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Ready for a second semester at Strixhaven? We'll give you a crash course on everything you can expect from this Limited format.
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Andrew Quinn 11 hours ago Deckbuilding, Draft, Limited, Sealed, Strategy
Hardened Academic | Illustration by Vincent Christiaens
I’ve always loved multicolor Draft sets. Pretty much all of the Ravnica sets, Khans of Tarkir, and even flashback drafts of Invasion/Planeshift/Apocalypse are among my favorite formats of all time.
When the first Strixhaven set was announced as a set with a heavy multicolor focus, I was incredibly excited for it, and it didn’t disappoint. The original set is one of my favorite Draft formats ever, and I'm really hoping that Secrets of Strixhaven lives up to its legacy, at least in some way.
Also, as a math tutor by trade, I just love all of the math references in the Quandrix cards ()! Mathemagics might now be my favorite card in the game. Today, we’ll examine every card that you can find in Play boosters and look at how they’re likely to play out when you play in a prerelease or a local draft.
As always, this review is based on my initial impressions of the cards. We don't know things like the speed of the format or the relative power levels of the colors and archetypes. Many cards will under- or over-perform based on initial impressions as the format takes shape. My reviews are largely based on the card’s quality in a vacuum or the assumption that the archetype it belongs in is playable.
Table of Contents show 1 Grading Scale 2 Set Mechanics 2.1 Prepared Spells 2.2 Converge 2.3 Paradigm 2.4 Repartee 2.5 Infusion 2.6 Increment 2.7 Opus 2.8 Flashback 3 Draft Archetypes 4 White 4.1 Ajani’s Response 4.2 Antiquities on the Loose 4.3 Ascendant Dustspeaker 4.4 Daydream 4.5 Dig Site Inventory 4.6 Eager Glyphmage 4.7 Elite Interceptor 4.8 Emeritus of Truce 4.9 Ennis, Debate Moderator 4.10 Erode 4.11 Graduation Day 4.12 Group Project 4.13 Harsh Annotation 4.14 Honorbound Page 4.15 Informed Inkwright 4.16 Inkshape Demonstrator 4.17 Interjection 4.18 Joined Researchers 4.19 Owlin Historian 4.20 Practiced Offense 4.21 Primary Research 4.22 Quill-Blade Laureate 4.23 Rapier Wit 4.24 Rehearsed Debater 4.25 Restoration Seminar 4.26 Shattered Acolyte 4.27 Soaring Stoneglider 4.28 Spiritcall Enthusiast 4.29 Stand Up for Yourself 4.30 Stirring Hopesinger 4.31 Stone Docent 4.32 Summoned Dromedary 5 Blue 5.1 Banishing Betrayal 5.2 Brush Off 5.3 Campus Composer 5.4 Chase Inspiration 5.5 Deluge Virtuoso 5.6 Divergent Equation 5.7 Echocasting Symposium 5.8 Emeritus of Ideation 5.9 Encouraging Aviator 5.10 Essence Scatter 5.11 Exhibition Tidecaller 5.12 Flow State 5.13 Fractal Anomaly 5.14 Fractalize 5.15 Harmonized Trio 5.16 Homesickness 5.17 Hydro-Channeler 5.18 Jadzi, Steward of Fate 5.19 Landscape Painter 5.20 Mana Sculpt 5.21 Mathemagics 5.22 Matterbending Mage 5.23 Muse Seeker 5.24 Muse’s Encouragement 5.25 Orysa, Tide Choreographer 5.26 Pensive Professor 5.27 Procrastinate 5.28 Quick Study 5.29 Run Behind 5.30 Skycoach Conductor 