The decklists for each of the five Secrets of Strixhaven Commander precons were fully revealed on April 1st, 2026. Silverquill Influence has Killian, Decisive Mentor at the helm as the face Commander. Scriv, the Obligator is the secondary Commander. Killian and Scriv's strategies both revolve around Auras and enchanting other players' Creatures.

Let's look at this deck's strategy and what cool new tech is under the hood.

Killian, Decisive Mentor

Killian, Decisive Mentor is going to want lots of Auras to enter the battlefield over the course of the game. Hopefully they'll be low-cost so that he can trigger his tap and Goad ability multiple times in a turn.

You can absolutely place the Aurus onto your own Creatures, but it seems like you'll typically want to place the auras on the Creatures you'll be Goading, ensuring they have to attack. Forcing Creatures you've enchanted ensures you'll draw cards. Ideally, you'll want to enchant one of each players' Creatures for a maximum of four extra cards each turn cycle.

Don't ignore that the Goad also taps down the Creature, allowing for the other Goaded Creatures to slip in for damage.

Buffing Auras

Auras that buff Creatures that are forced to attack are good for Killian, but keeping the power of those auras in check is important since Goad only lasts for one turn cycle. When I built Killian before Silverquill Influence was revealed fully, I struggled with this little hiccup. Not to worry, though. There are solutions included in this very deck.

Giving a Creature Protection from a chosen color could hit hard if you're able to keep enchanting it, thus keeping it goaded. As such, Flickering Ward might be one of the best cards in this deck because you can pay to return it to your hand over and over again. It guarantees another Goad from an Aura entering, and another protected-ish attack for another card drawn. And if they make a bad attack to try and get rid of the Ward, you can just return it to your hand after you draw the card.

Raffine's Guidance is another recurable Aura. It'll cost you when you cast it from your Graveyard, but being able to Goad and tap something repeatably is worth it. It only gives +1/+1 to the Creature it enchants, but we don't want the Auras we give out too many buffs. After all, those Creatures might come swinging back at us if we can't Goad them again.

Sentinel's Eyes is also recur-able. You can Escape it by exiling two other cards from your Graveyard and paying . You can do that as many times as you have cards to exile. It gives Vigilance and +1/+1, but that's exactly what we want: low cost, low power.

Martial Impetus and Parasitic Impetus are great for this deck because they permanently Goad the Creatures they're attached to. Those Creatures get bigger buffs, but they will always be forced to attack your opponents, and draw you cards with Killian. It's nice to have some options to draw off Killian that don't force us to find new Auras to play ever turn.

Redemption Arc falls into this same category, but it gives the Creature Indestructible as well as Goading it. This aura could be good on something strong on the opponents' board, something you want to keep around to attack your opponents with.

You can let it sit around and deal damage for a while without worry, since it has a failsafe of letting you exile the Creature for . If the game becomes a 1v1 and your opponent's Goaded Creatures can attack you once more, you'll be happy to have that panic button.

Forced Political Cards

Silverquill Influence focuses on projecting the idea that attacking us is bad, and attacking the other players at the table is good. It does this subtly by rewarding your opponents with card draw for attacking someone besides you. It punishing opponents for attacking you by draining their life giving you cards.

The goal of the deck is to psychologically manipulate your opponents, but sometimes the deck doesn't give them any real choice in the matter.

Whenever your opponents' Goaded Creatures are forced to attack each other, we'll draw cards with Breena, the Demagogue. In this deck, she will get so big. She'll absolutely be capable of eliminating players by attacking through in the air. Giving Breena Lifelink and Ward 2 with something like Sheltered by Ghosts could change the game.

Putting +1/+1 counters on up to two target Creatures each player controls with Nils, Discipline Enforcer is pretty good additional pressure. It makes your opponents' Creatures bigger to encourage them to attack more.

It's even better when you realize that they must pay for each counter on that creature to attack you. If they're going to attack, why not attack a player that's free to attack?

