip her already.

{Flow State} makes us want more sorceries in our decks. If that doesn’t tell you its potential power, I don’t know what would.

{Harmonized Trio}

Preparing can be done at instant speed, as can {Brainstorm}ing. I could see some sort of go-wide {Counterbalance} pile with this. There are some untapped creatures that could be fun with this, including {Blistercoil Weird} and {Tiger-Seal}. Token generators like {Cori-Steel Cutter}, {Deeproot Pilgrimage}, and {Ocelot Pride} can provide more bodies to tap.

There might actually be a fun Friday Night Magic (FNM) brew somewhere in there.

{Mana Sculpt}

This seems like a steep price for the payoff, and then the payoff requires a payoff to pay it off. I doubt it's worth it. {Mana Sculpt} into {Forth Eorlingas!} would be fun, though.

{Mathemagics}

[12][u][u] wins against non-{Yorion, the Sky Nomad} decks. How do we generate [14] mana in one turn? {High Tide}? There’s already {Blue Sun’s Zenith}, though, which is an instant. Maybe Blue Post could try this, but I don't have experience with either archetype.

{Decorum Dissertation}

This is the best {Phyrexian Arena} they’ve printed, but I don’t know if it’s worth it. [3][b][b] is slow in a fast format.

{Rabid Attack}

This might be fun in Goblins or Mardu Aggro. It can certainly draw a lot of cards, refill against a wrath, or win with an alpha strike. [Voice of Victory] alone is +3 damage and two cards. I don’t think we’ll see this, but it's worth testing.

{Flashback}

I’d like to try this as a one-of in [u][r] Tempo. It’s {Brainstorm}/{Lightning Bolt}/{Flow State}/{Pyroblast}/{Hydroblast} for an extra [r] that might even create a monk.

{Molten-Core Maestro}

This goblin grows fast, has Menace, and goes infinite with [r] Buyback spells. You have to find a way to make [5] mana to get the ball rolling, but that doesn’t sound difficult in red.

{Slumbering Trudge}

Fatty for [g]. We’re always looking for ways to make these good ({Phyrexian Dreadnought}, {Death’s Shadow}, {Moonshadow}, etc.). The upside is that {Slumbering Trudge} doesn’t require anything else to stay in play or get big.

What can we do with that? {Stubborn Denial}, {Fanatic of Rhonas}, and {Fight Rigging} come to mind. I’m sure there’s more. This likely won’t do anything in Legacy, but that was said about {Death’s Shadow}, too.

{Fix What’s Broken}

I think someone on Reddit figured out {Mikaeus, the Unhallowed} and {Triskelion}. There’s also Cheerios. It’s like {Second Sunrise} without the temporal necessity. You don’t have to wait to eat your cereal; you can dig right in.

{Hardened Academic}

Two mana, flying, haste, discard outlet that isn’t gated. It requires other cards to leave the graveyard by some other means, but the counters can go on whichever creatures you want. These cheap, versatile creatures are a lot of fun to play with until they start warping the game around themselves (e.g., {Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer}, {Psychic Frog}, {Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student}). I don’t see this warping the game around itself; it’ll just be a powerful piece of some machine. I don’t think there is a deck for it yet, though.

{Agatha’s Soul Cauldron} can make two creatures into {Arcanis, the Omnipotent}, with one activation!

{Vibrant Outburst}

Here’s another card I’d like to try in [u][r] Tempo. The ability to do this on your opponent’s end step feels strong, even at two mana.

{Witherbloom, the Balancer}

Does this card make the cut in [g][b] Maverick? Is it win-more? {Badgermole Cub} and {Orcish Bowmasters} are two bodies each; {Witherbloom, the Balancer} should be somewhat easy to cast [b][g]. {Green Sun's Zenith}es will cost [g] to tutor for pretty much anything, which should reduce the stress put on {Gaea's Cradle}. Reducing the second and third {Once Upon a Time}s to [g] ain’t bad either. Flying on a 5/5 reduces the stress on {Endurance} to hold the line against flyers, too.

{Page, Loose Leaf}

The first copy helps you get down a turn-two {Reality Smasher}, or pay for the {Daze} on {Thought-Knot Seer}. The second copy finds {Kozilek’s Command}. {Page, Loose Leaf} seems like a neat card to try, but playing four of a bad card to find a good card might keep it on the sidelines. I’m sure there’s some {Replenish}-style brew out there that wants this, but that’ll take a lot of Scryfall time that I’d rather spend on other bad ideas.

{Petrified Hamlet}

“{Wasteland}.” Then, proceed to {Ghost Quarter} all their lands.

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Featured image: {Quintorious, History Chaser} by Darren Tan