Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and Eurogamer, check out two new white spells from Strixhaven: School of Mages — Academic Probation and Semester’s End!
Choose one –
– Choose a nonland card name. Opponents can’t cast spells with the chosen name until your next turn.
– Choose target nonland permanent. Until your next turn, it can’t attack or block, and its activated abilities can’t be activated..
One of the first rare cards we’ve seen with Lesson, Academic Probation can be pulled from outside the game (I.E. your sideboard) after casting another spell with Learn, making it a great situational tool for more controlling decks to lock down opponents and not have to dedicate a maindeck slot for it.
Worried about getting attacked by a Vorinclex? Lock it down.
Opponent looking to cast Emergent Ultimatum? No thanks.
Exile any number of target creatures and/or planeswalkers you control. At the beginning of the next end step, return each of them to the battlefield under its owner’s control. Each of them enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it if it’s a creature and an additional loyalty counter on it if it’s a planeswalker.
A ton of text, but overall a pretty simple yet powerful effect, Semester’s End allows you to exile any creatures or planeswalkers you’d like and then return them during the end step with additional counters at instant-speed. Not only is this is a great way to dodge sweeper spells, but also a strong reset if your planeswalkers are getting low on loyalty or if you need to stop your opponent from attacking for a turn.
Previewed alongside the two rares were four additional cards — Dueling Coach, Thunderous Orator, Ageless Guardian, and Beaming Defiance.
So what do you think of Academic Probation and Semester’s End? Are they signs that white is headed in the right direction in Strixhaven? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Strixhaven: School of Mages releases April 23. Check out our official preview gallery.