Enroll in the School of Mages!
Hello from the Hareruya Media Team!
This time, I’d like to share with you a card preview from the latest expansion, Strixhaven: School of Mages! I know we’re going to have a lot of fun with this one!
Image Copyright : Wizards of the Coast
The cards we are going to introduce have the new keyword ability “Lesson”. So let’s start with a brief description of “Learn”! If you are familiar with this ability, please proceed directly to the card preview.
“Lesson” is a card type attached to Sorcery. It is a Sorcery spell that can be added to your hand from outside the game (from your sideboard) using the new keyword ability “Learn”. You can use four of them in your mainboard, or you can keep one in your sideboard and add it to your hand through “Learn”.
As some of you may have noticed, this design is similar to the wish board mechanic. The right spell chosen by the search spell is often critical and choosing one out of the multiple options is technical in itself, giving the impression of being an expert at this game.
The only thing you can bring from this “Learn” is “Lesson” but by having multiple options in the sideboard, it can function as a Silver Bullet strategy that allows you to add specific cards to your hand depending on the situation.
《Basic Conjuration》
《Basic Conjuration》
Sorcery – Lesson
Look at the top six cards of your library. You may reveal a creature card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. You gain 3 life
《Basic Conjuration》 is not going to be a mainstay in your deck. However, it definitely brings flexibility to the deck. It searches for creatures from the top of the deck, similar to 《Once Upon a Time》, which was banned in Standard, and also like Ancient Stirrings, which is Tron’s sidekick in Modern. This card can only search for creatures, but instead, it increases the number of cards it looks at to six, and it also has a life gain effect.
This three life gain is not to be underestimated. Many draw spells are defenseless because they don’t affect the board the turn they are cast, and you can lose many life by being attacked. However, 《Basic Conjuration》 makes up for this with its life gain, making it difficult to be pushed around even when being attacked by aggro decks. Once you’ve resisted, you can use the 4 or 5 mana card power that you’ve found with the 《Basic Conjuration》 to turn the game to your favor.
Since 《Basic Conjuration》 can be cast on the third turn to secure creatures for the following turns, it is a card that works well with midrange type decks that have a lot of four or five mana creatures. In Standard, there is the 《Questing Beast》, which has excellent offense and defense, 《Wicked Wolf》, which provides high board control, and 《Elder Gargaroth》 for the five mana range.
This card will also help you gather parts for combos that rely on creatures. In the Fury package, it will help you find 《Goldspan Dragon》, which will help your combo in Standard where you don’t have many ways to collect specific parts.
Now, let’s move on to the next “Lesson”.
《Necrotic Fumes》
《Necrotic Fumes》
Sorcery – Lesson
As an additional cost to cast this spell, exile a creature you control.
Exile target creature or planeswalker.
The second “Lesson” of the day will be 《Necrotic Fumes》. This is like a sorcery《Vraska’s Contempt》 which now requires a creature as an additional cost, or 《Hero’s Downfall》, which can be exiled. If it were just a removal spell, 《Heartless Act》 or 《Eliminate》 would be the better choice, but 《Necrotic Fumes》 has the added benefit of exile. It is the antithesis of the many standard reanimate spells and planeswalker regression spells that belongs to Witherbloom.
In Standard, there are many creatures that are resistant to removal, such as 《Feasting Troll King》, 《Agadeem’s Awakening》, 《Eerie Ultimatum》, 《Elspeth Conquers Death》and other ways to retrieve creatures and planeswalkers. In particular, 《Elspeth Conquers Death》 was very powerful because it could target both creatures and planeswalkers, but this 《Necrotic Fumes》 can cut them off from the bottom of the root.
This card is the antithesis of reanimate, but it also imposes a requirement on the player who casts it, which is to exile a creature as an additional cost. For this reason, 《Necrotic Fumes》 is a card that should be used in conjunction with a token strategy. Fortunately, Standard is full of token generators, and 《Clarion Spirit》 is one of them. If you combine it with these cards that can generate multiple creatures, you can greatly reduce the disadvantage this card demands.
Also, since it is a “Lesson” card, it can be brought from outside the game when necessary. It will be able to deal with creatures and planeswalkers, so it’s worth keeping one sideboard slot for this card.
Can’t wait for Strixhaven: School of Mages!
Big thanks to Wizard of the Coast, we were able to bring you the two new “Lesson” cards in Strixhaven: School of Mages. These cards can not only be used in the mainboard but can also be added to the sideboard which will broaden your strategies.
