With just six days to go until the set’s Debut, preview season for Secrets of Strixhaven is tantalizingly close. As is now tradition, Mark Rosewater has published a teaser article to get us all hyped for the set. While many of these teasers are, naturally, quite cryptic, they still paint an exciting picture of Secrets of Strixhaven overall. If the whole set keeps this energy up, we could be looking at a certified banger here.
A New Heavy Hitter
“A 6/6 with a mana value of 1.”
Mark Rosewater, via Blogatog
This is one of the most exciting teasers from Rosewater’s Secrets of Strixhaven article as, even by current Magic standards, that’s a pretty phenomenal rate. Of course, there will definitely be a downside associated with this card, as we saw with Moonshadow and Bristlebane Battler in Lorwyn Eclipsed. The question, however, is what exactly that downside will be.
Based on what we know about Secrets of Strixhaven so far, there are a number of possibilities in this case. This new creature could make use of the Prepared mechanic and be unable to attack or block when not Prepared. Alternatively, it could come with a spell-related cost to attack or block, like exiling an instant or sorcery from your graveyard. However it pans out, this tease is one to watch, as Moonshadow has proven there’s still a market for raw stats in MTG.
Primal Callbacks
“A cycle referencing iconic spells from Alpha.”
Mark Rosewater, via Blogatog
Right at the end of the teaser post’s first section, Rosewater dropped this bombshell. It’s an intriguing tease in itself, but doubly so given the leaks we saw earlier today. With Emeritus of Ideation featuring Ancestral Recall as a Prepared spell, it’s safe to assume that it’s part of the cycle Rosewater is talking about here.
This means we’re probably getting five mono-colored Prepared creatures, each with an Alpha spell attached. For the most part, the likely candidates here are fairly clear. Black will almost certainly get either Dark Ritual or Demonic Tutor, for example, while red will probably get Lightning Bolt or Wheel of Fortune.
Green and white are, admittedly, less obvious. In green’s case, Giant Growth or Regrowth would be solid options, if not hugely exciting. Some players have already joked about white getting Healing Salve, which feels possible but unlikely. Something like Swords to Plowshares, or even Balance, would feel much more mythic-worthy overall.
Got The Pox
“A new Pox spell”
Mark Rosewater, via Blogatog
While Rosewater’s teasers are typically quite cryptic, this one is surprisingly to the point. It’s also a serious blast from the past, as the last new Pox spell we got, Smallpox, was printed in 2006’s Time Spiral. Before that, original Pox from Ice Age in 1995 was the only card in the category.
Both of these cards are symmetrical effects that attack the life totals, hands, creatures, and lands of every player. We can likely expect something similar from this new version, but what exactly it’ll look like remains a mystery for now. Given that Smallpox is part of a powerful strategy in Legacy, however, this is one of the more exciting teases from today.
Riddle Me This
“An ability word returns which first appeared on a second visit to a popular plane.”
Mark Rosewater, via Blogatog
While the Pox teaser is fairly clear, this one has sent many players scrambling for the MTG Wiki. It could refer to Converge, which debuted in Battle for Zendikar, though the fact that it was officially revealed yesterday would make it an odd inclusion here. Delirium, from Shadows Over Innistrad, would also be reasonable if this isn’t the case.
Rosewater’s teaser also promises a lot of spell modification, with “A mythic rare cycle that grants your instants and sorceries old keywords.” This likely refers to the new mythic rare Elder Dragon cycle, given that we’ve already seen Lorehold and that grants Miracle. We’ve also been promised “A spell that grants a specific deciduous mechanic to any cards of two specific card types,” which almost certainly refers to Affinity of some kind on instants and sorceries.
There are plenty of other mysteries to puzzle over in here, too, including a card that flips five coins and a legendary Bird Skeleton Warlock. While we won’t have definite answers to any of the questions raised here until next week, they should help tide us over to the Debut in any case.
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