Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS) Limited Overview — Black

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS) prerelease events run on April 17, 2026, with the official release one week later on April 24, 2026. Want to know more about how individual cards rate in Limited, plus some pick advice? Then check out this series of SOS Limited overviews!

• For the mechanics, see this article: Secrets of Strixhaven Mechanics Breakdown

Rating Scale

5.0: Unconditional first pick; gives you a near-winning advantage
4.5: Unconditional first pick if you are in the right colors; gives you a huge advantage
4.0: Worth a first pick; synergizes extremely well with the archetype, and can be the deciding card for splashing / switching colors or moving into a color pair
3.5: Top uncommons and commons of the set and other sufficiently strong cards; synergizes well with the archetype and can be the key card for moving into a color pair
3.0: Important cards for the archetype, plus other above-average cards; you want these in your final deck
2.5: Average; usually a decent curve filler
2.0–1.0: Below average; you generally prefer not to play them, can be used as filler if necessary, but not too many
0.5–0.0: Unplayable; basically never play them, they will only help you lose

Card Ratings

Score: 2.5
Comment: Ordinary stats, but if you can keep casting the Prepare spell on the right side and put a +1/+1 counter on something, it is actually pretty strong. If this counter can force through a creature that otherwise could not get past blockers, it is very powerful.

Score: 1.0
Comment: Limited expects three colors, and a five-mana discard-three is not something I am eager to play, at least.

Score: 2.5
Comment: Pairs well with this set’s Pests, or with tokens that get sacrificed at end of turn.

Score: 2.5
Comment: A 1/1 deathtouch is always the most annoying thing to deal with, and with spare mana it can grow into a real threat.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Mainly it gives you one more way to recover resources; cards that do several things never rate low.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Besides plain card draw, you can also add a counter. Before, pure draw was not something I wanted to play, but now you get to add a counter too. Common sorceries keep getting stronger.

Score: 4.0
Comment: Once it resolves, you effectively get two Phyrexian Arena effects every turn. Just be careful not to drain yourself to death. Landing it on time on turn five without overdrawing should be strong, and if the opponent’s life total is very low you can even consider giving them the draws.

Score: 2.5
Comment: A very interesting combat trick, but you probably will not want more than one.

Score: 4.5
Comment: A 5/4 for four mana is far above the curve, and it comes with a two-mana Demonic Tutor on entering to find what you need. If two creatures have died, you can find again next turn. It is so powerful that you will want to touch black just to play it.

Score: 3.0
Comment: A decent removal spell: it kills tempo creatures early and big creatures late, though in some situations its range falls short.

Score: 3.0
Comment: By itself it is a creature you do not mind chump blocking with, and when it dies it makes a flying threat.

Score: 3.5
Comment: A Murder that may also drain the opponent. I will just give it the average Murder score.

Score: 3.5
Comment: Ward means it is basically never a one-for-one, and its ability keeps earning cards back from the graveyard. A very strong resource recovery engine.

Score: 3.5
Comment: A 3/3 for three. In a graveyard deck, it reliably does a Reanimate each turn, and it can also surveil one card each turn. I wanted to give it 4.0, but it cannot do anything the moment it enters, and the life loss from reanimating still stings a little.

Score: 2.5
Comment: A two-mana tempo removal spell with very standard numbers.

Score: 2.0
Comment: You might be able to raise it, but its growth potential is too small.

Score: 2.5
Comment: If you can gain life repeatedly, you can keep draining the opponent dry. A very strong creature when set up properly.

Score: 2.0
Comment: A combat trick that grants indestructible; playing one copy is no problem.

Score: 2.5
Comment: Many of this set’s right-side Prepare spells can trigger it, so it may be a decent lifelinking threat.

Score: 4.0
Comment: The better you are at gaining life, the stronger this threat is. It is not bad as a two-for-one by itself either, and how often and how much you gain life determines its ceiling.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Life-gain decks will always play it; the -4/-4 kill effect is far too strong.

Score: 3.0
Comment: A pity it cannot be unblockable. If it could be, one kick would be a four-point life swing, and it could keep doing sit-ups out of the graveyard.

Score: 1.0
Comment: A card that tests your skill at playing, but it is probably still not very good.

Score: 2.0
Comment: A passable resource recovery tool. If you surveil a lot, you can play one; it gains two life while also serving as a way to bring back a dead creature or a key creature.

Score: 3.5
Comment: In this set, with Pests or other small creatures it is easy to draw a huge pile of cards. A very strong trick and card draw in one.

Score: 4.0
Comment: A pretty interesting planeswalker, but in Limited a planeswalker first needs to bring a board advantage or self-protection. The [-2] just about meets that, though needing creatures in your own graveyard is a bit of a hassle.
The [-1] is an upgraded Liliana of the Veil, and you finally do not have to discard yourself. It is a little annoying that it is on the [-1], but as a [+1] it really would be too strong; reliably making the opponent discard every turn would be too gross.
The [+1] is just looting into the graveyard, nothing special.
The [-7] is where we find out how lucky you are. The expected value is elementary-school math: three turns if you are lucky, two if you are not. In a normal Limited game, if the opponent passes two or three turns, unless the board gap is huge, it is basically hard to lose… right?

Score: 3.5
Comment: It can keep giving other creatures deathtouch and +2/+0, and it also works with creatures that trigger on casting an instant or sorcery. Personally I think it should be a pretty strong creature.

Score: 4.0
Comment: If you can gain two or more life before your second main phase, it is draw two for two mana. A strong card!

Score: 2.5
Comment: Being able to make Pests makes gaining life basically easy, and life gain is already decent, and even better in this set. The discard is an annoying problem for the opponent too.

Score: 3.0
Comment: A normal flier, and lifelink adds quite a few points to its score.

Score: 3.5
Comment: A creature with absurdly above-curve stats. Being able to keep making Pests to gain life, or making Pests for it to eat, makes it very powerful.

Score: 2.5
Comment: A very ordinary tempo creature, but in a deck that can gain life consistently it is a decent threat.

Score: 3.0
Comment: A four-mana instant-speed exile; you cannot ask for more from it.

Score: 3.5
Comment: Although it is a conditional sweeper, life gain is clearly a theme in this set. But if your own deck has few ways to gain life, this card is a bit worse, and may even not be one you want in your main deck.

Conclusion

I made a ㄅ - to - ㄦ rating chart myself, but the resolution is a bit sad, so just treat it as a little Easter egg.

This is a multicolor set. Looking at it overall, the mono-colored cards basically feel like they exist to pair with multicolor cards; their stats and effects are only acceptable on their own. Also, cards that do many things basically cannot score too low, unless both halves are bad. And from any color, the power level of commons and uncommons has clearly inflated. Maybe in the future a Grizzly Bears without one or two upside abilities won’t even make it as a common XD.