Today we're tackling my second list of the top cards from the Secrets of Strixhaven set.

Secrets of Strixhaven marks the return to Arcavios, the setting for 2021's Strixhaven: School of Mages. Like the original set, SOS is built around five two-color Schools of magic, putting Magic: the Gathering's spin on the popular 'Magic School' genre of fiction ( like Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, or Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series).

Strixhaven was designed to present the already well-defined enemy color pairs from Ravnica (Boros , Golgari , Izzet , Orzhov , and Simic ) in a new mechanical light as The Colleges of Lorehold, Witherbloom, Prismari, Silverquill, and Quandrix). Much like its predecessor, Secrets of Strixhaven features a heavy focus on Instant and Sorcery spells.

I've been giving you these Top lists for casual play for decades, and then I almost always have played casual formats like Commander, Five Color, Highlander, multiplayer, Type Four and more. These lists feature cards that are primed for play in Casual formats, whether you're playing one-on-one or at a multiplayer table. That's everything from Commander and Five-Color to Type Four, Peasant, and even Pauper.

Cards are much more powerful than they used to be. So, here're some of the most fun, most broken Secrets of Strixhaven cards for casual players.

Best SOS Cards for Casual Play

If you're looking to build Casual decks that are lots of fun to play, then you should absolutely consider these Secrets of Strixhaven cards.

• 20. Scheming Silvertongue
• 19. Divergent Equation
• 18. Hardened Academic
• 17. Maelstrom Artisan
• 16. Colorstorm Stallion
• 15. Mind Roots
• 14. Aziza, Mage Tower Captain
• 13. Pox Plague
• 12. Cauldron of Essence
• 11. Suspend Aggression
• 10. Fix What's Broken
• 9. Applied Geometry
• 8. Abstract Paintmage
• 7. The Emeritus Cycle
• 6. Mind into Matter
• 5. Harmonized Trio
• 4. Moseo, Vein's New Dean
• 3. Primary Research
• 2. Noxious Newt & Hydro-Channeler
• 1. Petrified Hamlet

20. Scheming Silvertongue

Scheming Silvertongue is a two-mana 1/3 with Flying and Lifelink. At the beginning of your second main phase, if you gained two or more life this turn the Silvertongue becomes Prepared. Sign in Blood is the Prepared spell you get to cast, letting target player draw two cards and lose two life at Sorcery speed.

Two life is a very low bar to clear to get access to a Sign in Blood every turn. You won't always get there, but the possibility is good enough to play this solid Creature.

19. Divergent Equation

Divergent Equation is an Instant that costs and returns X Instants and/or Sorceries from your graveyard to your hand and then self-exiles. So, for three mana you can get back a single high-impact spell, or you can spend five for two, seven for three, etc. That's a pretty good rate.

Getting back card draw like Fact or Fiction or Tidings, would be a good choice. But you can also get a second use out of removal, counterspells, tutors, or game-winning powerhouses like Insurrection, Time Walk, or Wheel of Fortune.

18. Hardened Academic

Hardened Academic is a sweet two-drop in Lorehold colors () with a 2/1 body that has Flying and Haste. You can discard a card to give it Lifelink, and 'Whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on target Creature you control.'

The College of Lorehold is all about cards leaving your graveyard, from casting spells with flashback to exiling cards to pay for Delve costs. Hardened Academic is both a great payoff for doing what Lorehold wants to do, and a way to dump cards into your graveyard for value. That's definitely a win/win.

17. Maelstrom Artisan

Maelstrom Artisan is a three-mana Red 3/2 Minotaur Sorcerer with Haste that enters Prepared. What is it prepared to cast? Rocket Volley is a Sorcery for that destroys target nonbasic Land. If you're at all familiar with the card Avalanche Riders, the Artisan fits a similar bill but with a slightly bigger body and without requiring you to pay a nasty Echo cost on your next turn.

There's no shortage of powerful nonbasic Lands we'd love to destroy with Rocket Volley, like Bazaar of Baghdad, Library of Alexandria, Maze of Ith, Gaea's Cradle and other such busted options. You don't even have to use it right away, since having the option to blow up someone's utility Land or remove access to one of their colors is a good deterrent.

