April’s Strixhaven: School of Mages is the 87th expansion for the long-running Magic: The Gathering card game. Decades of new sets make for plenty of hurdles for new players attempting to dive into the game, even if they’re playing digitally via Magic: The Gathering Arena. To facilitate newer players getting a full glimpse at what’s come in years past, Wizards of the Coast regularly reprints cards in various ways, and that includes Strixhaven. In every Strixhaven booster pack, there is a Mystical Archive card that repurposes a powerful spell from a past set. In the physical trading card game, this is simply a nice bonus for certain formats. In MTG Arena, the Archive is introducing a pile of new power into its evergreen format, Historic.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

When the Mystical Archive was first announced, it was unknown if its reprints would come to Magic: The Gathering Arena. The digital edition of the card game doesn’t always get all of the extra cards from new tabletop sets, and it skips certain sets altogether if they’re intended for more powerful formats. It’s a nice surprise that Historic players will soon have access to a huge variety of spells from sets printed long before MTG Arena‘s launch.

Of course, not every card from the Mystical Archive is coming to Historic. A handful of the most powerful cards will still make the leap into the game, but they’ll only be playable when drafting Strixhaven. This is different from when MTG Arena adapted the Jumpstart expansion, which saw similarly powerful spells replaced with weaker alternatives. In the case of Strixhaven, players can still collect these Historic-banned spells – and perhaps play them in some future format or limited-time game mode – but they can’t make use of them on a regular basis. For reference, here are the spells from Strixhaven‘s Mystical Archive that won’t be legal in Historic.

  • Channel
  • Counterspell
  • Dark Ritual
  • Demonic Tutor
  • Lightning Bolt
  • Natural Order
  • Swords to Plowshares
See also  5 Directors Who Almost Helmed A Batman Movie (& 5 Who Should)

Which Strixhaven Mystical Archive Cards Are Legal In MTG Arena Historic

Even with some powerful spells taken away, Strixhaven‘s Mystical Archive still has a ton of power in store for Historic MTG Arena players. Several of the spells have Storm, a famously broken mechanic that crafty players can use to cast multiple copies of a useful Instant. There are also cards players can build around, like Tainted Pact, which first saw print way back in 2001. Here is the full list of Strixhaven Mystical Archive spells players can start utilizing when the set releases in April.

  • Approach of the Second Sun
  • Day of Judgement
  • Defiant Strike
  • Divine Gambit
  • Ephemerate
  • Gift of Estates
  • Gods Willing
  • Mana Tithe
  • Revitalize
  • Teferi’s Protection
  • Blue Sun’s Zenith
  • Brainstorm
  • Compulsive Research
  • Memory Lapse
  • Mind’s Desire
  • Negate
  • Opt
  • Strategic Planning
  • Tezzeret’s Gambit
  • Time Warp
  • Whirlwind Denial
  • Agonizing Remorse
  • Crux of Fate
  • Doom Blade
  • Duress
  • Eliminate
  • Inquisition of Kozilek
  • Sign in Blood
  • Tainted Pact
  • Tendrils of Agony
  • Village Rites
  • Chaos Warp
  • Claim the Firstborn
  • Faithless Looting
  • Grapeshot
  • Increasing Vengeance
  • Infuriate
  • Mizzix’s Mastery
  • Shock
  • Stone Rain
  • Thrill of Possibility
  • Urza’s Rage
  • Abundant Harvest
  • Adventurous Impulse
  • Cultivate
  • Harmonize
  • Krosan Grip
  • Primal Command
  • Regrowth
  • Snakeskin Veil
  • Weather the Storm
  • Despark
  • Electrolyze
  • Growth Spiral
  • Lightning Helix
  • Putrefy

New players cracking into Magic: The Gathering packs will find a lot to like about these spotlight spells, and veteran players will find some old and famously powerful cards to utilize again. Migrating to a digital-first experience like MTG Arena after playing for years in real life can be a daunting task, as the entire metagame is different, based on what cards are available. With reprints like the Mystical Archive and other new sets like the Historical Anthology series, though, MTG Arena‘s Historic format gets closer and closer to a version of Magic: The Gathering that all players can recognize.

Magic: The Gathering’s Strixhaven: School of Mages expansion is set to launch on April 23, 2021.

Chris Hackney Interview: Genshin Impact’s Kamisato Ayato

About The Author


Alex Santa Maria
(867 Articles Published)

See also  The Legend Of Vox Machina: 10 Funniest Quotes From The Show

Alex Santa Maria is a writer, editor, and critic based out of the Sunshine State. Raised on a healthy diet of gaming mags at an Xbox LAN center, Alex is an enthusiast who loves shooters, roguelikes, and arcade-style games. He has an unhealthy obsession with bad movies, a love of the 1980s, and the skills to rack up a high score on your local pinball table. When not covering the latest news on Screen Rant, you may find his byline on a growing number of webzones, including GameRevolution, TechRaptor, Mandatory, and WrestleZone.

More From Alex Santa Maria