A total of 325 Standard decklists were submitted for Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, with nearly half the field consisting of Izzet Prowess and Mono-Green Landfall. Beyond those archetypes, however, the rest of the metagame splintered into a wide array of strategies, some of which stood out as particularly spicy choices.

The spiciest decks push the boundaries of the format, whether by pairing cards in innovative ways, carving out a brand-new archetype, or unveiling a plan that no one saw coming. In this article, I will take a closer look at eight of the most intriguing Standard decks that caught my eye. Each cleverly utilizes new Secrets of Strixhaven cards and carries real potential to graduate all the way to the trophy.

Izzet Maestro

2 Mistrise Village 2 Thundering Falls 3 Sorceress's Schemes 3 Three Steps Ahead 2 Willowrush Verge 1 Abrade 2 Great Hall of the Biblioplex 3 Molten-Core Maestro 1 Hedge Maze 1 Fountainport 4 Combustion Technique 3 Ashling's Command 1 Mathemagics 2 Island 4 Firebending Lesson 1 Spell Pierce 2 Abandon Attachments 4 Accumulate Wisdom 1 Prismari Charm 4 Riverpyre Verge 2 It'll Quench Ya! 4 Steam Vents 4 Tablet of Discovery 4 Spirebluff Canal 2 Origin of Metalbending 2 Negate 1 Mathemagics 1 Stock Up 1 Ill-Timed Explosion 2 Annul 2 Flashfreeze 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Spell Pierce 1 Broadside Barrage

Team Sanctum of All has a well-earned reputation for bringing some of the most unconventional choices to the Pro Tour. Three months ago at Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, they unveiled Temur Harmonizer, a creation that propelled Toni Portolan to a 2nd-place finish. This time, Portolan joins teammates Michael Young, Tom White, Sophi Seley, Jason Qiu, Truong Hai Nguyen, Valerie Jade, Eleanor Dubreuill, and Shawn Doherty in presenting a unique combo deck built around Molten-Core Maestro.

Molten-Core Maestro [6MxOtH0kBlzF8RYoNfxEXA]
Sorceress's Schemes
Tablet of Discovery

In a deck filled to the brim with instant and sorcery spells, Molten-Core Maestro rapidly grows into a formidable threat, and a game-winning sequence can unfold once you assemble two copies of Sorceress's Schemes. One such sequence, which starts with a 6/6 Molten-Core Maestro and five untapped lands, can unfold as follows:

• Cast Sorceress's Schemes for its flashback cost, returning a card from your graveyard or one that's exiled. Molten-Core Maestro's opus ability triggers, growing it to a 7/7 and adding seven red mana. Along with the mana from Sorceress's Schemes, you now have eight red mana floating.
• Spending four of that mana, cast a second Sorceress's Schemes, returning the exiled Sorceress's Schemes to your hand. You Molten-Core Maestro grows into an 8/8 but does not add additional mana. After resolving Sorceress's Schemes, you have five red mana floating.
• Cast the Sorceress's Schemes that is now in your graveyard for its flashback cost, returning a card from your graveyard or one that's exiled. Molten-Core Maestro grows into a 9/9 and adds nine red mana. Afterward, you have ten red mana floating.
• Cast Sorceress's Schemes from your hand and your graveyard, returning the exiled copy to your hand. This costs nine mana, generates more than nine mana in return, and allows you to loop for infinite red mana and an infinitely large Maestro.

To sustain the loop, you need a card in your graveyard to return each time. Fortunately, you can target your own Molten-Core Maestro with Combustion Technique or Firebending Lesson to keep the chain going when necessary. Ashling's Command and Abandon Attachments are even better, as they allow you to draw your entire deck in the process. Notably, Ashling's Command can also kickstart the loop from a much smaller Maestro.

Eventually, you'll burn away all opposing creatures and clear the path for an infinitely large attacker. If combat is not an option, you can loop Prismari Charm while using Ashling's Command to generate blue mana, letting you deal infinite damage to your opponent.