Not to mention, you could very well Flicker of Blink the Artisan to re-Prepare it if repeatable Land destruction is your style.

16. Colorstorm Stallion

Colorstorm Stallion is a three-drop 3/3 with Haste and Ward - . It hails from the College of Prismari () and is rocking an Opus ability. Whenever you cast an Instant or Sorcery spell, the Stallion gets +1/+1 until the end of the turn. Now, if you spent five or more mana to cast that spell, you also create a token that is a copy of Colorstorm Stallion.

As long as you have expensive spells to cast, you'll be doubling your herd of Stallions every time. Five mana is a pretty big investment, but when you're making four or more Stallions for your trouble I'd say that's well worth the price of admission.

15. Mind Roots

Looks like Mind Rot got a facelift! Mind Roots forces target player to discard two cards for three mana in Witherbloom colors (). If you've ever been Mind Rotted, the usual instinct is to just discard Lands or something else low impact. Mind Roots offers a bit of a twist on that, though.

This Sorcery speed discard spell can also ramp you if a Land is discarded to its effect. They pitched a Land to save the cards in their hand? You get to put that Land on to the battlefield tapped under your control. It adds a little more tension for your opponent when they're deciding what to discard, should you target them with it.

You can always target yourself, of course. Three mana to put something relevant in your graveyard and put an extra land into play is a pretty good rate. I'd love to see more takes on Mind Rot in the same vein as this and Blightning (Mind Rot plus Lava Spike).

14. Aziza, Mage Tower Captain

Aziza, Mage Tower Captain is a two-drop 2/2 from Lorehold, and definitely on my shortlist for Commanders to build around. Whenever you cast an Instant or Sorcery spell, Aziza lets you tap three untapped Creatures to make a copy of that spell. Red and White are big token-making colors, so having three 1/1s (Soldiers, Goblins, Humans, or whatever) to tap for this ability shouldn't be too hard to achieve.

I love the flavor of Aziza leading her team to work together and double up on every spell you cast. If you want to win a game of Magic (or Mage Tower) you have to hustle!

13. Pox Plague

I adore brewing with Pox variants, and my default Legacy brew is a Pox deck. Pox Plague is a great take on the classic at five mana, making each player lose half their life, half the cards in their hand, and half of the permanents they control in one fell swoop.

It does round down instead of up, and it doesn't separate Lands and Creatures like other Poxes, but half of everything they have is a pretty huge loss. If you rock this in Multiplayer, it's going to be hugely impactful in resetting the game state.

12. Cauldron of Essence

Cauldron of Essence is an Artifact with a triggered ability for 'Whenever a Creature you control dies.' What happens? Each time it triggers, each opponent loses one life and you gain one life. If that were all, it would be a pretty good Blood Artist effect, but there's more.

You can tap the Cauldron for to sacrifice a Creature, at Sorcery speed, and return a Creature from your graveyard to the battlefield. This is like if Recurring Nightmare and Blood Artist had a baby, and I'm here for it. There are plenty of Creatures you can get value from sacrificing, so this is an excellent engine piece for an Aristocrats-style deck.

11. Suspend Aggression

Suspend Aggression combines Red's penchant for temporary card draw with White's ability to flicker and exile. This three-mana Instant in Lorehold colors exiles target non-Land permanent and the top card of your library. Each card exiled this way can be played by its owner until the end of their next turn.

This is an excellent way to temporarily get something dangerous out of the way while letting you see an extra card (it says play, so you can play a Land if you happen to exile one). Or you could use it to exile something of yours with an Enters-the-battlefield ability you'd like to re-buy. Suspend Aggression gives you options, and flexibility will always be king.

10. Fix What's Broken

Fix What's Broken is a companion to Vicious Rivalry from our first list. This four-cost Silverquill Sorcery let's you pay X life to return all Artifacts and Creatures with mana value X from your graveyard to the battlefield. Note that unlike Vicious Rivalry it doesn't say or less, so you only get things back that cost exactly X.

As long as you play it smart, you can set up pretty well to return several value pieces after a boardwipe. Getting back a bunch of two-drops like Knight of the White Orchid and Mind Stone will set you up nicely post mass removal.