Tomik, Wielder of Law incentivizes opponents to attack others by making them lose life if they attack you with two more Creatures. You also draw a card if they do. Mangara, the Diplomat is the same. When your opponents attack you with two or more Creatures you draw a card. Firemane Commando is similar too, encouraging players to attack elsewhere.

"Whenever a player attacks one of your opponents, that attacking player creates a tapped 2/1 White and Black Inkling token with Flying that's attacking that opponent." Combat Calligrapher is a good way to get more damage in on your opponents while not having any of it come back to you. When it's down to a 1v1, those Creatures can't attack you at all.

Shadrix Silverquill also makes Inklings, so you can also keep them from attacking you with the Calligrapher. Shadrix also puts counters on things, which Nils really appreciates, making it even harder to attack you.

Protection From Ire and Closing It Out.

When you end up in a 1v1, Goad can no longer save you from the board of big meanies you've created. You need to find a way to win the game out from under the army you've given your final opponent. You either have to go shields up or you need to put out a strong Creature of your own.

Shields Up

Ghostly Prison is a good way to lock players out of swinging out on you completely. They are limited in how much they can attack you by the amount of mana they have available. One big Creature slipping through can be enough, though. One big bruiser might be enough to knock you out of the game if you don't have an answer. Nils could help here a bit if the Creature has counters on it.

Inkshield is another really good way to reverse the polarity of a finishing blow. If someone swings out on you, then maybe you can cast this and crack back on your turn. You just have to hold up an ominous amount of mana in Orzhov. It's so extremely telegraphed. If they hold up five+ mana when you have lethal on board, they've got it.

I'm not sure shields up is the move here, but it's an available option at the end of the game.

Closing It Out

Giving a Creature +10/+10, Trample, and Annihilator 2 should close out the game in short order. That's what Eldrazi Conscription will do if you play it in this deck, especially since you can tap something out of the way with Killian when the Aura enters. It costs eight mana, but hopefully that's enough to end the game for you.

The same can be said for Eidolon of Countless Battles which can make any Creature with evasion really big. This deck plays a lot of low-cost auras, so the buffs on this bestow Creature will be fairly high. Or, you be equip the Eidolon itself with Eldrazi Conscription for the most damage ever.

New Cards from Silverquill Influence

There are 10 new cards introduced in the Silverquill Influence precon. Each of the new cards benefits both Commanders. If you decided to choose Scriv over Killian, the deck should still run well for you. It's a combination of cards that care about Goading and Auras entering.

New Creature Cards

Scriv, the Obligator is the secondary Commander for the deck. Whenever this Creature enters or attacks it makes a token aura that says, "Whenever enchanted Creature attacks, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn if it's attacking one of your opponents. Otherwise, its controller loses 2 life."

What this Commander is trying to do is make Creatures that are Goaded by Kilian or Impetuses hit a bit harder. It also encourages opponents to attack anyone other than you.

Lots of the cards in this deck reward players for attacking each other without Goad. It's the gloved hand to Killian, who just Goads.

A lot of the cards in this deck give card draw for attacking opponents. Defacing Duskmage becomes Prepared with an opponent draws a second card on their turn. Being able to cast the Instant attached to and cast it again in the same turn cycle is interesting. You just need to have enough mana.

Drawing two cards and draining the table seems relevant with Eriette of the Charmed Apple in the deck. Drain might be an actual win con.

Whenever you attack with two or more Creatures, Eiganjo Dynastorian becomes Prepared. This deck wants you to attack like this repeatedly, which will likely get Duskmage Prepared every turn cycle. The spell it Prepares returns all Enchantments from your Graveyard to the Battlefield, which might be a good way to recur auras that have fallen off in combat.

Herald of Amity gets you an Aura for free. It also attacks and gets bigger for each Aura you control. In this deck it'll be big. It also has Flying, which makes it tough to block. With a couple of Scriv's Auras on it, it could do a lot of damage. It's probably one of the scariest cards in the deck.

