No matter how you slice it, Secrets of Strixhaven preview season is off to a fantastic start. We got to see a ton of main set cards in yesterday’s Debut, and today all five Commander precons were dropped as well. These decks pack some intriguing new designs, but it’s their reprint suites that really shine. Whether you’re looking for value or playability, the Secrets of Strixhaven Commander decks have some great reprints for you.
Silverquill Influence
While all of the Secrets of Strixhaven Commander precons are stacked reprints-wise, Silverquill Influence manages to clinch the top spot. Classic white ‘ramp’ piece Land Tax is the clear headliner here, representing $28 in value right out of the gate. It’s also a fantastic Commander card, letting you fix your mana, thin your deck, and even generate card advantage with Scroll Rack.
Inkshield and Breena, the Demagogue are the big runners-up here, at $12 and $13, respectively. Both play nicely into the deck’s theme of political manipulation, but they’re also just generically good Commander cards for any Orzhov deck. Alongside Songbird’s Blessing, a more obscure first-time reprint, the deck has a solid suite of hits at the $10+ mark.
If that weren’t enough, this deck is also packed with mid-level staples, like Animate Dead at $9, Ghoulish Impetus at $7, and Ghostly Prison at $6. All of these cards slot into a wide variety of different strategies and color combinations, making them rather meaningful reprints. Silverquill Influence develops this theme further with a suite of $4 staple Auras, including Sheltered by Ghosts and Eldrazi Conscription, which really help round out the deck.
Even on the low end, this deck still manages to impress with its reprint quality. Classic Aura support pieces like Angelic Destiny and Spirit Mantle, while not expensive, are incredibly useful. All in all you’re looking at over $110 in reprint value here, which is wild for any precon.
Lorehold Spirit
Among the reprints in Lorehold Spirit, Emeria, the Sky Ruin leads the charge, as one of the most potent utility lands we’ve ever seen. While it can be tricky to get online, getting a free Zombify every turn is a massive deal in slower Commander games. Emeria is around $23 right now, making it a very welcome reprint here.
On top of Emeria, Lorehold Spirit includes a bunch of valuable first-time reprints. Bitterthorn, Nissa’s Animus, for example, is sitting at around $21 currently, thanks to its strong colorless ramp capabilities. We also get our first-ever reprint of Currency Converter here, a $15 discard support piece that excels with the deck’s leave the graveyard theme. Throw in Drumbellower at $12.70, and Moonshaker Cavalry at $12.20, and you’ve got a very solid top end here.
While things do drop off considerably for Lorehold Spirit after this value-wise, the first-time reprints just keep coming. The deck packs Guardian of Faith, Serra Paragon, Guardian Scalelord, and Staff of the Storyteller, all of which add $3-5 to the deck’s total value. When bundled with the solid suite of staples here, including Faithless Looting, Swords to Plowshares, and Path to Exile, you’re getting well over $100 in value.
It is worth noting that, because of how heavy it is on first-time reprints, the value of Lorehold Spirit is particularly fragile. Cards often take a major price hit after their first reprint, especially if it comes in a Commander precon. There’s no guarantee that this will happen here, of course, but it’s a strong possibility to keep in mind.
Prismari Artistry
While not quite as valuable as Land Tax, Faerie Mastermind is another extremely exciting reprint available in Prismari Artistry. This card has quietly crept up in price over the past few months and now sits at around $26. This isn’t hugely surprising, mind you, given how good the card is in pretty much every blue Commander deck all the way up to cEDH.
Faerie Mastermind aside, Prismari Artistry also features a ton of other great reprints. Harmonic Prodigy gets its first-ever reprint here, bringing the $11 Wizard Panharmonicon back into the fray. We also get a few reprints just under the $10 mark, in Determined Iteration, Goldspan Dragon, and Rionya, Fire Dancer. These are all valuable staples in various Commander strategies, with Rionya in particular even seeing play in cEDH due to its combo potential.
Even as the reprint value declines here, the hits keep on coming, with plenty of cards in the $4-7 range. Veyran, Voice of Duality, Twinflame, Thunderclap Drake, Lightning Greaves, Brazen Borrower: the list goes on. These cards are all reasonably valuable, but they’re also widely playable, making them wins on two fronts. There are even some solid $3 cards, like Galazeth Prismari and Dance with Calamity, that round things out nicely above the bulk line.
With all of these stellar hits, Prismari Artistry easily clears $90 in reprint value. This comes in addition to the deck’s solid functionality, which is well supported by classic staples like Blasphemous Act and Chaos Warp. With these in the mix, Prismari Artistry feels like a roaring success, even compared to its more valuable compadres.
Quandrix Unlimited
While Quandrix Unlimited is ostensibly a Simic deck, the vast majority of its reprint value is tied up in the green half. Unbound Flourishing, a $16.50 enchantment that doubles down on X spells, is the biggest reprint here, making a welcome return alongside Quandrix’s math-based shenanigans.
While we would’ve preferred the original Ozolith, its Shattered Spire counterpart is still a solid $12 boost for the deck. The card plays brilliantly with all the pricy Hydra reprints here, including the $11.40 Benevolent Hydra, the $9 Primordial Hydra, and the $8.40 Goldvein Hydra.
Outside of the big stompy value package, Quandrix Unlimited also includes some more generic green goodies. Guardian Augmenter, for example, is a fantastic Commander protection piece, and a $9.60 card to boot. We also get another reprint of the ever-useful Three Visits here, which remains $8 despite its many alternatives.
While these are all great value hits for the deck, Quandrix Unlimited quickly runs out of steam after this point. Other than a couple of decent cards in Open the Way and Hardened Scales, there’s pretty much nothing else of value here. This still leaves the deck with a very respectable $80+ of solid value, mind you, which is nothing to sneeze at. It’s just not quite as impressive as what we saw from the first three precons above.
Witherbloom Pestilence
While it hurts to say it as a big Golgari fan, the Witherbloom Pestilence precon is a bigstep down from the rest in terms of reprint value. The biggest hit here is Gyome, Master Chef, at a respectable $19, but after that things are rough. We have Nether Traitor at $10.60 and Ohran Frostfang at $10, which obviously represent a considerable drop. While both cards are good, Traitor in particular being a stellar Aristocrats pickup, neither are exciting in the same way the other decks’ headliners were.
There’s very little else to support the deck beyond this pair, either. Toxic Deluge is a welcome reprint, as one of the best board wipes in Commander, but it’s also just $7.30 right now. Fresh printings of Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia at $6.50 and Pawn of Ulamog at $4.10 help a bit, but they’re also the last truly valuable cards in the deck. Everything else falls somewhere in the $1-2 range, putting the reprint value here at a disappointing $60+.
That said, while it’s not the most valuable deck in the world, Witherbloom Pestilence does include a lot of practical low-cost staples. Cards like Assassin’s Trophy, Culling Ritual, Zulaport Cutthroat and Bloodghast are all must-haves for most Aristocrats decks. It even includes some more recent spice in Wight of the Reliquary and Umbral Collar Zealot.
Even with these positives, however, it’s hard to ignore just how far Witherbloom Pestilence is from its peers in terms of value. Unless values shift dramatically over the coming weeks, this deck will remain the runt of the Secrets of Strixhaven precon litter.
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