Introduction

Strixhaven has been a very controversial set among Cube circles with which I have interacted. There are many bizarre cards in this set, such as giant spells, Green cards that care about instants and sorceries, and an entire mechanic designed to drag spells from outside of the game. A lot is going on here, but the result is fantastic. I wanted to highlight some of the coolest new things in the set, discuss why they're exciting, and whether or not they might be good. Please understand that this article is not a "best cards" list or a review. Instead, it is a discussion of things that I am excited to test and an explanation as to why.

Card 1: Quandrix Command

Quandrix Command is a juiced version of my favorite Simic draft card from Ravnica Allegiance: Applied Biomancy. It was a real workhorse in my decks, often bouncing one creature to save it from removal or combat and buffing another creature to kill one of the opponent's things. Unfortunately, while Applied Biomancy was great in the retail draft, it never had enough impact to warrant Cube inclusion. Quandrix Command, although more expensive, is far more powerful. It permanently buffs the creature it targets. A player can use its bounce ability to deal with opposing planeswalkers (at least for a time). It can counter the occasional artifact or enchantment. Even the ability to shuffle cards from a graveyard into their owner's library isn't always irrelevant. Quandrix Command looks like it is going to be flexible and powerful option for Cubes.

Card 2: Quandrix Apprentice

Quandrix Apprentice seems like a fantastic engine piece. Excise any illusions that this card goes in pure blue/green decks. Instead, Quandrix Apprentice is going to be at home in Sultai, Bant, and Temur builds. Three-color midrange decks tend to be stuffed to the gills with removal, which will often trigger the apprentice. Almost every cantrip or removal spell cast throughout the game by the apprentice's controller will draw a land card, ensure land drops, and increase the chance of drawing further spells. One cannot deny the potential card advantage provided by this card. In synergy-oriented environments, I can see the apprentice fitting right into spells matter strategies. Even in non-synergy environments, the apprentice will slot well into Dreadhorde Arcanist style spell velocity strategies.

Early testing results are showing that Quandrix Apprentice is the real deal. I think this card will be great in lean Cubes that focus on streamlined gameplay.

Cards 3 and 4: Dragonsguard Elite and Symmetry Sage

The new Tarmogoyf and Delver of Secrets are probably going to be very good. While it may be a little hyperbolic to compare these new cards to known powerhouses, I think there is a chance that they are extremely powerful.

Like Quandrix Apprentice, Dragonsguard Elite looks like the type of card that can snowball out of control in some decks, usually being at least a 3/3 but often a 4/4 or larger. This card is also reasonable in some two-color builds, such as a Gruul beatdown strategy with burn spells or Golgari midrange. Dragonsguard Elite will be a great beater in Abzan midrange, as well.

Symmetry Sage will be at home in Izzet prowess decks. Although it requires a spell to be cast every single turn to apply power to the board, its magecraft ability can also spread around power increases. A second spell cast in a turn will allow Symmetry Sage to attack as a 2/2, but also buff a creature with a lower base power such as Monastery Swiftspear, Soul-Scar Mage, or Blistercoil Wierd. Symmetry Sage might not have Delver of Secrets' raw power, but I think its floor is slightly higher. At the very least, Johnny-style players will love trying to break this card.

Card 5: Flunk

I'm a college student with test anxiety. When I saw Flunk, I immediately could relate to the situation being showcased on this card. Flunk seems like it is somewhere between the power level of Last Gasp and Cast Down. It can potentially kill most major (fair) Cube threats in the late game. The only real issue is in the early game, where the card might not do anything. Even though it won't usually need to kill anything bigger than a 3/3 before turn 4 in most matchups, Flunk fares terribly against some of green's large midrange threats such as Lovestruck Beast. This card is going to be best against decks that play out their hand quickly with low hand replacement rates. Flunk will be great at killing Goblin Rabblemasters and assorted Zoo creatures alike. Even if Flunk ends up being terrible, at least it will be fun to say "I flunk your creature" while it lasts...

...which is the entire reason I'm writing about the card.

Card 6: Igneous Inspiration

Igneous Inspiration is one of the best examples of what a good learn card can do. Most Cubes would play a three-mana Volcanic Hammer with the words "draw a card" tacked into its text box. Igneous Inspiration could potentially better than that, allowing its owner to grab a card that is good in whatever situation they currently find themselves entangled.

The real issue with Igneous Inspiration (and its fellow learn cards) is that drafters need some number of lessons for these cards to function at full capacity. Even though learn can function as a rummage effect without a worthwhile lesson to grab, that fail state is usually not desirable. There is a significant debate in the Cube community right now about whether or not lesson cards are good enough to warrant Cube inclusion because they either have a low power level or are very situational. However, with learn cards like Igneous Inspiration, lessons become freerolls effectively. Cube decks often leave several cards unused in the sideboard, with several good cards not being played for deck space constraints. Lessons are a new way to allow players to use a more significant percentage of their draft pool, as they are not required to be in the main deck to function. Even with a relatively small learn package, it is often worthwhile to include several lessons. There are more than enough lessons for a full package with learn in a Cube of 420 cards or smaller.