5.31 Spellbook Seeker 5.32 Tester of the Tangential 5.33 Textbook Tabulator 5.34 Wisdom of Ages 6 Black 6.1 Adventurous Eater 6.2 Arcane Omens 6.3 Arnyn, Deathbloom Botanist 6.4 Burrog Banemaker 6.5 Cheerful Osteomancer 6.6 Cost of Brilliance 6.7 Decorum Dissertation 6.8 Dissection Practice 6.9 Emeritus of Woe 6.10 End of the Hunt 6.11 Eternal Student 6.12 Foolish Fate 6.13 Forum Necroscribe 6.14 Grave Researcher 6.15 Last Gasp 6.16 Lecturing Scornmage 6.17 Leech Collector 6.18 Masterful Flourish 6.19 Melancholic Poet 6.20 Moseo, Vein’s New Dean 6.21 Poisoner’s Apprentice 6.22 Postmortem Professor 6.23 Pox Plague 6.24 Pull from the Grave 6.25 Rabid Attack 6.26 Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer 6.27 Scathing Shadelock 6.28 Scheming Silvertongue 6.29 Send in the Pest 6.30 Sneering Shadewriter 6.31 Tragedy Feaster 6.32 Ulna Alley Shopkeep 6.33 Wander Off 6.34 Withering Curse 7 Red 7.1 Ancestral Anger 7.2 Archaic’s Agony 7.3 Artistic Process 7.4 Blazing Firesinger 7.5 Charging Strifeknight 7.6 Choreographed Sparks 7.7 Duel Tactics 7.8 Emeritus of Conflict 7.9 Expressive Firedancer 7.10 Flashback 7.11 Garrison Excavator 7.12 Goblin Glasswright 7.13 Heated Argument 7.14 Impractical Joke 7.15 Improvisation Capstone 7.16 Living History 7.17 Maelstrom Artisan 7.18 Magmablood Archaic 7.19 Mica, Reader of Ruins 7.20 Molten-Core Maestro 7.21 Pigment Wrangler 7.22 Rearing Embermare 7.23 Rubble Rouser 7.24 Seize the Spoils 7.25 Steal the Show 7.26 Strife Scholar 7.27 Tablet of Discovery 7.28 Tackle Artist 7.29 Thunderdrum Soloist 7.30 Tome Blast 7.31 Unsubtle Mockery 7.32 Zealous Lorecaster 8 Green 8.1 Aberrant Manawurm 8.2 Additive Evolution 8.3 Ambitious Augmenter 8.4 Burrog Barrage 8.5 Chelonian Tackle 8.6 Comforting Counsel 8.7 Efflorescence 8.8 Emeritus of Abundance 8.9 Emil, Vastlands Roamer 8.10 Environmental Scientist 8.11 Follow the Lumarets 8.12 Germination Practicum 8.13 Glorious Decay 8.14 Hungry Graffalon 8.15 Infirmary Healer 8.16 Lumaret’s Favor 8.17 Mindful Biomancer 8.18 Noxious Newt 8.19 Oracle’s Restoration 8.20 Pestbrood Sloth 8.21 Planar Engineering 8.22 Shopkeeper’s Bane 8.23 Slumbering Trudge 8.24 Snarl Song 8.25 Studious First-Year 8.26 Tenured Concocter 8.27 Thornfist Striker 8.28 Topiary Lecturer 8.29 Vastlands Scavenger 8.30 Wild Hypothesis 8.31 Wildgrowth Archaic 8.32 Zimone’s Experiment 9 Multicolored 9.1 Abigale, Poet Laureate 9.2 Abstract Paintmage 9.3 Applied Geometry 9.4 Ark of Hunger 9.5 Aziza, Mage Tower Captain 9.6 Berta, Wise Extrapolator 9.7 Blech, Loafing Pest 9.8 Bogwater Lumaret 9.9 Borrowed Knowledge 9.10 Cauldron of Essence 9.11 Colorstorm Stallion 9.12 Colossus of the Blood Age 9.13 Conciliator’s Duelist 9.14 Cuboid Colony 9.15 Dina’s Guidance 9.16 Elemental Mascot 9.17 Embrace the Paradox 9.18 Essenceknit Scholar 9.19 Fix What’s Broken 9.20 Fractal Mascot 9.21 Fractal Tender 9.22 Geometer’s Arthropod 9.23 Grapple with Death 9.24 Growth Curve 9.25 Hardened Academic 9.26 Imperious Inkmage 9.27 Inkling Mascot 9.28 Killian’s Confidence 9.29 Kirol, History Buff 9.30 Lluwen, Exchange Student 9.31 Lorehold Charm 9.32 Lorehold, the