The bell has rang, the lights have flicked on and off, take your seats , class in now in session! Secrets of Strixhaven brings back some great mechanics and introduces us to some brand new ones; so sharpen up those pencils and get out those scratch pads the lesson begins now !
Mechanics
Prepared
This mechanic has generated a lot of interest leading up to the set release, and rightfully so. With leaks that included Mythics that had ‘prepared’ spells like Ancestral Recall and Demonic Tutor attached who wouldn’t get a little excited?! Ok here’s how Prepared works. While a creature is prepared you may cast a copy of the spell that appears in the lower right box of the card. Casting that spell then causes the creature to become unprepared. The nice benefit is getting a both a creature and a spell for one card slot in your deck! Some creatures have ways to become prepared again through their own actions like attacking, while others may need to be re-prepared via additional spells or effects, or “blinking”. 
Paradigm
Appearing on mythic rares in this set, the paradigm mechanic is a spell that once cast exiles itself once resolved, then casts a copy of itself every turn for the remainder of the game.
Two-Colour School Mechanics
Each of the Strixhaven Schools brings a new or returning mechanic to this set that adds strength to their colour pair.
Infusion:
Witherbloom uses the infusion mechanic to check to see if you gained life this turn. In return it offers some benefit or effect etc.
Repartee:
Silverquill uses this mechanic to reward you for casting instants and sorceries that target creatures.
Flashback:
Lorehold uses this mechanic to let you play cards from the graveyard for their flashback cost.
Opus:
Prismari uses this mechanic to reward you for casting instants and sorceries, especially those with mana value of 5 or greater.
Increment:
Quandrix uses this mechanic to give your increment creatures a +1/+1 counter when you cast a spell using an amount of mana greater than that creature’s power or toughness.
Converge:
Converge is found mostly on colourless creatures, but does appear on some with coloured mana symbols. Regardless, converge spells reward you for spending more colours of mana to cast them.
Some Special Notes About Secrets of Strixhaven
The New Profs
Well really they’re new Planeswalkers. A mono-black Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer and Professor Dellian Fel.
Elder Dragons Make a Return
Each of the Elder Dragons in this set uses a different mechanic from MTG’s past.
- Silverquill: Casualty
- Prismari: Storm
- Witherbloom: Affinity
- Lorehold: Miracle
- Quandrix: Cascade
Lands of Opportunity
The affectionately known slow lands return in this set with normal and borderless “portal” versions available. Coming into play tapped “unless you control two or more other lands.” These budget friendly “enemy-paired” lands are great for commander play and the wallet!
Also the cool Turbulent Lands, L8 or “Late Lands” are in this set in the Commander Decks and come into play taped “unless your opponents control eight or more lands.” Interesting?!
Rules Changes and Errata
Wizards has made a small change to how Sagas work. So, the ability that causes Sagas to enter with lore counters on them in now an intrinsic ability rather than a ruling effect. They did the same for the ability that allows the controller of Sagas with read ahead to choose a number of lore counters, when effects like doubling season are in play.
They also created a ‘Book’ Artifact sub-type for 44 existing books, tomes , grimoires and codexes etc... as well as 3 Book Type Tokens.
For a full list of changes and details click the link.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/secrets-of-strixhaven-update-bulletin
Well, here endeth the lesson readers, good luck at pre-release and with your pulls, you’ve all passed and graduated with flying colours!
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WTM Out!
