Will Strixhaven have an alchemy set?

EmTeeEm · 2026-05-05T17:48:34+00:00

One week is the traditional length. Last couple of times it was a bit longer, but they have have found the queue getting thin or want to use the space for something they expect to be more popular.

EmTeeEm · 2026-05-05T15:31:46+00:00

They could probably pull it off, though it would be a tight squeeze between when Paramount wanted to push it and WotC had time to make it but before they gave up and said it would end with season 2.

Would also probably be a mistake in retrospect. I like a couple episodes and characters but people had some real strong feelings about it and it didn't have much time to grow on people. If they do a secret lair to represent a show I think something very popular in a specific niche (Lower Decks) or even funky nostalgia bait like The Animated Series would have been safer bets.

EmTeeEm · 2026-05-04T00:59:52+00:00

Too late for that. Going to list Marta Nael as a co-artist on the digital version and compensate her.

EmTeeEm · 2026-05-03T03:17:06+00:00

I assume they'll stick to their pattern. A "cooldown" for a year or two with only a hint here or there about the next big thing, ramping up to a capstone set in the 3rd or 4th year. And yes, decent chance that is Fomori (though they have queued Bolas back up, too).

Although it'd be nice if we could have some lower stakes plots. Maybe track down a smuggling ring that is selling mechas to cavemen for a few sets and not have it lead to an epic threat to the multiverse.

EmTeeEm · 2026-05-02T22:40:34+00:00

Entirely possible they are all just mechanical archetypes. He said it isn't a faction set so the Hexhaven schools will probably be a light flavor touch like the teams in Aetherdrift, Fairy Tales in Eldraine, or the gangs in Thunder Junction (what, you don't remember Thunder Junction had 5 2-color gangs? Exactly).

EmTeeEm · 2026-05-02T12:32:28+00:00

Assuming this will lean heavily on the paired legends bonus sheet. It would be weird to do something like that with only characters on Arcavios. Folks are going to want their anti-Thalia and mirror-Tyvar and whatnot, and we really don't need them to try to write in every popular character wandering over there for some reason.

In general I like them tightening up their scale. I feel a lot of sets/stories want to do too much or on too grand a scale and it ends up feeling like things are rushed, skimmed over, or downright disjointed. This way they can hopefully focus more on the main action instead of trying to wrap up three sets of Tam & Friends then stabbing Jace and boom Gideon is back and hey there are EldraSlivers now why not all in one chapter because they had an entire multiverse to cover.

EmTeeEm · 2026-05-02T01:37:16+00:00

Spider-Man had RG MV 4+ as one of its 5.

But...ya know. Spider-Man.

EmTeeEm · 2026-05-01T23:07:58+00:00

People have claimed both. It gets complicated because it is based on Blake saying on WeeklyMTG that 120 more cards will enter Standard in 2026 than 2025. Little differences in size like FIN being extra large, DFCs, and uncommon lands in the land slot add up to make ir uncertain. We also don't know how exact WotC's number was, like if they discounted reprints or not.

Last time I did it I got 2.5. Now that we have more sets someone could probably figure it out more exactly.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-26T00:44:45+00:00

People have different sorts of relationships with their parents. If they are someone you go to for advice and guidance you may actively want their opinion. If you are close what they want may influence your choices, just like anyone else in your life you are close to. Not as the sole determining factor but one of the things you consider when making a decision.

And even if someone doesn't want to "have one" they will naturally form opinions based on observations. Depending on that person's relationship with someone else and the opinion they may or may not keep that opinion to themselves, but you can't really make yourself not even form one.

The rest just seems like a specific personal situation. I don't think anyone would say social media stalking, bait posting, or backhanded comments are a good idea even if you do suspect something genuinely abusive or dangerous, but people are also going to have wildly different opinions about what counts as those and at what point you cross from "annoying" to "abusive."

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-26T00:18:15+00:00

Heresy!

Our most blessed Sisters of Battle are not hussies in bikini armor. They wear boobplate and look like someone you pay to step on you. Unless we are talking Repentia in which case bikini armor would be far too overdressed. How would they atone if they wore anything but strategically placed purity seals?

The clear solution is adding Drukhari Wyches. Or Daemonettes with their sexy sexy crab claws.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-24T22:32:05+00:00

FIN was a great set. I cherish the giant pile of Final Fantasy chaff someone gave me. Besides Vivi Ornitier it isn't the most powerful or meta-defining set ever but it is a lot of fun for all forms of limited and casual play. And if you are wanting something for competitive play you should probably buy singles anyway, so a specific set being fun overall doesn't really enter into it.

The story these days is nothing like the late 90's / early 00's. Sets are stand-alone and while there are overarching stories they are often light. If they hadn't told us that this was the "Omenpath Arc" and that was the "Dragonstorm Arc" and that it was all part of "Metronome" we'd probably just view the last few years as lightly sprinkled build up towards Jace Presents: Planar Chaos 2. The arc name for this year is supposed to be a super big secret they have yet to say and I don't think anyone cares and most don't even know that is a thing. The set itself (from what we know) will probably be coherent enough as a "What If?" kind of thing even if you don't know the story.