There are other cards with learn that look good enough for Cube inclusion, such as Gnarled Professor, Professor of Symbology, and Divide by Zero. The real question with this mechanic is whether or not the support pieces are worth the Cube real estate. However, Cube real estate is only a concern for a Cube's curator. For a drafter, the amount of space available in a Cube spreadsheet is irrelevant: they only care about the number of cards they can actually play. Learn and lesson cards are a good use of Cube space because they help maximize the total number of useable cards in each player's draft pool. For this reason, I believe cards with the learn mechanic are worth testing because of their unique design space and seemingly high power level.

Card 7: Killian, Ink Duelist

Orzhov has always been a hard gold slot for me to fill, as there are plenty of cards that look like they could be good but end up falling flat. Most new Orzhov designs tend to be mediocre Aristocrats cards or removal spells that are worse than Vindicate but are still somewhat playable. Killian, Ink Duelist, is the first Orzhov card in a while that breaks this boring trend. He has a reasonable 2/2 menace body for attacking, which means aggressive decks can play him, while lifelink makes him good against other aggressive decks. Killian, Ink Duelist also reduces the cost of creature removal spells, which opens the door for increased mana efficiency. I especially like how he can halve the cost of certain planeswalker/creature removal spells like Vraska's Contempt, Eat to Extinction, Faith's Fetters, and the new Baleful Mastery when they are used against creatures. While I wouldn't be surprised if Killian isn't good enough for long-term Cube inclusion, it will be fun to have him around while he lasts.

Card 8: Decisive Denial

Instant speed fight effects have always been decent cards when I've played with them in my friend's lower power Cubes. I've even tried some of these effects in my higher power designs during hypothetical testing. While Pounce effects can often feel good to play, they're not worth slots in practice unless they can do something else. Likewise, Negate effects are beneficial in many environments as inexpensive ways to control the game. Unfortunately, they tend to be sideboard cards because not every deck is heavy enough on noncreature spells to ensure Negate has a target.

Decisive Denial combines the "always fine but never great" Pounce effect with a "great in the right match but not always usable" Negate effect. The result is a card that is rarely dead in hand and always usable in some capacity. One could argue that the "Negate" side of the card being more akin to a Mana Leak effect is a downside. While it is not as great as a pure Negate effect would have been, it should still do the trick against most spells cast except for extremely late in the game. Overall, I think this card is a solid interactive piece.

Card 9: Deadly Brew

Innocent Blood effects in Cube usually come attached to a three-mana 3/x creature that is often the fodder for its effect. More recent variations on this design formula, such as Plaguecrafter, have expanded to include planeswalkers as a potential sacrifice option. These designs can be powerful in the right environment, but they rarely feel great to play. They are passable fillers that play a useful, albeit unimpressive, role.

Deadly Brew breaks the "boring blood" trend by offering a unique take on the formula; if its caster sacrifices a creature or planeswalker with it, they get a free Nature's Spiral! Regrowth effects tend to not be worth slots in Cube decks, despite their high level of utility. They often fall flat due to requiring things in the graveyard to function. However, as we have seen with Bala Ged Recovery, Regrowth effects are playable when attached to some other effect. Deadly Brew has a lot of play to it in this regard. It can be used to eliminate an unprotected threat in the early game or upgrade a useless Llanowar Elves variant into a dead planeswalker in the late game while reducing the opponent's board presence.

The only issue I see with Deadly Brew is that it is a green/black card. This color combination is home to several high-power removal spells, at least two of which are generally more powerful than Deadly Brew. If the card were monocolor, I could see it becoming a Cube staple. As is, I am excited about Deadly Brew's potential playability and hope it is a signal that WOTC will branch out in more unique directions with similar effects in the future.

Card 10: Sedgemoor Witch

Sedgemoor Witch is probably my single favorite card in all of Strixhaven, which says a lot because this set is excellent. This well-dressed warlock is a black variant of Young Pyromancer, except it can be a real threat without triggering a single time. Menace means that Sedgemoor Witch is going to be hard to block. The ward ability means that it will hit the opponent for three damage even if they kill it with targeted removal before it can do anything. However, the crown jewel of Sedgemoor Witch is the Magecraft trigger.

Black might not be as well known for its instant and sorcery spells as red, but it is far from weak in this category. Thoughtseize, Terror, and Reanimate effects are some of the best cards any Cube can offer. Sedgemoor Witch triggers off of them all. The card fits well into any low-curve tempo strategy that can effectively utilize hand disruption, cantrips, and cheap removal to great advantage. Sedgemoor Witch is especially going to shine in the emerging Black/Red spells strategy, which uses cards like Dreadhorde Arcanist and Young Pyromancer in conjunction with cheap burn and Unearth effects to create a considerable amount of value.

Sedgemoor Witch is going to be very good in most Cubes for a very long time.

Conclusion

Strixhaven is a great Cube set. While it doesn't seem as powerful as some of the sets we've seen in the past couple of years, it makes up for it in the raw number of Cube playables it provides. Cube designers will be using Strixhaven cards as a wellspring of excellent removal and low-cost threats for years to come. I would encourage anyone who is not currently a fan of this set to give it a fair chance, as there is more to work with than there might initially appear.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to @Onderzeeboot for proofreading this article.