The Secrets of Strixhaven Commander decks contains the following:

• 1 Ready-to-play 100-card Commander deck
• 1 Traditional foil face commander with borderless art
• 1 Traditional foil featured commander with borderless art
• 98 Non-foil cards, including 10 new-to-Magic cards
• 10 Double-sided tokens
• 1 Reference card
• 1 Deck box

Rootha, Mastering the MomentRootha, Mastering the Moment

Like her fellow preconstructed deck leaders from Secrets of Strixhaven, Rootha's making a return with a glow-upRootha's making a return with a glow-up.

Rootha is a 3/4 Orc Sorcerer. At the beginning of combat on your turn, if you’ve cast an instant or sorcery spell this turn, she creates an X/X blue and red Elemental creature token with flying and haste, where X is the greatest mana value among instant and sorcery spells you’ve cast this turn.

This encourages you to save your biggest, flashiest spells for your own turn, as Rootha doesn't trigger on opponents' turns, as well as encourages you to cast these spells in your first main phase so you can attack with the hasty tokens.

It may not be the most interesting ability - cast a big thing, get a big creature token - but the nature of big, expensive spells is that they tend to be impactful, so adding a hasty, evasive token that might be upward of 6+ power? That's nothing to sneeze at.

Muddle, the Ever-ChangingMuddle, the Ever-Changing

Where Rootha's a more bread-and-butter Commander, Muddle's the avocado toast.

A 3/3 Elemental Otter Shapeshifter for four mana, Muddle brings to the table a very interesting ability. Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery (any instant or sorcery, like even an OptOpt), Muddle becomes any other nonlegendary creature you control until end of turn. And gets myriad, to boot.

Granted, for this ability to be impactful, you have to have a creature for Muddle to become, as it can only shapeshift into creatures you control. But there are plenty of very good creatures that could benefit you by being imitated by an Otter and split into multiple copies thanks to myriad. Even something like MulldrifterMulldrifter springs to mind, drawing you six cards for the cost of one cast instant/sorcery.

Muddle's good in Prismari Artistry, but it'll really find a home as players begin crafting decks specifically for it.

Here's the deck list for Prismari Artistry:

Abstract PerformanceAbstract Performance

It's fitting that we're kicking off the analysis of Prismari Artistry's 10 new cards with a flashy, expensive sorcery.

For six mana, we're making two piles - one face-down from the first four cards of our library, and the second face-down with the next four cards. An opponent picks one to go to the graveyard, and we can cast a spell from the other pile for free, keeping the remaining three cards from that pile for our hand.

At worst, you're drawing four cards for six mana, which is an average rate - think OpportunityOpportunity. Worst case scenario is the face-up pile is four lands, but hopefully that won't happen too often. Abstract Performance will be better when the opponent's choice is an illusion; think of it like a graveyard enabler that occasionally hits a spell you cast for free.

Dirgur FocusmageDirgur Focusmage

Our first prepared creature of the Prismari Artistry deck brings along with it the classic BraingeyserBraingeyser - not a bad spell to just have at your beck and call.

A 1/4 for three mana, Dirgur Focusmage provides a static discount to your spells, which on its own is fine but not particularly exciting. We want to be casting a bunch of Braingeysers, and to do that, Dirgur Focusmage must prepare by seeing you cast instants or sorceries of mana value five or more from your hand. Sadly, this means casting huge Braingeysers won't chain prepare.

Unlike some prepared creatures, this one's tricky to continually prepare, since there's going to be a finite number of 5+-cost spells you'll have access to.

Furygale FlockingFurygale Flocking

Speaking of high-cost spells, here's another one, though with a built-in discount code.

Starting at 10 mana but reducing itself by for every instant/sorcery in your graveyard, Furygale Flocking provides two 3/3 blue and red Elementals for each opponent you have. They've got flying, haste, and have to attack, assuming you cast this on your first main phase, as Rootha requests.

Best case scenario in a normal Commander game, that's 18 points of power for as little as two mana, which is a rate you can't easily beat. To note, unlike many spells of this sort, these tokens don't exile themselves at the end of turn.

Inspired SkypainterInspired Skypainter

This time, we're preparing Maestro's Gift, a new spell that, for five mana, makes a token copy of any of your creatures, giving that token haste as well.

