Pre-release is a time of fun.

Secrets of Strixhaven is here. When we first visited the plane, I was taking a break from Magic, so this is my first time interacting with it. My first impression of it, overall, is that I enjoy the aesthetic and the familiar colour combinations. I find all the new mechanics interesting to play with, and I really look forward to seeing the shenanigans that will arise in Commander. But before going into Commander, I’d like to talk about the pre-release for a bit.

The pre-release

Getting to choose the college you prefer for your pre-release pack is always nice. I went with Silverquill for two reasons. First, I wanted an extra chance to get Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer from the seeded pack, because it looks so cool. The second reason is that I want to get more used to playing aggro. I tend to play decks that lean more towards control or, at least, they take more time to win. So, this time, I wanted to try something more aggro. Based on what I had read, I understood that White-Black is a bit more aggressive in this set, so I went with it.

I understand that the seeded packs will not necessarily get you a rare/mythic of that college. Still, I found it especially funny when I opened a foil Lorehold, the Historian from a Silverquill pack. Overall, I am very happy with the cards I got, both as a pool for my deck and in terms of value, especially Commander value.

But what about the deck? Well, here it is. Oh, and also here’s the deck Anastasios made. The deck felt good when I played it. I had a lot of interaction, and even more that I had to cut. The only cards I didn’t have the opportunity to play were Render Speechless and Feed the Swarm. Playing Graduation Day on turn 1, or on turn 2 with a creature already on the field, was really good. Moment of Reckoning was good, but, unfortunately, I got to play it only when the pressure was on me.

The pre-release lasted 4 rounds. I got to play against one Quandrix deck, one Lorehold deck, and two Witherbloom decks. One of the Witherbloom decks was insane, with Witherbloom, the Balancer and Emeritus of Woe, and a ton of other goodies. Next, in terms of synergy and flavour, I would put the Quandrix deck, with some really nice interactions that would generate tons of fractals and counters. Third was the other Witherbloom deck. It wasn’t as insane in terms of value cards as the other one, but it was quite consistent in what it was trying to do, which, in that case, was life loss. Last is the Lorehold deck, with not much in terms of synergy. However, this one was my woe.

The Lorehold player threw me off my game so much during our matches. They said they were a new player. When playing with new players, I tend to be very understanding because I have been one myself in the past. I try to help them, correct them, and remind them of triggers. However, this one felt different. They were trying to cast spells without sufficient mana multiple times, even after being reminded that you need mana in order to cast spells. They attempted to exile cards from their graveyard that were already in exile. In general, I feel I have never seen these types of misplays from a new player before. This is partially because I had a great teacher, so I am following some specific steps when teaching others. This felt like the worst round of the event for me. Not because I wasn’t winning, but because I had to pay 120% attention. At the end, I was so drained, and my brain was so clouded that I even ended up declaring the round results incorrectly, giving the win to the opponent. I realised that a couple of hours after the event had ended. I have no problems with new players. I am the one who has introduced Magic to my friends, and I’ve taught quite a few new players. I enjoy it, in fact, as much as I enjoy introducing new players to tabletop RPGs. But for some reason, this one didn’t feel right. And what adds to this is that Anastasios, who also loves teaching games to new players, had similar comments as well. But what’s done is done. I got my cool cards, and I got to play with them. And that’s what matters in a pre-release.

Secrets of Strixhaven Commander Decks

This new set came with five new precon decks, one for each of the colleges of Lorehold, Prismary, Quandrix, Silverquill, and Witherbloom. Are they any good? That question has two answers, one regarding the cards found in the decks and one regarding how well they play. Sadly, I cannot tell you how well they play yet. I didn’t have the chance to try any of them yet. This will change today, however, because today I will try either the Quandrix or Witherbloom one. Before making any changes to the decks whatsoever, I am planning on playing with them a few times. Afterwards, I will decide if any of them made it to the Commander List, and what changes I could make to them.

Now, as for the cards included in the decks, the overall opinion, mine included, is that there are a lot of good reprints in them, let alone the new cards. And I am not talking about cards that have monetary value. Sure, there are a few of them. But there are also a lot of cards that are useful staples for Commander. Plus, each deck gets one of the new dual lands.

And that’s all for this time. Next time, I’ll be back with some hands-on experience with, hopefully, most of the new decks, and probably with the conclusion of the Lorwyn Eclipsed League. I haven’t talked about this for a bit, so I should get to it. Now, excuse me because I need to finish packing for Commander Night.

And until next time, have fun!