Historian 9.33 Mind into Matter 9.34 Mind Roots 9.35 Molten Note 9.36 Moment of Reckoning 9.37 Nita, Forum Conciliator 9.38 Old-Growth Educator 9.39 Paradox Surveyor 9.40 Pest Mascot 9.41 Practiced Scrollsmith 9.42 Prismari Charm 9.43 Prismari, the Inspiration 9.44 Proctor’s Gaze 9.45 Professor Dellian Fel 9.46 Pterafractyl 9.47 Pursue the Past 9.48 Quandrix Charm 9.49 Quandrix, the Proof 9.50 Rapturous Moment 9.51 Render Speechless 9.52 Resonating Lute 9.53 Root Manipulation 9.54 Sanar, Unfinished Genius 9.55 Scolding Administrator 9.56 Silverquill Charm 9.57 Silverquill, the Disputant 9.58 Snooping Page 9.59 Social Snub 9.60 Spectacular Skywhale 9.61 Spirit Mascot 9.62 Splatter Technique 9.63 Stadium Tidalmage 9.64 Startled Relic Sloth 9.65 Stirring Honormancer 9.66 Stress Dream 9.67 Suspend Aggression 9.68 Tam, Observant Sequencer 9.69 Teacher’s Pest 9.70 Traumatic Critique 9.71 Vibrant Outburst 9.72 Vicious Rivalry 9.73 Visionary’s Dance 9.74 Wilt in the Heat 9.75 Witherbloom Charm 9.76 Witherbloom, the Balancer 9.77 Zaffai and the Tempests 10 Colorless and Artifacts 10.1 The Dawning Archaic 10.2 Rancorous Archaic 10.3 Sundering Archaic 10.4 Together as One 10.5 Transcendent Archaic 10.6 Biblioplex Tomekeeper 10.7 Diary of Dreams 10.8 Mage Tower Referee 10.9 Page, Loose Leaf 10.10 Potioner’s Trove 10.11 Strixhaven Skycoach 11 Lands 11.1 The “Slow” Lands 11.2 The “Location” Lands 11.3 Great Hall of the Biblioplex 11.4 Petrified Hamlet 11.5 Skycoach Waypoint 11.6 Terramorphic Expanse 12 Secrets of Strixhaven Mystical Archive 12.1 Akroma’s Will 12.2 Angel’s Grace 12.3 Armageddon 12.4 Duty Beyond Death 12.5 Helping Hand 12.6 Hop to It 12.7 Prismatic Ending 12.8 Repel Calamity 12.9 Reprieve 12.10 Requisition Raid 12.11 Return to the Ranks 12.12 Winds of Abandon 12.13 Brain Freeze 12.14 Cyclonic Rift 12.15 Daze 12.16 Deduce 12.17 Disdainful Stroke 12.18 Flusterstorm 12.19 Force of Will 12.20 Pongify 12.21 Preordain 12.22 Sleight of Hand 12.23 Spell Pierce 12.24 Stock Up 12.25 Ad Nauseam 12.26 Bitter Triumph 12.27 Culling the Weak 12.28 Dismember 12.29 Feed the Swarm 12.30 Living End 12.31 Locust Spray 12.32 Sheoldred’s Edict 12.33 Smallpox 12.34 Stargaze 12.35 Vampiric Tutor 12.36 Zombify 12.37 Abrade 12.38 Big Score 12.39 Brotherhood’s End 12.40 Bulk Up 12.41 Burst Lightning 12.42 Crackle with Power 12.43 Empty the Warrens 12.44 Jeska’s Will 12.45 Monstrous Rage 12.46 Pyretic Ritual 12.47 Return the Favor 12.48 Subterranean Tremors 12.49 Awaken the Woods 12.50 Berserk 12.51 Crop Rotation 12.52 Giant Growth 12.53 Glimpse of Nature 12.54 Knockout Maneuver 12.55 Pick Your Poison 12.56 Royal Treatment 12.57 Shamanic Revelation 12.58 Shared Roots 12.59 Triumph of the Hordes 12.60 Veil of Summer 12.61 Bring to Light 12.62 Culling Ritual 12.63 Deflecting Palm 12.64 Expressive Iteration 12.65 Fracture 13 Special Guests 13.1 Archaeomancer 13.2 Archmage Emeritus 13.3 Murmuring Mystic 13.4 Grim Haruspex 13.5 Dualcaster Mage 13.6 Magus of the Library 13.7 Sylvan Library 13.8 Adrix and Nev, Twincasters 13.9 Codie, Vociferous Codex 13.10 Library of Leng 14 Wrap UpGrading Scale
