Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS): Set Guide
We're heading back to Arcavios. Secrets of Strixhaven is Magic: The Gathering's 111th expansion, carrying the development codename "Yachting" and scheduled for release on April 24, 2026. With 368 cards in the set, it's a sizeable return to the plane that gave us Silverquill, Prismari, Witherbloom, Lorehold, and Quandrix - the five enemy-color colleges of the most elite university in the Multiverse.
That said, I want to be upfront: at the time of writing, Wizards of the Coast has shared very little about what's actually in this set. What's below is everything confirmed so far, with clear signals wherever we're working from inference rather than fact.
What is Secrets of Strixhaven?
Secrets of Strixhaven (set code: SOS) is a 368-card Magic expansion and a return to the world of Arcavios, the plane introduced in Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX) back in 2021. It is the 111th Magic expansion overall.
The original Strixhaven set was a "bottom-up" design built around instants and sorceries - the "spells matter" identity that the five colleges embodied in different ways. Whether Secrets of Strixhaven continues that mechanical thread or charts new territory is, as of now, unconfirmed.
Format check: With a release date of April 24, 2026, SOS's legality in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, and other formats will depend on the rotation schedule in effect at that time. We'll update this article as details are confirmed.
Themes and mechanics
Wizards has not yet revealed the mechanics for Secrets of Strixhaven. The set is confirmed to include tokens, emblems, and markers, but the specifics of those haven't been detailed publicly.
Given the setting, it's natural to wonder whether the five colleges - and their enemy-color mechanical identities - will return in some form. The original set leaned heavily on the Lesson/Learn mechanic and a school-of-magic flavor woven into every corner of the design. Whether Secrets of Strixhaven revisits those ideas or introduces something entirely new is something we'll have to wait and see.
I'll update this section as spoilers and previews become available closer to the April 2026 release.
Lore and setting
Secrets of Strixhaven returns to Arcavios, the plane that houses Strixhaven University - an institution founded by five elder dragons, each lending their name to one of the colleges:
- Silverquill - White/Black, the college of rhetoric and shadow-ink magic
- Prismari - Blue/Red, elemental artistry and grand magical expression
- Witherbloom - Black/Green, life, death, and the magic of living things
- Lorehold - Red/White, history, archaeology, and spirit magic
- Quandrix - Green/Blue, mathematics, fractals, and the nature of reality
The original Strixhaven story centered on the Oriq - a secret society of mages who rejected the university - and their leader, Extus Narr. It featured a cast that included Liliana Vess, Lukka, Will and Rowan Kenrith, and a cohort of student characters navigating their studies while the Oriq's plan unfolded.
What "secrets" the new set is referring to, and where the story picks up, hasn't been revealed yet. There's clearly something worth returning to in Arcavios, and I'm genuinely curious what threads the creative team is pulling on.
What we're still waiting on
To put it plainly, most of what players usually want to know about a set - the mechanics, the key cards, the draft format, the story beats - hasn't been shared yet. This article will grow substantially as previews roll out ahead of the April 24, 2026 release.
If you want to be notified when we update this guide with spoilers, mechanics breakdowns, and draft strategy, keep an eye on manacurve.gg as preview season approaches. ✨
