Today marks the penultimate day of Secrets of Strixhaven spoiler season, meaning the entire expansion will be out in the open soon. As with many recent MTG sets, however, this one has fallen victim to a batch of last-minute leaks. Streamers who received their product early have been cracking it on Whatnot, revealing a bunch of new rares ahead of time. While leaks like these are always unfortunate, these fresh bangers round off Secrets of Strixhaven previews nicely.
Emeritus Of Woe
Surprising no one, Wizards opted to use Demonic Tutor as the Alpha spell for the black Emeritus. What is surprising, however, is how efficient the attached body is. Getting a 5/4 for four feels solid, even in 2026. That it Prepares itself on entry is another bonus, making it great in combination with blink and reanimation effects.
That said, the full package here is likely too inefficient for constructed play. Six mana for a 5/4 and a tutor is just too slow, even in Combo decks like Dimir Excruciator. You’re very unlikely to Prepare this repeatedly in constructed, too, unless you’re playing some kind of off-meta sacrifice brew.
In Commander, by contrast, this card seems like an absolute slam-dunk. While it’s a little pricey, the juice is worth the squeeze as tutor effects are fantastic in the format. While similar cards like Rune-Scarred Demon are already available in Commander, Emeritus of Woe has the advantage of coming down earlier, and generating more value over time.
Vicious Rivalry
With its life payment cost, Secrets of Strixhaven’s Vicious Rivalry immediately draws comparison with all-star board wipe Toxic Deluge. As with that classic, if you have the life to spare this can get rid of pretty much anything on the board.
In some ways, Vicious Rivalry is actually better than Deluge, since it doesn’t care about power and toughness at all. This can kill every token in play for no life investment, or clear up early game boards like Culling Ritual. It also hits artifacts, which lets it sweep up Food, Treasures, and even more substantial hits like mana rocks. Early on in a game, this can effectively be a reset button.
Of course, Vicious Rivalry isn’t perfect. Since it destroys permanents, it doesn’t get around Indestructible in the same way Toxic Deluge does. It’s also, naturally, much worse against Ramp decks packing high-cost threats with low stats. That said, to even be in the same conversation as Toxic Deluge is pretty impressive, and I still expect this to see a ton of Commander play.
Dina’s Guidance
While an awkwardly-placed thumb obscures it in the image above, Collectivekicks, who shared it, confirmed that the mana cost on Dina’s Guidance is 1BG. At this rate, the card falls into an interesting spot among tutors in Commander. As a hand tutor, it’s much worse than generic options like Demonic Tutor and Eladamri’s Call. As a graveyard tutor, it also pales in comparison to Entomb and Unmarked Grave.
Where the card does succeed, however, is in its flexibility. Some Commander decks, like Slimefoot and Squee, run a range of combos that can work either from hand or from the graveyard. In some games, you’ll want a Protean Hulk in the ‘yard to reanimate, and in others, you’ll want a cheap enabler like Warren Soultrader in your hand. The instant speed is big here, too, letting you set up before your turn begins.
Though it’s not the most efficient option in its category, I still think Dina’s Guidance has a real shot in Commander. It’s a great combo enabler, while also being solid in fair decks like Reanimator as well. If you’re playing in lower brackets, or just trying to conserve Game Changer slots in bracket three, this feels like a very solid tutor option.
Cauldron Of Essence
While it’s unlikely that anything will ever top Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER as a slam-dunk Aristocrats staple, Cauldron of Essence is very much in the same ballpark. For three mana, this gets you a resilient Zulaport Cutthroat effect for a start, which immediately makes it interesting for the archetype. Whether you’re grinding out drain over time or comboing off in one turn, effects like this are essential for Aristocrats.
What sets Cauldron apart from similar cards like Bastion of Remembrance, however, is the strength of its second ability. You can use this fairly to cycle through value creatures, like Reclamation Sage or Ravenous Chupacabra. Alternatively, you can run it alongside token generators and self-mill, turning a humble Saproling into something like Valgavoth, Terror Eater. In most Aristocrats decks you’ll be able to do both, recycling key engine pieces, or perhaps even your Commander, every turn.
As exceptional as it is in Aristocrats, Cauldron of Essence doesn’t seem massively useful elsewhere. Token and Reanimator decks can certainly use it, but not quite as effectively. It’s also poorly-suited to constructed, Where it’s too clunky to do much in any format. There’s a lot to be said for specialist tools, mind you, and for its intended job, Cauldron is very useful indeed.
Moseo, Vein’s New Dean
Ever since it was mentioned in Mark Rosewater’s Secrets of Strixhaven teaser article, players have been speculating about the Bird Skeleton Warlock in the set. While it’s not Breena, as many guessed, Moseo, Vein’s New Dean is intriguing in its own right. Your three mana investment gets you a solid board presence for a start, as well as a deceptively useful reanimation ability.
Gaining life sounds like a tricky condition to fulfill, but it’s actually pretty easy in a lot of brews. In Aristocrats, Blood Artist effects will let you nab something in the one to three mana range fairly consistently. If you’re all-in on Pests, using some of the newcomers from the Witherbloom Pestilence precon, you’ll probably be able to bring back bigger targets, too.
Since Moseo comes with a Pest itself, it’s self-sufficient enough that it can slot into a lot of Commander decks with minimal additional support. Even when limited to one-mana recursion, staple creatures like Birds of Paradise and Esper Sentinel make great targets. For this reason, I expect the card to do a lot of work in the 99, but not a ton as a Commander in itself.
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