Fix What's Broken | Illustration by Chris Rallis
I use a comparative rating system on a scale of 0-10. Here’s a rough guide to what each rating means:
10: The absolute best of the best. 10s make a meaningful impact on any game, especially when you’re playing from behind, and they’re extremely tough to beat.
Examples: Sally Pride, Lioness Leader or The Last Ronin
8-9: Extremely good cards, usually game-winning bombs and the most efficient removal spells, though not quite good enough to be a 10/10. Could also be the mythic uncommon of the set (though these are harder to predict).
Examples: Mighty Mutanimals or Armaggon, Future Shark
5-7: Important role-players. These are typically great uncommons that really drive you towards playing a particular color, such as build-arounds and good removal, as well as very powerful commons.
Examples: Metalhead or Courier of Comestibles
2-4: The average Limited card. Most commons end up in this range, and your Limited decks are made up mostly of these cards.
Examples: April O'Neil, Kunoichi Trainee or Primordial Pachyderm
1: These cards are weak and you hope never to play them in your main deck, though they’re still just about playable if you need them in a pinch.
Examples: Insectoid Exterminator or Punk Frogs
0: Virtually unplayable in every scenario, and you should never put these cards in your main deck. Typically cards that were designed with Constructed or Commander play in mind, but they’re awful in Limited.
Examples: Splinter's Technique or Turtle Power!
Set Mechanics
Secrets of Strixhaven is all about instants and sorceries, so it comes with a wealth of new mechanics that reward you for casting different kinds. Each of the five colleges has their own mechanic that forms the basis of their Draft archetype, along with a couple of mechanics that show up everywhere.
Prepared Spells
First, let’s talk about prepared spells. Some creatures in SOS come with “prepared spells”, which are instants or sorceries that take up half of their text box on the right-hand side, much like adventure or omen spells in the past. But unlike those, you can’t simply cast that spell from your hand. Instead, you need to get the creature onto the battlefield and have it become “prepared”. Once prepared, you can cast a copy of their prepared spell, which makes the creature unprepared.
This simply looks like a cool way to turn what would normally just be an activated ability into a spell that you actually cast, which triggers all of the other mechanics in the set. That’s pretty great, and this looks like a really fun choice to be the most important mechanic in Secrets of Strixhaven.
Converge
Converge is a nice mechanic that we’ve seen a couple of times now. A converge ability gets more powerful for the more colors of mana you spend on it. While SOS is heavily focused on playing two colors, the likely abundance of mana fixing to help us cast all our multicolored cards will in turn help us to cast these powerful spells for as many colors as possible. You’ll need the right deck to play any of these, but when that does come together, I’m sure you’ll be in for a treat.
