It’s been over a week since the MTG Secrets of Strixhaven prerelease, giving players plenty of time to experiment with the format’s Limited environment. Similar to MTG x TMNT, this set features five supported two-color combinations, one for each of the Colleges. In a perfect world, these archetypes would all be relatively balanced, each being a viable angle to try. Sadly, a perfectly balanced Limited environment rarely comes to fruition. According to early data for Secrets of Strixhaven, two schools are above the rest, while the others have been absorbed into Secrets of Strixhaven’s sixth archetype.
A Massive Converge Problem
During prerelease, players were quick to realize how powerful the Converge payoff was in Secrets of Strixhaven. Not only did multiple Schools want to play slower games, but many of the Converge payoffs can swing games on their own. Even then, according to 17Lands, early card win rates for Secrets of Strixhaven suggest that Converge might be more of a problem than we thought.
Together as One, a colorless Converge payoff, is the highest win rate card in the entire set, coming in at 66%. While spending four colors to cast a card like this can easily swing the game, beating out powerhouses like Emeritus of Ideation is certainly a warning sign. While this sets the stage for Converge, the uncommons are what tell the real story.
Environmental Scientist and Snarl Song are the best uncommons and the best green cards in the set, boasting a win rate of 62.4% and 62.3%, respectively. While Scientist comes down early and fixes your mana, Snarl Song offers Converge decks an immediate board, with a generous life buffer. While these cards are certainly powerful, beating out bomb mythics like Germination Practicum and Emeritus of Abundance is wild.
If that weren’t enough, Arcane Omens, a card that looked unplayable during preview season, is both the best black card and the third-best uncommon in the set at a 61.7% win rate. Considering that this card doesn’t impact the board at all, Arcane Omens not only reinforces the strength of Converge decks but also reveals the importance of preparing for mirror-esque slow matchups. Other Converge cards that looked unplayable, like Archaic’s Agony and Strixhaven Skycoach, also boast some extremely high win rates, beating out a majority of the rares and mythics in the set.
Thanks to this, Converge basically swallows up all of the slower Schools, offering a strict upgrade to Prismari and Quandrix. While these two-color archetypes are still ok without Converge, you should basically be trying to push for more colors whenever you can. This, sadly, gives Secrets of Strixhaven a sort of homogenous feel, thanks to how pushed five-color decks are. Fortunately, if you don’t want to try and navigate five-color mirrors, there are a few other playable archetypes.
White Aggro Wins
While individual win rates of Converge cards are the clearest outliers in Secrets of Strixhaven, Boros and Orzhov aggro are also clear power outliers. Much of this can be seen in white, which offers the most overall power outliers.
Practiced Offense and Antiquities on the Loose are two of the best cards in the set, with both offering a win rate over 65%. Creating massive boards and buffing them, both of these cards reward players for curving out aggressively and pushing damage. On top of this, Ark of Hunger has an insane 65% win rate and is currently the best multicolored card in the set. As if that wasn’t enough, the archetype also hosts the best commons in the set, featuring Pursue the Past at a 61% win rate, and Elite Interceptor at 60.5%.
Thanks to these archetypes’ speed, Orzhov and Boros are the best ways to get under slower Converge decks in Secrets of Strixhaven, but that’s hardly a secret. Both aggressive archetypes often face significant stress during the deckbuilding phase of the draft, which can dilute the overall power level of aggressive decks. If that weren’t bad enough, red’s density of cheap removal makes curving out against optimal Converge decks harder than it looks. Still, despite this, these are some of the best decks you can build in Secrets of Strixhaven Limited, giving Lorehold and Silverquill some life.
With the other four schools covered, Witherbloom is the odd one out for Secrets of Strixhaven. While the school can put up some strong results, its hyper-synergistic nature holds the Golgari back. Because of how important this archetype’s key pieces are, the deck is only really viable if left uncontested. Thanks to this, Golgari has the lowest win rate of the five schools in Secrets of Strixhaven.
Big Events Ahead
While only three of Strixhaven’s six archetypes are ideal, it isn’t all bad news. Unlike MTG x TMNT, where the archetype discrepancies were massive, any of the Secrets of Strixhaven archetypes can be good when totally open. Thanks to this, if Converge and Aggro decks have a lot of competition, you can pivot to an open lane and draft a serviceable deck.
Notably, MagicCon: Las Vegas is also this weekend, featuring the Secrets of Strixhaven Pro Tour. As the most competitive Limited event for this set, seeing MTG’s best players draft the set can breathe new life into the format. Even then, however, these three archetypes are an absolute monster to beat, especially when built right.
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