I've jammed a ton of games with Secrets of Strixhaven on Arena and I'm loving our return to Arcavios so far. And with the recent Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, now is a great time to take a look at the top ten cards from the set. Secrets of Strixhaven has a lot to offer, and I think there are some powerful cards that should see immediate play.

If you're familiar with my past lists, I tend to focus on the cards I think will have the biggest impact on the Standard format. With that in mind, which cards are set to make waves in Secrets of Strixhaven Standard?

The Ten Best Cards in Secrets of Strixhaven

These ten cards are set to take the Standard format by storm, if my experience is anything to go by. In fact, some of them did make an appearance at Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, with Erode showing up in decks from the Top 8.

• 10. Mind into Matter
• 9. Planar Engineering
• 8. Colorstorm Stallion
• 7. Vibrant Outburst
• 6. Withering Curse
• 5. Improvisation Capstone
• 4. Moseo, Vein's New Dean
• 3. Erode
• 2. Flashback
• 1. Professor Dellian Fel

Let's dig in to why these cards are set up to succeed in Secrets of Strixhaven Standard.

10. Mind into Matter

Mind into Matter is my favorite card in the set, and the one I was most excited to play. I heard someone describe this as, "Braingeyser with a Black Lotus stapled to it," and I haven't been able to get that comparison out of my mind.

In many games, the tempo loss of tapping out with an card draw spell makes them difficult to play, but this one naturally negates that tempo loss. I think the trick to this one is that you don't want to hold onto it until you can draw a bunch of cards. Playing this for X=4 and dropping something like Badgermole Cub onto the board is an amazing play.

Guard yourself against being greedy with this one, and let the early copies scale into the late ones.

9. Planar Engineering

Planar Engineering is so simple and straightforward that the card itself isn't all that exciting. Sure, it can automatically assure that you hit all five colors of mana, but it's just a four-mana spell that ramps you two on the face. Yawn. But, the way it fits into the current metagame makes this an amazing card for Standard.

This card is a two-card combo with either Tifa Lockhart or Mossborn Hydra. Together, they curve out into a kill on turn four. Boring, but brutally efficient. I hope you're not sick of Mono-Green Landfall decks, because they'll continue to be a staple of the format for another two years at this point.

8. Colorstorm Stallion

Colorstorm Stallion is built to end games in a hurry. There was a time when a three-mana, three-power creature with Haste was seen as an incredibly powerful aggressive creature. Now, let's give it Prowess and let you make copies of it in the late game

I'd say this is one hard-hitting horse, and this is a kicked Burst Lightning's best friend.

7. Vibrant Outburst

This card is so good it kind of makes me angry. Izzet/Prismari decks are already very strong (possibly too strong) in Standard, and this is such a fantastic upgrade to Lightning Strike. In fact, the first few times I read it, I missed that it could target players. I thought, "Surely they wouldn't let me dome my opponent with this." Well, don't call me Shirley, because this can hit anything.

This is one of the better ways to control the board in the early game and should see play in Jeskai control builds as well as your aggressive Izzet builds.

6. Withering Curse

I went back and forth on whether I wanted this to make the list, or if I should include Vicious Rivalry instead. I think Vicious Rivalry is a fantastic card, and will see play in a deck that wants to wipe out small creatures while playing expensive ones. But, ultimately I think Withering Curse will see more play since this Standard format is just so fast.

The -2/-2 on turn thee will be good enough most of the time (in the current metagame), but hitting the life gain requirement isn't difficult (it is automatic if you run Ancient Cornucopia). So, having this be a three-mana board wipe creates some great tempo plays for Black decks.

5. Improvisation Capstone

Improvisation Capstone is the most powerful of the Paradigm cards and one of the more exciting cards I've seen played so far. This was one I had to see in action to fully realize how powerful it could be.

Normally, a card like this makes playing something with a low mana value detrimental, but if you hit a two-drop with this, you just go onto the next spell as well. And you do it every turn! If you cast this, you will get to cast four more spells out of it prior to the beginning of your first main phase on the next turn. That's a baseline of eight mana of value, but can be so, so much more.

Once the correct ramp configuration is figured out, or the format slows down a touch, this will be very powerful, and I could easily see this being the best card in the set if we reevaluate in a year.

4. Moseo, Vein's New Dean

Moseo, Vein's New Dean is sneaky powerful, and once the right brew is found is likely to be the key card in a very good Standard deck. We don't often get free, repeatable reanimation abilities, and this may be the best we've ever had. Sure, you're not going to drop this on turn three and reanimate a seven-drop. But, dropping this and reanimating a one or two-mana threat your opponent has already killed shouldn't be difficult.

There is just so much incidental life gain on Magic cards nowadays, that fulfilling the requirements to get a reanimation with this will be common. They don't even saddle it with the usual, "It gets a Finality counter" text, so you can use this to reuse the same creatures over and over.

3. Erode

This discourse around Erode has been the most divisive of any in the set. Some people think it will be a format all-star, the new Path to Exile (i.e., "Back in my day..."). Others think we've passed into a version of Standard where Path to Exile is unplayable (i.e., "Okay, Grandpa, let's get you back to the house"). As you can probably tell by it's presence on this list, I tend toward the former camp.

I think Erode will be very playable, and will give White decks the best creature removal spell in the format (the fact that it can also ramp you in a pinch is just gravy). I also think the fact that it can remove Planewalkers is relevant, thanks to another card on this list and the chatter we're hearing about Reality Fracture. However, I acknowledge that Standard has changed.

This won't be an automatic four-of in every White deck, but it is situationally the card decks will want. Path to Exile may no longer be an automatic four-of, but I still think a couple of these will find their way into many relevant decklists.

2. Flashback

Flashback is just so freaking cheap for such a relevant effect, and they made it an Instant to drive home just how much they want it to see play. It plays exceptionally well with Prowess creatures, which happen to feature prominently in one of the most dominant decks in the format at the moment.

This hits the trifecta. It's versatile, fast, and efficient. As such, it should see play in multiple formats.

1. Professor Dellian Fel

It's been a hot minute since we've had a Planeswalker strong enough to create a new deck archetype out of nothing, but I can see that happening with Professor Dellian Fel. Planeswalkers that can protect themselves and generate card advantage almost always find a way to the top tables.

This is a fantastic card, and Golgari/Witherbloom control (or Sultai control, or Abzan control) may finally have a tool strong enough to push the deck into the limelight. I could see many games where you use a removal spell or two prior to this coming down. With five loyalty that can jump to seven with an activation, this will be almost impossible to attack down before it can start generating value.

The, "ultimate" ability can be utilized the turn after this hits the board, and while it may not seem like much at first, there is so much incidental life gain in these colors that this could legitimately shape the way games play out.

Conclusion

Overall, Secrets of Strixhaven is a very exciting, and very pushed, set. I think the Red and Black decks got the most new options. Those colors have the most clear standouts, but all colors got something new to play with in the brewing process. In fact, I could easily list another ten cards that might see play from this set!

You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456 and on Bluesky.

Until next time.