The 21 Best Quandrix Cards in Secrets of Strixhaven Ranked

Tam, Observant Sequencer | Illustration by Jodie Muir

Secrets of Strixhaven is another opportunity for us to visit the plane of Arcavios, known for its powerful magic users and its magical school, the titular Strixhaven. This school has five colleges, including Quandrix (), represented by the mathematic geniuses. These blue and green magic users like their big, flashy X-spells, +1/+1 counters, and their 0/0 Fractal tokens, of all things, which can get stronger.

Today we take a look at the best blue-green cards that were released in all Secrets of Strixhaven-related products!

What Are Quandrix Cards in Secrets of Strixhaven?

Embrace the Paradox | Illustration by Julian Kok Joon Wen

Quandrix () cards in Secrets of Strixhaven have an exact GU color identity. This includes gold blue and green cards, or hybrid cards. I’m also considering lands that produce both blue and green mana. This list considers all cards released in Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS), Secrets of Strixhaven Commander (SOC), as well as cards in the bonus sheet, Secrets of Strixhaven Mystical Archive. We’ll start first with reprints and then proceed to the new cards.

Best Reprints and Bonus Sheet Cards

#9. Dreamroot Cascade

Dreamroot Cascade from Innistrad: Crimson Vow is being reprinted in Standard, and we haven't had access to these slow lands for a long time. They’re awesome in EDH, considering that games go long, and they'll see play in Standard midrange and control decks.

#8. Alchemist’s Refuge

Alchemist's Refuge is a utility land that lets you flash in spells. Blue and green sometimes have this flash deck that holds up mana for counterspells or card draw, with the possibility to flash in something like a Frilled Mystic or Nightpack Ambusher. It’s easy to add this card to a blue and green mana base since they don’t tend to have mana problems.

#7. Flooded Grove

Speaking of mana problems, Flooded Grove is excellent when you have or costs to pay. Most counterspells cost double blue, while most good green threats cost double or triple green. You just need any other mana source and this card helps you to fix your mana in a big way.

#6. Adrix and Nev, Twincasters

Adrix and Nev, Twincasters gives you the basic token-doubling effect that’s very sought after in EDH. Blue and green have some token-creation themes related to Food and Clue tokens across multiple sets, so you'll be doubling these a good bit of the time.

#5. The Goose Mother

The Goose Mother is excellent in any sort of ramp deck, X-spells matter deck, or just food decks in general. You’ll already want to attack with a giant flier, and when you can sacrifice a food that you don’t need to draw a card, it’s even better. This card is also a competent commander by itself, and many MTG sets have food as a theme in base green (Lord of the Rings, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Wilds of Eldraine).

#4. Tanazir Quandrix

Tanazir Quandrix is very strong when you have small creatures because it allows you to attack with them at a base rate of 4/4 or higher. It’s good with +1/+1 counters and hydra-type creatures. Let’s say I have a 0/0 hydra with five counters on it. Quandrix enters and doubles the hydra’s counters to make it a 10/10 and let it attack as a 14/14. This elder dragon is also good with a bunch of 1/1 tokens that will get stronger.

#3. Bring to Light

Bring to Light inspired a lot of combo deck across multiple formats, including Modern and Pioneer. It’s a tutor that casts the card right away, and if you pay five colors of mana, you can get something like Niv-Mizzet Reborn, which draws you a bunch of cards, or more redundancy for other combos like Scapeshift. Some folks even try to put this card in 200+ card Battle of Wits to have more redundancy for their tutors, removal, or key creatures.

#2. Hydroid Krasis

Hydroid Krasis is one of the best ways to spend your mana in ramp decks and a card that was a staple across multiple formats. The best part of this card is that you’ll get the life and card draw whenever you cast this, so even if your opponent counters, you get a pseudo Sphinx's Revelation. It’s common to spend 6 mana and get a 4/4 flier, two cards, and 2 life, and this card an excellent top-deck later in the game.

#1. Oversimplify

Oversimplify is my favorite Quandrix card of Secrets of Strixhaven, and the one I think fits the most decks. Blue and green have problems in the “unconditional” sweeper realm, besides cards that bounce everything like Cyclonic Rift. This is as close as a blue and green Sunfall that we’ll get. Each player will be left with a big token that’s not evasive or anything, and blue at least has some tools to bounce the token if needed.

Best New Cards

#12. Applied Geometry

Applied Geometry is a new take on Clone, and you can make a 6/6 token of the copied creature. It has interesting applications; you should pair this card with small creatures that enter the battlefield and draw cards or that have good abilities, like flying and double strike. Elvish Visionary is a lot better when it’s a 6/6 instead of a 1/1. You can also make crazy combinations, like copying an enchantment, land, or planeswalker.

