Here’s All You Need To Know Before Release Day

Magic: The Gathering is gearing up for yet another set in 2026, but this time it’s Secrets of Strixhaven – a return to a familiar plane full of spellcasters and studying, arriving on April 24, 2026.

The set will include five Commander decks for the first time since Tarkir: Dragonstorm in 2025, and now we know a little more about how each will play thanks to the new face Commanders.

Strixhaven’s Commanders Are Here – Which Will You Pick?

Kicking things off with Lorehold Spirit, this Red/White deck is helmed by Quintorius, History Chaser.

This Planeswalker is a four-cost card that creates Spirit tokens when cards leave the graveyard. Its +1 ability lets you discard a card to trigger card draw and mill, while its -4 gives your Spirits double strike and Vigilance.

Next up, Witherbloom Pestilence is a Black/Green deck with Dina, Essence Brewer as its Commander.

A 2/3 that turns creature sacrifice into card draw, Dina can also sacrifice creatures to gain life and power up another creature.

Silverquill Influence has a goad theme in Black and White, and is led by Killian, Decisive Mentor.

He’s a 2/3 that goads creatures as Enchantments enter, and gets card advantage from cards with Auras attacking.

Izzet spellslinger is hardly a fresh archetype, but Rootha. Mastering the Moment is a 3/4 that creates Elemental creature tokens with flying and haste.

Rack up the spells in Prismari Artistry, and it could end up causing a bit of a snowball effect.

Finally, Quandrix Unlimited is a Green/Blue precon with Zimone, Infinite Analyst. It’s a three-cost, 0/4 that racks up +1/+1 counters as you cast ‘X’ spells/

Then, your X spells cost 1 less for each counter you have, potentially making Zimone a really useful engine all on her own (alongside X spells, naturally).

Any of the decks catch your eye? I was going to sit this one out, having picked up three precons already this year, but Dina is a really neat Commander that has me tempted.

For more on Commander, be sure to check out some of the most powerful precon decks in the format so far, as well as a look at some currently on sale.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.