Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast just teased new content for their latest expansion, Strixhaven: School of Mages. This Magic-flavored take on the wizard school genre releases on April 23, but we’ve already been treated to new cards, packaging, and some lore!
Perhaps most surprisingly, WotC announced a supplemental card set called Mystical Archives that will appear in Strixhaven: School of Mages boosters. We’ll summarize all the information available so far on Mystical Archives, including what cards are in the set, how you can collect them, and whether they’ll be legal in competitive formats.
What are Mystical Archives?
Mystical Archives is a supplemental set of 63 cards that releases alongside Strixhaven: School of Mages. According to the set teaser, this set represents the stash of ancient spells contained in Strixhaven‘s massive Biblioplex.
What we know so far is that these will be reprinted Instants and Sorceries from Magic‘s history. These cards will be available in all languages. So far, we have seen three card previews from Mystical Archives: Opt, Swords to Plowshares, and Demonic Tutor.
The announcement article also specifies that collectors will have access to 63 Archive cards on our first trip to Strixhaven: School of Mages. This could mean that there will be more spells added to this supplemental set on subsequent visits to this world, much like how Expeditions were spread out over different Zendikar sets.
How Do I Collect Mystical Archives?
On paper, you will find Mystical Archives in packs of Strixhaven. Specifically, there will be one in every Draft Booster, one in each Set Booster, and at least three in every Collector Booster. Archive cards come as bonus cards in Strixhaven boosters. That means they won’t replace cards from the new set in the pack.
Thanks to this clarification by Magic: The Gathering Arena‘s Twitter account, we can confirm that these awesome reprints will be found in Draft Boosters on Arena and on Magic: The Gathering Online.
Japanese Alt-Art Mystical Archives!
A follow-up announcement from Magic: The Gathering‘s Japanese language page also revealed what is frankly one of the coolest MTG promotions of all time. Each of the 63 Mystical Archive spells will drop with fantastic Japanese culture and folklore-inspired alternate art! Check out this incredible alternative printing of classic cantrip Opt.
According to the announcement, the Japanese art set will appear only in Foil in Japanese Set and Boosters. They also can be found with the Etched Foil treatment that debuted in Commander Legends, but only in Japanese Collector Boosters.
International collectors needn’t worry, however, because one Japanese Archive will come in Collector Boosters of all languages.
What Formats Are Mystical Archives Legal In?
Also thanks to the Arena‘s Tweet, we know that Mystical Archives are legal in Strixhaven: School of Mages Limited. This means that you can draft an Archive like Opt and play it in your deck.
On the other hand, we know that reprints in Archives won’t affect format legality in Constructed. That means you won’t be able to slot that sick Demonic Tutor you opened into your Standard deck. The exception to this rule is Historic on Arena.
Archives will apparently be Historic legal, but not all of them. It’s important to stay tuned for more information about which cards will be excluded from Historic. We already know that Demonic Tutor and Swords to Plowshares will miss the cut due to power level. Thank heavens!
For more information on Mystical Archives and Strixhaven: School of Mages, check out our spoiler page!
