Prepare in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Last updated on April 20, 2026

Emeritus of Ideation | Illustration by Evyn Fong

Ahem.

“So prepare for the chance of a lifetime.
Be prepared for sensational news.
A shining new era is tiptoeing nearer.
And where do you feature? Just listen to teacher!”

I had to. And I shall not apologize. Some teachers are as dry as Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but me? While I like to be a goofball, at the end of the day, I know that all my charges will… be prepared.

That’s right, we’re talking one of the bigger mechanics in Secrets of Strixhaven, one that features on 46 cards across the main set and the precons, plus two colorless utility pieces that interact with it.

Get your notebooks ready, because this mechanic has denser content than most others in SOS.

How Does Prepare Work?

Jadzi, Steward of Fate | Illustration by Martina Fackova

Prepare cards are a kind of split card in Magic. The main part, and the part that tells you the mana value of the card, is the creature. The second part, in the bottom right corner of the frame, is the spell that you can cast while a creature is prepared.

Prepared is just a state that a creature can be, like how a permanent can be exerted or a case enchantment starts unsolved and becomes solved. There’s no “prepared counter” to proliferate or anything; a creature is prepared, or it isn’t.

Some creatures enter prepared, while others have activated or triggered abilities that allow you to prepare them. Once they’re prepared, you can cast the spell on the right side of the rules textbox with normal timing restrictions.

For example, once Joined Researchers is prepared, you can cast its Secret Rendezvous at sorcery speed; because it’s an end step trigger, you won’t be able to cast it until your next turn without a flash enabler. As for Skycoach Conductor, it enters prepared, and its spell is an instant, so you can cast All Aboard whenever you have priority.

The History of Prepare in MTG

Prepare was introduced in 2026’s Secrets of Strixhaven set as one of the set’s marquee mechanics. It appeared on cards of every rarity, including a full cycle of mythic mono-color Emeritus creatures and 2-color legendary creatures for Tam, Sanar, Abigale, Kirol, and Lluwen, characters we met in Lorwyn Eclipsed.

Prepare is one of the few main set mechanics to appear in the Secrets of Strixhaven Commander decks. Each deck has a mono-color and a 2-color rare that uses the prepare mechanic.

Does Prepare Cast from Exile?

Yes! You cast the noncreature spell from exile, so it has synergies with cast-from-exile payoffs like The Thirteenth Doctor and Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald.

Does Every Prepare Creature Enter Prepared Already?

No, they don’t. Any creature that doesn’t enter prepared has an activated or triggered ability that prepares it.

How Can You Re-Prepare a Creature?

Biblioplex Tomekeeper and Skycoach Waypoint both have the ability to prepare a creature again. Some creatures like Encouraging Aviator have abilities that allow you to re-prepare them. For creatures that enter prepared, you’ll have to bounce ‘em, blink ‘em, airbend ‘em, or anything else that allows them to enter the battlefield again.

Do Timing Restrictions Apply to Prepare Spells?

Yes. You can only cast the creature part at sorcery speed unless it has flash, while you can cast the prepared spell at sorcery or instant speed depending on that spell’s type.

Can You Counter a Prepared Spell?

Yes! A prepared spell is a spell like any other that you can copy, redirect, or counter.

If You Counter a Prepared Spell, Is the Creature Still Prepared?

No. The moment you cast the spell, whether it resolves or is countered, the creature becomes unprepared.

What Card Type Is a Prepare Card in the Graveyard?

A prepared card is a creature in all zones, in addition to its different creature types. It doesn’t count as a sorcery or an instant anywhere except when the copy of its spell is on the stack, and even then, the creature itself remains on the battlefield. Just the spell goes to the stack.

Do Prepare Cards Count for Delirium?

Yes, but prepare cards only count as creatures toward delirium. They don’t count as an instant or sorcery.

What Does Unprepare Mean?

Unprepare means to remove a creature’s “prepared” state. If you unprepare an opponent’s creature with Biblioplex Tomekeeper, your opponent can’t cast that creature’s prepared spell until they prepare that creature again.

Can You Unprepare an Opponent’s Creature?

Yes! The easiest way is with Biblioplex Tomekeeper, which has a modal enters trigger that prepares or unprepares a creature. Otherwise, the only way to do so is to remove the creature, or if the creature doesn’t enter prepared, you can blink or flicker it to reset it to its unprepared state.

Prepare vs. Adventures

Prepare and adventures are sort of weird mirror versions of each other. They use similar frames, but the order in which you use the permanent spell vs. the instant or sorcery is different.

With prepare, you have to cast the creature first. If a creature is prepared, you can cast a copy of its prepared spell. The creature then becomes unprepared, and you can only cast the prepared spell again if you can re-prepare your creature.

With adventures, you can cast the spell, and it goes to exile as it resolves. You can then cast the permanent from exile later. So for example, if you cast Fertile Footsteps to ramp, you can cast Beanstalk Giant later from exile. Omens work similarly, but you shuffle them back into your library when the noncreature spell resolves instead.