#11. Embrace the Paradox

Between Urban Evolution, Lessons from Life, and now Embrace the Paradox, GU has many ways to draw cards and put additional lands into play. This card offers the instant speed version, so it can get the nod over other tap-out versions, especially if you’re playing counterspells and want to leave mana open.

#10. Striding Shotcaller

Striding Shotcaller is nothing to write home about as a 0/4 that enters unprepared, so you’ll have to do some work. Attacking with tokens or evasive creatures will prepares this card, and the prepared sorcery is very strong. You’ll draw a card and make some of your creatures evasive, which helps them to connect and prepare this card again. It’s a nice pair with cards like Edric, Spymaster of Trest because you’re already building your deck to connect as often as you can, and Striding Shotcaller is both an enabler and payoff in this strategy.

#9. Quandrix Charm

Unlike many GU modal cards, Quandrix Charm is actually decent. Its base mode of a Quench is good; I was expecting some restriction like noncreature spells. Then you add an enchantment removal and a good combat trick to round out an already playable card.

#8. Tam, Observant Sequencer

Drawing a card and gaining 1 life is a nice payoff for making your land drops, and Tam, Observant Sequencer does just that. It’s going to be an annoying card in Limited, similar to Tatyova, Benthic Druid, and it’s going to see some play in casual Commander, too. This card is also a bridge between the lifegain and spellcasting themes in Witherbloom () and Prismari ().

#7. Geometer’s Arthropod

Geometer's Arthropod is a nice defensive creature that buys you some time if you’re casting your X-spells. While this creature is around, each X-spell you cast is basically an Impulse, and you’ll draw many cards and have a lot of card selection this way.

#6. Mind into Matter

Drawing X cards is powerful, but you lose a lot of tempo because you didn’t affect the board in any way. But things are different with Mind into Matter. Drawing six cards and putting a 5+ mana card into play is excellent; it’s like your creature has an enters trigger. The big challenge with this card is getting around its downside – the creature enters tapped, so it better have some strong enters effect, or you can snag other permanents like planeswalkers or enchantments.

#5. Turbulent Wilderness

One of the new dual lands from SOC, this style of dual land is excellent for Commander. Turbulent Wilderness is fetchable, and from turns 3-4 on, your opponents should have eight or more lands. It’s basically a slow land in EDH, and you’re not sad even if it’s in your opening hand.

#4. Berta, Wise Extrapolator

Berta, Wise Extrapolator is a solid card by itself, but you can also explore it further in combos. You’ll increment it easily by casting almost any spell due to its 1 power. Then when it gets +1/+1 counters, you get more mana, which you can chain into the activated ability. Proliferate gives you more mana. You can pull some shenanigans with Intruder Alarm, where you tap all your mana dorks for mana, use Berta’s ability, make a 1/1 token, and untap everybody else, netting more mana each turn, and so on.

#3. Primo, the Unbounded

One of the face commanders for the Quandrix Unlimited precon, Primo, the Unbounded is a strong card individually and a good build-around as well. If you spend 7 mana, it’s an 8/8 trampler that feeds its own ability, so it snowballs pretty easily. And of course, if you surround it with some 0/0 Fractals that get +1/+1 counters or with some hydras, you get even better results.

#2. Zimone, Infinite Analyst

Zimone, Infinite Analyst is basically an Animar, Soul of Elements, but for X-spells. Zimone naturally gains more +1/+1 counters over the course of a game if you’re casting X-spells, and each turn, your spells get cheaper. Of course, you can speed up the process by dumping a bunch of counters from other sources. It’s a slow commander that needs some turns on the battlefield to do its thing, so you’d better have some protection spells ready.

#1. Quandrix, the Proof

Quandrix, the Proof is a very solid dragon with the cascade mechanic, and one that can add cascade to your instants and sorceries. If you spend 5 mana to draw some cards at instant speed, you can cast something good from your deck with pseudo-flash. It’s not a bomb or anything, but it’s a solid 6-mana card that’s a strong ramp target. Dragon decks will probably want to add this as well.

Wrap Up

Quandrix Charm | Illustration by Matheus Graef

And that’s about it for the new (and old) Quandrix cards, guys. This time, we have a pretty heavy focus on X-spells and big spells overall, as well as your typical draw spells and mana acceleration that are the trademarks of blue and green ramp decks. Overall, there’s nothing really fantastic going on with the new Quandrix cards, but that’s usually true of green and blue as a color combination. What usually makes green and blue good, especially in Commander, is strong mono-colored cards, besides the occasional Thrasios, Triton Hero.

What are your thoughts on Quandrix cards this time around? Are they powerful, or did they get the short end of the stick in their gold cards? Let me know in the comments section below. And for more on Secrets of Strixhaven and MTG in general, do check out The Daily Upkeep, Draftsim’s YouTube channel.

Until next time, stay safe!