Content
New Set
This release brings a new set: Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS). SOS is a Standard set and will bring us back to the plane of Arcavios. Open your books, everyone!
New Mechanics
Prepare
Prepare is an evergreen mechanic. In the card text, there will be a spell linked through Prepare. Creatures enter the battlefield unprepared. Only creatures who have Prepare can become prepared and will have a corresponding trigger that will make them become prepared.
Prepared spells can’t be copied. When a creature becomes prepared, it will cast the spell linked to Prepare. After it is cast, the spell is removed from the game, then the creature becomes unprepared.
Paradigm
When the card is played, the Paradigm effect is triggered. That same card gains a Knowledge emblem and is exiled. At the beginning of your turn, if there is a card with a Knowledge emblem in your exile, the Paradigm effect is triggered. Each card in your exile with a different Paradigm effect triggers separately, but only once per different card name.
If you play two identical cards, the Paradigm effect will trigger only once. If a card is exiled without being cast, it will not trigger the effect, as it did not gain a Knowledge emblem.
Repartee
When you cast a Spell card that targets a creature on the battlefield, the Repartee effects trigger. Repartee triggers once per spell, not based on the number of cards it is targeting.
Opus
Opus is an additional effect on the card. Opus will trigger when the cast card has a higher cost than the Opus value. It only works with spells and always considers the card’s current cost, not necessarily its base or potential alternative cost.
Increment
Increment is a numbered evergreen. If a card is played with a cost higher than the current Increment value, that card gains +1/+1, and the Increment value increases by 1. Increment has a starter value on the card.
For Increment to trigger, the cost must be higher; if it is equal to or lower, it will not trigger. Increment always considers the card’s current mana cost, not necessarily its base cost or the buried cost.
Infusion
Some triggered abilities have Infusion. Infusion checks if you gained life this turn to activate their abilities.
If you gain life in this turn and then lose it, Infusion will still trigger. It considers the act of gaining life, not your current life total.
New Planeswalkers
This time, we are bringing a different approach to releasing Planeswalkers. They are all available right away in a discounted Bundle containing all 5! But if you like just one or two, they will be released in individual Bundles each week, as per usual, starting with our favorite pachyderm scholar.
All five SOS Planeswalkers are available to be selected and played with since the release. You can also test them in the new Event (see below for more information).
Zimone, Infinite Analyst
Zimone is a graduate from Quandrix, which is known for her high intelligence and for having acquired vast knowledge about the multiverse.
Zimone, Infinite Analyst is a Blue and Green legendary creature that we turned into a Planeswalker available for purchase and selection in Secrets of Strixhaven.
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Focus on Level cards and Fractal creatures.
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Reduces the cost of Level cards and gains mana.
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Increase Fractal abilities and mana conversion based on Level spells already used.
Colors: Blue, Green
Total Leveling Cost: 160720
At Level 60 -
HP: 103
Mana Bonuses: White (+1) Blue (+3) Black (-1) Red (0) Green (+5)
Deck Limits: 04 Creatures, 08 Spells, 07 Supports
(Passive Ability) Infinite Creativity: When you cast your first card with Level in your turn: All Fractal creatures you control get +2/+2.
Ability 1 - Calculated Analysis (Cost 08): Create a Quandrix Fractal token. Reduce the cost of the first 2 cards with Level in your hand by 3. Gain 4 mana.
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*Ability 2 - Conjecture Revelation (Cost 19): Your Fractal creatures gain First Strike and Vigilance until the beginning of your next turn. Convert X gems to Green. Convert X gems to Blue. X is the number of cards with Level in your graveyard.
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Rootha, Mastering the Moment
Rootha Squallheart is intense, passionate, and obsessed with perfecting her art. She’s always had a contentious relationship with her magic and her craftsmanship. She would become enamored of a visionary idea, spend weeks on it, then suddenly hate her creation and destroy it a day later. She struggled to control the wild magic within her, pressured by the legacy of her prolific mother, Samara Squallheart.