Team Sanctum of All slotted this combo into an Izzet Lessons shell featuring Accumulate Wisdom and Combustion Technique. However, the deck does not go all in on Lessons and skips Gran-Gran entirely. Instead, a key engine piece is Tablet of Discovery. It provides a substantial mana boost, sets up your graveyard, and can be copied with Three Steps Ahead. Especially after sideboarding, ramping into a fourteen-mana Mathemagics for X equals six to force the opponent to draw 64 cards is not out of the question.

Sultai Control

1 Swamp 3 Withering Curse 4 Starting Town 2 Quandrix Charm 1 Underground Mortuary 1 Wistfulness 1 Dreamroot Cascade 4 Deceit 3 Awaken the Honored Dead 1 Island 1 Black Cat, Cunning Thief 4 Superior Spider-Man 4 Wastewood Verge 1 Multiversal Passage 4 Rakshasa's Bargain 4 Overgrown Tomb 2 Shoot the Sheriff 3 Undercity Sewers 2 Requiting Hex 4 Watery Grave 2 Witherbloom Charm 4 Ancient Cornucopia 1 Gloomlake Verge 3 Emeritus of Ideation 1 Disdainful Stroke 2 Negate 2 Strategic Betrayal 2 Pest Control 2 Keen-Eyed Curator 2 Cavern of Souls 1 Black Cat, Cunning Thief 2 Duress 1 Bitter Triumph

Five players from team Moriyama Japan—Ken Yukuhiro, Akira Shibata, Takeshi Ozawa, Shuhei Nakamura, and Atsuki Kihara—brought a beautifully constructed Sultai Control list, packed with interactive spells and powered by some of the most promising cards from Secrets of Strixhaven. If Izzet Maestro is a flashy lecture, this deck is a carefully researched thesis.

Ancient Cornucopia
Withering Curse [7J7QxE5R3XnOiLyCKhvAo3]
Emeritus of Ideation [2ALaz5gFvIvdUyuXpMrts1]

Withering Curse pairs elegantly with Ancient Cornucopia to sweep the board for just three mana, representing an excellent core for a black-green control strategy. Adding a third color is appealing for the additional life gain from Ancient Cornucopia, and blue is the natural choice for a third color. Rakshasa's Bargain and Awaken the Honored Dead provide both card draw and interaction, all while stocking your graveyard for Superior Spider-Man and Emeritus of Ideation.

Emeritus of Ideation serves as the deck's main win condition, boasting a sizable body, built-in protection in the form of ward 2, and access to one of the most iconic spells in the history of Magic: Ancestral Recall. Even if the opponent manages to remove it, Superior Spider-Man and Awaken the Honored Dead ensure that a fresh Emeritus is never far away, letting you steadily overwhelm your opponent with an avalanche of card advantage.

Golgari Midrange

4 Llanowar Elves 4 Badgermole Cub 3 Keen-Eyed Curator 4 Professor Dellian Fel 4 Requiting Hex 2 Emeritus of Abundance 3 Duress 1 Bitter Triumph 1 Shoot the Sheriff 1 Strategic Betrayal 1 Long Goodbye 2 Maelstrom Pulse 2 Firdoch Core 4 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber 3 Forest 3 Swamp 4 Wastewood Verge 4 Blooming Marsh 4 Overgrown Tomb 2 Soulstone Sanctuary 1 Restless Cottage 1 Underground Mortuary 1 Deathcap Glade 1 Multiversal Passage 1 Heritage Reclamation 2 Qarsi Revenant 1 Duress 2 Day of Black Sun 1 Leatherhead, Swamp Stalker 1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 1 Scrapshooter 2 Torpor Orb 1 Intimidation Tactics 1 Strategic Betrayal 1 Decorum Dissertation 1 Long Goodbye

Secrets of Strixhaven has also ushered in the return of Golgari Midrange. Seven players from Team The Coalition—Jason Reid, Matt Xu, Kenny Oswald, Kye Nelson, Brendan Hsu, Curtis Lam, and Elad Stettner—opted to revisit this classic archetype, polishing it with a fresh academic flourish.