Like we saw with Muddle above, these effects are only as good as the creatures they're able to clone. However, unlike Muddle, Maestro's Gift can make a token copy of the creature "casting" it, in Inspired Skypainter.

As long as you've got the mana, you can just keep making more and more Inspired Skypainters, with each one beyond the original preparing itself if they do combat damage to a player. Is that the best use of this Lizard Wizard? Probably not, but it's a neat interaction nonetheless.

Leitmotif ComposerLeitmotif Composer

Speaking of making exponentially more token copies of a creature you control, here's Leitmotif Composer. Despite what feels like a Quandrix domain, an instant or sorcery of mana value five or greater doubles the number of Leitmotif Composers you have.

However, as mentioned, there's going to be a finite number of spells of that cost, but one thing Leitmotif Composer has in its favor is that these spells don't have to be cast from your hand, specifically.

Prismari PianistPrismari Pianist

Following the big spell leitmotif is Prismari Pianist, who does its best Young PyromancerYoung Pyromancer impression with an additional twist.

Whenever you cast an instant/sorcery of any cost, you're getting a 1/1, but if that spell is mana value five or more, you're getting three tokens instead of one. That's a pretty good deal, and Prismari Pianist will probably find a home in big-spell decks that want to do more with the token generation.

Renegade BullRenegade Bull

It's always interesting to see a zero-power creature come with trample.

Yes, this Ox provides a way to make that zero turn into a crooked number whenever you cast a spell, but its real power is being able to recast your massive spells from the graveyard for free whenever it attacks. That will get out of control quick, which is appropriate for a renegade bull.

If this survives to attack, it could win a game on its own - provided your graveyard is well-stocked with ammunition.

Turbulent SpringsTurbulent Springs

Every one of the five Secrets of Strixhaven preconstructed decks get the color-appropriate "Turbulent" land, and for Prismari Artistry, that's the Springs.

Each have the relevant basic land types, which make them fetchable, and all of them have the same condition for entering untapped.

In a standard game of Commander, opponents collectively will control eight lands on the third turn if you went third or fourth in turn order, or turn four if you were first or second.

Scorched GeyserScorched Geyser

Each preconstructed deck this time around also gets its own version of the "Battle Lands." This cycle of lands is so named because the cycle debuted in Battle for Zendikar more than a decade ago. We're finally seeing the closing of that loop.

Battle Lands are a mainstay as a more budget-friendly option for your mana base. They reward playing plenty of basics, and they're fetchable. There are much worse dual-color land cycles out there.

Coastal PeakCoastal Peak

The Battle Lands cycle isn't the only one getting a new addition here.

We also have Coastal Peak, which is the first time a blue/red land has appeared in the "Bicycle Lands" cycle that started with 2017's Amonkhet. Unlike the Battle Lands, though, these will always enter tapped.

However, the cycling ability can be a huge boon in the late game, so these lands will always be useful.

Prismari Artistry is the kind of preconstructed deck where you'll win by stomping opponents with a bunch of 8/8 Elemental tokens one game, or by casually creating a dozen copies of Goldspan DragonGoldspan Dragon another game.

At the end of the day, the deck's looking to do two things: make tokens and cast giant spells. And with Rootha, doing the latter feeds into the former.

In total, there are 21 spells in the list that have a mana value of five or greater. There are only three cards - Dirgur FocusmageDirgur Focusmage, Prismari PianistPrismari Pianist, and Leitmotif ComposerLeitmotif Composer - who ask for that as a specific qualifier, and a few other cards just want to see you cast the biggest stuff you possibly can.

Really, it's Rootha herself driving the bus when it comes to maximizing mana values. If she's at the lead of the 99, the goal is to make the biggest Elemental token possible every turn, and turn it sideways.

Thankfully, in a deck with very little in the way of traditional ramp, many of those expensive spells come with their own built-in discounts, like old favorites Dig Through TimeDig Through Time, Treasure CruiseTreasure Cruise, and Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act. Granted, that last one doesn't really help the Rootha plan.

We've also got ways to make spells cheaper to cast via cost reducers like Stormcatch MentorStormcatch Mentor, Thunderclap DrakeThunderclap Drake, and Galazeth PrismariGalazeth Prismari, in a way.

