If you never played the original Strixhaven (STX), this is a true successor. The set supports a specific 5 archetypes; Silverquill (Orzhov), Prismari (Izzet), Witherbloom (Golgari), Lorehold (Boros), and Quandrix (Simic). A few of the archetypes may operate differently than you would expect the color pair to, specifically Silverquill being the fastest archetype, and Lorehold being a “slow” archetype as far as Boros is concerned. There is 0 support for color pairs outside of the 5 “Schools”, but splashing a third color is possible. When evaluating single-colored cards, I will often identify what archetype it works the best/worst in.
5.0: Disgustingly powerful and basically unbeatable. Either answer it the turn it comes down or just pack up your cards. (Gruff Triplets, Virtue of Persistence, The Eternal Wanderer)
4.5: Incredible bomb that still gives your opponent a slim chance. (Virtue of Loyalty, Imodane's Recruiter, Realm-Scorcher Hellkite)
4.0: Great rare or the absolute best uncommons and removal. (Faunsbane Troll, Gumdrop Poisoner, Talion’s Messenger)
3.5: Great role filler or removal that you never cut. (Candy Grapple, Hearth Elemental, Torch the Tower)
3.0: Good playable that I’m basically never cutting. (Shrouded Shepherd, Spellscorn Coven, Sharae of Numbing Depths)
2.5: Decent playable and the bar I hope nearly every card in my deck to reach. (Evolving Wilds, Archon's Glory, Flick a Coin)
2.0: Mediocre filler that normally is your 20-23rd card(s). (Mintstrosity, Ice Out, Grabby Giant)
1.5: Replaceable, overall bad filler. Could also be decent sideboard cards. (Titanic Growth, Scarecrow Guide, Territorial Witchstalker)
1.0: Bad filler. Gets cut most of the time. (Dark Tutelage, Kindled Heroism, Impact Tremors)
0.5: Very unhappy to main deck this, but maybe it has fringe sideboard applications. Cards that “could” be situationally decent, but bad in most situations. (Smothering Tithe, Rhystic Study, Mana Flare)
0.0: Unplayable in every possible situation. They rarely print cards this bad these days. (Hew the Entwood, One with Nothing)
Banishing Betrayal
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
The closest comparison I can draw is Ephara's Dispersal, which, to be fair, is a bit different. I don’t think this will be quite as powerful, but it should be good in any Blue deck.
Brush Off
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is neat from a design standpoint, but seems awkward in practice. You often will only be able to keep up 1U, and they drop a creature you wish you could counter. I think this is overall fine, but nothing special – and perhaps even a better SB card.
Campus Composer // Aqueous Aria
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
I think this is going to be a lot better than you would initially think. It sets up the following turn, providing good value, and can’t really be easily killed to prevent the “free” 3/3 flyer due to ward. This will be a card people sleep on for a while.
Chase Inspiration
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
I’d prefer not to play this unless I have multiple early bombs worth protecting.
Deluge Virtuoso
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is an upgraded version of Frost Lynx. The upgrades are pretty minor, and I assume this will be bad filler.
Divergent Equation
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Instant speed on this makes it a lot better. 3 mana to return your best spell, or 5 mana to return is really nice flexibility in Prismari, and not quite as powerful for Quandrix.
Echocasting Symposium
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
Paradigm is incredibly powerful in limited. The only way this can go wrong, is if you have no/any significant creatures on the board.
Emeritus of Ideation // Ancestral Recall
Rating: 4.5 // 5.0
I would almost always recommend playing this on turn 6, when you can activate Ancestral Recall on the same turn (in case this dies). The creature itself is incredibly powerful, and if you’re unfamiliar with the spell, well, I don’t even know what to say.
Encouraging Aviator // Jump
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
You can kind of think of the ability like; “When this creature attacks, you may pay U: target creature gains flying until end of turn”. It can help trigger Opus, but aside from that, it seems like alright filler in most decks.
Essence Scatter
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
I am an Essence Scatter truther. I like this card a lot in limited, and you can almost always cast it when it’s convenient.
Exhibition Tidecaller
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
I wouldn’t really classify this as a “build around”, so long as you have a decent amount of spells that can trigger the mill 10. You only really need to cast 2 big spells for this to get milling your opponent as a wincon within reach.
Flow State
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
The real power of this card is when you can get 2 cards. Otherwise, you’re looking at a sorcery speed Anticipate. This is definitely more of a Prismari card.