9. Applied Geometry

Applied Geometry is a four-cost Sorcery from Quandrix () that creates a token copy of target non-Aura permanent you control. It becomes a 0/0 Fractal in addition to its other types and gets six +1/+1 counters.

Getting to make a Clone of any non-Aura perment we control is already really good for four mana, but this also turns it into a sizeable Creature. Unfortunately it doesn't remove Legendary status, so Legendary Creatures and Planeswalkers are not the best targets. But, this lets us double up on everything from Maze of Ith, to Doubling Season, to Sol Ring and Mind's Eye. Not to mention fantastic Creatures like Mulldrifter to Solemn Simulacrum to Primeval Titan.

8. Abstract Paintmage

Abstract Paintmage is a three-mana 2/2 in Prismari that adds at the beginning of your first main phase. That mana can only be used to cast Instants or Sorceries, but that shouldn't be too hard to come by in those colors.

This is great to drop early and help ramp out some bigger spells more quickly. An extra two mana every turn is nothing to sneeze at, even if it's limited to only Instants and Sorceries.

7. The Emertius Cycle

Every card in this cycle of Mythic Rares can Prepare an iconic spell from Magic's first set. The five spells are Swords to Plowshares, Ancestral Recall, Demonic Tutor, Lightning Bolt, and Regrowth. Emeritus of Ideation is currently nasty in Standard, but the Emeritus of Conflict isn't far behind. Who would have thought Ancestral Recall and Lightning Bolt would be good in Standard?

Emeritus of Truce is a three-mana 3/3 that lets target player create a 1/1 White and Black Inking Creature token with Flying. Then, if you control less Creatures than an opponent, it becomes Prepared and can cast Swords to Plowshares. Exiling a Creature for one mana continues to be an incredible rate, even if they get to gain life equal to the power of the Creature exiled.

Emeritus of Ideation is a five-mana 5/5 Flyer with Ward . It enters Prepared and ready to cast Ancestral Recall. If one Recall wasn't enough, you can exile eight cards from your graveyard when the Emeritus attacks and Prepare it again.

Emeritus of Woe is Demonic Tutor on a four-drop 5/4. It enters Prepared, so you can cast the tutor right away for an extra . Then, if two or more Creatures died this turn, you get to Prepare the Emeritus again. Recursive Tutors are nasty, especially in a singleton format like Commander where you can get the exact perfect card for your needs.

Emeritus of Conflict is a cheap 2/2 for two mana with First Strike that doesn't Enter Prepared. It becomes Prepared whenever you cast your third spell each turn, and then it can cast Lightning Bolt and burn anything for three damage. Getting one Bolt out of this is great, and if you get more than one you're probably already winning.

Finally, Emeritus of Abundance is a 3/4 with Vigilance for that Enters Prepared to cast Regrowth. You can spend the to return a card from your graveyard to your hand and that would already be solid. But this Emeritus can also Prepare itself again. When it attacks, if you control eight or more Lands, you get to cast Regrowth again.

Each of the Emeritus are very powerful, giving Wizards an out to print iconic spells from the game's past that would be too strong on their own.

6. Mind into Matter

Mind into Matter costs to draw X cards. Mind Spring is already playable, but this goes a step further. Additionally, we get to put a permanent with mana value X or less from our hand onto the battlefield for free.

That's not something I'd mind tapping out for, personally. In decks that have access to tons of mana, this is a great way to draw plenty of cards while still affecting the board. Putting something big into play for free eases the sting of taking a turn off to refill your hand.

5. Harmonized Trio

A one-mana 1/1 that can cast Brainstorm repeatedly? Harmonized Trio gives you access to this powerful one-mana Instant as long as you have the ability to tap it and two other untapped Creatures you control to Prepare it.

Brainstorm is a staple for all kinds of Blue decks, helping you manipulate the top of your library or even filter the cards in your hand away when combined with shuffle effects. If you can set this up to give you a free Brainstorm every turn, that's a great foundation for sculpting your hand for the rest of the game.

