Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven kicks off tomorrow, running May 1–3 at MagicCon: Las Vegas. There, 325 of the world's best Magic: The Gathering players will arrive on campus, Standard decks in hand, to compete for $500,000 in prizes, coveted World Championship invitations, and the prestigious Pro Tour trophy. The field is stacked with elite talent, featuring Top Finishers from Regional Championships, qualifiers from digital events, and veterans of the Pro Tour.

The competition begins with Secrets of Strixhaven Booster Draft on Friday and Saturday, followed by five rounds of Standard each afternoon. On Sunday, the Top 8 will face off in a single-elimination Standard showdown to determine who graduates as the next Pro Tour champion.

To follow all the action, catch the live stream on twitch.tv/magic or the Play MTG YouTube channel. The broadcast begins at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday and Saturday, and at 10 a.m. Pacific Time on Sunday. For the full syllabus of the weekend, be sure to check the viewer's guide.

Standard Metagame Breakdown

Standard, Magic's rotating 60-card format, currently encompasses expansion sets from Wilds of Eldraine onward. Recently, hundreds of new cards from Secrets of Strixhaven were added to the curriculum, injecting fresh possibilities into the metagame and opening the door for entirely new archetypes. With so many new tools entering the format, the Standard decks for Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven break down as follows.

The metagame looks markedly different from Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, where Standard also took center stage. Back then, Simic Rhythm was the most popular deck, but Dimir Excruciator ultimately took the trophy. Now, both archetypes have largely faded, representing only a modest slice of the field this weekend.

Instead, as the metagame has steadily advanced through its semester, the spotlight now falls on Izzet Prowess, which makes up 30.5% of the field. The deck emerged during the latter half of the last Standard Regional Championship cycle and quickly established itself as the most popular choice, backed by an impressive win rate. Even before the release of Secrets of Strixhaven, the archetype accounted for nearly a quarter of the winners metagame in online events. Since then, the archetype has only gained further traction, bolstered by powerful new Prismari cards such as Flow State.

In recent weeks, the deck's creature base has continued to evolve. Many players have adopted Eddymurk Crab to gain an edge in Izzet mirrors, while shaving copies of Elusive Otter to make room. The newly introduced Colorstorm Stallion offers a fresh angle of attack as well. Despite these refinements, the deck's core remains unchanged. Expect to see plenty of Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, Burst Lightning, Opt, and Sleight of Hand throughout the Standard rounds.

Of course, with Izzet Prowess entering the event as the expected top of the class, competitors have come prepared with targeted answers to the archetype. The deck can struggle against cards like Sage of the Skies or High Noon, suggesting that Azorius Momo and Azorius Tempo may be well-positioned in this metagame. Meanwhile, several new archetypes enabled by Secrets of Strixhaven, including Izzet Maestro, Golgari Midrange, and Sultai Control, are poised to make their mark on this evolving metagame.

Still, all of them must also contend with the other defining pillar of the format: Mono-Green Landfall, which makes up a formidable 19.1% of the field and pressures opponents from an entirely different angle. As the weekend unfolds, it will be fascinating to see which strategies earn top marks and rise to the top of the standings.

Standard Archetype Summaries

All Standard decklists for the tournament will be published on the Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven event page at the start of Round 4 on Friday, May 1, around 2 p.m. PT. I'll also share an article highlighting some of the spiciest decks at this event, including Izzet Maestro, Golgari Midrange, Sultai Control, and more. Until then, here's a closer look at the most-played decks of the tournament.

Izzet Prowess (99 players): Izzet Prowess relies on Opt, Sleight of Hand, Boomerang Basics, Flow State, and a dense suite of additional spells to grow the Otter tokens from Stormchaser's Talent to frightening proportions. The rest of the creature base varies between builds. Across Izzet Prowess main decks, 87 lists include Eddymurk Crab, 72 use Slickshot Show-Off, 60 employ Colorstorm Stallion, and 18 exploit Elusive Otter. Even though different decks use different mixes of spells, the unifying theme is clear: every creature has a prowess-adjacent ability and thrives on a rapid flurry of instants and sorceries cast in a single, explosive turn.

Mono-Green Landfall (62 players): Mono-Green Landfall leverages Escape Tunnel and Fabled Passage to generate multiple landfall triggers in a single turn, with Icetill Explorer effectively doubling the rate of land drops. When everything comes together, Sazh's Chocobo grows to an enormous size, Earthbender Ascension piles on additional +1/+1 counters, and Mightform Harmonizer threatens lethal attacks out of nowhere.

