Magic: The Gathering Strixhaven Set Adds "Learn And Lesson" Mechanic

Strixhaven: School of Mages is Magic: The Gathering's next set, and it will introduce a new mechanic that should excite longtime players called Learn and Lesson. By utilizing this mechanic, you can cast spells from outside of the game that you own. Also, check out some of the cards that will be included in the set below.

How it works is that the learn ability will be on a spell you cast, which could be a creature, instant, etc--it's across card types. From there, you pick out a lesson card from outside of the game, or in your sideboard, and put it into your hand. Or you can discard a card from your hand and draw a new one, if you're not ready to play lessons.

During a press event for the upcoming MTG set, principal product designer Mike Turian spoke about the new mechanic and how it came to pass. "One of the things that's great about going to Strixhaven in this sort of university setting is, it's something that's universal, right? Every Magic player has been to school at different levels," Turian explained.

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"When designing the set, one of the things that designers caught on to immediately was, 'What does it mean to learn in magic?' And what we came up with was when you learn, that's actually acquiring new knowledge. So in magic terms, that's cards from outside of the game and put it into your hands, when a professor comes into play. You can either go get a lesson from outside of the game, and put it into your hand, or if that's not something that you want to do, then you can just discard a card to the draw card because typically in Magic, cards equal knowledge."

Additionally, MTG has made it easier to find these lesson cards, which will be in your sideboard or outside of the game entirely, with a lesson icon in the upper lefthand corner of the card. "We wanted to give a little bit of an indicator there to make it easier for people to identify their lesson cards quickly."

Lessons will range in rarity--from commons to mythic rares--so they can be played throughout a whole game and not something that needs to be relied upon as you build up your mana. Turian went on to explain that common cards will be basic spells like getting basic land from your deck, destroying target permanent, etc. The more rare these lessons get, you'll have the ability to reanimate planeswalkers or reduce your opponent's planeswalker's loyalty, possibly removing it from the battlefield.

"One of the great things about lessons is when you do learn, at that moment, you can go find the card that's the right card to go get," Turian said. "So early in the game, you're likely going to look for, 'Oh, I need some mana fixing' or 'I'd like another creature.' While later in the game, it's like 'You killed my planeswalker. Let me bring them back.'"

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Additionally, the Magecraft mechanic was revealed during this press conference. While not as extensive as the Lesson and Learn mechanics, Magecraft allows creatures with this ability to gain bonuses any time you cast an instant or sorcery spell. This can range from +1/+1 counters to drawing cards and more. Learning how to use both these mechanics together will help you create an extremely dominant deck.

Strixhaven releases on MTG Arena and Magic Online on April 15. On April 23, Strixhaven tabletop will release along with Commander (2021 Edition). Check out some more cards from the upcoming set below, including some incredible planeswalkers.

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If you're interested in getting your hands on some of these cards, there are preorders available. Currently, there is the Magic The Gathering Strixhaven Bundle available on Amazon for $38. The bundle has everything you need to dive right in and contains 10 draft booster packs, and exclusive foil alternate art promo card, 40 basic lands (half of them are foil), and life counter, and MTG storage box. Or you can pick up a Strixhaven Draft Booster Box for $118 on Amazon. The set contains 36 draft booster packs, and each pack contains 15 cards, so that's 540 cards. Finally, there's the Strixhaven Set Booster Box on Amazon for $123. This pack contains 30 set booster packs, and each pack contains 12 cards, for a total of 360 cards.

Additionally, you can head to your local gaming shop--or book store or comic book shop--to pick up individual boosters or boxes. For more on Strixhaven, check out some info on Dina of Witherbloom college.

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