Secrets of Strixhaven returns us to Magic's beloved academic plane with a fresh lens, delivering a set packed with clever design and powerful utility. The set leans into the split faced card space, pairing newly designed Creatures with iconic Instant and Sorcery spells with the Prepared mechanic, allowing you to cast powerful spells as long as the Creature is Prepared. Beyond the modal Creatures, the set also introduces Increment as a new keyword and doubles down on the Strixhaven colleges' color pairings. Regardless of whichever college calls to you, Secrets of Strixhaven brings interesting new designs that are sure to find their way into your decks. With that out of the way, let’s dive in and explore the new cards that we can add to or 99!
1. Emeritus of Truce / Emeritus of Abundance / Emeritus of Conflict / Emeritus of Ideation / Emeritus of Woe
The Emeritus cycle introduces serious value that are bound to become format defining Creatures. Each comes with a powerful spell in their colour identity and enter Prepared. You’ll still need to have the mana to cast the spells, but resolving an extra Demonic Tutor or Swords to Plowshares could swing the game in your favour. Where the Emeritus’ really shine however, is when you pair them with flicker effects like Ephemerate or even Daydream and Ennis, Debate Moderator from within the set.
2. Erode
For a single White mana, Erode destroys any Creature or Planeswalker, offering more efficient removal in White. Eliminating a problematic permanent for one mana at instant speed represents exceptional efficiency, and the land ramp typically does little in a game where mana development matters less at parity. White decks that run a lean removal package will treasure Erode as another cost-effective answer, but there is an argument to be made that it could have a negative impact on the format. We are seeing more and more functionally equivalent cards with different names, diluting the impact the singleton restriction has on variance in gameplay. For those that prefer to play competitively, more redundancy is net-positive so we’ll likely continue to see this type of card design in the future. The essence of the format and your play style will be even more reflected by the choices you make in card selection.
3. Mana Sculpt
Counterspells that come with upside can be quite powerful, and Mana Sculpt offers a compelling package for Wizard-typal and spell-slinger decks. At three mana it counters any spell cleanly, but if you control a Wizard, you recoup Colorless mana equal to the countered spell's cost at the start of your next Main Phase. Like Mana Drain with extra hoops. Despite this, countering a five-drop could leave you floating five Colorless mana to chain into your next play. Wizards are among the most supported Creature types in Blue, and any deck running Baral, Chief of Compliance or a Wizard-dense 99 will find Mana Sculpt punches well above its cost.
4. Grave Researcher
Grave Researcher pairs a 3/3 Troll Warlock with Reanimate once Prepared, which is easily done by having three or more Creatures in your Graveyard. Decks that are leaning into reanimation strategies will have this Troll Prepared every turn. The ability to return any Creature from any Graveyard to the Battlefield under your control for a single Black mana is the backbone of countless combo and value strategies. Surveil once per turn also offers some recurring card filtering, which can also help fill your bin to guarantee you can Reanimate over and over again.
5. Scheming Silvertongue
Sign in Blood is a beloved Commander staple that draws two cards at the cost of two life, and Scheming Silvertongue gives you a repeatable version if you can meet the lifegain requirement. Vampires are one of the most popular typal strategies in the format, and a two-mana Vampire that contributes to synergy while offering an alternative of raw card draw on demand is an easy inclusion in any Vampire-focused build. I'm sure we'll see this outside of Vampire decks too as Scheming Silvertongue can Prepare itself if you can give it one more power. Repeatable card draw is extremely strong in Commander and shouldn't be overlooked.
6. Impractical Joke
One mana Red spells that prevent damage prevention while dealing three to a Creature or Planeswalker fill a surprisingly specific but valuable niche in Commander. Impractical Joke handles most small utility Creatures and Planeswalkers cleanly, but the real application is in decks that need to push damage through protection effects. Burn commanders and Stuffy Doll-style combo decks benefit most from the damage prevention clause, while aggressive Red builds appreciate a cheap, clean answer to early threats. As an uncommon it slots naturally into Red spellslinger and burn strategies without demanding a significant mana investment. A nice homage to Lightning Bolt.
7. Topiary Lecturer
The new Increment keyword rewards you for casting expensive spells by putting +1/+1 counters on Creatures whenever your spell's cost exceeds their current Power or Toughness, and Topiary Lecturer is a beautiful showcase. Starting as a 1/2 Elf Druid for three mana, this Creature grows every time you cast a spell with a mana value higher than its own, then taps to add green mana equal to its power. Once the Lecturer has a few counters, it becomes an aggressive mana engine that scales further with each spell you cast. Green stompy and ramp decks that naturally cast large spells will find this Creature becomes enormous quickly, eventually tapping for five or more Green mana. Elf-synergy decks also benefit from the creature type, and the uncommon rarity makes it very accessible.
8. Suspend Aggression
Suspend Aggression is a three-mana Boros instant that simultaneously Exiles a nonland Permanent and reveals the top card of your library, giving the owner of each card a full turn to play it. The tempo application is immediately obvious - you remove a threat at Instant speed, which is already reasonable. The additional twist is that you also get to cast your revealed card freely for a turn. In practice this functions as a one-turn stall on the most dangerous threat at a table while adding a bit of card filtering. Decks that want to cast spells from Exile or generate temporary removal as a political tool will find real value here. Boros decks that often lack flexible answers will welcome this rare addition to their suite.
9. Witherbloom Charm
Charms are some of the most consistent Commander inclusions because they provide multiple relevant modes on a single card. Witherbloom Charm delivers three genuinely useful effects for two mana. The first mode lets you Sacrifice a permanent to draw two cards - a clean draw engine for aristocrat and Sacrifice-based strategies. The second offers a flat five life, which in Commander can be the difference between surviving an alpha strike and losing the game. The third destroys any nonland Permanent with mana value two or less at Instant speed, hitting Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and a wide range of utility Creatures. Any Golgari or Witherbloom Commander deck should strongly consider this uncommon, as all three modes are realistic targets in most Commander games.
10. Petrified Hamlet
Petrified Hamlet is a quietly powerful hate land that asks you to name a Land Card when it enters, then locks down all activated non-mana abilities of sources with that name while reducing their tapped ability to just add one colorless mana. This can be a great response to an opposing utility land or game defining Gaea’s Cradle or more commonly, Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun. This land produces colorless mana itself, so it enters your land count without being a complete blank. Sure it won’t be helpful in all games, but the opportunity cost to play it is pretty low if your opponents use their land bases strategically.
Well there we have it, 10 cards you should pick up from Secrets of Strixhaven for your Commander decks. New mechanics with callbacks to classic spells is a nice touch on the spell-heavy Strixhaven. There are tonnes of other goodies in the set as well as the new cards from the Commander decks, check them out on our pre-order page. Were there any cards you are excited about that I missed? Let me know in the Chimera Gaming Discord, or reach me directly on Bluesky.
Check out all the singles here: Secrets of Strixhaven Singles!
Did you know we usually have 20 pods firing for Commander night on Tuesdays? Tables fill up fast and I hope to see you there!
