Mystical Archives are generating some serious hype, but Expeditions were the first premium collector cards introduced to us in Standard box sets back in Battle for Zendikar. Since then we've seen Masterpieces in Kaladesh and we finished the series with the Invocations back on Amonkhet. This series was beloved by players as it offered unique foiled copies of popular cards from the current set, as well as iconic cards from the games' history. These cards gave a boost of excitement as they were the ultimate "money cards" and were extremely rare and valuable. Sadly Wizards decided to scrap this idea as they quickly ran out of themes to force themselves into for each set. In recent years we've had alternative art for cards included in set boosters such as these,
but nothing quite matched the thrill and excitement of the original Expeditions, Masterpieces, and Invocations. However, Strixhaven is brining back this concept with a twist. You will receive a Mystical Archive in every pack and they have a range of rarities from uncommon to mythic. This is a drastic change from the original sets that had odds of pulling an expedition close to something like one in every three to four booster boxes! Wizards is blessing us up here with sweet "money cards" and sick reprints with alternative art.
Now that our history lesson is out of the way, we'll be focusing on the fact that most if these Mystical Archives are actually coming to the Historic format which is actually insane. We'll be highlighting the handful of cards that I think will make the most impact in Historic, but if you want my reaction to every card then feel free to watch the video above where I look over every card but in less detail. I will mention right away that Dark Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Channel, Counterspell, Lightning Bolt, Natural Order, and Swords to Plowshares were instantly banned in Historic.
Whether you love or hate the artwork, there is no debating the raw power of Faithless Looting. We saw what it did with the Arclight Phoenix and Hollow One archetypes in Modern, and both of those cards are legal in Historic by the way. Not to mention the variety of other broken nonsense it did in almost any graveyard deck it touched. The obvious home for this card is of course the Izzet Phoenix decks and I wouldn't be surprised if this deck rose to the top of the meta overnight. Izzet Phoenix was a top tier archetype in Modern before looting got hit with the ban hammer, and with Young Pyromancer in Historic I'm excited to see Izzet Phoenix spike like GameStop and go straight to the moon.
Another deck that uses Young Pyromancer is the Rakdos Arcanist decks. Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger will definitely appreciate a good Looting to help fuel escape. I will say that this archetype is looking a bit swollen at the moment. It has the Dreadhorde Arcanist plan and has adopted the Death's Shadow plus Scourge of the Skylcaves core. There is a lot going on in this deck but I'm sure Faithless Looting will squeeze in there.
Hollow One is also floating around the format and has settled into the Boros Cycling deck. I'm curious to see if we'll get a deck with Arclight Phoenix and Hollow One slammed into one archetype, but will Faithless Looting find its way into the cycling deck? Matt and I discussed this at length and we don't see why it wouldn't. As of right now the Cycling deck can only put out a Hollow One as fast as turn three. Looting speeds this up a turn for turn two Hollow Ones and could lead to explosive turns where you could cast multiples. Flameblade Adept benefits from discarding triggers for some added synergy.
Inquisition and Thoughtseize was the foundation of Modern midrange for years, and now the pair meet again in Historic. Thoughtseize is already a defining pillar of Historic and now black players get another tool for their arsenal. It only takes a quick search of the format's most played cards to see that most of them fall into Inquisition range. As far as ready-made homes go for this card in Historic, I think any black deck will consider adopting this core depending on the meta. Sultai and Mono Black could easily use this, but another home for this is of course Rakdos Arcanist decks. I did mention earlier that this archetype does seem swollen so time will tell if the duo of Thoughtsieze and Inquisition will make it into that deck.
Like Faithless Looting and Inquisition of Kozilek, I am shocked that Brainstorm has landed in Historic. Brainstorm is the foundation of legacy, with its combination with fetchlands helping you shuffle away your unwanted cards to essentially build your own Ancestral Recall. Modern has never tasted the power of Brainstorm, and I suspect that is due to the presence of fetchlands to take full advantage of the spell. Historic is missing true fetchlands but we do have some alternatives. Fabled Passage is a staple of three color decks and could help boost the power of Brainstorm, and Evolving Wilds could also be thrown in the mix. So if people really want to take full advantage of Brainstorm then perhaps we could see a shift in the way mana bases are constructed in Historic.
As far as obvious homes for Brainstorm, it is safe to assume that Azorius, Sultai, and Bant flavors of control will be the first decks to try and make Brainstorm work. I'm personally excited to test this out in a mono blue mill deck with Teferi's Tutelage. Milling six cards off a single Brainstorm sounds crazy. Not to mention that Ruin Crab already wants Fabled Passage in the deck for additional landfall triggers. We can easily throw in an Evolving Wilds or two, and maybe this becomes the best Brainstorm deck in the format.
Memory Lapse is another card that never reached Modern, but we do have an easy comparison with Remand. Remand is commonly used in Modern to slow down the opponent by bouncing a spell back to their hand, and helps you by drawing a card. Memory Lapse does almost the same thing but instead of replacing itself, it puts the spell on top of the opponent's library, effectively wasting the opponent's next draw step. Historic is lacking powerful two mana counterspells at the moment and I think Memory Lapse is at a scary power level that most people might be underestimating. Especially when you realize that a deck like Dimir Rogues has mill synergies to mill away the spell you just countered with cards like Ruin Crab and Thieves' Guild Enforcer. Not to mention that that deck thrives on using the cheapest interaction available. I'll also throw in my beloved Mono Blue Mill deck that can also mill away the card with Teferi's Tutelage and Ruin Crab. In these sort of decks Memory Lapse can function as a true Counterspell.
Boros is a color combination that isn't too popular in Historic. However, I think we should try to stick Lightning Helix where it fits in Modern, and that is in a good old fashioned burn deck. Since the printing of Embercleave, we've seen red decks move towards playing creatures and away from straight up burn spells in both Standard and Historic. Lucky for us though, Historic does have some dedicated burn decks that use Ghitu Lavarunner and Soul-Scar Mage for early damage, but rely on classic burn to finish the job. Inspiring Vantage and Needleverge Pathway make splashing white a dream. Lightning Helix is a very powerful tempo card as killing a creature and gaining life is a huge swing against other aggro decks. This is the reason why Jeskai Control decks in Modern also played Lightning Helix to fight off creature decks. I would love to see a Jeskai Control deck come to Historic thanks to Lightning Helix and even Electrolyze. For now though, I think burn splashing white is the obvious home for this iconic card.
Those are my thoughts on the cards I think will have the greatest impact on Historic from all the Mystical Archives. If you want my reactions to all of the other archives then you can watch the video at the top. Follow us on Twitch for daily live reactions during spoiler season or you can catch the replays over on YouTube. If you want to see any of our other content then please explore the homepage of this site for links to our Discord and everything else. Thanks so much for reading and let us know your thoughts on these exciting changes for Historic. Thanks for joining the Fellowship and see you next time!
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