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Secrets of Strixhaven

Facts
Placement
Plane
Arcavios
People
Languages
English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish
Other
Symbol description
An owlin mask / The front of a Strixhaven Skycoach
Design
Annie Sardelis (lead), Eric Engelhard , Daniel Xu , Dan Musser , Mark Rosewater , Lauren Bond , Mark Gottlieb , JC Tao , Jacob Mooney
Themes and mechanics
Enemy colored colleges, Lessons
Keywords/​ability words
Converge , Flashback , Increment , Infusion , Opus , Paradigm , Prepare , Repartee
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Secrets of Strixhaven is the 111th Magic expansion and was released on April 24, 2026.

Set details

The set was first teased during the 2023 Announcement Day panel at Gen Con Indiana. Secrets of Strixhaven features Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, a Draft Night box, a Bundle, a limited-edition "Codex Bundle", and five preconstructed Commander decks. The set also features a Mystical Archive bonus sheet, similar to the original Mystical Archive.

Set codes and numbering

The main Standard-legal set uses the code SOS. It contains 281 regular cards (86 commons, 100 uncommons, 60 rares, 20 mythic rares, 15 basic lands), and includes randomly inserted traditional foil versions of all cards. Alternate card frames have a different card number than the original version.

The related non-Standard code is SOC (Secrets of Strixhaven Commander); these cards are legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage, and reprints remain legal where already legal.

The related bonus sheet code is SOA (Secrets of Strixhaven Mystical Archive); with the same legality as SOC.

Special Guests (SPG)

Secrets of Strixhaven includes ten Special Guests cards, each depicting a lecture held within the halls of Strixhaven University. These cards highlight the campus's diverse and vibrant curriculum. Non‑foil Special Guests cards appear in Play Boosters, while traditional foil versions are found exclusively in Collector Boosters. All Special Guests cards are legal in Limited play, but otherwise they are only legal in sets where the card is already legal.

On Magic: The Gathering Arena, Library of Leng is replaced with the Reserved List card Library of Alexandria, which features exclusive new art by Bruce Brenneise. Ian Adams explained the change in terms of user experience, with Library of Leng creating negative experiences through the double handling of first choosing the discard order for the cards and then having to choose which destination (graveyard or library) each card goes to individually. By contrast, the Library of Alexandria has a very simple user experience and is a Powered Cube card that is newly craftable.

The implementation of Sylvan Library posed a challenge to the MTG Arena design team.

Boosters packs

Secrets of Strixhaven Play Boosters each contain 14 playing cards plus one non‑foil punch‑out card or double‑sided token. A Play Booster box includes 30 packs. Collector Boosters contain 15 cards plus one art card or traditional foil double‑sided token, with 12 packs per Collector Booster box. All cards opened in Secrets of Strixhaven Play Boosters—including the Mystical Archive and Special Guests cards associated with the set—are legal for use in Draft and Sealed play. Each Play Booster contains 1–2 Mystical Archive cards. The full breakdown of contents for Secrets of Strixhaven Play Boosters and Collector Boosters is as follows:

Commander decks

Five preconstructed Commander decks are released alongside the main set.

Theme Decks

Two preconstructed Theme Decks are released alongside the main set. Each is a 60‑card, Standard‑legal deck—one focused on Lifegain and the other on Enchantments. These decks are designed to introduce players to Constructed formats and to play well against other Theme Decks. Their flavor is not specific to Arcavios; they include cards drawn from across Standard.

Tokens, emblems and markers

Secrets of Strixhaven includes the following tokens and emblems.

  1. {C} Copy, for Applied Geometry; Colorstorm Stallion; Echocasting Symposium.
  2. {U/R} 3/3 Elemental creature with flying, for Artistic Process; Aqueous Aria; Muse's Encouragement; Visionary's Dance.
  3. {U/R} 3/3 Elemental creature with flying
  4. {G/U} 0/0 Fractal creature, for Additive Evolution; Ambitious Augmenter; Berta, Wise Extrapolator; Emil, Vastlands Roamer; Fractal Anomaly; Fractal Tender; Oracle's Gift; Snarl Song; Wild Hypothesis.
  5. {G/U} 0/0 Fractal creature
  6. {W/B} 1/1 Inkling creature with flying, for Eager Glyphmage; Emeritus of Truce; Eternal Student; Harsh Annotation; Informed Inkwright.
  7. {W/B} 1/1 Inkling creature with flying
  8. {B/G} 1/1 Pest creature with "Whenever this token attacks, you gain 1 life.", for Essenceknit Scholar; Pest Friend; Moseo, Vein's New Dean; Pestbrood Sloth; Send in the Pest.
  9. {B/G} 1/1 Pest creature with "Whenever this token attacks, you gain 1 life."
  10. {R/W} 2/2 Spirit creature, for Antiquities on the Loose; Garrison Excavator; Group Project; Living History; Awaken the Ages.
  11. {R/W} 2/2 Spirit creature
  12. {C} Treasure artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.", for Craft with Pride; Sanar, Unfinished Genius; Seize the Spoils.
  13. Emblem for Professor Dellian Fel

There is also a punch card with "Prepared" markers.

