Greg Montique

Wizards of the Coast has announced Magic: The Gathering will return to Block format in 2027, ending years of chaotic release schedules. Players who grew up with Ravnica, Innistrad, and Mirrodin blocks are cautiously celebrating, while Mark Rosewater has acknowledged the change with the energy of someone who just found out gravity exists. Whether this is a genuine course correction or the setup for another pivot, Magic fans are doing what they do best: having opinions about it.

Secrets of Strixhaven is not just a 2026 nostalgia trip back to a beloved Magic setting. The design team rebuilt it with mechanics that actually feel like each college, Commander decks designed to look and play like the faction you opened, a Mystical Archive bigger than ever, and the Prepared mechanic putting Ancestral Recall on a standard legal card. This is the full breakdown of what makes Secrets of Strixhaven worth getting excited about, straight from the people who built it.

The MTG bracket system is Wizards of the Coast's official framework for rating Commander deck power levels on a scale of 1 to 5. Updated in October 2025, it now includes five brackets from Exhibition casual to cEDH, adds expected turn counts per bracket, removes tutor restrictions, and refines the Game Changers list. The system runs on an honor code and is designed to help players find balanced games before anyone shuffles up. Tools like the Manabox bracket checker make self-rating easier and m