Preview season for Secrets of Strixhaven is in full swing. The Cube community is already buzzing with excitement over the new cards, revitalized archetypes, and completed land cycles. Rather than simply discuss the most powerful cards spoiled so far, I want to highlight 10 cards that are sure to have an impact on Cubes with a variety of themes and power levels. Let's get to it.

Honorable Mention: Ominous Harvest

While Ominous Harvest does not have the mass appeal of the other cards on this list, I feel it is worth noting for the players who run multiplayer focused Cubes. Gravestorm notably makes copies of the card, making it very hard to Counterspell.

I am particularly excited to place this card into my Two-Headed Giant Cube, Jolly Cooperation. It can situationally draw you and your teammate out of a tough spot, or target your opponents after a boardwipe to make them lose a staggering amount of life.

1. Bi-Cycle Dual Lands

After nearly 10 years we are finally completing the set of "Bi-Cycle" dual lands that every Cube designer has been dreaming of. 2017's Amonkhet began the cycle of fetchable dual lands in the allied colors with cards like Fetid Pools. The problem was that most Cubes are designed to support all 10 color pairs. Only including half of the lands in the set made mana bases unbalanced.

Of any card printed in Secrets of Strixhaven, Umbral Expanse and the other four dual lands are likely to see near universal play in most Cubes. Given these are only showing up in the Secrets of Strixhaven Commander decks, I imagine they will be hot commodities on the secondary market.

2. The Charms

In addition to the Bi-Cycle lands, Strixhaven has given us five new charms including Silverquill Charm. These charms offer a variety of useful effects at instant speed that makes them incredibly helpful flex spots for any deck. Notably, these cards also represent a significant increase in power and overall usefulness when compared to their Gatecrash counterparts like Orzhov Charm. I would expect to see many of these charms rounding out the multicolored sections of any Cube looking for more flexibility.

3. The Dawning Archaic

The Dawning Archaic is big, fun, and scary in all the right ways. One part Tolarian Terror and one part Torrential Gearhulk, this colorless creature offers incredible top end value to spellslinger decks and even the odd storm decks in a pinch.

While you will ideally use this card to cast expensive Blue spells like Treasure Cruise and Time Stretch, it is just as impactful when paired cantrips like Impolite Entrance. At its very worst, it is still a huge creature that can be played in most decks. Whether you are using it to recast Doom Blade or even Rampant Growth this card has value written all over it.

4. Studious First-Year

How impactful can a Wayfarer's Bauble with legs be? Other than being completely adorable, Studious First-Year promises to be an absolute staple in lower-powered Cubes and a recurable roleplayer in more powerful settings. Much like Thraben Inspector the fact that this ability is tied to a creature means that it will be much easier to recur.

Whether you are playing it alongside fair cards like Unearth or more unfair ones like Recurring Nightmare, this little bear wizard will slow down the early game and ensure you have the mana to win the late game.

5. Hardened Academic

Free discard outlets are notoriously scary in more powerful Cube environments. Whether you are using Hardened Academic to turn Fiery Temper into Lightning Bolt or simply equipping it with a Sword of Fire and Ice, this bird has serious potential.

Is it the Boros Psychic Frog? Unlikely; but, if you squint your eyes and discard a Sevinne's Reclamation or any other card with flashback, you will be well on your way to winning the game.

6. Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer

Honey, wake up. A new Liliana of the Veil just dropped. Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer is everything I want from a Planeswalker in Cube. Each mode is situationally powerful, it supports various existing archetypes, and while being strong it does not dominate the game the way other three-mana Planeswalkers like Oko, Thief of Crowns have been known to do.

Ral provides plenty of virtual card advantage and his third ability can bring back some of the most powerful creatures in modern Cube design, like the sinisterly synergistic Barrowgoyf.

7. Together As One

Other than being a subtle nod to the song "Monstrance Clock" by the popular rock/metal act Ghost, Together As One is the card that domain decks didn't know they needed. Similar to Golos, Tireless Pilgrim, this colorless card is designed for multicolored decks.

If you can get to six mana, you will always be able to cast it regardless of which land types you currently have. If you cast it with only three colors to converge, it will help you stabilize and draw into the missing pieces you need to win. If you manage to cast it with converge equaling five, you've likely already won.

8. Grave Researcher

I am an absolute sucker for "fair" Reanimator strategies. Winning and losing with a deck that works for its Reanimation effects is infinitely more rewarding than simply comboing off on turn one and pushing a Griselbrand into play.

While I would not describe Reanimate or Grave Researcher as low power or fair cards, the counterplay that is invited by having to keep it around for at least one turn seems incredibly fun to me. If your Cube thrives on interesting board states and decisions instead of raw power, keep an eye on this card.

9. Conciliator's Duelist

Conciliator's Duelist is a perfect example of my favorite Cube philosophy, "Make the fun thing good." On its surface, Duelist is a card that replaces itself when it enters, and lowers life totals. However, it really should be viewed as a card that combos with spot removal in the colors with the best single target removal available. Path to Exile removes an extra blocker before combat, even Unearth post-combat lets you blink the duelist itself to keep the value train rolling.

I personally love cards that are hard color locked, like Duelist. It does not belong in every, but the decks that can cast it will be rewarded with fun gameplay loops and extra value from most of their spells.

10. Colorstorm Stallion

Opus is a fun mechanic that plays like Prowess and Magecraft while also rewarding you for playing bigger spells. Colorstorm Stallion is an exciting card that makes your average Izzet spellslinger assess what kind of cards they want to play.

In your typical deck, you are rewarded for playing cheap interactive cantriping cards to develop a single explosive turn. Stallion makes you assess the long term gameplan by giving you the ability to generate large, hasty, warded threats. Whether you're using it alongside Time Warp or just Lightning Bolt, this card adds a new layer to a much beloved archetype.

Conclusion

As preview season for Secrets of Strixhaven continues, the list of standout cards is only growing and getting more exciting. With each reveal, we add new tools and potential archetypes to explore in Cube.

Until next time!