WotC Finally Prints Amazing Participation Promos for Secrets of Strixhaven

Last updated on April 2, 2026

Lilliana Vess | Illustration by by Justyna Dura

Wizards of the Coast released yesterday their “Where to Play Secrets of Strixhaven” roadmap and, for once, a lot of the promo cards are great: Playable Magic cards, some with real value, some with real casual appeal, and a few that have both.

Let's check them out!

Secrets of Strixhaven Participation Promo Cards

Lorehold, the Historian | Illustration by Joshua Raphael

You can get several of the Secrets of Strixhaven promo cards just by showing up. All you need to do is participate in one of these events, and you get the cards.

One big caveat, though! All these promos seem to come with a “while supplies last”, so you're not actually 100% guaranteed to get one.

Ancient Stirrings, for Participating in Regional Championship Qualifier

Ancient Stirrings, with art by SimzArt, is another very good call. This is the RCQ participation promo for the April 4 to August 2 season, which means competitive players can get it just for showing up.

While this green sorcery sees a lot of competitive play both in Modern and Pauper, it's one of the cheapest promo cards when you look at previous printings.

Unearth, for Participating in Store Championship

Unearth, with art from Ron Spencer, is maybe the smartest pure participation promo in the whole article. You get it just by playing in a Store Championship (highly competitive Standard Constructed events) between May 8 and May 31.

Regular copies from previous sets are worth around $0.50, but premium treatments of Unearth can jump meaningfully higher (the latest Secret Lair version is north of $10). And this black sorcery sees both a lot of casual Commander play and competitive play across several Magic formats, so looks like a great choice by WotC.

Access Tunnel, Retro Frame, for Participating in Commander Party and Two-Headed Giant Commander Nights

Access Tunnel is the participation promo for both Two-Headed Giant Commander Nights and Commander Party during the season.

Plain copies sit around $0.30 to $0.50, so this is not a value bomb, but it is absolutely the kind of utility land Commander players will toss into decks and actually use. Plus it's a nice card for Two-Headed Giant: you can target any creature (not just yours) with it, so you can make your ally's creatures unblockable. Most WPN retailers will have non-foil copies, but WPN Premium locations will have traditional foil copies.

Gilded Lotus, Traditional Foil for Participating in Magic Presents: Pride

Gilded Lotus, in traditional foil and with art by Merlin G.G featuring Chandra and Nissa, is the participation promo for the Magic Presents: Pride event.

Regular copies are roughly $1 to $2, so the base card is nowhere near scarce. But premium Gilded Lotus versions can spread out wildly, and fall anywhere between $10 and $60.

Fyndhorn Elves, for Participating in CommandFest

According to WotC, CommandFest events “are massive events held across the globe that celebrate everything players love about Commander.” And to liven up the celebration, there's a Fyndhorn Elves by Julie Dillon for participating, which you get when you purchase your badge.

The wrinkle for American readers is that these Spotlights are in Adelaide, Australia; Giessen, Germany; and Beijing, China.

So, yeah, very cool promo if you can attend: this is a casual Commander staple. Its cheapest printing, costs around $2, and premium versions go for about $7-$9. This full art version will likely be worth at least that much, if not more.

Liliana Vess, for Registering for Magic Spotlight: Secrets

Liliana Vess is another card that U.S. readers may need to book a flight if they want it: it's the registration promo for Magic Spotlight: Secrets in London, England, and Chiba, Japan.

Regular Liliana Vess copies are around $5 to $6, but older premium versions can go way higher, with the SDCC 2014 exclusive around $95.

Emberheart Challenger, for Participating in Regional Championship

Emberheart Challenger is technically another “you just need to show up to get one” promo… although in this case it's the Regional Championship, so not exactly a piece of cake to get there!

Regardless, Regional Championship participants get a non-foil copy of Emberheart Challenger with art by CHOGRIN, while top finishers get a foil version.

The original printing from Bloomburrow is still cheap, around $0.80, and showcase versions cost about $2.20. I wouldn't be surprised if this version ends up priced much higher.

Secrets of Strixhaven Top Placement Promo Cards

Besides the goodies you get just by showing up, there are even more promo cards for reaching the top spots of some of these events.

Into the Flood Maw, for Winning Standard Showdown

To get a traditional foil, retro frame promo version of Into the Flood Maw, you need to win a local Standard Showdown between April 24 and June 18. So, while not a participation promo, it is still an accessible LGS promo compared with the travel-heavy stuff farther down the list.

Into the Flood Maw is an excellent promo card: cheap, efficient, recognizable, and attached to a card people actually care about. Regular copies float around $2.

Sowing Mycospawn, for Top Finishing a Regional Championship Qualifier

Sowing Mycospawn is the RCQ top-cut reward: Top Finishers get non-foil copies, and players who actually qualify for a Regional Championship get foil copies.

Regular copies are around $1.60, while borderless copies are around $3.60.

Psychic Frog, Non-foil for Making Top 8 in Store Championship

If you want the sharper end of the value ladder, a traditional foil, full-art Psychic Frog, illustrated by Gaboleps, is one of the best of these promo cards. This one goes to the Top 8 of each Store Championship.

The borderless version from Modern Horizons 3 costs around $15-$18.

Abhorrent Oculus, Non-foil for Winning Store Championship

And if you actually take down that Store Championship, you get a traditional foil, full-art, textless Abhorrent Oculus with art by Diana Franco.

The regular printing is sitting around $13, and this version should be more expensive.

Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, for Participating in the Pro Tour or World Championship

Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student is probably the most valuable individual card named in the article… although probably the least relevant to normal humans: You get it by attending a 2026 Pro Tour or World Championship competitor, with foil copies for the Top 32 at each event.

Regular copies are around $20, while textured borderless copies are around $70.