Today, Wizards of the Coast has revealed a bunch of brand new Magic: The Gathering cards from the upcoming magical school-themed set, Strixhaven: School of Mages, giving us our first look at new creatures and spells from Lorehold, the red-white college focused in learning about history.
One of the new creatures revealed is a rare card called Strict Proctor, a two-to-cast white 1/3 Spirit Cleric with Flying with the ability: “Whenever a permanent entering the battlefield causes a triggered ability to trigger, counter that ability unless its controller pays 2.”
At first glance, it’s a strong sideboard card against certain strategies that use a lot of enter-the-battlefield trigger effects, but it turns out that you can also use this card to ramp up mana. In Standard Constructed format, you can play Lotus Field to ramp mana while Strict Proctor is on the battlefield since Proctor counters the land’s ETB effects that requires you to tap and sacrifice two lands. We’ve already seen Historic decks use Lotus Field with Blood Sun to ramp mana, but Strict Proctor lets us play Lotus Field without the trigger by turn 3 since you can play Proctor on turn 2, so that means you can have a total of 5 mana by turn 3 if you have both cards on the field.
In other eternal formats like Modern, players can use “bounce lands” like Boros Garrison to ramp mana. With Strict Proctor on the field, you won’t need to tap the land and return a land you control to your hand since the white creature counters both triggers.
Of course, unlike Blood Sun, Strict Proctor is still vulnerable to creature removal so opponents can kill it before you can ramp up mana, but having a 1/3 body with Flying also has its defensive advantages, especially in the early game.
In Commander, Legacy or Vintage, you can play Phyrexian Dreadnought for 1 mana without having to sacrifice any creatures at all as long as you have Strict Proctor on the field. A 12/12 creature with Trample for 1 mana!
I’m sure players will discover more fun synergies with Strict Proctor. It’s not an overpowered card, and as I mentioned earlier, Proctor is vulnerable to removal, but seeing white get more mana ramp thanks to this card shows Wizards of the Coast’s efforts to raise the power level for a color considered to be underpowered by Commander players.
To see the latest Strixhaven: School of Mages cards, check out our Strixhaven spoiler section.
Strixhaven: School of Mages is set to release for tabletop on April 23, and it will be released on Magic: The Gathering Arena and Magic Online on April 15. Check out the important dates here.