It’s a lot easier to reuse a prepared spell than it is to use an adventure. Some, like Bramble Familiar, Mosswood Dreadknight, and Hildibrand Manderville have abilities that make them self-looping, but most don’t.

Another key difference is that adventure is also a spell subtype, so there are specific cards that interact with them like Storyteller Pixie, Sentinel of Lost Lore, or Beluna Grandsquall.

Gallery and List of Prepared Cards

• Eiganjo Dynastorian
• Dirgur Focusmage
• Stensian Sanguinist
• Naktamun Lorespinner
• Yavimaya Bloomsage
• Defacing Duskmage
• Eccentric Pestfinder
• Inspired Skypainter
• Lorehold Archivist
• Striding Shotcaller
• Elite Interceptor
• Emeritus of Truce
• Honorbound Page
• Joined Researchers
• Quill-Blade Laureate
• Spiritcall Enthusiast
• Campus Composer
• Emeritus of Ideation
• Encouraging Aviator
• Harmonized Trio
• Jadzi, Steward of Fate
• Landscape Painter
• Skycoach Conductor
• Spellbook Seeker
• Adventurous Eater
• Cheerful Osteomancer
• Emeritus of Woe
• Grave Researcher
• Leech Collector
• Scathing Shadelock
• Scheming Silvertongue
• Blazing Firesinger
• Emeritus of Conflict
• Goblin Glasswright
• Maelstrom Artisan
• Pigment Wrangler
• Strife Scholar
• Emeritus of Abundance
• Infirmary Healer
• Studious First-Year
• Vastlands Scavenger
• Abigale, Poet Laureate
• Kirol, History Buff
• Lluwen, Exchange Student
• Sanar, Unfinished Genius
• Tam, Observant Sequencer

Best Prepared Cards

#5. Scheming Silvertongue

If Decorum Dissertation is one of the better prepare cards as a repeatable Sign in Blood, the fact that SiB is Scheming Silvertongue’s prepared spell should indicate something. I like the flavor that you have to gain more life than you’d lose if you target yourself with the spell to prepare it, especially considering that the creature is a vampire. Most students I’ve met drink coffee or energy drinks, but to each their own.

#4. Grave Researcher

Grave Researcher should make an impact in reanimator decks, especially since its upkeep trigger helps to prepare it in more way than one. Surveil triggers in general can also help delirium decks and lots of other builds that want to use the graveyard for value, so you don’t even need to care about your ability to prepare the Reanimate.

#3. Eiganjo Dynastorian

A 3-mana body that gives you repeatable Retethers is really good, but Eiganjo Dynastorian is even better because you get to reanimate any kind of enchantment. It’ll have a home in go-wide aura decks, but you can play it with stax pieces, enchantment creatures, and sagas, including summons from Final Fantasy.

#2. Yavimaya Bloomsage

Maybe it’s my own sauropod leanings, but Yavimaya Bloomsage looks like it’ll be perfect for battlecruiser decks to bring out more and more beefy threats. You’ll only prepare its Channel on your end step, though, so it needs to survive until your next turn before you actually get the mana advantage. That still represents a lot of ramping potential; if you can trade in most of your life total to ramp into your win condition, that’s a fair bargain when it doesn’t backfire.

#1. The Emeritus Cycle

These are some of the best mythic rares in all of Secrets of Strixhaven.

Ancestral Recall is banned in Commander for a reason, but strap it to a 5-mana body like Emeritus of Ideation and you start to get into a fairer territory.

Emeritus of Conflict gives you a payoff for casting three spells per turn; something that’s neat is that you could prepare it on your turn, then use the prepared Lightning Bolt as your first spell during an opponent’s turn en route to prepare the Emeritus again.

Emeritus of Abundance looks ready to help to make elf decks and other rampy green creature decks more grindy.

Emeritus of Truce’s Swords to Plowshares is going to be harder to reuse outside of blink, bounce, and reanimator decks, but alongside airbend? Watch out.

While Demonic Tutor is a really good prepared spell to have, Emeritus of Woe has to survive your opponent’s turn after it becomes prepared. Top end, you get to tutor with this multiple times. Low end, you force your opponent to take a turn off from their own game plan to deal with this vampire.

Just like the paradigm cards, time will tell whether the whole cycle is playable, or whether we’ll run our faves and ignore the others.

Semester’s End

Emeritus of Conflict | Illustration by Alix Branwyn

And with that, you should be ready to cram for that final exam. Er, prerelease? Wait, is prerelease technically an entrance exam for a new set? I’m getting lost in my metaphors. But hopefully you aren’t lost among all these prepare creatures and their spells.

Flavorfully, this one’s a tougher mechanic to envision in sets that aren’t related to Strixhaven. It feels a lot more tied to a school environment, but I’m sure I could come up with ways to tie it to preparations for an adventure or a battle.

Which of these is your favorite prepare creature? What do you think of the mechanic overall and its use in this set? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord.

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Now go show everyone your teeth (and ambitions).