New Non-Creature Cards

Changing Loyalty is an aura that can, with enough mana, tap down a decent number of Creatures and Goad them. It could be good for a game-ending strike. It also could be used on your own Creatures to keep them from dying in a pinch since it has Flash.

Intermediate Chirography makes some Inklings and puts counters on them once a turn when you level it up. The last level is the most important. If a modified Creature died under your control this turn, create a 2/1 Inkling Creature token. I wish it didn't say, "you control." It would be so much more playable.

Coercive Impetus draws you a card and loses you a life when the enchanted Creature attacks. The enchanted Creature gets +1/+1 and is Goaded. I think this is a lovely addition to the Impetus cycle. It works perfectly in a deck that wants to Goad through auras. This deck will definitely not struggle to draw cards at all.

The Decklist

Silverquill Influence | Commander | Wizards of the Coast

• Commander (1)
• 1 Killian, Decisive Mentor

• Creatures (24)
• 1 Ajani's Chosen
• 1 Archon of Sun's Grace
• 1 Breena, the Demagogue
• 1 Combat Calligrapher
• 1 Defacing Duskmage
• 1 Doomwake Giant
• 1 Eidolon of Countless Battles
• 1 Eiganjo Dynastorian
• 1 Eriette of the Charmed Apple
• 1 Firemane Commando
• 1 Hateful Eidolon
• 1 Herald of Amity
• 1 Keen Duelist
• 1 Killian, Ink Duelist
• 1 Kor Spiritdancer
• 1 Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1 Nils, Discipline Enforcer
• 1 Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor
• 1 Scriv, the Obligator
• 1 Shadrix Silverquill
• 1 Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1 Starfield Mystic
• 1 Tomik, Wielder of Law
• 1 Transcendent Envoy

• Instants (4)
• 1 Anguished Unmaking
• 1 Fracture
• 1 Inkshield
• 1 Vanishing Verse

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Promise of Loyalty
• 1 Secret Rendezvous
• 1 Winds of Rath

• Enchantments (26)
• 1 Angelic Destiny
• 1 Animate Dead
• 1 Chains of Custody
• 1 Changing Loyalty
• 1 Coercive Impetus
• 1 Darksteel Mutation
• 1 Eldrazi Conscription
• 1 Fallen Ideal
• 1 Flickering Ward
• 1 Forum Filibuster
• 1 Gift of Immortality
• 1 Ghoulish Impetus
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Intermediate Chirography
• 1 Land Tax
• 1 Martial Impetus
• 1 Parasitic Impetus
• 1 Raffine's Guidance
• 1 Redemption Arc
• 1 Sage's Reverie
• 1 Screams from Within
• 1 Sentinel's Eyes
• 1 Sheltered by Ghosts
• 1 Shielded by Faith
• 1 Songbirds' Blessing
• 1 Spirit Mantle

• Artifacts (4)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Talisman of Hierarchy

• Lands (37)
• 8 Swamp
• 8 Plains
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Caves of Koilos
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Desolate Mire
• 1 Eclipsed Steppe
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Fetid Heath
• 1 Forum of Amity
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 Shineshadow Snarl
• 1 Silverquill Campus
• 1 Study Hall
• 1 Sunlit Marsh
• 1 Temple of Silence
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Turbulent Moor
• 1 Umbral Expanse
• 1 War Room

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Conclusion

This deck is fairly different from the other Secrets of Strixhaven precons. It's sort of a political deck. It's different from a Group Hug deck like Ms. Bumbleflower, which has its win cons built into it. You need to understand the thought process of the other players at the table well enough to exploit them to win with this deck.

I'm not sure it's the best precon to give players who are just learning the game. Alongside the other five, it is a great tool for a more experience player to teach politics and combat strengths and weaknesses. It is a deck that is only as strong as the rest of the table.

It's fun and holds a unique build around that you don't see too often. I highly recommend it either way.

Until next time, I'm @strixhavendropout on everything.