Secrets of Strixhaven Previews Begin Next Week

It feels just like yesterday since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles released, but we're already well on our way to our next Magic release of 2026.

Secrets of Strixhaven preview season kicks off next week. The debut stream will take place on Tuesday, March 31st at 9:00 AM PST/1:00 PM EST as a part of the usual WeeklyMTG stream. Check out the official Magic Twitch channel to see the initial debut video followed by additional discussion and reveals to get the first major glimpse of this awesome set.

A handful of previews trickled out alongside the Secrets of Strixhaven story that was released over the course of the week. Each of these were story-centric commons, as well as a cycle of Charms being revealed at PAX East.

Here's my #MTGStrixhaven Teaser:

www.tumblr.com/markrosewate... #WotCStaff

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— maro254.bsky.social (@maro254.bsky.social) March 25, 2026 at 10:58 AM

Last but not least, Mark Rosewater put out his usual set teaser for Secrets of Strixhaven on his Tumblr blog, Blogatog. Tons of awesome aspects of this teaser have many players eager to see what's around the corner, especially since a few secrets may have been unveiled a touch early along the way.

Be sure to check with your local game store to lock in this great set or check out the Secrets of Strixhaven page on CoolStuffInc to preorder your cards now.

Banned and Restricted Update Brings Minor Change

This past Monday saw the latest Banned and Restricted announcement for Magic: The Gathering. For the most part, no changes occurred in any format. Only Food Chain was banned in Historic (a MTG Arena exclusive format) thanks to a powerful combo that could kill as quickly as turn two.

Most other formats seemed quite healthy or needed a bit more time for observation. For example, the speed of play in Standard was noted as being a bit of an issue, but the diversity was strong enough that it made up for things. Additionally, the amount of Aggro decks showing up in Pioneer is potentially an issue, but isn't bad enough to demand immediate action.

The only other interesting tidbits came from the Pauper section of the article.

Utrom Monitor was called out for being an unexpectedly powerful and difficult to obtain card for the format. It only comes from the Turtle Team-Up release for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and in Treasure Chests on MTGO. To help with availability, drop rates for MTGO were noted to be increasing on April 1st next week.

Additionally, Bonder's Ornament was noted as being a candidate for a potential trial unban in the future. The card was previously omnipresent in the format and drowned opponents in card advantage, but has likely gotten quite a bit weaker as the format has sped up.

If you'd like to read a longer write-up on this update, you can do so here.

Replays Return to Magic Online

On March 18, 2025, the Magic Online team took down the ability to watch replays of finished games and matches. This was due to intense lag issues being supposedly linked to the replays.

Many players use replays to review their games so they can improve their gameplay. Additionally, content creators frequently use them to play back matches in order to talk through them in a more effective manner than doing so while playing.

As a result, many fans of Magic Online have been asking for the return of replays ever since. Now, just over a year later, their prayers were answered.

Replays are once again available in Magic Online! If you run into issues with it, please file a ticket at help.mtgo.com.

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— Magic Online (@magiconline.bsky.social) March 23, 2026 at 1:17 PM

Magic Online announced this week that replays are officially back on the client. If you've never had the chance to use them before, they are extremely helpful

Decklist of the Week

Elves | Pauper | Andrea Feltrin, 1st Place Paupergeddon (Spring 2026)

• Creatures (38)
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Sagu Wildling
• 4 Avenging Hunter
• 4 Fyndhorn Elves
• 4 Generous Ent
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Masked Vandal
• 4 Nyxborn Hydra
• 4 Priest of Titania
• 4 Quirion Ranger
• 4 Timberwatch Elf

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Lead the Stampede
• 4 Winding Way

• Lands (14)
• 1 Gingerbread Cabin
• 13 Forest

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Primordial Pachyderm
• 2 Viridian Longbow
• 3 Faerie Macabre
• 4 Monstrous Emergence
• 4 Vitu-Ghazi Inspector

Buy This Deck Export text

The Spring edition of Paupergeddon was held this past weekend in Lucca, Italy. Roughly 1044 players battled it out in what has become the biggest Pauper tournament in the world.

At the end of the weekend, Elves took the event down in the hands of Andrea Feltrin. This classic archetype has long been somewhat fragile to board wipes thanks to the low power of the creatures on the board. However, the deck has pivoted in recent years to taking advantage of a powerful top-end cards like Generous Ent and Avenging Hunter to stabilize through those board wipes.

This is my personal favorite Pauper deck, so I couldn't be happier to see it crush the competition.

Congratulations Andrea!

Paige Smith

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