4. Moseo, Vein's New Dean

Moseo, Vein's New Dean is a three-mana 2/1 with Flying in Black. When Moseo Enters you Create a 1/1 Pest token with "Whenever this token attacks, you gain one life." On its own, that's not too shabby, but it also has an Infusion ability. At the beginning of your end step, if you gained life this turn, you get to return a Creature with mana value X or less from the graveyard, where X is the amount of life you gained this turn.

Getting free graveyard recursion every turn is not to be ignored, especially in a color that is very good at gaining life.

3. Primary Research

Primary Research is a five-drop Enchantment that returns a non-Land permanent with mana value three or less from your graveyard to the battlefield when it enters. If that was all it did, it probably wouldn't be worth it at five mana since we can get that effect repeatably on Sun Titan for one more mana.

However, it also lets you draw a card at the end of your turn if a card left your graveyard this turn. It's great to have another payoff for cards leaving the graveyard for the Lorehold decks out there.

2. Noxious Newt & Hydro-Channeler

Next up we've got a duo of two-drop mana dorks. Noxious Newt is a two-drop 1/2 with Deathtouch which is great on defense. It simply taps for a Green mana, but that Deathtouch helps it stay relevant when you no longer have need of the extra mana.

Hydro-Channeler is a Blue 1/3 that taps for a sinlge Blue mana, but you can only use it to cast Instants and Sorceries. It also has a second ability to filter into a mana of any color, but with the same restriction.

Both of these are super solid mana dorks, and there will always be a place for them in Casual land.

1. Petrified Hamlet

When Petrified Hamlet enters, you choose a Land card name. Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name cannot be activated unless they're mana abilities. Oh, and it gives Lands with the chosen name "Tap: Add Colorless." Of course, it also taps for Colorless itself.

Sometimes we need an answer to problematic Lands that isn't just blowing them all up, and Petrified Hamlet is an interesting way to stop something like Maze of Ith from doing it's thing without depriving someone of resources.

Honorable Mentions

Of course, there are many more cards worth talking about from Secrets of Strixhaven (several more lists, in fact!). Here are some honorable mentions that sit just outside this list of the top Casual cards from the set.

Mica, Reader of Ruins

Mica, Reader of Ruins is a Legendary Red 4/4 for four mana. He's protected a bit with Ward - Pay 3 life, and whenever we cast and Instant or Sorcery we can sacrifice an Artifact to copy it. There's no " once per turn" limit there, so we can go as wild as we want.

It's easy to sac a Treasure or something that wants to die, like Solemn Simulacrum, to give us value while we copy our spells. A single Artifact is a small price to pay to double up on Searing Wind or Fact or Fiction.

Pensive Professor

Pensive Professor is a three-drop 0/2 Creature with Increment (it gets a counter if you spent more mana on a spell than this Creature's power). What I like about this card is it draws us a card whenever it gets one or more +1/+1 counters. That can be from Increment or any other source.

The Professor is a great combo with Lyla, Holographic Assistant to draw as much of our library as we want, since we get to toss a counter on him whenever we draw, which will draw us another card and subsequently another counter, and so on. Draw as many cards as you want, or win with Laboratory Maniac when you draw your whole deck.

Nita, Forum Conciliator

Nita, Forum Conciliator is a three-drop 2/3 Legendary Silverquill Creature. As we cast spells we don't own, we can get to put a +1/+1 counter on each Creature we control. Then, for at Sorcery speed we can sacrifice another Creature to exile an Instant or Sorcery from an opponent's Graveyard and cast it with mana of any color.

Getting access to your opponents spells is pretty good, since it also deprives them of the ability to recur their own cards. The fact we're able to grow our own board presence with +1/+1 counters too is icing on the cake.

Joined Researchers

Joined Researchers is a two-mana 2/2 with First Strike in White. At the beginning of each end step, it becomes Prepared, provided an opponent has more cards in hand than you. When Prepared, you get to cast Secret Rendezvous and have you and target opponent each draw three cards. And by giving other people cards, you make it more likely for Joined Researchers to become Prepared again.

Wrapping Up

There we go! I hope you enjoyed this second look of the most exciting Casual cards in Secrets of Strixhaven. Until next time.