Farewell, Strixhaven

Today is part three in the series, looking at sets that departed the standard environment this month. It is time to look at Strixhaven.

Released in April 2021, Strixhaven: School of Mages is effectively "Magic does Harry Potter." And that really bothered me for some reason. As I mentioned in the previous post, Wizards rarely copies characters or elements from literature into its games directly, instead coming up with similar names or concepts. I'm okay with that for things in the public domain- mythology, fairy tales, and the like. But for something so modern like Harry Potter, copying that felt like a rip-off. Don't get me wrong- they didn't put in the characters directly. But the overall concept (a school for wizards) and some elements of that mirrored Rowling's world. I would have rather Wizards paid for the licensing and just did a Harry Potter set- that would have been better in my mind. Maybe I am being unreasonable. It just didn't sit well with me.

Okay, theme aside, how was the set? How were the mechanics/etc.? People seem to think it had a slew of powerful cards. Since I was put off by the theme itself, I didn't play this one much, and I didn't notice a ton of cards from it make its way into standard, either. But there are always a few worth talking about. 

Before I get to favorite cards, though, I did want to mention one mechanic and one concept. 

- The learn mechanic was both handy and annoying- handy, as it enabled you to search your sideboard for a 'lesson' card and put it into your hand; a nice way to increase your options. Annoying to plan and play against.

- The concept of 'generic' spells (ones requiring no colored mana) was also good. They were expensive for their effect, but their generic nature meant they could be included in any deck, and I like that idea. You'll see an example or two of them below.

Favorites

Environmental Sciences and Introduction to Prophecy are two examples of the lesson cards I mention above. They could be included in a sideboard and fetched during the game with the 'learn' mechanic, or they could be included in your deck like a normal sorcery. Bury in Books was cool for the theme- more and more Magic cards have a book/library theme, which I love. Eyetwitch was a nice defender with handy learn ability. Plumb the Forbidden could get you cards quickly. Bookwurm was fun for both its ability and book theme. Eureka Moment and Vanishing Verse are two nice multicolored spells. And Codie, though I couldn't find a use for him, just looked cool.

Good Riddance

Three cards below- Clever Lumimancer, Leonin Lightscribe, and Dragonsguard Elite- showed up in a deck that always annoyed me. The concept was play these creatures, cast a few instants/sorceries, and win the game with 1-2 creatures on the board. It was easy enough to defeat if you could kill one of said creatures. But it was also effective (which is why it annoyed me). It felt like a gimmicky deck. Moving on, Elite Spellbinder was a nice but annoying way to increase the cost of your opponent's spells, Go Blank added insult to injury by exiling the graveyard in addition to discarding, and Blade Historian featured in a number of Boros aggro decks with devastating effect.

Final Thoughts

I picked up a few cards from this set that I wanted for existing modern or casual decks, and pretty much ignored it otherwise, for the reasons I mentioned above. I was glad to see this one go.