Last updated on December 3, 2025
Wish | Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak
Secrets of Strixhaven releases in April, 2026, as the third set of the year somehow, and marks our return to Harry Potter World the completely unique and totally hip MTG plane inspired by the “wizardry school genre”. There's quite a bit riding on this return visit, since it's one of only three multiverse sets for the year, compared to the four Universes Beyond sets coming out.
It also marks the ideal time to follow through on some of the changes WotC has been throwing around for the Commander format lately, and that all hinges on something that hasn't even been confirmed for the set yet: the return of the learn mechanic.
Lessons, Learn, and Wishboards
Environmental Sciences | Illustration by Jokubas Uogintas
The fact that 2021's Strixhaven debuted the lesson/learn duo, and the proximity of Secrets of Strixhaven to Avatar: The Last Airbender, which brought lessons back on their own, all points to Secrets likely bringing learn back into the mix, or some variation of it.
While this seems like a done deal, it isn't 100% guaranteed. The fact that Avatar‘s lessons are so good has made people question whether learn is actually appropriate for Standard. Unlike original Strixhaven, many of the lessons in Avatar are just rock-solid cards that see maindeck play without the need for learn cards, so adding learn into the mix could cause ubiquity issues where everyone has a few learn cards in their deck and a sideboard full of impactful lessons, for three years straight.
Instead of banking on a late-game copy of Mascot Exhibition and floundering with Reduce to Memory or Introduction to Prophecy for removal and card draw, we now have actual baseline strong lesson options like Boomerang Basics, Iroh's Demonstration, and Accumulate Wisdom. WotC might've juiced the lessons from Avatar knowing full-well they weren't bringing learn back into the picture a few months later.
But let's assume they do what people would expect them to do and bring the lesson/learn package back into the fold; what does this have to do with Commander? Well, it's the perfect opportunity to follow through on some changes that WotC's been hinting at recently. The first of those would be the addition of a sideboard to Commander.
As of right now, there are no sideboards in Commander. That means traditional “wish” effects like Cunning Wish and Fae of Wishes don't really do anything in the format, and that extends to lesson/learn. Learn has the fallback of being a rummage if you have nothing to grab from your sideboard, but the cards are individually weak if that's how you plan to use them.
If learn returns in Secrets of Strixhaven, that gives the Commander Format Panel the perfect excuse to revise the rules on sideboards, essentially inviting a bunch of formerly unplayable cards into the format.
I should be clear that I don't necessarily think this is a great idea, but Gavin Verhey has mentioned the Format Panel discussing this “issue” lately, and if they're going to make the change, they might as well do it with the return of an entire mechanic focused on sideboarding. It could lead to a very “samey” feel where every EDH deck suddenly has the same 5-10 cards hanging around in the sideboard, and would increase access to combo pieces and silver bullet cards–imagine tucking Mycosynth Lattice in your sideboard because you have Karn, the Great Creator in your maindeck, but you also have a Tormod's Crypt and Torpor Orb to lock down specific strategies on demand. However, learn cards (thus far) aren't spectacular, so you'd at least have to take a hit in maindeck quality to access lessons from your sideboard.
It's not as big of an issue as “every Izzet deck ever gets to play Lutri, the Spellchaser“, but it could be a mistake to grant EDH players unmitigated access to sideboards and wishes.
Still, it seems like WotC explores this option every couple of years or so, and they're riding up on the golden opportunity to follow through with it. If not sideboards in general, access to a “learn-board” could be pretty cool.
Hybrid Changes and Banlist Updates
Deceit | Illustration by Kev Walker
I've already expressed my opinion about changing the hybrid mana rules for Commander, and my recent opinion piece on the subject garnered quite a bit of back-and-forth debate. If you missed it, Gavin Verhey recently floated the idea of loosening restrictions on hybrid cards in Commander, allowing people to treat a hybrid card like either color for the purposes of deckbuilding, rather than treating it as both colors. I won't rehash my opinion here, but the same thing goes: If they're going to make this change, they might as well make it alongside sideboard changes in Secrets of Strixhaven.
Obviously, this doesn't have to be a package deal: They could make an update to hybrid mana rules without ever mentioning EDH sideboards, but if they decide both those changes are happening next year, they might as well lump them together and overhaul the format all at once.
While they're at it, why not follow through on some of the other discussion points Gavin Verhey made back in October? One of the questions he posed was whether or not Rhystic Study and/or Thassa's Oracle should be banned in Commander. Honest opinion: No way either of those happen, but they're still pretty big talking points for the format. And keeping in line with the theme here, if they're decide to make these changes, they should do it alongside similar sweeping changes and make one big Commander update in April instead of rolling out mini-updates throughout the next year or so.
The same goes for any other Game Changer/banlist changes. Gavin Verhey had originally stated that the Commander banlist wouldn't be touched in 2025, but that there are discussions happening with the Format Panel, and we might see changes in 2026. Well, 2026 is just a month away, and Secrets of Strixhaven gives them the perfect excuse to introduce some changes to the format. All of this is independent of whether I personally want to see these changes happen or not, it's more of a domino effect created by the reintroduction of lessons in Avatar that seems like it could lead to a Commander shake-up next year.
At the very least can we please make basic Island a Game Changer? We all know that's where it belongs.
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1 Comment
I am 100% for Sideboards in Commander. Everyone I play with already allows it, and I was honestly both surprised and annoyed when they changed the rules so that cards that were exiled weren’t considered cards outside the game; which is a whole side discussion in and of itself.
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