Nowadays, it seems like no MTG product can escape being leaked. While we’re used to seeing this with major sets, especially close to release, even Seceret Lairs have been getting leaked recently. As much as this does spoil the fun somewhat, it’s hard not to be excited about some of the insane early reveals.
For Secrets of Strixhaven, in particular, early leaks have debuted some utterly insane new cards. Provided the latest batch of leaks is genuine, it looks like this set is, sort of, reprinting Ancestral Recall. As a Power Nine card that’s on the Reserved List, this is a pretty wild swing, but it’s not as bad, or rather good, as you might think.
MTG Emeritus of Ideation
Based on a recent Whatnot stream from Doubled20s_california, it appears that history is repeating itself. Just as Lorwyn Eclipsed revealed TMNT MTG cards early, it appears the TMNT set is now doing the same. Currently, it’s unclear why these leaks took three weeks to surface, but they do appear to be legit.
Emeritus of Ideation, for instance, has previously been confirmed as the Headliner card for the set, with 500 serialized variants. Given that this card is literally Ancestral Recall on a stick, there’s no doubt it deserves this role. For better or worse, Wizards isn’t just entirely breaking the Reserved List here, as there is a pretty big catch behind this ability.
Rather than being an Adventure, Omen, or similar, Emeritus of Ideation is our first real taste of a Prepared card. From the looks of things, when Prepared, you can cast the second card, on the right, as if it were a regular spell. Since Emeritus of Ideation comes in Prepared, this means you can cast Ancestral Recall, as normal, as soon as it’s on the board.
Once cast, you’ve got a few options to make Emeritus of Ideation Prepared again. Flickering this card to reset its enters effect is probably the easiest and cheapest solution. Alternatively, the recently leaked Biblioplex Tomekeeper can make a creature prepared, allowing you to Ancestral Recall again. Without extra support, however, you must attack with Emeritus of Ideation, then exile eight cards from your graveyard.
In terms of the card itself, Emeritus of Ideation does seem pretty strong, especially in grindy Control decks. With decent stats, innate protection, and repeatable card draw, it’s an all-in-one value engine. Whether all of that will actually be enough to compete in Standard, however, remains to be seen.
MTG Mana Sculpt
As if one utterly busted Secrets of Strixhaven leak wasn’t bad enough, it looks like we’re also getting a Mana Drain retrain. While this new variant is more expensive and requires a Wizard, this is still ridiculously powerful. Mana Drain is $50 for good reason, as getting a bunch of basically free ramp in blue enables no end of shenanigans.
While Mana Sculpt is good enough to be played in Standard and beyond, this has Commander staple written all over it. Needing a Wizard is a significant downside, but there are tons of Commanders and value engines that enable this. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this ends up being one of the most expensive cards from the set.
MTG Zaffai and the Tempests
Like a surprisingly large number of Magic: The Gathering cards, Zaffai and the Tempests is the perfect name for a band. This time around, however, that appears to be no accident, since this legendary card is literally a group of Bard Sorcerers. Despite sort of cheating in this regard, Zaffai and the Tempests is still well worth paying attention to.
By allowing you to pay a spell for free during your turn, Zaffai and the Tempests can offer fantastic value. This card is definitely expensive, but if it sticks around for even a couple of turns, you can easily break even. While this could make it a shoo-in for Spellslingers decks in Commanders, competitively, this card costs way too much.
MTG Molten-Core Maestro
In a similar vein, Molten-Core Maestro sort of also lets you cast massive spells for free, provided you put the work in. By casting enough spells beforehand, or buffing it somehow, Molten-Core Maestro can start refunding you mana. While this will only work on instants or sorceries that cost five or more, this Goblin Bard can still do insane work.
With no once-per-turn clause holding Molten-Core Maestro back, you can easily chain massive spells that provide card draw. The only thing you’d have to watch out for is that this card only returns red mana, but cards like Chromatic Orrery solve this problem. This could easily make Molten-Core Maestro an insane value engine in Spellslinger decks, especially if Secrets of Strixhaven beefs up this archetype.
Outside of Commander, it’s unclear if Molten-Core Maestro can really cut the mustard competitively. This card definitely has a high ceiling, but Mono-Red Midrange isn’t hugely popular right now. As such, the vast majority of decks may never touch its mana refunding ability.
MTG Colorstorm Stallion
Like many of the Opus cards we’ve seen so far, Colorstorm Stallion feels hugely powerful in the right scenario. If you’re running a high density of expensive instants and sorceries, this card is a monster of a one-man army. Realistically, though, unless Opus creates a brand new archetype in Standard, this card will be quickly relegated to Commander.
Thankfully, in Commander, Colorstorm Stallion can definitely do work, even with its buffs being temporary. Since casting high-cost spells will get you exponentially more Elemental Horses, this card can quickly become a must-kill threat. That said, I wouldn’t expect Colorstorm Stallion to be expensive long term, but it’s definitely a neat MTG card.
More Spoilers Coming Soon
While it’s still very early days, Secrets of Strixhaven is shaping up to be a monster of an MTG set. Should things continue at a similar power level, Standard could get a significant shake-up next month. Considering Standard is finally balanced after years of strife, we can only hope things don’t break too much.
Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long for more Secrets of Strixhaven cards to be revealed. The set’s spoiler season kickoff livestream is currently set for March 31st. Before then, there’s a good chance we’ll get a few more previews in story chapters, too. Who knows, we might even see more leaks before the official debut comes along.
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