Secrets of Strixhaven Out Now Everywhere

Following an epic weekend of Prereleases last week, Secrets of Strixhaven has fully released everywhere. This includes not only your local game store but digital clients like MTG Arena and Magic Online as well.

So far, the set looks and feels incredibly hype. Get out there and give it a try! If you can't find anything locally, have a look around right here on CoolStuffInc where you're bound to find all the goodies you're on the hunt for.

Mystical Archive Pre-Bans Hit Historic

As has become a rather common occurrence with regards to bonus sheets, the Mystical Archive brings several awesome cards to MTG Arena for the first time. While some of these cards are fantastic reprints for paper gameplay, they are often a bit too much for Arena's premier Eternal-legal format.

As a result, the following cards were pre-banned from the Historic format:

• Armageddon
• Daze
• Force of Will
• Vampiric Tutor
• Library of Alexandria

Most of these cards should be obvious bans on power level. Vampiric Tutor and Library of Alexandria are both far too powerful for your average game of Magic, with the latter clearly being added for Timeless. Force of Will and Daze are also in the camp of being a touch too much, being cards so powerful there is debate about if they should remain legal in Legacy or not. And of course, Armageddon is just a miserable play experience all around.

While these cards may be banned in Historic, you can always feel free to take them for a spin in Timeless instead and see just what makes them so powerful there.

Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven Begins Next Week

Next week scholars of spellcraft and sorcery face off at Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven!

Learn all about the format and your broadcast team on magic.gg, then tune in starting Friday 5/1 at 11AM Pacific: magic.gg/news/pro-tou...

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— Play Magic (@playmagic.com) April 20, 2026 at 1:00 PM

Next week kicks of MagicCon Las Vegas and with it comes the next Pro Tour event. Secrets of Strixhaven is packed with powerful cards, and this will be an excellent opportunity to check out how they'll end up impacting the Standard format. Be sure to tune in and check out all the epic games, starting next Friday.

A Printing Errors Strikes Select Secrets of Strixhaven Rares

As Secrets of Strixhaven Prereleases took place throughout the last weekend, an unusual misprint was discovered on some cards by a user on Reddit. This person shared the above image, showcasing a handful of cards from their Prerelease kit, only with an unusual twist: two of them had anti-counterfit holo stamps from a different game!

These stamps appear to be from the game Star Wars Unlimited, and were likely applied by mistake at a printing company who handles both games. Little else is known or how many of these are out in the wild, but it might be worth checking your cards to see if you too have one of these neat little oddities.

Decklist of the Week

Izzet Prowess | SOS Standard | Milkshake_, 1st Place MTGO Standard Challenge

• Creatures (10)
• 2 Eddymurk Crab
• 4 Elusive Otter
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off

• Instants (10)
• 1 Bounce Off
• 1 Octopus Form
• 4 Burst Lightning
• 4 Opt

• Sorceries (15)
• 1 Wild Ride
• 2 Stock Up
• 4 Boomerang Basics
• 4 Flow State
• 4 Sleight of Hand

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Stormchaser's Talent

• Lands (21)
• 7 Island
• 2 Multiversal Passage
• 4 Riverpyre Verge
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 4 Steam Vents

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Fire Magic
• 1 Slagstorm
• 2 Eddymurk Crab
• 2 Get Out
• 2 Sear
• 2 Soul-Guide Lantern
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 3 Ral, Crackling Wit

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Secrets of Strixhaven is out everywhere, which means we've gotten our first look at some events utilizing the new cards.

Several cards, like Flow State, Erode, and the various Emeritus cards have been making appearances across a variety of decks. However, the early results seem to be indicating an obvious winner among the rest.

Izzet Prowess took down the first Magic Online Standard Challenge following the set's release. Here, we saw Flow State making a big showing in the deck, providing it with some powerful card selection similar to that of Expressive Iteration from the original Strixhaven. While not played in this list, Traumatic Critique also popped up in some similar lists throughout the Top 8.

Izzet Prowess is expected to dominate the field in the coming weeks and is certain to be a major contender at the upcoming Pro Tour. Definitely keep your eyes on this one, and perhaps check it out yourself for your next Standard tournament.

Paige Smith

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