Paradigm
Paradigm is a rework of one of Magic’s most iconically bad mechanics: epic, which appeared in Saviors of Kamigawa on a single cycle of rares. They were basically big, powerful spells that would then recast themselves every turn. The problem was, they locked you out from casting anything else for the rest of the game, which wasn’t a very good idea at all. This time, paradigm will cast the spell every turn of the game just like before, but you’re free to cast whatever you like in the meantime. There are only five of these, one in each color at mythic rare, but they’re bound to be big, dumb spells that will take over a game after a few free casts.
Quick note: They’re all lessons. Lessons debuted in the original Strixhaven, but these are the only lessons in Secrets of Strixhaven, and there are no learn spells to go with them.
Repartee
Repartee is the mechanic for the white/black Silverquill school. Repartee is an ability word that signifies an ability that triggers whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets a creature. That’s any creature by the way, so they even trigger when you point a removal spell at an opponent’s creature.
Last time, Silverquill focused on targeted spells that buffed your creatures, so this seems like a good evolution of that theme. We’ll still use plenty of spells that buff our own creatures, but this mechanic is pretty flexible and is bound to play out really well.
Infusion
Last time, the black/green Witherbloom school was all over the place. They cared about lifegain, but also about their Pest mascot tokens, which gained you life when they died. As such, they also cared about sacrifices. It was a mess, and it didn’t come together in Limited at all.
This time, they have the infusion mechanic, an ability word that denotes a bonus effect that happens as long as you’ve gained life this turn. You’ll notice this throughout these mechanics, but this is very simple and easy to play with. Just 1 point of lifegain is enough to enable these cards, and there’s an abundance of ways to do that. Again, this looks like a strong mechanic, and I have high hopes that Witherbloom will be much stronger than it was in the original set.
Increment
The Quandrix are my kind of people! Quandrix is the green/blue school of math geeks, just like me. Their playstyle is all about manipulating the numbers on cards by using +1/+1 counters. Their mechanic, increment, is all about getting extra counters.
A creature with increment picks up a +1/+1 counter whenever the amount of mana you spend to cast a spell is greater than either its power or toughness.
Or, if you prefer, if m > min(p,t), where m is the amount of mana you spend to cast a spell and p and t are your creature’s respective power and toughness.
Quandrix was one of the stronger schools in the original Strixhaven set, and while I want Secrets of Strixhaven to feel a bit different from the last one, I sincerely hope that this mechanic is enough to see them dominate again.
Opus
The blue/red Prismari are the artists of Strixhaven, with dazzling, colorful performances that everyone on campus wants to see. As such, their spells are big and splashy, costing lots of mana to get the most out of them.
Their mechanic, opus, really captures this perfectly. An opus ability triggers whenever you cast any instant or sorcery, giving you a simple ability. But, if you spent 5 or more mana to cast your spell, you get a more powerful ability. Five mana is a lot, and you actually need to spend that 5 mana. Discounts and tricks with mana value won’t work. But SOS should be a slow, grindy set, so casting 5-mana spells should be pretty common.
Last time we visited Strixhaven, the Prismari had a bunch of powerful 7-mana spells and they ended up being extremely good, and they were one of the best schools to draft. I imagine they’ll still be good this time around.
Flashback
Do I even need to talk about flashback much? We’ve seen this mechanic come back time and time again ever since it first debuted in 2001. The simple idea of getting two goes at your spells is extremely powerful, and it just so happens to be a great fit for Secrets of Strixhaven.
The historians and archaeologists of the red/white Lorehold school care about cards as they leave the graveyard, and flashback is the perfect enabler for that. It’ll also help to enable the mechanics of other schools, since you usually spend more mana on the flashback cost. Flashback is always great to see return, so let’s see what it’s got in store for us this time.
Lorehold in original Strixhaven was embarrassingly bad, so this is a good sign that they won’t be quite so bad this time.