Izzet Spellementals (26 players): Izzet Spellementals is built around a dense suite of cheap instants and sorceries that draw cards, interact early, and stock the graveyard for Eddymurk Crab and Hearth Elemental. Because both creatures are Elementals, they can reduce the cost of Sunderflock to just two or three mana, letting Sunderflock reset the opponent's board and swing the game in your favor. This main-deck access to Sunderflock is what sets the archetype apart from its Izzet Prowess cousin.

Izzet Lessons (24 players): Izzet Lessons takes a more scholarly approach, functioning as a control deck built around a dense suite of Lesson cards, many of them efficient removal spells. This structure makes it easy to put three Lessons in the graveyard, unlocking the deck's true engine. With Gran-Gran on the battlefield, Accumulate Wisdom effectively becomes Ancestral Recall, and Combustion Technique resembles Swords to Plowshares.

Azorius Momo (14 players): Azorius Momo boasts one of the strongest openings in the format. By starting with Momo, Friendly Flier on turn one, followed by Springleaf Drum and Sage of the Skies on turn two, the deck can quickly deploy a pair of 2/3 flying lifelinkers to seize the damage race. Momo also reduces the warp cost on Quantum Riddler or Starfield Shepherd, the latter of which can fetch Nurturing Pixie to bounce itself. Abandoned Air Temple then amplifies the team of flying creatures into a formidable air force.

Jeskai Control (12 players): Jeskai Control represents a familiar archetype for seasoned students of Magic. It seeks to dictate the pace of the game through a carefully balanced mix of countermagic, removal, sweepers, and card-draw spells. While the exact card choices differ between builds, the deck eventually closes the game with Jeskai Revelation, turning a long, methodical lesson into a decisive victory.

Most-Played Cards from Secrets of Strixhaven

Secrets of Strixhaven made an impact on Standard, strengthening established archetypes while also introducing powerful new build-arounds. The table below outlines all new-to-Standard cards across the 325 submitted decklists.

Flow State
Colorstorm Stallion [7BJMvPwZfteMIxQBzbENMs]
Prismari Charm [60alqBtwn2pMqFYoFKP9Pp]

The most-played new cards overwhelmingly fuel Izzet Prowess. By the total number of copies, Flow State left the largest footprint on the metagame. It appears in every single Izzet Prowess list, as the archetype naturally runs enough instants and sorceries to reliably put one of each into the graveyard, making Flow State feel reminiscent of Expressive Iteration. A small fraction of Izzet Lessons and Izzet Spellementals decks adopted the card as well. Altogether, 113 players (34.8% of the field) registered at least one copy, making Flow State the most-played new card from Secrets of Strixhaven.

Colorstorm Stallion and Prismari Charm were not universal inclusions, but they still earned top marks across the Izzet spectrum. The majority of Izzet Prowess and Izzet Spellementals decks featured at least one copy. Colorstorm Stallion, whether in the main deck or sideboard, serves as an aggressive, spell-fueled threat. It grows with every instant or sorcery, creates a copy when you kick Burst Lightning, and has ward {1} to make removal more awkward. It's also an Elemental, so it doesn't get bounced by Sunderflock. Meanwhile, Prismari Charm provides a versatile mix of card draw and removal.

Traumatic Critique [46Nna8onkbiJshdCGMeynm]
Impractical Joke
Emeritus of Ideation [2ALaz5gFvIvdUyuXpMrts1]

The next trio of standouts continues the blue-red dominance. Traumatic Critique appears in nearly every single Izzet Spellementals deck, where it represents a clear upgrade to Abandon Attachments. The ability to draw before discarding, combined with scalable damage, makes it a more powerful tool. Most Jeskai Control decks, along with a small portion of Izzet Prowess decks, also made room for it.

Meanwhile, Impractical Joke and Emeritus of Ideation found homes across a diverse range of archetypes, whether in the main deck or sideboard. Impractical Joke functions as an efficient removal spell and was widely adopted by Izzet Prowess players and roughly half of the Izzet Spellementals, Izzet Lessons, and Jeskai Control pilots. Emeritus of Ideation, by contrast, is a formidable and resilient threat that grants access to one of the most iconic spells in the history of Magic: Ancestral Recall. It appears in most Izzet Lessons, Jeskai Control, and Dimir Excruciator decks, among others. After resolving Doomsday Excruciator, targeting the opponent with Ancestral Recall can even become a win condition.