Fractal Anomaly
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
As much as I want this card to work, I think it’s simply far too inconsistent for this to be anything than a 1/1 for 1.
Fractalize
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This can be a cute combat trick/kill spell, shrinking your opponents creatures. It can also be a Fireball to your opponents face, and works especially well with fractal tokens.
Harmonized Trio // Brainstorm
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Brainstorm is cool and all, but this seems a bit hard to prepare,
Homesickness
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a nice, impactful, late-game spell. It’s slow, and can be awkward at times, but it’s got some nice value built-in.
Hydro-Channeler
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
The strength of this really depends on the amount of spells you have in your deck. A pair of these also makes splashing a bomb instant or sorcery far more appealing.
Jadzi, Steward of Fate // Oracle’s Gift
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This provides crazy value, as well as flexibility. You will likely want to fire this off on turn 5, before this has the chance to get killed, getting 2 2/2’s for 5 mana, which is nice considering the other value you have already accrued.
Landscape Painter // Vibrant Idea
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
You normally won’t expect a 2 mana 2/1 to stick around late enough to cast a 5 mana draw 2 spell, but it does make for a decent top deck in the late-game.
Mana Sculpt
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
There’s actually a decent amount of wizards in this set, so it’s not impossible to have this be closer to a Mana Drain than a Cancel.
Mathemagics
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This will most likely be cast for X=1 – X=2 most of the time. X=1 is pretty lackluster, but if you can spend 6 mana to draw 4 cards, well that seems powerful enough. If you can somehow get to 8 mana, drawing 8 cards is pretty insane also. The versatility of this card is what makes it strong, and don’t be embarrassed to cast it for X=0 if that’s the best play you have.
Matterbending Mage
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This is a premium creature in any Blue deck.
Muse Seeker
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
“Free” looting is hard to beat, and a couple free draws? Well that’s unfair.
Muse’s Encouragement
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Not only does this make Stormrider Spirit embarassed, it also triggers “big opus” for Prismari. I like this card well enough in any Blue deck.
Orysa, Tide Choreographer
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
It will be pretty uncommon for this to cost 2. Having said that, this is a powerful creature for any Blue deck.
Pensive Professor
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
I’d really try to keep this card in hand until turn 5 or so, when you can follow up with a spell that draws you a card. If this thing sticks around for any amount of time, it will accrue absurd advantage.
Procrastinate
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
I’m not quite sure how to feel about this, because we’ve never seen anything like it before, so let’s break it down. X=2 is on par for Blue tap “removal” spells, and doesn’t promise to take care of the creature for the rest of the game. Once you get to X=3 or X=4, that seems like the creature will be gone for the remainder of the game. So 4-5 mana for a sorcery speed removal spell may be lackluster, the versatility it provides to have X=0-2 gives some flexibility to it. I’m still not sure how I feel about it overall.
Quick Study
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
Divination isn’t really cutting it anymore, even at instant speed. There are better ways to get card advantage.
Run Behind
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a really nice version of Temporal Cleansing. It’s solid in every Blue deck.
Skycoach Conductor // All Aboard
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This is pretty annoying to play against. If it doesn’t outright nullify a removal spell when you cast it, it threatens to do so for the remainder of the game without killing it first.
Spellbook Seeker // Careful Study
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Careful Study is weak in limited, but when it’s “free” it gets a whole lot better.
Tester of the Tangential
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This should be good in any Blue deck, so long as you don’t top deck it towards the end of the game. Moving counters off of it regularly makes it a far less enticing target for your opponents removal spells.
Textbook Tabulator
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is another card that’s really difficult to assess, as there hasn’t been anything like it before. 0/3 for 3 is weak, 1/4 for 3 is fine, and it’s not crazy to assume it will be a 2/5 with ease. Surveil 2 is more powerful than most assume, so I think this will be an overall decent creature.
Wisdom of Ages
Rating: NA // 5.0
This isn’t a limited card, but I suppose you could count on this as a super late game finisher if you need it.
Top 3 Blue Commons:
Run Behind Essence Scatter Banishing Betrayal
Blue has some really powerful common & uncommon spells for both Quandrix and Prismari. Individually, Blue seems very spell focused, with a good amount of incremental value attached to most of it’s cards. It’s creatures are big, slow, and evasive for the most part, so keep that in mind. I’ll be breaking down Black next, stay tuned!
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