Themes and mechanics

As in Strixhaven: School of Mages, instant and sorcery spells form a major mechanical backbone of Secrets of Strixhaven. To support this, the set introduces the Prepare mechanic. Prepare appears on creatures that have a "prepare spell" on the right side of their text box, similar to Adventure cards. Each creature with prepare has its own condition to become prepared. While a creature is prepared, its controller may cast a copy of its prepare spell by paying its mana cost; doing so then leaves the creature unprepared. Each of the five colleges has an exclusive mechanic:

  • {Watermark of Silverquill} Silverquill ({W}{B}) cards feature Repartee. Repartee abilities trigger on creatures whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets a creature.
  • {Watermark of Prismari} Prismari ({U}{R}) cards feature Opus. Opus abilities trigger whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, with an additional effect if you spent five or more mana to cast it.
  • {Watermark of Witherbloom} Witherbloom ({B}{G}) cards feature Infusion. Infusion abilities care whether you have gained life this turn.
  • {Watermark of Lorehold} Lorehold ({R}{W}) cards feature the returning Flashback. Flashback is an alternate cost that allows instant or sorcery spells to be cast from your graveyard once.
  • {Watermark of Quandrix} Quandrix ({G}{U}) cards feature Increment. Similar in concept to evolve, increment appears on creatures and lets you put a +1/+1 counter on them whenever you cast a spell for an amount of mana greater than the creature's power or toughness.

Converge returns from Battle for Zendikar, representing the power of the Archaics. Spells with converge care about the number of colors of mana spent to cast them. Some of these cards include two-brid mana costs for added flexibility. The new Paradigm mechanic appears on one cycle of mythic rare spells. Most reminiscent of epic, paradigm allows a single massive spell to affect the rest of the game. After a spell with paradigm resolves, it is exiled; then, at the beginning of each of your turns for the rest of the game, you may cast a copy of it without paying its mana cost. Cameo mechanics in the set include casualty, storm, miracle, cascade, affinity, and grandeur. Cards associated with a college feature its symbol as a watermark. Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer has a unique watermark shaped like Jace Beleren's tattoos.

Card types

Secrets of Strixhaven introduces the Giraffe creature type and the Book artifact type. The set includes the first Dellian planeswalker, as well as the first Ral that is not both blue and red. The Lesson spell type returns on one cycle of cards with paradigm. However, the associated learn mechanic does not appear in this set.

Counters

The set uses page counters, first seen in Urza's Saga, on Book artifacts.

Limited archetypes

Secrets of Strixhaven features the following five Limited archetypes. With converge in the mix, three‑color combinations (wedges composed of two enemy pairs) are also intended to be viable.

Storyline

Killian Lu, Dina, Rootha Squallheart, and other returning characters have now graduated from Strixhaven University and are putting their magic to use in the wider world. The set also introduces five new students who are just choosing their colleges: Lluwen, Abigale, Sanar, Tam, and Kirol. The school and its students are confronted by the Archaics, who have been provoked into a destructive rampage. Chandra Nalaar joins forces with a group of reformed Oriq, while an alternate version of Ral Zarek causes trouble. A new planeswalker, Professor Dellian Fel, pursues his own objectives. Separate from the main storyline, the young adult novel Omens of Chaos by Seanan McGuire tells the story of Strixhaven's first class of interplanar students, who have traveled to Arcavios via Omenpaths. Secrets of Strixhaven is the third set in the third and final story arc of the Metronome storyline, marking a return to Arcavios and Strixhaven University.

MagicStory

The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Secrets of Strixhaven are:

Marketing

A return to Arcavios was first teased during the 2023 Announcement Day panel at Gen Con Indiana. The set name Secrets of Strixhaven was announced at MagicCon: Las Vegas 2025, with further details revealed at MagicCon: Atlanta 2025. Three months before the set's release, a scrap worker leaked pictures of metal printing plates for the Prismari Commander deck. The images show cards partway through the printing process, with art and text appearing on separate plates.

Headliner

The Headliner of the set is Emeritus of Ideation, which has a serialized version (numbered #1–500) featuring art by Mark Poole and a throwback textless frame. Because the card is textless, it also omits the Ancestral Recall portion of its text.

Events

Promos

Codex Bundle cards

Each Codex Bundle contains two of the following six borderless promo cards:

Cycles

Pairs

Reprinted cards

Functional reprints

In other languages

Secrets of Strixhaven is printed in the following languages for the following products:

Gallery

  • Secrets of Strixhaven regular Bundle
    Secrets of Strixhaven regular Bundle
  • Secrets of Strixhaven Codex Bundle
    Secrets of Strixhaven Codex Bundle
  • Secrets of Strixhaven Draft Night
    Secrets of Strixhaven Draft Night
  • Collector Booster, depicting Abigale
    Collector Booster, depicting Abigale
  • Play Booster (2), depicting Tamira
    Play Booster (2), depicting Tamira
  • Play Booster (3), depicting Dellian Fel
    Play Booster (3), depicting Dellian Fel
  • Phunny Lumaret Plush, sold by Kidrobot / WizKids
    Phunny Lumaret Plush, sold by Kidrobot / WizKids
  • Promotional Bumper Stickers
    Promotional Bumper Stickers