Rootha, Mastering the Moment is a Red and Blue legendary creature that we turned into a Planeswalker available for purchase and selection in Secrets of Strixhaven.
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Passively creates elementals with high loyalty.
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Fetches spell cards and gives them some mana.
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Improvement or removal for creatures, depending on how many evergreens your Canvas Elemental has.
Colors: Blue, Red
Total Leveling Cost: 160720
At Level 60 -
HP: 119
Mana Bonuses: White (+1) Blue (+3) Black (+1) Red (+3) Green (0)
Deck Limits: 06 Creatures, 07 Spells, 06 Supports
(Passive Ability) Happy Painting: At the end of your turn: if you have 12 or more Loyalty - Create a Canvas Elemental.
*Ability 1 - Having Some Fun (Cost 07): Fetch the first Spell card from your library. That card gains 5 mana.
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*Ability 2 - Beating the Brush (Cost 11/09/09/07): The first Canvas Elemental creature you control gets +2/+2 and gains a random basic evergreen. Then: If that creature has 3 or more basic evergreens — Destroy the first creature with the lowest mana value each player controls.
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Killian, Decisive Mentor
A competitive and driven Silverquill student, and son of Embrose, the Dean of Shadow. Killian had spent much of his time trying to live up to his strengths and skills. During the Invasion Killian knew his magic could not overpower the Phyrexians alone, and he focused on bolstering his allies. The sense of pride he felt seeing others flourish encouraged him to continue to hone his supportive skills. Though he does not shy from cutting words as well; sometimes the best way to help people is to stop others from harming them. He currently acts as a student mentor to new Silverquill students and is considering running for student government.
Killian, Decisive Mentor is a White and Black legendary creature that we turned into a Planeswalker available for purchase and selection in Secrets of Strixhaven.
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The very first adaptive planeswalker: his starting stats change according to the types of cards in the deck being currently used.
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Takes advantage of Enchantments being cast to deal damage.
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Turns attacks taken into full mana for cards.
Colors: Black, White
Total Leveling Cost: 160720
At Level 60 -
HP: 191
Mana Bonuses: White (+2) Blue (+1) Black (+2) Red (+1) Green (+1)
Deck Limits: 06 Creatures, 06 Spells, 07 Supports
(Passive Ability) Focused Bolstering: At the beginning of your first turn, perform the following effects for each card beyond the second of each type in your library:
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Creature: Increase your White mana bonus by 1.
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Spell: Increase your Black mana bonus by 1.
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Support: Increase your Maximum Life by 8.
Ability 1 - Listening to the Battlefield (Cost 10): Until end of turn, when an Enchantment enters the battlefield: Disable a random opposing creature until end of turn. Then: Deal X damage to your opponent’s Planeswalker. X is equal to that creature’s Power.
*Ability 2 - Setup Perfecto (Cost 15): Until the beginning of your next turn, when an opposing creature attacks: Draw a card. That card gains full mana.
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Quintorius, History Chaser
A recently sparked Planeswalker, Quint has ventured out into the wider Multiverse. He is an extensive reader who throws himself into his field studies with the eager drive of a prodigy. A gregarious adventurer with a deep appreciation for other cultures, histories, legends, and myths, Quint is equally comfortable in a library or an ancient, haunted temple. Through his explorations he hopes for find answers to the problems facing the Multiverse today. He has been investigating the remnants of the Fomori, mysterious Inter-planar colonizers lost to history. Quint is highly curious and at times impulsive, which has gotten him into trouble more than once. He is easily immersed in a topic and can become oblivious to the concerns and needs of those around him.
Quintorius, History Chaser is a Red and White Planeswalker that will be available for purchase and selection in Secrets of Strixhaven.
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Summon powerful spirits when cards leave the graveyard.
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Card and graveyard selection with mana gain.
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Create spirit tokens and boost Spirit tokens and creatures.
