Duel Commander: Secrets of Strixhaven Review (Best Cards!)

Secrets of Strixhaven is very rich, as well as fascinating. Actually, it is also so diverse that we decided to separate our review into cycles and colors to go through it properly.

I believe only a few cards in this set will truly be relevant for Duel Commander. After all, it won't give us a Formidable Speaker, like Lorwyn did, but it will give us more interesting cards than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set, and these should see more play than the TNMT cards as well.

We'll rank each card as follows:

1 - This card should become a staple or game changer.

2 - This card should see play in several archetypes.

3 - This card should only see play in a few decks.

4 - This card will probably not see play, but its effect is pretty noteworthy.

Emeritus Cycle

How can 5 cards that belong to the same cycle be so different? Three of these cards come into play prepared, four can become prepared multiple times, and one of them is... white.

The blue Emeritus is really similar to Lord of Change. You'll have to use mana to draw cards with it (which is a lot if you compare it to an Animate Dead, for instance), but you can do this again and again. Furthermore, it does cost more mana than we'd like it to (5), but you should have no trouble playing it.

The green and black Emeritus are harder to assess because nothing like them is seeing play in Duel Commander. Eternal Witness is not exactly similar to them because no one will pay 3 mana on a 2/1 creature. However, I believe that both Emeritus will see play because their prepared spells are too strong and they're big enough as creatures.

As for the red Emeritus, in my humble opinion, it is bad. Casting three spells in a turn is a lot. A 2/2 Wizard with first strike is not that embarassing, but I don't believe we'll be able to make it work.

Finally, the white Emeritus is the most difficult to assess. Paying 3 mana on a 3/3 creature and a 1/1 creature with flying is not the worst effect in the world. If you consider that, besides these two creatures, you'll also be able to remove something, then it seems incredibly strong! But, to get all this, you'll have to be quite behind your opponent (they must control more creatures than you)!

The regular way to use it seems to be to pay 4 mana (1WWW) to get a 3/3 creature, play a Swords to Plowshares, and give your opponent a 1/1 creature with flying. This seems bad to me. It's hard to say for certain, but I don't believe it will see play.

Green, black, and blue Emeritus: 2.5 stars.

White and red Emeritus: 4 stars.

Paradigm Cards

The other Paradigm cards are pretty forgettable, but these two really intrigued me. Their effects are pretty slow. Once you resolve one of them, though, you'll progressively get stronger until you become unbeatable.

If you control a Slimefoot and a Saproling when you cast Germination Practicum, next turn you'll have dealt 20 damage (you'll have a 5/5 and a 3/3 in one turn and a 7/7 and a 5/5 on the next). It's slow, but it could be decisive. In any case, any control list (Atraxa/Tivit/Elminster) will simply lose to a Decorum Dissertation if it's resolved.

The closest thing to this card we ever saw was the Epic cycle in Saviors of Kamigawa - and Enduring Ideal defined the meta when it was available.

3 stars.

Charms

Charms are usually great, but they're especially valuable in highlander formats without sideboards. To assess Charms, I look at their "base effect" (let's say, the reason why I would use it in a deck), and then I assess if their alternative modes are good enough.

For instance, let's consider Silverquill Charm. It is a 2-mana instant removal for creatures that have 2 power or less - which is good enough. Its other modes are clearly useful as well.

I believe only Witherbloom Charm fails this test because neither of its modes is strong enough for us to put it in our lists. In any case, none of these Charms are particularly great either, and I believe all of them are options to consider, but none of them should become staples.

3 stars.

Students

This Boros card is similar to Snapcaster, but it's not quite like it. It also doesn't have Flash, which is terrible, but we can play it on curve (and cast its spell on the following turn), which is quite strong! It shouldn't fit any consolidated list all that easily, and 3 mana is a lot more than 2, though. Nonetheless, its effect is strong enough!

As for the Golgari Scholar, it has a pretty interesting effect that draws cards and is big enough.

"Aristocrat", as a mechanic, is available in many colors, which is pretty tragic. There are many sacrifice mechanics in with Juri, many creatures that die and bring new creatures into play in , and now cards that draw when you sacrifice your creatures in . Meanwhile, we don't have enough of these tools in these color combinations (well, maybe Rakdos...) to pop out a deck centered around this theme.