Just note that if you're looking to go the route of making Dragon Illusions with Manaform HellkiteManaform Hellkite, it cares only about how much you actually spend, not the mana value of the spell itself, so cost reducers actually work against you here.

The other primary route to an unforgettable performance is one a little more difficult to chart, and that's pure randomness.

Yes, there are spells that discount themselves, and permanents that provide a reduction in cost, but there are also a few ways to just randomly cast things for free - and there's no better cost than free.

Let's look at Abstract PerformanceAbstract Performance, Throes of ChaosThroes of Chaos, Surge to VictorySurge to Victory, Dance with CalamityDance with Calamity, Renegade BullRenegade Bull, and Plargg and NassariPlargg and Nassari.

For a deck ostensibly so centered on casting instants or sorceries, however, all these meandering routes eventually just connect to a real path to victory, which is via combat damage. Everything you do will funnel toward the aim of making the biggest tokens, or the most tokens, or the most biggest tokens.

Sure, it's very good at that, and it's a way to play that many people enjoy, but it's what you're getting.

As is expected, there are no true combos in Prismari Artistry right out of the box. But it would be very easy to rectify that, should we choose to do so.

However, while it's easy to throw a RepercussionRepercussion in there to combo with Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act, or a Combat CelebrantCombat Celebrant to go infinite with Rionya, Fire DancerRionya, Fire Dancer, we should at least keep to the spirit of what the deck is doing.

Thanks to Commander Spellbook and their handy "Find My Combos" tool, we see that there are a number of much more on-brand combos we could include.

If you want to get complicated, we could add a combo that sees Veyran, Voice of DualityVeyran, Voice of Duality team up with Storm-Kiln ArtistStorm-Kiln Artist to create infinite creature tokens using TwinflameTwinflame and Ardent ElementalistArdent Elementalist. We'd just need to add the Elementalist, which seems perfect since "Elemental" is right there in the name.

Can't get much more Prismari than that performance, right?

Prismari Artistry has 38 lands, which is probably needed considering the focus on higher-cost spells. But even more so, those higher-cost spells don't really do what we want them to do unless we've got our engine online, which also takes reliable mana.

Of those lands, most are there to make blue mana, red mana, or both, but there are still a few utility pieces in there, like Mystic SanctuaryMystic Sanctuary or Hall of OraclesHall of Oracles.

However, the vast majority of those 38 lands are there to ensure we hit our colors when we need to, and that's a good thing.

As for mana rocks, Prismari Artistry comes with the standard suite of Arcane SignetArcane Signet, Sol RingSol Ring, and Talisman of CreativityTalisman of Creativity, but there's at least one interesting inclusion beyond those in Cursed MirrorCursed Mirror.

It's the perfect fit for the deck, as the temporary copy will often be even more appreciated than the mana rock it leaves behind.

There are a ton of excellent reprints in all of the Secrets of Strixhaven preconstructed decks, and Prismari Artistry didn't miss out on that front.

With an MSRP of $49.99, the deck's 100 cards are currently valued at approximately $350. Don't forget, though, that that number is inflated due to the preorder price frenzy that all new cards see. For example, Rootha, Mastering the Moment is priced at $30 by itself, which is not sustainable.

If we toss out the new cards, we're left with around $170. Still not terrible.

Where you see most of that value is in a few stellar reprints:

• Faerie MastermindFaerie Mastermind
• Harmonic ProdigyHarmonic Prodigy
• Goldspan DragonGoldspan Dragon
• Thunderclap DrakeThunderclap Drake
• Veyran, Voice of DualityVeyran, Voice of Duality

These are your top five reprints, and at current prices, just from Faerie Mastermind and Harmonic Prodigy, you're getting that $49.99 MSRP in value back. The other 98 cards are gravy.

If your goal is to wow the table with massive spells, then you're squarely in the Prismari side of Strixhaven. And that's exactly what Prismari Artistry looks to illustrate, with flashy sorceries feeding into an ever-growing horde of tokens ready to overrun the table.

For what it is, it's a great deck. If you're looking for something a little more nuanced out of your red/blue decks, there are better options. But Prismari aren't known for nuance, anyway.

Overall, the deck scores a B+.