Draft Archetypes
The Draft archetypes of Secrets of Strixhaven are pretty straightforward. They’re simply the five colleges, centered around their individual themes and mechanics. To sum up, they are:
- Silverquill (White/Black ): Targeted spells matter (Repartee)
- Witherbloom (Black/Green ): Lifegain matters (Infusion)
- Quandrix (Green/Blue ): +1/+1 counters (Increment)
- Prismari (Blue/Red ): Big spells matter (Opus)
- Lorehold (Red/White ): Cards that leave the graveyard matter (Flashback)
In addition, this is a heavily multicolored set. Don’t be afraid to mix and match the schools to build 3- or even 5-color decks. Converge is here to help enable all five colors and the schools’ individual mechanics line up quite nicely to the point where there should be some good crossovers. This happened a lot last time (in fact, the only time I ever remember playing Lorehold cards was when they were splashed in Prismari decks), and the fixing should be available to let you do it again.
If you want more details about the logistical breakdown of the set, check out our video guide to Secrets of Strixhaven, and subscribe to The Daily Upkeep white you're there.
White
Ajani’s Response
Rating: 4/10
We see some variation on this design in most sets nowadays, and it’s always a pretty decent common. Although I hope that Secrets of Strixhaven will be a slower set than most, the white colleges at least look to be more aggressively slanted. Perhaps Ajani's Response won’t be as good, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Antiquities on the Loose
Rating: 9/10
Three mana for two 2/2 tokens is a pretty good rate, and so is 6 mana for two 3/3s plus some extra +1/+1 counters. It’s just excellent getting both of those in the same card. Antiquities on the Loose is a fantastic card in any white deck, not just the Lorehold decks it was designed for.
Ascendant Dustspeaker
Rating: 2/10
There’s nothing wrong with a 3/4 flier plus a +1/+1 counter for 5 mana, but it’s also not very exciting. Even throwing in the ability to force cards out of your graveyard doesn’t really sell me on Ascendant Dustspeaker. It’s technically playable, but I just think we can do a lot better for 5 mana.
Daydream
Rating: 5/10
Flicker spells have a tendency to be hit or miss, but Secrets of Strixhaven looks like a great set for it. There are a fair few creatures that enter with prepared spells, as well as a seemingly higher than average number of enters the battlefield triggers. On top of that, it triggers repartee abilities and has flashback to trigger Lorehold cards. Daydream looks like quite a neat little role-player that I’d be happy to play in the right deck.
Dig Site Inventory
Rating: 4/10
A single copy of Dig Site Inventory doesn’t do much, but you don’t get just one copy of it, you always get two! Not only that, but both halves are so cheap that this enables a bunch of things. Repartee, multiple spells in a turn, cards leaving your graveyard, and so on. There are so many uses for this that I’m sold on it already.
Eager Glyphmage
Rating: 4/10
I say this every new set, but two bodies from one card is typically a good deal. A 3/3 plus a 1/1 flier for 4 mana is pretty great, so I’m confident Eager Glyphmage will see a good amount of play.
Elite Interceptor
Rating: 4/10
Elite Interceptor kind of looks like a worse Novice Inspector, but it still lets you draw a card for an additional 2 mana, so who am I to complain? Sure, your opponent could remove it before you get to use the Rejoinder spell, but if they do, they just killed a pretty useless 1-drop instead of something better.
Emeritus of Truce
Rating: 10/10
This Emeritus cycle are such a cool designs. Each creature features a classic spell from Alpha as its prepared spell. In this case, Emeritus of Truce has brought Swords to Plowshares, white’s best-ever removal spell, to the party. On top of that, this Emeritus is already a 3/3 plus a 1/1 flier for just 3 mana, which is always great to see. If you can line it up to get access to the Swords too, then this turns into one of the most ridiculous Nekrataal variants I’ve ever seen. This has to be one of the set’s best cards.
Ennis, Debate Moderator
Rating: 6/10
As you look over the cards from Secrets of Strixhaven, you’ll notice a considerable number of good enters the battlefield abilities, which includes creatures that enter prepared. As such, Ennis, Debate Moderator should have plenty of good options for you to flicker. Of course, you probably shouldn’t play this card at all if you don’t have any of those options.