Professor Dellian Fel [4LcOJOeMvL4xd8hTuBXQbq]
Unholy Annex [2QH5fJMh6x7SN9X8WW0P9T]
Firdoch Core

The most important new addition is Professor Dellian Fel. With high loyalty and a flexible set of abilities making it reminiscent of Jace, the Mind Sculptor, it stands as a remarkably versatile planeswalker. Professor Dellian Fel gains life against aggressive decks, draws cards against control, and destroys creatures in midrange mirrors. While its emblem is not game-ending, it is easy to achieve and can establish a swift clock alongside the deck's other primary card advantage engine: Unholy Annex.

Unholy Annex reliably draws cards, ensuring a steady flow of discard and removal spells. To turn it into a life-draining machine, Soulstone Sanctuary and Firdoch Core add to the deck's Demon count. When you're benefiting from the Room's life gain or sacrificing Food tokens from Restless Cottage, Professor Dellian Fel's emblem can quickly whittle down the opponent's life total. It's like a slow, but inevitable, final exam closing in.

Boros Discard

6 Mountain 2 Erode 4 Inspiring Vantage 2 Starting Town 3 Burst Lightning 3 Inti, Seneschal of the Sun 4 Hired Claw 2 Practiced Offense 2 Multiversal Passage 4 Hardened Academic 4 Marauding Mako 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Cool but Rude 4 Fear of Missing Out 4 Bloodghast 2 Tersa Lightshatter 2 Casey Jones, Vigilante 4 Sunbillow Verge 2 Erode 2 Sheltered by Ghosts 2 Scorching Shot 2 Ghost Vacuum 4 Magebane Lizard 1 Sunspine Lynx 2 Case of the Crimson Pulse

Four players arrived with a deck built around discard payoffs to exploit the newly printed Hardened Academic. While three opted for Mardu Discard, adding black for cards like Moonshadow or Iron-Shield Elf, Benji Leaf was the only player to choose a smoother two-color mana base with a Boros build.

Hardened Academic [56yFRnqMuxqASNolQiFBEE]
Practiced Offense [1BFUi8IoV6kNINvgq9Emjb]
Cool but Rude

The new centerpiece from Secrets of Strixhaven is Hardened Academic, an aggressive two-drop that lets you discard cards at will. This opens the door to a bunch of sweet interactions. You can grow Marauding Mako; trigger Inti, Seneschal of the Sun or Cool but Rude for extra value; or pitch Bloodghast into the graveyard. Notably, the deck does not include any dedicated black lands, meaning Bloodghast is never meant to be cast. It's just meant to be discarded.

When Bloodghast returns to the battlefield from the graveyard, Hardened Academic picks up a +1/+1 counter. The same is true when you cast Practiced Offense for its flashback cost or exile a card with Tersa Lightshatter. With a razor-sharp curve and so many tightly interwoven synergies, this Boros Discard list is poised to be one of the fastest and most explosive strategies in the field.

Golgari Kona

3 Zuko's Conviction 1 Valgavoth, Terror Eater 1 Armaggon, Future Shark 3 Dina's Guidance 2 Forest 2 Archdruid's Charm 4 Starting Town 2 Harvester of Misery 3 Bitter Triumph 4 Kona, Rescue Beastie 4 Wastewood Verge 2 Blooming Marsh 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Requiting Hex 4 Vaultborn Tyrant 4 Evendo, Waking Haven 4 Susur Secundi, Void Altar 1 Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant 3 Deep-Cavern Bat 2 Withering Curse 2 Overlord of the Balemurk 1 Summon: Bahamut 3 Torpor Orb 3 Keen-Eyed Curator 2 Duress 1 Absolute Virtue 3 Overlord of the Hauntwoods 3 Frenzied Baloth

Paul Gabat qualified for this Pro Tour by finishing third at Southeast Asia's Regional Championship with a spicy Golgari Kona deck that caught everyone off guard. Now, Gabat has brought an updated version to Las Vegas. As the owner of a local game store in the Philippines called Rogue's Passage, promoting rogue decks is part of his identity, and this list feels like a masterclass in that philosophy.

