Mind into MatterMind into Matter | Art by Joe Slucher

Secrets of Strixhaven is an incredible set, with each of the five colleges (Silverquill, Quandrix, Lorehold, Witherbloom, and Prismari) receiving fun and powerful cards. But which college got the best cards?

Today I'll be ranking the five Strixhaven colleges based on which ones received the best new cards in this set.

To reach a definitive ranking, I selected the six best cards for each college and compared them against each other. My list will be based mainly on these cards, but I'll then point out other good new spells as well. Oh, and if you're wondering why I chose six cards and not the standard top five, that's because I consider all of the new Elder Dragons to be good. So for all of the colleges, they get five cards and their respective Dragon.

With all of this out of the way, let's get going!

Number Five: Lorehold

Honorable mentions: Advanced ReconstructionAdvanced Reconstruction, DaydreamDaydream, Spirit of ResilienceSpirit of Resilience.

The red-white college is the one that got the short end of the stick. While it's true that each of the five color combinations received some new toys to play with, Lorehold is definitely the one that got the fewest gifts.

Nevertheless, Vanguard of the RestlessVanguard of the Restless is an absolute banger of a card. Its ability can make any Spirit typal board immediately scary, and being easily recursive is just the cherry on top of it all. Another sweet card is FlashbackFlashback; its design is simple and to the point, but that doesn't mean it's weak. In the end, what's better than casting your best spell, if not casting it again?

Lorehold, the HistorianLorehold, the Historian seems to be a promising and fun new commander option. Miracle for only can make for huge board swings and is undoubtedly extremely powerful. But what ties it all together is its second ability: a free discard outlet for the Lorehold graveyard-centric synergies while also having four shots per turn rotation at casting spells for a reduced cost.

Other than these cards, we can find Aziza, Mage Tower CaptainAziza, Mage Tower Captain, another new commander that combines a cheap mana value and an ability that is just waiting to be broken in some way. There's also Mica, Reader of RuinsMica, Reader of Ruins, which can copy an instant or sorcery at the cost of sacrificing an artifact.

Looking at the cards for the 99, Restoration SeminarRestoration Seminar stands out to me (although I may be a bit biased towards huge, inefficient spells). Will you be able to cast it multiple times? Probably not. But if you do, you'll sure have a story to tell!

Number Four: Silverquill

Honorable mentions: Eiganjo DynastorianEiganjo Dynastorian, Forum FilibusterForum Filibuster, Forum NecroscribeForum Necroscribe.

Right off the bat, there's one of my favorite cards from the set: Changing LoyaltyChanging Loyalty. Usually, I don't bother with this kind of effect, as I don't particularly appreciate their "gotcha" aspect. Nevertheless, this one just feels different. It's efficient, flexible, and powerful, which are all extremely good characteristics to have. Additionally, it's pretty cheap and it synergizes with the overall strategy of this color combination in the set. What else can you ask for?

Talking about making the best out of repartee, Stirring HopesingerStirring Hopesinger is the next card I want to showcase. I'm still not completely sold on this new mechanic, but if there ever was a card able to awaken my interest, this is it. It isn't anything lavish or flashy, but it gets the work done: it makes sure that your whole board grows although you're only pumping one creature with your spells.

I'm not Silverquill, the DisputantSilverquill, the Disputant's number one fan. Sure, casualty 1 is a great additional effect for any instant and sorcery you may cast, but in my opinion it's missing that spark that makes it stand above the rest.

To wrap up the top six, we have three very interesting entries. Fix What's BrokenFix What's Broken is a very good mass reanimation spell. It's true that it is limited by its text box ("mana value X" is way worse than "mana value X or less"), but its flexibility makes up for it. Then, Melancholic PoetMelancholic Poet and Abigale, Poet LaureateAbigale, Poet Laureate aren't the stars of the show, but they can be the cornerstones of entire strategies.

Number Three: Prismari

Honorable Mentions: Prismari PianistPrismari Pianist, Flow StateFlow State, Abstract PaintmageAbstract Paintmage.

Prismari is truly the perfect middle ground for this list. I was very torn on where to put it in the ranking, because it has some absurd new cards but not much else. For this reason, the middle of the pack is just perfect, with its high highs and low lows.

Talking about the highs, Molten-Core MaestroMolten-Core Maestro is definitely one of them. The more you read this card, the better it gets. You just need a few cheap spells to get it going, and then you're off to the races, chaining one big spell after the other. Spoiler: it's pretty easy to cast "a few cheap spells" in any blue-red deck, if built with this strategy in mind. If you're the kind of player that loves a huge storm, this is the card for you.

Thunderdrum SoloistThunderdrum Soloist is next, and do I really need to tell you how good Kessig FlamebreatherKessig Flamebreather and Thermo-AlchemistThermo-Alchemist can be in the right deck? And do I really need to tell you how good their power-crept version can be in the right deck?

Prismari, the InspirationPrismari, the Inspiration is the classic "seven-mana game-ending" type of commander. If it sticks on the battlefield, it's game over - no questions asked. The point is, that's quite the big "if." Sure, it has some built-in protection, but it'll never be enough against a well prepared pod.