Erode
Rating: 8/10
Path to Exile is one of white’s best-ever removal spells and Erode is a remarkably similar functional reprint. While it’s less good in the early game because you don’t want to give your opponent an extra land, it gets better and better as the game progresses and the downside becomes less impactful. Don’t underestimate the ability to use this on your own creature, perhaps after blocks or when your opponent destroys it, so that you can get an extra land of your own.
Graduation Day
Rating: 4/10
There’s a lot to like with Graduation Day. It’s cheap, it triggers frequently, and it gives a good bonus for doing so. The main issue I see with it is that a good Silverquill deck is likely going to need a perfect mix of creatures and targeted spells, and this is neither. Basically, I think this is good enough to try out at first, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was much worse than it looks.
Group Project
Rating: 5/10
Two mana for a 2/2 token is pretty average, so getting another one for free on a later turn, or even the same turn if you cast this later in the game, really puts Group Project above other 2-drops. It might be a little difficult to have three creatures in play to tap for it, but I think most Lorehold decks should be able to handle it, especially if it gets to trigger a bunch of abilities you have lying around.
Harsh Annotation
Rating: 1/10
WotC keep printing these cards in some form or another, and I keep saying they’re bad. Harsh Annotation can destroy any creature, but replacing it with a 1/1 flier just isn’t a good enough downgrade, even with repartee triggers involved.
Honorbound Page
Rating: 1/10
First strike plus a weak prepared spell aren’t enough to make me interested in a glorified Hill Giant. Like most common 4-drops nowadays, Honorbound Page looks like something you’ll only end up playing when you’re short on playables.
Informed Inkwright
Rating: 9/10
Most repartee triggers simply buff the creature a bit more, but they’re still nice bonuses to have. Informed Inkwright is far better than the rest of them, giving you a free 1/1 flier whenever you cast one of these spells. Whenever you have a theme to build around, creating creature tokens for doing the thing is among the best payoffs you can get; this is one of Silverquill’s strongest build-around cards.
Inkshape Demonstrator
Rating: 4/10
I don’t yet know how frequently we can trigger repartee, because a 4/4 lifelinker with no downsides would probably get a higher grade. Still, Inkshape Demonstrator is held back a little by those times when it’s the weaker 3/4 with just ward.
Interjection
Rating: 3/10
+2/+2 and first strike for just 1 mana can be a pretty effective combat trick, especially when it helps to trigger repartee abilities. I don’t think I’d play this in many Lorehold decks, but Silverquill is probably very happy to see it.
Joined Researchers
Rating: 3/10
This is a really cool throwback to Strixhaven’s Secret Rendezvous. However, that was a pretty bad card the first time around, and I don’t see that changing with Joined Researchers, especially because you can only prepare the spell when your opponent has more cards than you. Still, it’s a 2/2 with first strike for just 2 mana, so it’s hardly a bad card.
Owlin Historian
Rating: 2/10
There’s nothing wrong with a nicely sized flying creature that also surveils and can grow a little bigger. Except we’ve seen a lot of these recently and they consistently underperform. I don’t have much hope for Owlin Historian, though it can fill your curve if you need it to.
Practiced Offense
Rating: 7/10
Lorehold decks should be pretty good at going wide, but even so, the fact that this card’s power is conditional on you actually having some creatures makes me doubtful that it'll be a true bomb. That said, Practiced Offense can represent some massive swings, and the 5-mana mode of casting this twice in the same turn should put your opponent in a tough spot.
Primary Research
Rating: 5/10
Reanimating a small creature plus getting to draw a free card sounds like a reasonable exchange for just 5 mana. But what makes Primary Research really playable is the fact that it’ll stay in play and keep drawing you more cards each turn, as long as you just do the Lorehold thing of having cards leave your graveyard. I wouldn’t run this in most Silverquill decks, but it looks perfect for Lorehold.
