Obtuse Strixhaven Mana Rock Enables Explosive Spell-Copying Wins

Last updated on May 21, 2026

Inspiring Easel | Illustration by Craig J Spearing

Alchemy: Secrets of Strixhaven has introduced no shortage of cards that combine Arena’s digital-only mechanics with dedicated spellslinger support, as one expects from an instant-and-sorcery-centered plane. A prominent card players might want to get their hands on is Inspiring Easel, a simple mana rock with major implications.

As one would expect from a Prismari-themed card, the Easel focuses on raising instants and sorceries to their flashiest, most explosive heights. A 2-mana rock is already solid, but the second activated ability takes it to the stars: It lets you incorporate into the cost of an instant or sorcery spell (in other words, it costs an additional to cast, which is added directly to the mana cost), but that spell is then copied whenever you cast it. Importantly, this ability stacks: You can use it on the same card twice, so it costs an extra and gets copied twice, three times for four copies, and so on.

That leads to plenty of wild shenanigans, especially with the mana production easing the burden of the extra mana. The real questions are what decks want it, and what spells are worth copying?

What Spells To Copy With Inspiring Easel?

Inspired Ultimatum | Illustration by Tyler Jacobson

Inspiring Easel caught my eye when jebgriffinmtg posted a wild image to X highlighting what might be the most expensive (and impactful) Jeskai Revelation ever cast:

Source: x.com

Importantly, Griffin is on the right track here: You want to put Inspiring Easel’s perpetual copying ability on big instants and sorceries to justify the high cost. Adding 2 mana to a spell’s cost is significant, even with the Easel tapping for a mana to help pay for it later. You need to make sure that the cost is worthwhile, and expensive spells tend to be good targets because of how card balance works. The card advantage generated by Jeskai Revelation is worth 7 mana, so getting it again for 2 is worthwhile, if tricky to pull off.

The same can’t be said for cheaper instants or sorceries. Take Opt, for example. Making it cost 2 extra to draw another card and scry simply isn’t worthwhile—that’s basically Quick Study, a spell that sees next to no play because of how low impact it is. I can see using some cheap spells—making a Lightning Bolt kill two targets or push the last 6 damage seems perfectly reasonable. But that’s a less exciting usecase than something like a second Jeskai Revelation.

Here’s a short list of cards on Arena I think are worth paying 2 mana to copy:

• Time Warp (really, any extra turn spell!)
• Dig Through Time (delve helps balance the extra mana—4 mana draw 4 is still amazing)
• Magma Opus
• Jeskai Revelation
• Kitsune's Technique
• Bribery

These are but a handful of spells worth copying, of course. Your format of choice will also influence this list—Bribery’s probably excellent in Brawl but distinctly uninteresting in 60-card formats that focus on leaner threats.

What Decks Want Inspiring Easel?

Time Warp | Illustration by Shie Nanahara

Brawl decks inclined towards instants and sorceries are the most obvious answer, and most likely to play it. Inspiring Easel isn’t a free inclusion, but plenty of commanders are interested.

For example, Vivi Ornitier could use it as a mana sink for Vivi’s egregious ramp. I could see running it in Niv-Mizzet, Parun or The Locust God to double up on a wheel like Molten Psyche or Echo of Eons.

Generally, I’d expect it to fit in the more casual side of Brawl. It is, after all, a very slow play that might not hold up to faster games. However, that doesn’t mean it’s useless in Constructed; I see a place for it in Alchemy Constructed, which is a format extremely similar to Standard but with Alchemy cards. Specifically, it has legs as part of a control deck that’s recently emerged in Standard.

A surprise player at the Regional Championship in Cincinnati last week was this 4-color control brew that relies on Jeskai Revelation as its win condition:

Source: x.com

Though the Revelation is expensive, the deck manages with Tablet of Discovery, a powerful ramp spell from Secrets of Strixhaven that adds 2 mana for instants and sorceries. Just picture a similar brew in Alchemy that sneaks in Inspiring Easel to complement the Tablet and scale even harder; since the Easel is a mana fixer, it would even smooth over the ambitious mana base. I won’t pretend to have broken Alchemy, but it’s certainly a path worth exploring before Tarkir: Dragonstorm rotates out of Alchemy this fall.