Colors: White, Red
Total Leveling Cost: 160720
At Level 60 -
HP: 135
Mana Bonuses: White (+4) Blue (0) Black (-1) Red (+4) Green (+1)
Deck Limits: 07 Creatures, 08 Spells, 04 Supports
Passive Ability: History Connection
When a card leaves your graveyard: Create an Archeological Spirit Token. This effect can trigger up to 4 times per turn.
Ability 1 - Archaeological Anxiety (Cost 06): Discard the last 2 cards from your hand. Surveil 2. Draw 2 cards. Those cards gain 4 mana.
Ability 2 - Protector of the Lost (Cost 20/20/16/16): Create 3 Archaeological Spirit tokens. Your Spirit creatures gain Double Strike and Vigilance until the beginning of the next turn. Then: Your Spirit tokens gain Prevent Damage and Berserker until end of turn.
Professor Dellian Fel
A professor from the magical college of Strixhaven with a tragic personal history, Dellian Fel was the youngest ever tenured professor of Witherbloom and a pioneer in necromantic studies - specifically on the link between life and death, a subject with which Fel was obsessed. When he was discovered dead in his lab, his feloow faculty mourned his loss - for about thirteen months, after which he rose from the grave. Why he returned with a planeswalker’s spark, and what happened to his soul during those thirteen months, are still mysteries he is trying to solve - as is the strange hunger now lurking in the back of his mind at all times.
Professor Dellian Fel is a Black and Green Planeswalker that will be available for purchase and selection in Secrets of Strixhaven.
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Discard spells to gain mana.
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Reinforce and buff a nonToken creature you control.
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Destroy permanent cards to deal damage to your opponent.
Colors: Black, Green
Total Leveling Cost: 160720
At Level 60 -
HP: 111
Mana Bonuses: White (+1) Blue (0) Black (+3) Red (0) Green (+4)
Deck Limits: 06 Creatures, 06 Spells, 07 Supports
Ability 1 - Discoveries about Life (Cost 05): Gain 8 life. If you have above 65 life — Draw a card. If this is the first time you activated a loyalty ability this turn — You may activate your second loyalty ability this turn.
Ability 2 - Discoveries about Death (Cost 05): Destroy target creature. If you have below 65 life — Lose 7 life. Otherwise: Lose 15 life. If this is the first time you activated a loyalty ability this turn — You may activate your first loyalty ability this turn.
Ability 3 - Linea Vitae Coexistere (Cost 20): Create 4 Linea Vitae tokens.
(For the complete Planeswalker notes, check our Planeswalker Details forum.)
New Event
Five College Showdown
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Event Type: PvE
No entry fee
Deck Restrictions: Standard
Number of nodes: 5
Planeswalkers Allowed: (Special)
Duration: 46h
Charges (per node): Unlimited
Progression Rewards
When the Elder Dragons of Arcavios first noticed humanoid races trying to wield magic they grew angry and wary. The dangers of mortals being capable of magic far overweighted the positives of the matter.
But with time the Elders understood that with discipline and proper guidance these mortals could master the magic birthed from the plane’s snarls. With that philosophy in mind Strixhaven was founded, a school of magic where the teachings of the founder Elder Dragons would be passed for generations.
Each Elder had its own college, named after themselves: Silverquil, Lorehold, Witherbloom, Prismari and Quandrix.
Special Rules
Players play with Master decks of the new Planeswalkers, facing PvE enemies from Arcavios.
(For the complete event notes, check our Event Details forum.)
Changes and Fixes
Cards and Planeswalkers
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Fixed: Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls not triggering his +1/+1 buff.
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Fixed: All cards with the Channel evergreen displaying incorrect text.
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Fixed: Aberrant Manawurm counting itself toward the value of “X”, while it should only count Spell cards.
Others
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Fixed: Quest “Cast 14 cards of any color” not counting White cards.
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Fixed: Quest Journal reward generating a pop-up message informing that cards were converted to orbs. No Cards were actually converted.
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Fixed: Some Sets with cost zero in the Booster Craft menu. They were also impossible to craft due to an error message. Affected sets:
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Murders at Karlov Manor
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Lost Caverns of Iaxlan
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Wild of Eldraine
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