Strixhaven University is open for enrolment once more. Today — March 31, 2026 — marks the official start of Secrets of Strixhaven preview season, and Wizards of the Coast is wasting no time reminding us why this plane is one of Magic’s most beloved settings. With the full set releasing on April 24, 2026, spoilers will roll out college by college through the week, and what’s already landed is genuinely exciting.
The Headliner: Lorehold, the Historian
The card everyone is talking about is Lorehold, the Historian — a five-mana (3RW) Legendary Elder Dragon with flying and haste. The text box is what makes this thing a potential format warper: every instant and sorcery card in your hand gains Miracle {2} while Lorehold is on the battlefield.
For the uninitiated, Miracle lets you cast a spell for its miracle cost the first time you draw it in a turn. Lorehold doesn’t give the original miracle cost — it grants a flat two generic mana discount path to every spell in your hand on your draw step (or on any triggered draw). Think about what that means in practice: a five-mana Temporal Mastery for two. An Entreat the Angels for two. And on top of that, Lorehold lets you loot (discard, then draw) at the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, actively fishing for the spells you want to miracle out.
Competitive players are already theorycrafting Pioneer and Historic shells. The Dragon comes down at instant speed via its own haste, swings, and the following turn you’re casting extra turn spells and sweepers for two mana. Commander players are equally thrilled — this is an almost automatic 99-slot inclusion in any Boros spellslinger build, and a compelling new commander in its own right.
Mystical Archive Is Back
Wizards confirmed what many suspected: the Mystical Archive bonus sheet returns in Secrets of Strixhaven, guaranteeing one in every pack. The original Archive from Strixhaven: School of Mages in 2021 featured some of the most gorgeous alternate-art treatments Magic has ever produced, and collector demand was massive. Given the early leaks hint at potentially even more iconic spells this time around — some speculation has centred on cards adjacent to the Power 9 in power level — expect the Mystical Archive slots to drive significant pack-opening activity.
Other Notable Spoilers So Far
Mathemagics (XXUU) is the Quandrix showcase mythic — a sorcery that has target player draw 2^X cards. Cast it with X=3 and you draw eight cards. X=4 nets sixteen. It’s absurd in Commander with infinite mana, and it has already sold out pre-orders in multiple online stores. Meanwhile, Together as One — a six-mana Converge sorcery that scales draws, damage, and life gain based on how many colours of mana you spent — is already generating buzz as a five-colour Commander finisher.
The Charm cycle (Lorehold Charm, Silverquill Charm, and presumably the other three colleges) also makes a return, and early examples look flexible and well-designed. College Charms were quietly powerful in the original Strixhaven and seeing them come back is a win for brewers who value modal spells.
Five Commander Decks — The Biggest Precon Release of the Year
Secrets of Strixhaven ships with five Commander preconstructed decks, one for each college of the university. Wizards has called this the largest Commander precon release of the year, which is saying something given how much product they typically put out. If you’re a Commander player — and let’s be honest, most of us are — this is your big purchase window for the spring. We’ll be stocking all five at Mana Riot Games, and pre-orders will be opening shortly.
Also This Week: Food Chain Banned in MTG Historic
In other MTG news, Wizards dropped a Banned & Restricted announcement on March 23: Food Chain is now banned in Historic on MTG Arena. The culprit was the recently released Magic: The Gathering | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set, which introduced Food Chain to Historic and enabled a broken interaction with Sigardian Evangel — the two cards together generate an arbitrarily large number of 3/1 tokens, with turn-two wins achievable and turn-three wins consistent. No tabletop formats were affected; all other formats (Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage) remain unchanged.
What to Watch This Week
Preview season runs college by college through the week — Prismari, Lorehold, Quandrix, Silverquill, and Witherbloom each get their spotlight day, with Mystical Archive reveals woven throughout. The full card image gallery goes live on April 10. Pre-release events follow ahead of the April 24 release.