Back to School: Your Guide to Collecting Secrets of Strixhaven

Wizards of the Coast has released its latest Magic: The Gathering set, Secrets of Strixhaven. If you’re trying to figure out which products are worth picking up before spending a cent, here’s a breakdown of what’s inside each booster type — and what collectors and players should be keeping an eye on.

The Archive Opens Again

The headline feature returning from the original Strixhaven set is the Mystical Archive: a curated collection of 65 powerful instant and sorcery spells from across Magic’s history. Every Play Booster contains at least one Mystical Archive card, split across 25 uncommons, 25 rares, and 15 mythic rares. Highlights from the archive include Force of Will and Vampiric Tutor, so there’s real value to be found even in a single pack.

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Chasing the Big Hits

As always, you’ll need to grab some Collector Boosters to chase the rarer treatments. Each one contains at least three Mystical Archive cards, plus a guaranteed traditional foil rare or mythic rare from the main set.

The treatment to chase is the silver scroll foil, which appears exclusively on Japanese Mystical Archive cards and is unlike any foil finish Wizards has put out before.

You can also find borderless versions of the five Elder Dragons, borderless planeswalkers, and borderless field notes cards depicting in-world scholarly notes on the creatures and locations of Arcavios. They’re a good pick-up for anyone deep into the Strixhaven lore.

Where to Start (and Where to Splash)

Play Boosters are the sweet spot for most players. You’re getting a Mystical Archive card every time, and a reasonable shot at something valuable in the foil slot.

If you want to crack packs with a group, the Draft Night kit sets up a Pick-Two draft for four players straight out of the box. It also throws in a Collector Booster, so there’s always a chance someone walks away with something special.

For collectors, the Codex Bundle (releasing May 15) is the most value-dense option: two Collector Boosters, six Play Boosters, twenty foil basic lands, and two of the six exclusive foil promo cards including a Strixhaven-themed Sol Ring.

Secrets of Strixhaven is available now from your local game store and major online retailers.


Quest Daily was supplied product from the latest set for the purpose of this article.