Our next set is Secrets of Strixhaven, which releases on April 24th. During our first visit to Arcavios, we were introduced to the Magecraft mechanic.
As of this writing, we don’t know yet whether or not Magecraft will be making a return in Secrets of Strixhaven, but even if it isn’t, this article will introduce you to the basics of this mechanic, as well as some of the ways you can abuse it.
MAGECRAFT 101: AN INTRODUCTION
If you control a permanent with Magecraft, that means that any time you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, something happens. At first glance, this might just seem like the unnecessary introduction of an ability word. After all, there are lots of cards that trigger when you cast an instant or sorcery, right?
However, the fact that Magecraft also triggers when spells are copied is what makes it unique. After all, other “instant or sorcery” triggers only do something when a spell is cast. And when you copy a spell, you aren’t casting it.
MAGECRAFT 201: INTERMEDIATE
In other words, Magecraft is easier to trigger since even copied instants or sorceries will make it go off. This not only makes the mechanic more flexible, it also makes it capable of enabling game-winning combos.
There are a number of mechanics that will trigger your Magecraft cards quite effectively. For instance, every Storm copy you get when you cast Brain Freeze will mean that Deekah makes another creature token. That means you can use it to mill out one of your opponents while building out your board to help you beat anyone that might still be standing.
Likewise, every time you Replicate your Shattering Spree, Storm-Kiln Artist will give you another Treasure token. That effectively means you can destroy as many artifacts as you want for free!
Magecraft will also trigger off of Demonstrate and Heist, not to mention individual cards that simply allow you to copy instants and sorceries. For example, if you cast an instant while Fire Lord Azula is attacking, it will trigger all of your cards with Magecraft.
In short, with Magecraft, cards with the ability to copy instants and sorceries are your friend in a way that just aren’t for other spell payoffs.
MAGECRAFT 301: ADVANCED
So far, we’ve discussed how to get great value out of Magecraft. But in this advanced course, we’re going to learn how to get infinite triggers, which can win you the game when you’re using the right Magecraft permanent.
For example, when you can get infinite Magecraft triggers, Professor Onyx and Witherbloom Apprentice can both drain everyone else’s life until they die. Other attractive options that don’t quite win you the game on the spot but give you an insurmountable advantage include: making a million Pest tokens with Sedgemoor Witch, drawing your entire library with Archmage Emeritus, or buffing your whole board a million times with Leonin Lightscribe.
Let’s look at the easiest ways to create these infinite triggers.
ANY INSTANT/SORCERY COPYING EFFECT + ANY OTHER INSTANT/SORCERY COPYING EFFECT
If you have a permanent with Magecraft in play, and you copy a spell with any spell-copying effect – like Twincast, you can then copy your Twincast with another spell-copying instant or sorcery – like Reverberate. Then, you can use each of those copies to copy one of the spell copying spells.
FURY STORM
This Commander-only option is in the same category as the combo above, but the difference here is that this creates a loop of spell copying effects all on its own. That’s because Fury Storm copies itself for each time you’ve cast your Commander from the command zone in a game. So, as long as you’ve cast your Commander a single time and you have a spell to target with Fury Storm, you can cast it, and then use the copy to copy your own Fury Storm, creating a loop.
CHAIN OF ACID + INDESTRUCTIBLE NONCREATURE PERMANENT
The introduction of the Magecraft mechanic turned two formerly terrible cyclemates from Onslaught into combo enablers. One of these is Chain of Acid.
It destroys a noncreature permanent, and then the controller of that permanent can choose to copy Chain of Acid. This means that if you target your own permanent with it, you can simply choose to copy the Chain as many times as you want – at least, until you run out of noncreature permanents to target. You can remedy this with indestructible noncreature permanents like Darksteel Citadel, which you can continuously target as many times as you like.
CHAIN OF SMOG
Chain of Smog is part of the same cycle as Chain of Acid, and it’s also the undisputed king of Magecraft combo enablers. This is because it requires no set up at all to create infinite copies of itself, and it only costs two mana. It’s so effective, that there are Magecraft combo decks in Legacy that use it.
You can target yourself with Chain of Smog copies as many times as you want since it simply makes target player discard two cards and then that player who was targeted can choose to copy it. So unlike Chain of Acid, you don’t need something special in play to actually end up with infinite copies.
END STEP
So that’s a rundown of Magecraft! Do you hope to see the mechanic return in Secrets of Strixhaven? Let me know on X or Bluesky.
Jacob has been playing Magic for the better part of 24 years, and he especially loves playing Magic’s Limited formats. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma. In 2015, he started his YouTube channel, “Nizzahon Magic,” where he combines his interests with many videos covering Magic’s competitive history. When he’s not playing Magic or making Magic content, he can be found teaching college-level history courses or caring for a menagerie of pets with his wife.