Great Hall of the Biblioplex [015M4d0J0PbXHeLc3JXVlu]
Stormcarved Coast [6Ct5823Cw5V7uSPxF0BmOf]
Petrified Hamlet [6lCFfrakb2z9nGA1S1Ixgg]

Several new lands also made a meaningful impact on the metagame. In a format defined by instants and sorceries, Great Hall of the Biblioplex provides both mana fixing and a latent threat for a wide variety of decks, with multicolor strategies like Jeskai Control and Four-Color Control benefiting the most. It can even become an infinite-power win condition for Izzet Maestro when the deck enables an infinite chain of spells.

Secrets of Strixhaven also brought back a cycle of five slow lands, including the blue-red land, Stormcarved Coast. These lands appear in modest numbers across the field. Finally, Petrified Hamlet offers a clean answer to utility lands like Ba Sing Se, making it a particularly appealing inclusion for Jeskai Control.

Erode [6lwCsLsfHeImY5sdkSgOBy]
Daydream
Skycoach Conductor [9HAkKRrmXqT8XKOIt7R6b]

Moving beyond blue and red, Erode stands out as the most-played spell in other colors. Evoking comparisons to Path to Exile, it saw some adoption in Jeskai Control and Azorius Tempo, but it shines brightest in Selesnya Landfall, where it justifies the white splash on its own. It not only answers opposing threats like Slickshot Show-Off or Eddymurk Crab at instant speed, but you can also target your own creature for an additional landfall trigger when needed, offering a clever bit of tactical flexibility.

Daydream found a natural home in Azorius Momo, where it lets you blink your own Quantum Riddler. Similarly, Skycoach Conductor bolsters Azorius Tempo, where flash creatures align with the strategy and blinking Aven Interrupter lets you reuse its disruptive ability.

Molten-Core Maestro [6MxOtH0kBlzF8RYoNfxEXA]
Tablet of Discovery
Resonating Lute [68QjcdI46lh0FSrL4LfURx]

Secrets of Strixhaven also introduces several potent mana engines, the kind of ambitious projects that would make any professor proud. Molten-Core Maestro enables an infinite combo alongside two copies of Sorceress's Schemes. The Maestro's opus ability keeps generating more and more red mana as you continually return copies of Sorceress's Schemes to your hand. The result is a storm-like sequence that spirals into a decisive finish, and nine players registered this inventive Izzet Maestro deck.

Tablet of Discovery plays a supporting role in Izzet Maestro, acting as both a mana accelerant and a graveyard enabler while spotting you the mana to immediately cast a red removal spell. It appears in roughly half of the Jeskai Control decks as well. Resonating Lute was used by most of the other Jeskai Control decks, alongside most Four-Color Control decks and even a dedicated Temur Lute deck. With its ability to effectively double your mana for instants and sorceries, this instrument is brimming with potential.

Professor Dellian Fel [4LcOJOeMvL4xd8hTuBXQbq]
Withering Curse [7J7QxE5R3XnOiLyCKhvAo3]
Hardened Academic [56yFRnqMuxqASNolQiFBEE]

Finally, several cards sparked entirely new archetypes or revived strategies that had nearly disappeared before Secrets of Strixhaven. Most notably, Professor Dellian Fel, with its high loyalty and versatile abilities, has helped usher Golgari Midrange back into relevance.

Withering Curse works with Ancient Cornucopia to sweep the board for just three mana, paving the way for the emergence of Sultai Control in Standard. Hardened Academic combines perfectly with Marauding Mako and Cool but Rude, giving rise to novel Mardu Discard and Boros Discard decks. These innovations show that some players are already well ahead of the curve.

See the Decks in Action This Weekend

While the Standard rounds at Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven may largely revolve around Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, Burst Lightning, Opt, Sleight of Hand, and Eddymurk Crab, the latest set has sparked a fresh wave of innovation in Standard. In this ever-evolving metagame, it will be fascinating to see which decks can ultimately rise above the rest and successfully challenge Izzet Prowess and Mono-Green Landfall when the stakes are highest.

If you're eager to see which cards and strategies will ultimately prevail, and which competitor will earn their place in the storied history of competitive Magic, then be sure to tune in. Coverage begins Friday, May 1, on twitch.tv/magic and the Play MTG YouTube channel, where the weekend's most important lessons will unfold live.