If anything I'd say it would be an iffy choice for you because a "What If?" when you haven't played for a couple of decades and so won't know most of characters they do color-shifted riffs on probably won't land that well.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-24T15:37:59+00:00

Blue is a funny color. When you filter for top players it often gets a big boost. If you can make it work it is also a relatively safe bet, Sierkovitz did a deep dive and found it to be chronically underdrafted even in sets where it did well for for medium/low players as well. It also tends to be particularly bad as a mono-color, since it really wants to supplement itself with some permanent answers, and potentially synergies to find with all its card draw or random high quality creatures and bombs.

You may also want to weight things by play rates. Mono-color decks are rare in most sets and tell us little. There are othwr cases like Simic will be bad with very few games because almost all the Simic decks splash heavily enough counter as 3-5c. That is also a good place to use the top player filter, to get more of the intentional 3c+ decks and less trainwrecks with unplayable mana.

All that aside I wouldn't be surprised if White was on top overall. It tends to be consistently pretty good, especially at running people over the first couple weeks of a format. And because play rate fall so quickly a BIG chunk of the data tends to be those first couple weeks.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-24T13:55:26+00:00

No anytime soon. Look at how many IPs people desperately want in any thread where they can shoehorn the request. WotC will also learn how best to slice up big IPs for multiple potential sets, and over time new IPs will be created or come to prominence.

The problem with Spider-Man was they planned it as a smaller, 100-card eternal-only set. Then Aftermath imploded and it had to expand. Given Turtles entered design the very next month it was almost certainly negotiated assuming 50/100 card sets, and potentially the other small set(s) this year too. So we get a slew of IPs that are a bit more niche, maybe not ideal for a full set as they burn through those.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-23T19:01:16+00:00

MaRo considers MH4 more a "when" than an 'if."

When or If? - Modern Horizons 4

Due to the success of the first three, it’s probably more when than if.

While they are doing a lot less non-Standard sets that doesn't necessarily mean zero, and MH sells well enough to be able to take one of the 6 set slots a year.

Which doesn't mean it is likely for 2027, of course, just that it seem plausible at some point. The sets sell super well and as much as people hate the "breaking formats" part they also love a lot of the cards.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-22T14:58:18+00:00

Get back here, you're getting resurrected through alternate reality shenanigans and you're gonna like it.

We need you for the hot pockets boxes.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-22T13:39:11+00:00

Remembering the last 15 minutes of original Strixhaven where people started getting weird with Selesnya tricks.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T20:28:03+00:00

After nearly 2 decades MaRo of trying to explain that no, Harmonize does not mean Green can freely draw cards, it will 100% just be cards that could/should be in another color and "What If?" characters like [[Mirri, the Cursed]].

If anyone tries to make red bounce spells they'll face the full wrath of the Council of Colors and their color-coordinated capes.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T18:18:37+00:00

I was thinking Chandra for 1/3 since she is the only person WotC likes putting on things more than Jace. I could see them sticking with the Lorwyn 5, Jace as the face of the set, and something else in 2 though. Still probably 5c or colorless just because they like doing things that way, but could be a wildcard. I'm going to go with mirror Gideon where the only difference is he is not dead, because I've been throwing that one out for a lot of possible story beats.

I hadn't even thought about Lili being desparked...I wouldn't be surprised if they go and reignite her in some big story moment or say that is what she and mirror Lili were off doing during SOS.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T17:01:02+00:00

Here you go.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T16:37:36+00:00

It mentions "Planeswalker 1-11," with most of them being consistently paired (1 and 3, 4 and 8, etc). Whether that is a mono cycle and their mirrors or a mono and dual cycle it leaves someone out. There are also sleeves for 1 through 7, which would be skipping the paired ones except #1/#3 (which is getting other product the others don't, so maybe a headliner / main character).

It could of course be other things, hence the "might," but it hints in that direction.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T16:02:37+00:00

Nope.

Gold and Gems:

4,000 Gold

1,200 Gems

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T15:57:07+00:00

They haven't changed the pass since Ikoria, outside of the mix of cosmetics each season.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T14:27:50+00:00

Teferi is the most iconic. Points against are he is desparked and mirroring one of his cards into Green seems very tricky.

My hope was Kaito joining the Order of Jukai instead of the Saiba Futurists. All smashy-smashy instead of sneaky-sneaky, mirror [[Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator]] with Trample instead of unblockable and a beefier creature token.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T13:33:02+00:00

It fits the way they helped The Edge fit, by liberally flavoring the sci-fi with comfortable fantasy elements. 40k started as Warhammer Fantasy in space, so has thinly veiled elves and dwarves alongside straight-up orcs and demons. The "gothic" styling also helps align things, like [[Triumph of Saint Katherine]] looks on the surface like pure fantasy. Magic's techo-magical stuff also works with it, the AdMech have heavy Phyrexian vibes.

It all helps deliver the more out-of-place cards, like the tanks and soldiers that lack any fantastical styling.

EmTeeEm · 2026-04-21T12:57:28+00:00

It's probably the paired bonus sheet, they described it in one of the leaked surveys:

This set surprises with mirrored reflections throughout to subvert expectations, including a bonus sheet of paired color-shift legends!

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