The good thing about Paradigm is that getting more of these cards every year will, soon, make these strategies viable.

4 stars.

None of these cards is impressive, but they could all eventually see play in a list.

4 stars.

Elite Interceptor really reminds me of Thraben Inspector. Sacrificing a Clue at instant speed is much better than at sorcery speed, but tapping/untapping a creature is quite valuable.

Ceaseless Conflict, in turn, is totally new, but quite welcome. I believe the easiest comparison would be with Sunfall... Which doesn't see play. I imagine that white control lists that don't play blue could play it, and it would be a very powerful addition.

3 stars.

This set only brought us 2 blue cards for Duel Commander, but they're all valuable. Fractalize is probably the closest to a removal blue can get - particularly as it can also be a Fireball occasionally.

As for Flow State, it walks, talks, and quacks like a staple. After all, Expressive Iteration is a lot less flexible and sees play. I won't say Flow State is strictly better, because it isn't (it needs some setup, after all), but it will certainly see play.

2 stars.

Seriously, I'm a huge fan of Liliana of the Veil, and Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer is an upgraded version of it.

Forcing opponents to discard cards is already quite strong. The only reason Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage doesn't see play is because, if you ignore it, it looks a lot more like a slow Mind Rot than a value-based tool.

Both Ral's -2 ability (which reminds me of Unearth) and its Surveil are valuable and nearly always useful. Its ultimate certainly wins the game, but we know we won't be able to use it that often. Nonetheless, we don't need to do this to make this card work, like most planeswalkers.

3 stars.

What does this card do? With an Impulsive Pilferer and Culling the Weak, we can draw... 3 cards?

I believe this card will be considered broken and compared with Yawgmoth's Will or some other unbelievably shitty card that doesn't see any play. I'm considering its effect when it draws 4 cards because 3 or less would be more similar to Painful Truths, which doesn't see any play either. It was worth a mention, but nothing else.

4 stars.

Here are a few interesting cards that shouldn't see any play. Gaining life points is quite bad in Duel Commander because the only satisfying way to do it is with lifelink creatures. And, in this case, you probably don't want to play a mass removal or another creature.

Preparing Exsanguinates isn't bad. It's not worth a full card, but it is strong. Realistically, what are the odds that one of your creatures will attack and deal damage, and you'll get an advantage out of that with a sorcery that doesn't impact the board?

I confess that my disdain for creatures with prepare will probably come back to haunt me because we don't know how powerful these cards will be. But I believe none of these cards will truly see play in Duel Commander.

4 stars.

Being able to replay any card is simply incredible.

1 star.

Now, seriously, Flashback is everything Rakdos lists want (for instance, you can discard or remove something again), is great with blue (as you can draw twice as many cards or replay interactions), and it works really well with white too... But it won't be great in all Boros lists because you'll need lots of instants/sorceries in this case.

For me, this is the best card in this set, by a wide margin.

Furygale Flocking is pretty interesting. Its first effect really reminds me of Delve - it doesn't interact with fetchlands, but you can use it multiple times. Paying for two 3/3 creatures with haste and flying is absurdly strong.

I believe we'll still have to look for a place to play this card. Eris is (and will remain) banned and we probably don't have enough cards that interact with this mechanic to build a decent deck, but I believe this card is quite powerful and should become a staple eventually.

4 stars.

These cards won't be game changers, but they could all end up seeing play.

Maelstrom Artisan, for instance, is similar to Avalanche Riders and Fulminator Mage. They're pretty interesting, but don't see play.

Obsidian Charmaw is also pretty similar but doesn't see play. The logical conclusion to draw is that none of these cards see play but you might be able to combine all of these interesting effects in your lists and eventually turn this into a strategy. Maybe this list will play something like a Windgrace as the commander, or center around tempo, with effects like Ephemerate.

All the other cards are, in the best-case scenario, mediocre. One is a sorcery-speed removal, the other is a creature that gets counters when you play spells (but this one only costs 2 mana), and one is sort of a copy spell (it doubles a removal or burn and creates a second attacker).

All of them are relatively valuable and could see play eventually in certain lists, but they shouldn't be too relevant.

4 stars.