Resonating LuteResonating Lute is another great card, and an interesting take on a more expensive mana rock. This is also the last of our highs. Then, come the lows.

Improvisation CapstoneImprovisation Capstone is much cooler in theory than in practice. More often than not, you'll just get two non-impactful cards out of it and call it a day. A fun, but definitely not optimal, way of spending seven mana.

Then, Wisdom of AgesWisdom of Ages is good but way too expensive. It does refill your hand in the late game, but it doesn't help you empty it again in any way.

Number Two: Witherbloom

Honorable mentions: Stensian SanguinistStensian Sanguinist, Blech, Loafing PestBlech, Loafing Pest, Dina's GuidanceDina's Guidance, Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet, Withering CurseWithering Curse, Defiling DaemogothDefiling Daemogoth.

To start things off, this college can count on what I think is the best card in the whole set: Ominous HarvestOminous Harvest. Just focus on gravestorm for a minute, and notice how it counts each permanent put into a graveyard from the battlefield this turn. Permanent. Not nontoken permanent. Now, please remind me what Treasures are. That's right, permanents that are put into a graveyard when they are sacrificed. And this same reasoning applies to a plethora of other tokens.

I think you can see why this is an absolutely broken card.

And how about casting ReanimateReanimate every single turn? Because this is exactly what Grave ResearcherGrave Researcher does. I know, it has to be prepared to actually do so, but the requirement to meet is so trivial we might as well ignore it. Oh, and it feeds the graveyard itself by surveiling each turn.

Finally, there's a reason why everyone was talking about Witherbloom, the BalancerWitherbloom, the Balancer a few weeks ago. It's so good you don't really need to do anything special to break it. Sure, you can include your Sprout SwarmSprout Swarm loops, but you really don't have to. It's so easy to feed this commander's strategy and the payoff is absurd too.

The goodies just keep on coming with this color combination. Cauldron of EssenceCauldron of Essence simply matches the definition of "powerful," combining two of the most popular strategies in black and/or green: sacrifice and reanimator.

I honestly had to read Immoral BargainImmoral Bargain a couple of times to make sure I got it right. This version of Fire CovenantFire Covenant on steroids is simply unreal, transforming something you most likely already want to do (i.e., sacrificing permanents) into one-sided interaction.

Just in case you wanted some more extremely efficient board wipes, Vicious RivalryVicious Rivalry is here for you. Forty starting life is everything you need to get your hands on one of the most flexible wraths out there.

Number One: Quandrix

Honorable mentions: Geometer's ArthropodGeometer's Arthropod, Divergent EquationDivergent Equation, Primo, the UnboundedPrimo, the Unbounded, Echocasting SymposiumEchocasting Symposium, Zimone, Infinite AnalystZimone, Infinite Analyst, Applied GeometryApplied Geometry.

It's a tale as old as time: the green-blue combination gets all the good cards. And while it's not strictly true this time, it surely got a lot from this set.

MathemagicsMathemagics seemed a meme card at first, with its weird text box and forcing people into doing actual maths at a Commander table. But with the right amount of mana, this card can truly be a win condition, forcing an opponent to draw way too many cards. Or you can use it as intended, and get so many cards you won't know how to hold them.

Owlin SpiralmancerOwlin Spiralmancer is another absurd piece in this "X matters" style of deck. Just pay some attention to your sequencing and this friendly Bird will grant you way too much advantage.

Last but not least, Quandrix, the ProofQuandrix, the Proof: the most efficient value machine you'll ever encounter. It's expensive but easy to play with the inherent Quandrix-colored ramp options, and then each subsequent instant/sorcery you play will actually have another card stapled onto it. I always get blown away by how good this card is every time I see it.

What if you wanted more options for your commander? Well, look no further than Berta, Wise ExtrapolatorBerta, Wise Extrapolator. It can be a bit difficult to get going, but it's a very strong option to move from the early to mid and late game. And then, in the final stages of the match, it can grant inevitability, spawning creature after creature.

Expansion AlgorithmExpansion Algorithm gets straight to the point, and it does so efficiently. No fluff, no useless sparks. You just proliferate. A lot.

Finally, Mind into MatterMind into Matter, one of the few X spells that is always good, whatever value you choose. It can get you some tempo advantage in the early stages of the game, or it can be a backbreaking draw spell towards the end. You choose the mode, and you'll never be disappointed.

Closing Thoughts

All in all, this set was incredible. It's true, some color combinations got it better than others, but it would be an understatement to say they didn't get anything good. The true difference between the various colleges was the depth of their card pool.

Lorehold and Silverquill "only" received a few new options, with the card quality steadily decreasing afterwards. Prismari, as discussed above, faced inconsistency problems: a few very powerful cards accompanied by a multitude of not-so-memorable ones. Then, Witherbloom and Quandrix really got it all, from new commanders to staples for various archetypes and all-around all-stars.

This set really got me excited and spurred my creativity. But now it's on to you! Let me know if you agree with my ranking and, if not, what you would change.