Add from the package SURVEIL LANDS

Another year, another major shakeup to the core module! The next shakeup will likely come when we return to Strixhaven in 2026.

Will Kenrith joins his sister in Eldraine. Unlike Rowan, he was plenty strong enough, but he was an easy cut as I am cutting down on planeswalkers, complexity, and once again shaking up blue. Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter, on the other hand, was never great, even in the best versions of his deck.

We've been spoiled with new Zimone options in the last few sets, but I have landed on Zimone, Paradox Sculptor as the replacement for the seldom-played Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy. Deekah, Fractal Theorist is taking her theories on the road; she was too slow for most games, and I'm trying to cut down on wordy commander cards as part of this update.

Along with departing students, we bid farewell to some staff. Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar is no longer in the kitchens, but she remains in our hearts (as does her gargoyle soup). Despite being an original member of the faculty, she required jumping through too many hoops and never really got there. I'm not sure if they were even officially employed, but Fain, the Broker and Juri, Master of the Revue don't really fit the vibe anymore.

Combat Calligrapher is officially retiring, after two years of terrorizing students, crushing dreams, and raking in MVP nominations.

Rootha, Mercurial Artist has returned for some remedial studies! We'll see if she survives the year.

Blue got some fantastic new cards in Foundations. Elementalist Adept and Refute are likely here to stay. We'll see with some of the other spicy additions such as Sphinx of Forgotten Lore and Homunculus Horde, but they were too fun not to try out.

Cauldron Familiar and Witch's Oven are moving to Eldraine, where they belong. While Cat-Oven is fun once in a while, as part of the core module it was assembled too frequently, leading to grindy, stalled games. Don't worry, Nine-Lives Familiar is here to fill the "cute but creepy" slot.

Soulherder was very strong, but also repetitive and a bit boring. It was also too strong of a signpost, and the blink decks often functioned without any cards from the field trip module. While I'm okay with a few fun buildaround cards, Soulherder was too easy.

Most of the rest of the changes are in interest of bringing the core module back to its original intent - simple roleplayers and interaction. There's a few more combat tricks and a couple new sac outlets. Green has a few more ways to get reach. Overall, it's likely a slight shift down in power level across the cube. This is intentional, to really encourage the field trip modules to shine!

After about a year of drafting, this is the first major update to the core cube! Most of my efforts have been on building out new field trip destinations, but it is time for a more major shakeup.

We bid a sad farewell to two of our students. Rootha, Mercurial Artist and Rowan Kenrith just haven't been getting there for our drafters, riding sideboards even in their chosen colours. Quintorius, Loremaster, has also graduated, joining the faculty.

Most of the other mono-colour cuts have also been underperformers.

Blue has received the largest number of changes, as it was struggling to make its mark. The new students reinforce its role as a tempo/control deck, benefiting from casting lots of spells and getting them into the graveyard.

Unsurprisingly, drafts have shown a sizeable lean towards wedge, 3 colour decks, due to the prevalence of enemy colour cards. This update slightly reduces the number of traditional dual coloured cards in the 5 houses, but adds more hybrid cards that can theoretically go in more decks.

With the opening of the omenpaths, Juri, Master of the Revue has brought the infamous Rakdos circus to Strixhaven. Several new black cards, and the addition of Mascot Interception offer support for a new steal-and-sac archetype.

Deputy of Detention has been hired to watch over the troublemakers.

I am breaking singleton to add a second copy of all of the hybrid mascot summoning lessons and the 4 common colourless lessons. The goal is to provide additional flexible lessons, make it easier to build a strong lessonboard, and increase the value of learn cards. Several previously excluded learn cards have been added.