Thread by @Deathsie

I've been trying to think of what's worth saying about the Strixhaven draft format and I decided to take a different approach this time. I'm not going to talk about any specific guilds but rather how to draft my single ABSOLUTE favorite archetype. A thread about 5 Color drafting:

The format is a great "guild" format in the sense that you don't feel as bottlenecked by the predetermined color combinations as you do in Guilds of Ravnica, for example. The hybrid dual color costs on many of the gold cards allow for flexibility and creativity in deckbuilding

I personally HATE it when the game design tells me how to play. I refuse to be bound to any colleges. The by-the-book approach in normally drafting the open college is a big trap in Strixhaven. You end up being at the mercy of the packs to determine how good your draft will be

The solution is my favorite archetype: 5-color Environmental Sciences. You get to pick and play all the best cards instead of some dweeby derpy college. Although it isn't necessary, Codie is one of my top rares and is an easy way to generate card advantage

Playing 5 color Environmental Sciences is all about playing the good cards and the cards you WANT to play, rather than picking and playing the cards you HAVE to play. Card priority: mana fixing/ramp, card advantage (including lessons/learn cards), removal, and value cards/bombs

Mana Fixing: Environmental Sciences is your absolute best bet. It's actually just one of the best cards in the set valued right under your bomb rares such as Crackle with Power, Professor Onyx, and Mascot Exhibition. Even if you're a 1 or 2 color deck, the first copy is TOO good

Lands: Campuses are not essential, but pick them up when it's not over much. The dual-colored lands in this set are AWESOME! But I see too many players scrying at the wrong time. Don't scry on upkeep without mana available to cast your outs and good cards if you draw them

Ramp/fixing: Environmental Sciences again is the easiest and safest bet. Cultivate is the best but it's an Archive card so it's quite difficult to find. Next best is Field Trip, then finally Acceptance Letter which has some synergy with Reconstruct History since it's an Artifact

Card Draw: There's quite a lot of random card advantage in the format with the best being Eureka Moment followed by Reconstruct History which provides value to the random Campus Guides and Cogwork Archivists you might play. Whatever works really. Practical Research, Pop Quiz, etc

Learn: The best learn cards will keep you alive or progress your gamestate in some way. My favorite are Field Trip, Cram Session, Igneous Inspiration, Academic Dispute, and Hunt for Specimens being good if you're base black. Arcane Subtraction is ok but it's difficult to use well

Lessons: Elemental and Fractal Summoning fill out the curve naturally, while Inkling and Pest Summoning help you stay mana efficient while squeezing them in with other plays. Having lessons act as a toolbox you can select from throughout the course of a game is insanely powerful

Removal: Much of the best removal in this format is red apart from the Fractal removal which is based blue. Top removal cards: Igneous Inspiration, Heated Debate, Shock, Rise of Extus, Aether Helix, Bury in Books, Pigment Storm, Mage's Hunter Onslaught and finally Mage Duel is ok

Value Cards: You want payoffs for once you hit your extra mana/colors. Elemental Masterpiece, Rise Upon Extus, Bookwurm, and even a copy of Teach by Example are all ways to capitalize on mana to keep the party going. The topend stuff needs to be resilient to single target removal

Pay close attention to what your base colors are. Often times it'll be some kind of college pair (Quandrix, Prismari, Witherbloom) but often times you won't be based off a college at all. Often I'm base Gruul or Rakdos. Throw away your common sense when approaching this strategy

If you want examples of what good 5 color drafts look like in Strixhaven check out my Twitch streams/VODs, Tierlists, and YouTube channel. These are all free resources. Good luck!

Twitch: twitch.tv/deathsie
Tierlists: deathsie.com
YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCQlh4…