If you are struggling to choose your Strixhaven College for the upcoming Magic: The Gathering Secrets of Strixhaven set, we can help make the decision much easier. Each of the five Strixhaven colleges has its own playstyle and new special mechanics that help further define identity.
So, whether you're a fast and aggressive speller, or a slow and methodical control player, Strixhaven College looks forward to welcoming you this next semester; You just need to choose to pledge your allegiance.
prismari
aggressive spell
Prismari is a red and blue mana college, and like most Izzet decks you'll find in other formats, instant and magic spells are important to how this college works.
This is most obvious when you look at the Prismary Artistry and Prismary Performance Commander decks, both of which are loaded with 29 instant/magic spells with far fewer creatures, artifacts, and enchantments. If you like the idea of being active during both yours and your opponent's, then Prismari enables this as well.
With Prismari, always be sure to leave yourself with enough mana to cast spells on your opponent's turn.
Creatures still play a big role in Prismari decks, but you'll use your spells to protect them and keep them active on the battlefield. Token creatures also come into play to fill any gaps left by having so many spells in any deck.
Overall, if you like active and engaging gameplay, always being a part of the action, and building decks that frustrate desperate opponents, then Prismari is the Strixhaven College for you.
Magic: The Gathering – All secrets of the Strixhaven Commander deck, ranked
We're taking a closer look at all of the Strixhaven Commander decks and Secrets of Strixhaven from Commander 2021 to determine which ones are top of the class.
Silverquill
Thoughtful and subtle
Silverquill is a black and white mana college, and it places great weight on words and how they affect the world. How this is reflected in the gameplay Inspiring your creatures and increasing their strength and toughness While flying ink at opponents to represent the harsh nature of barbs and insults on the battlefield.
Make sure you build your Silverquill deck with both offensive and defensive spells.
This is all very metaphorical, but how does it translate to gameplay Reliance on magic, and especially on sawsTo boost the power and toughness of your own creatures as well as help negate the ones your opponents field.
This reliance on magic means: Few moments and magic Silverquill is used in decks, but spells in this deck can be devastating. Silverquill takes the quality-over-quantity approach very seriously.
If you're looking for decks that are built around action, building strong battlefields, and taking away any power your opponent tries to wield, then Silverquill should be your college of choice.
Witherbloom
The circle of life…and death
Witherbloom is the green and black Strixhaven College, and its roots are buried deep in life and death, presented as one. Life gains and sacrifices Strategy.
The most obvious way to activate Witherbloom decks is to build around pests. These can be 1/1 token creatures Sacrifice to trigger the abilities of other permanentsBut grant you one life at a time. In a pinch, you can find ways to increase the power and toughness of these tokens to ensure you still present a threat to your opponent, but they're really a resource, like mana, that you'll use to achieve a greater goal.
The best time to sacrifice a pest is when you have designated it as a deterrent. This will prevent damage and still trigger any sacrifice-related abilities.
Your life total is also used as a resourceWith cards that let you drain your own life to improve the spell's ability. Meanwhile, Infusion will see spells become more powerful if you gain life at any point during the turn. It can be hard to constantly manage your life total as it's always up and down, but you'll get used to it after a few games.
At their core, Witherbloom decks are fun to play if you don't mind Micromanagement aspect of insects and life yogasAnd there are some really awesome combos and game plans you can build around its core mechanics.
Lorehold
Gone, but not forgotten
Lorehold is a red and white Strixhaven college and fully adopted Aggressive Boros animal mentality.
It's a college for completely no-nonsense players who want to go aggressive from turn to turn, with a mix of well-rounded creatures and spells that can be cast even beyond the graveyard.
All external attacks come through the use of mentality creatures, but also abilities Generate a decent number of soul tokens. On top of that, most of the spells within Lorehold are geared towards dealing direct damage to the target or generating more Spirit tokens, so it's hard to go wrong when every deck is going to follow very similar principles.
While Lorehold is great for aggressive strategies, you need to be wary of your opponent banishing it from your graveyard.
Flashback is the mechanic that allows you to Recast cards once they are in your graveyardBut often for an additional cost. Your deck also has spells that let you draw permanent creatures or spells from your graveyard into your hand, meaning you're never short of threats.
Lorehold decks are perfect for players who don't know how to quit. If you believe Attack is the best form of defenseThen Lorehold is the Strixhaven College for you.
Quantrics
Calculating…
If you like the analytical side of Magic: The Gathering, then Quandrix, College of Blue and Green, is where you'll have the most fun.
Quandrix spins around Piling up +1/+1 counters on X-cast spells and creatures To intimidate your opponents.
Hitting your land drops is important, however, if you really want to increase the effectiveness of X-cost spells, you need to allocate mana.
Be sure to have plenty of dice (or tokens) nearby when playing Quandrix decks, you'll need them.
You will build decks that take the best aspects of green mana, which is Building hulking creaturesAnd blue mana, which is countering opponents until tomorrow, until they finally give up and turn the tables.
Quandrix is A ton of fun to play once you find the right balance within the deckBut it takes a keen eye to track all the mechanics that can be in play at any given time, while making sure you have mana spare to prevent your opponent from ruining all your hard work with a devastating board wipe.
Magic: The Gathering – Secrets of Strixhaven Commander Deck Guide
Mysterious Colleges of Magic: The Gathering returns with five new Commander decks, each with their own unique playstyle and stylish leader.