Kona, Rescue Beastie [ELY3CdPC7Cbsrq5jGBq68]
Zuko's Conviction
Dina's Guidance [3sLwhx3GtbwrYRFxCFu4eo]

The deck aims to deploy Kona, Rescue Beastie; tap Kona with Evendo, Waking Haven or Susur Secundi, Void Altar; then cheat a massive permanent onto the battlefield. Vaultborn Tyrant is the default option, but there's a variety of powerful nine-drops in the deck. Alternatively, Bitter Triumph or Overlord of the Balemurk can place an enormous creature into the graveyard, ready to be reanimated with Zuko's Conviction.

The newest addition from Secrets of Strixhaven is Dina's Guidance, which adds a valuable layer of consistency to the deck. It can either find Kona, Rescue Beastie to enable a turn-four haymaker or put the perfect reanimation target in your graveyard. With options like Valgavoth, Terror Eater; Armaggon, Future Shark; Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant; and Summon: Bahamut, the deck offers a veritable syllabus of devastating threats, each ready to be called upon when the right situation arises.

Temur Lute

1 Cori Mountain Monastery 3 Three Steps Ahead 4 Flashback 1 Traumatic Critique 3 Stormcarved Coast 4 Great Hall of the Biblioplex 4 Consult the Star Charts 4 Colorstorm Stallion 3 Breeding Pool 3 Island 1 Mountain 3 Doppelgang 2 Sear 4 Firebending Lesson 1 Spell Pierce 4 Resonating Lute 3 Prismari Charm 4 Riverpyre Verge 4 Steam Vents 2 Spirebluff Canal 2 Emeritus of Ideation 1 Disdainful Stroke 2 Negate 1 Flashfreeze 1 Annul 2 Slagstorm 1 Impractical Joke 2 Ghost Vacuum 1 Sear 1 Emeritus of Ideation 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Fire Magic 1 Spell Pierce

Resonating Lute has found its way into several decks at this Pro Tour, but Nicolas Cosgrove's Temur interpretation stands out as one of the most imaginative in the field. His list is capable of dazzling, high-impact turns that feel less like gameplay and more like a carefully orchestrated performance.

Resonating Lute [68QjcdI46lh0FSrL4LfURx]
Doppelgang [46oH8EzRwBNMWhU2wpCtQT]
Flashback [4G8pMSW0yI5p78AzllZhao]

Resonating Lute effectively doubles your mana for instants and sorceries. In a deck composed almost entirely of such spells, it evokes the raw, untamed power of engines like Fires of Invention or Wilderness Reclamation. While you must wait an extra turn to unlock the Lute's full potential, the payoff is immense. With five lands in play, you might kick Consult the Star Charts, cast Firebending Lesson, and pay for multiple modes on Three Steps Ahead, quickly overwhelming your opponent with a flurry of spells.

Once you reach six lands and have access to twelve mana, the deck gains access to even more absurd sequences. For example, you can cast Doppelgang for X equals three, copying three lands three times, which now tap for eighteen mana. From there, the new card Flashback allows you to recast Doppelgang for X equals five, generating a legion of hasty copies of Colorstorm Stallion alongside other powerful permanents, often ending the game on the spot. It is the kind of turn that would make any Prismari or Quandrix professor proud.

Four-Color Control

1 Mistrise Village 2 Elegant Parlor 2 Thundering Falls 1 Erode 3 Shattered Sanctum 3 Traumatic Critique 4 Inevitable Defeat 1 Starting Town 2 Flashback 4 Great Hall of the Biblioplex 1 Hallowed Fountain 3 Floodfarm Verge 1 Sear 4 No More Lies 2 Day of Judgment 4 Lightning Helix 2 Sacred Foundry 4 Stock Up 4 Together as One 2 Riverpyre Verge 1 Plains 4 Tablet of Discovery 4 Steam Vents 1 Godless Shrine 1 Ultima 1 High Noon 1 Flashfreeze 1 Get Lost 1 Annul 2 Torpor Orb 2 Pyroclasm 2 Rest in Peace 1 Erode 3 Voice of Victory

Gabriel Bostic stood alone as the only competitor to register Together as One, piloting a unique control list that features zero creature cards in the main deck. In a format filled with battlefield presence, Four-Color Control leans entirely on noncreature spells.

