Spoiler Highlight: The Dawning Archaic on Standard, Pioneer & Modern

Secrets of Strixhaven arrived with a bang: Force of Will and Vampiric Tutor reprints in the Mystical Archives, coming to the Timeless format on Magic Arena; a potential new Pauper staple in Spirit Mascot; and a cycle of Charms that could even impact Legacy.

But the surprises didn't stop there. Ral Zarek returns as a Mono Black Planeswalker, the enemy Slow Land cycle is getting reprinted, and the legendary dragons cycle is already an easy build-around for Commander.

For competitive formats, though, another legend caught players' attention:

The Dawning Archaic is a 7/7 with an easy-to-enable cost reduction that can let you cast it for free—drawing comparisons to Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis. As if that weren't enough, the creature also has a Dreadhorde Arcanist ability when it attacks, with no mana cost restriction, letting you replay bombs turn after turn.

It has the potential to be completely broken or land somewhere in between playable and "there are better options" across every competitive Magic environment. So let's dive a bit deeper into this bomb.

First: The Dawning Archaic is not Hogaak. One of Delve's biggest advantages is being able to eat any card from the graveyard, including fetch lands. The new legend only feeds on instants and sorceries—easy for any Turbo Xerox deck, but not nearly as easy as casting Hogaak and triggering one or two Vengevines on turn two or three for double-digit power on board.

The new creature is closer to a glorified version of cards like Tolarian Terror or Eddymurk Crab, but with properties that make it somewhat comparable to Murktide Regent and other common "Blue Tempo" payoffs in eternal formats like Legacy and non-rotating ones like Modern, with the appropriate caveats.

Standard

The new creature could shine in two current Standard archetypes. Izzet Lessons has no trouble discarding cards to fuel the graveyard, and its strategy doesn't clash with Archaic at all. On top of that, it generates extra value when casting Accumulate Wisdom and can even help clear the board with Combustion Technique and other removal in the list. Four copies isn't ideal, but two seems like a good starting point.

Jeskai Control is another option, especially if you can sequence Jeskai Revelation with Archaic to recast Revelation on the following turn, generating an absurd amount of card advantage that would bury any opponent. That build would naturally lean more toward the late game, packing more spells to fuel the graveyard and ensuring the new card comes down cheap, with plenty of protection from Three Steps Ahead and other interaction.

The Dawning Archaic isn't an Elemental, so it gets bounced by Sunderflock. Running four copies in that specific archetype doesn't seem very productive when it doesn't offer any auxiliary line to the main strategy.

Pioneer

Indomitable Creativity is absent from Pioneer right now, and cards like Valgavoth, Terror Eater are most likely better payoffs than The Dawning Archaic in the format. However, the combination of an Izzet Control shell with plenty of spells, possibly a Lessons package, and the ability to use Archaic on the cast shouldn't be underestimated. Having that line of play, plus the possibility of Magma Opus into Indomitable Creativity into Archaic attacking and recasting Opus, could bring benefits that relying solely on Creativity can't offer.

Modern

The most obvious comparison for Archaic in Modern is with Murktide Regent and Abhorrent Oculus—cards that find homes in Tempo shells alongside cheap cantrips, Psychic Frog, and in Oculus's case, the synergy with Unearth.

Those Dimir Tempo lists have barely put up consistent results in recent months and have been replaced by variants that don't rely on the graveyard as much, leaning more on the individual value of cards like Quantum Riddler, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student rather than the fast-fill route to drop bombs. Variants using Persist and Archon of Cruelty are also direct substitutes, and some even leverage Abhorrent Oculus with Unearth, but The Dawning Archaic isn't a legal target for any of those.

In lists with Psychic Frog, then, the only remaining option is Goryo's Vengeance. Since Archaic needs to attack to cast a spell from the graveyard, a second Goryo's would be redundant in many cases if it doesn't involve Atraxa, Grand Unifier—and in that scenario, reanimating Atraxa directly seems more efficient than jumping through hoops for the same result.

The ideal would be to use Archaic with Goryo's and then cast Ephemerate on it, but that line also feels a bit too "win-more." So we're left with focusing on the combo potential of the new card, pairing Goryo's Vengeance with some bomb spell like Time Stretch or Magma Opus to generate significant value from the creature before it dies again—still, reanimating an Atraxa in a two-card combo will remain more effective than adding a third piece to the equation if the spell you're casting doesn't win the game on the spot.

I wish I could be more optimistic about The Dawning Archaic in Modern, but it doesn't seem to have room outside of being a win-more slot in established decks or a support piece in strategies completely absent from the current Metagame. Moreover, being colorless means it doesn't fuel Evoke cards or Force of Negation, and it's an easy target for Consign to Memory—the most played sideboard card in the format right now.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!