These two cards doesn't look like much, but they can be very useful. Glorious Decay is a green Cling to Dust, and, though it costs one mana more, it has two great upsides. Destroying artifacts is a decent effect, but dealing 4 damage to a creature with flying is effectively a removal if you find targets for it. You'll certainly be able to find some, as rare as they are.

As for Studious First-Year, it is a satisfying ramp card that leaves a body on the board so that you can chump block something later. It's quite similar to Wood Elves, but in two parts.

3 stars.

You either die a hero or live long enough to see a 6/6 creature that costs become mediocre/bad. All of these cards are decent in terms of power level, but they probably won't see any play.

My favorite, without a question, is Wildgrowth Archaic, which turns some creatures into real threats (but what isn't a threat nowadays?).

4 stars.

Cards That Could Become Commanders

To be quite frank, Dina, Rootha, and Excava are considered commanders, but they're not good enough. Rootha almost fooled us, as we can use cards with Delve and alternative costs like Mine Collapse with it, but it's clear to me that these cards won't be powerful enough and, at most, will see play as one of the 99 cards in our decks.

Quintorius is interesting. I don't think we have enough cards to activate his effect consistently (and create countless 3/2s), but a "control" list with cards like Relic of Progenitus and Scrabbling Claws that can create an army is certainly tempting.

As for Sanar, it creates treasures and is a tutor. Playing combos without is quite difficult, but I'll take it personally if no one manages to break this commander (okay, I'm exaggerating, but it has everything to work}.

Ratings are non-applicable.

Golgari/Witherbloom

All of these cards are cute. They do a lot, without a question, but, in competitive settings, they're often "slow" or "win more" cards (cards that win games that were already won).

Take Witherbloom, the Balancer, for instance: you need a bunch of creatures to get a 5/5 with flying, and the reward is playing spells for less mana. But, if you already have such a great board, do you really need to give your sorceries creature affinity?

4 stars.

Dina’s Guidance and Vicious Rivalry are a bit different. is much better than , which could make up for how much mana Eladamri's Call costs. Even more so considering that putting cards directly in the graveyard enables a few unfair strategies.

Vicious Rivalry is a bad mass creature removal, but, considering Cloud sees a lot of play, destroying artifacts is a lot more valuable.

3 stars.

Boros/Lorehold

I only selected one Boros card, but it's excellent! It has haste and evasion, grows by itself "for free", and can also gain lifelink.

The only thing it isn't is legendary... If it were, Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful would be even happier to see it.

2 stars.

Izzet/Prismari

Traumatic Critique and Visionary's Dance are versatile. Paying 2 mana to recycle cards is good enough. It's a pity we don't have a great or control list to use these cards. Kefka might be their only "viable" home.

Vibrant Outburst is strictly better than Lightning Strike, but Lightning Strike doesn't see play. I understand it's a decent tempo card, and it might see play with Aragorn, as this list can use a removal that also enables Force of Negation, but it is certainly not impressive.

3 stars.

Simic/Quandrix

This is an instant spell that draws 3 cards and ramps. Urban Evolution was a real card... in 2013. And the fact it isn't a sorcery is quite relevant. I believe Atraxa should be the only "viable" home to Embrace the Paradox, but it's worth a try.

3 stars.

Orzhov/Silverquill

Unfortunately, this college wasn't made for constructed tournaments.

Colorless Cards and Lands

If The Dawning Archaic was blue or red, it could even end up banned. As it's colorless, our best hope is to play it as one of the 99 cards in a deck centered around this mechanic - it's a pity Octavia isn't as loved as it should be.

Diary of Dreams should be slightly weaker than we needed it to be. Realistically, it gets good as soon as we play 3 spells, which makes it a very bad "topdeck" most of the time.

Petrified Hamlet stops some cards - Maze of Ith, Channel lands (like Otawara and Eiganjo), Dust Bowl, and all manlands. Considering it is a land that enters play untapped and gives you mana, it deserved a few words, but I can't really see great ways to use it straight away.

4 stars.

It's hard to assess cards that are colorshifted versions of already existing cards, or that are just like other cards that seem good but don't see any play.

Many of them seem interesting, but we don't have enough to build a deck that can take advantage of them. Nonetheless, if we keep saying this about every card that interacts with +1/+1 counters, eventually we will have enough of them and be able to test them out.

This set seems quite powreful to me, and we certainly missed a few cards.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!