Great Hall of the Biblioplex [015M4d0J0PbXHeLc3JXVlu]
Together As One
Traumatic Critique [46Nna8onkbiJshdCGMeynm]

At its core, this is a Four-Color Control deck, using cards like Lightning Helix, No More Lies, and Inevitable Defeat to answer threats and keep the board clear. Supporting such a demanding mana base is no small feat, but Great Hall of the Biblioplex rises to the occasion as a near-perfect mana fixer. It even taps for green, letting you spend five colors of mana on Together as One. This draws you five cards, deals 5 damage to any target, and gains you 5 life in one sweeping motion—a massive swing. Together as One can come down a turn earlier than Jeskai Revelation, which this deck has cut to focus on cheaper cards.

While the burn spells function as removal in the early game, the deck pivots once it has established control of the game and the opponent is out of resources. At that point, Together as One, Lightning Helix, and Inevitable Defeat turn into finishers, chipping away at the opponent's life total until Traumatic Critique ends the game with a decisive finale. It is no surprise that Bostic aligned himself with Prismari, noting that, "Despite being a math major, at the end of the day I follow my passion to create art out of everything I do."

Bant Rhythm

3 Sewer-veillance Cam 4 Breeding Pool 1 Seam Rip 4 Badgermole Cub 2 Mockingbird 1 Appa, Steadfast Guardian 4 Nature's Rhythm 4 Llanowar Elves 2 Vastlands Scavenger 3 Multiversal Passage 1 Forest 1 Nurturing Pixie 4 Bloom Tender 3 Brightglass Gearhulk 4 Temple Garden 4 Hushwood Verge 4 Gene Pollinator 3 Starting Town 3 Quantum Riddler 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Meltstrider's Resolve 2 Floodfarm Verge 1 Unable to Scream 1 Goldvein Hydra 2 Spider-Sense 2 Ygra, Eater of All 1 Leatherhead, Swamp Stalker 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Shimmerwilds Growth 2 Sage of the Skies 1 Keen-Eyed Curator 1 Erode

Mason Buonadonna had a breakout Top 8 finish at Pro Tour Edge of Eternities, piloting Amulet Titan—a Modern deck infamous for its intricate and often bewildering combo lines. This weekend, he returns to Standard with a similarly complex creation, one that blends mana engines and combo potential into a finely tuned academic exercise.

Bloom Tender [6NNKNFoAhsrDFCdOMjUjNp]
Sewer-veillance Cam
Appa, Steadfast Guardian [4RwnGT5ueO57mYRYXEESo0]

With an untapped Bloom Tender, Badgermole Cub, Nurturing Pixie, and Sewer-veillance Cam on the battlefield, and starting with two white mana, two green mana, and a blue mana floating, you can execute the following loop:

• Cast Appa, Steadfast Guardian from hand.
• Airbend Nurturing Pixie and Sewer-veillance Cam, untapping Bloom Tender.
• Tap Bloom Tender for mana, amplified by Badgermole Cub. You now have two white, two green, and a blue mana floating.
• Recast the airbended Sewer-veillance Cam, untapping Bloom Tender and creating a 1/1 token with Appa.
• Recast the airbended Nurturing Pixie, returning Appa, Steadfast Guardian and creating another 1/1 token.
• Tap Bloom Tender for mana. You now have two white, two green, and a blue mana floating again.

By repeating this loop, you can generate an arbitrarily large number of Ally tokens. To consistently assemble this combo, the deck leverages Nature's Rhythm and Brightglass Gearhulk, alongside the lone new addition from Secrets of Strixhaven: Vastlands Scavenger. With its solid body and a prepared spell that helps dig for missing combo pieces, it fits seamlessly into the strategy. All in all, it's a fresh take on the Bant Rhythm archetype, tapping into unexplored and exciting combos.

Study Up on Standard

If you're on the lookout for an exciting new Standard deck to experiment with, any of these eight innovative builds could be the perfect choice. Each offers its own distinct approach to the format, and together they highlight just how deep the pool of competitive decks in Secrets of Strixhaven Standard truly is. With the Pro Tour underway, these decks are ready to be put to the test. If they perform well, you will surely be able to watch them in action this weekend!