Quill-Blade Laureate
Rating: 4/10
Silverquill decks are going to want bodies that are good to buff up with their spells, so double strike does look quite appealing. Plus the prepared spell isn’t so bad either. Quill-Blade Laureate is perfectly fine, just a little boring.
Rapier Wit
Rating: 4/10
We’ve seen variants on Pressure Point every now and again, and they’re always fine. Rapier Wit should be a fair bit stronger than all of those due to how it triggers repartee abilities. There’s not even a downside if you cast it during your turn to better utilize those triggers.
Rehearsed Debater
Rating: 3/10
Rehearsed Debater actually looks like a very annoying creature to deal with. It’s got good stats, and vigilance is very important. It often attacks and/or blocks as a 4/4 thanks to its repartee trigger, so your opponent has to be extra careful getting into combat with it.
Restoration Seminar
Rating: 8/10
The thought of getting to resolve this for free for every turn of the game is extremely enticing. The only issue with that is the need to cast Restoration Seminar for the full 7 mana first, which is kind of inefficient. Still, if having one inefficient but effective turn is the cost you need to pay to get a free permanent every turn of the game, then I’d say that’s a price well worth paying.
Shattered Acolyte
Rating: 3/10
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a 2/2 lifelinker for 2 mana. Better yet, Shattered Acolyte is the perfect host for a few +1/+1 counters to help you win any damage race, and getting to pick off a nasty artifact or enchantment every now and again is just the icing on the cake.
Soaring Stoneglider
Rating: 6/10
Not only is Soaring Stoneglider an excellent rate for just 3 mana, but you also get to trigger all your relevant Lorehold abilities. I don’t know if you’ll be able to comfortably enable it by turn 3, but it’s still good to play later in the game if you need to.
Spiritcall Enthusiast
Rating: 4/10
Spiritcall Enthusiast’s stats aren’t too bad, and it’s fairly easy to prepare, but the spell you get for doing so isn’t all that good. Spells that only buff your creatures at sorcery speed are rarely useful, so you simply don’t play them. That said, you’re getting the spell for free along with a reasonable creature on your curve, so this is still a playable card.
Stand Up for Yourself
Rating: 5/10
Most of the creatures you want to destroy in the first place have at least 3 power, but the few that don’t will hold this card back a fair bit. Stand Up for Yourself is a perfectly reasonable removal spell and is cheap enough to keep us interested.
Stirring Hopesinger
Rating: 8/10
+1/+1 counters for all your creatures is an incredible repartee trigger. Even better when it comes on a flying lifelinker like Stirring Hopesinger. This is going to be an incredibly difficult creature to race, not just because all your creatures keep growing, but also because of the lifelink and the fact you’re able to gain more and more life each turn.
Stone Docent
Rating: 3/10
Unlike other similar cards, Stone Docent actually looks very reasonable to just cast on turn 2 and start to attack. Once it trades off, which you’re very happy for it to do, it just becomes an easy way to have something leave the graveyard on a later turn for a very minimal cost.
Summoned Dromedary
Rating: 4/10
A 4/3 with vigilance for 4 mana is pretty below average, but that’s not the part of Summoned Dromedary that I’m really interested in. Rather, the ability to have it leave your graveyard for just 2 mana is quite powerful. If you can drop one of these into your graveyard, either by milling it or discarding it, then you have a nice, easy way to have something leave your graveyard and trigger all your relevant abilities. Plus, as a game goes long, you can cast this and close out a game with a creature that can’t properly die.
Blue
Banishing Betrayal
Rating: 4/10
Banishing Betrayal goes way up in value in a set like Secrets of Strixhaven thanks to each school having its own creature token to focus on. After all, an easy way to increase the number of instants and sorceries in a set without compromising on the number of creatures is to print a bunch of spells that create tokens. When this straight up eliminates a Prismari 3/3 flying elemental or a huge Quandrix Fractal, it’s going to look pretty damn good.
Brush Off
Rating: 3/10
The sheer number of instants and sorceries in original Strixhaven turned