Hardened Academic

set	min	mtgo
-	₱ 0.00	0.59 tix

Spoilers Random card

Name	Hardened Academic
Type	Creature — bird cleric
Description	Flying, haste Discard a card: This creature gains lifelink until end of turn. Whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
Flavor	"Do you think I've spent a lifetime studying war and learned nothing?"
Artist	Vincent Christiaens
Set	Secrets of Strixhaven Promos #194p
Wallpaper	download
Image	download

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About Hardened Academic

Hardened Academic, Creature — bird cleric, designed by Vincent Christiaens first released in Mar, 2026 in the set Secrets of Strixhaven and was printed exactly in 3 different ways. It see play in 1 formats: Commander.

Hardened Academic (R W) would fit best in a Boros (red‑white) graveyard‑centric aggro or midrange deck that can reliably move cards out of its graveyard—through escape, flashback, reanimation, exile‑for‑value effects, or delve‑style mechanics—so it can consistently trigger the +1/+1 counter ability while pressuring opponents with a hasty, evasive threat that can gain lifelink in races. It particularly benefits from synergy with self‑discard, rummaging, or looting effects that both fuel the graveyard and enable its lifelink activation, making it strongest in a synergy‑driven build rather than generic aggro. However, in competitive formats, Boros decks often favor more immediately impactful or resilient two‑drops (such as Adeline, Resplendent Cathar in go‑wide shells or Inti, Seneschal of the Sun in discard‑synergy builds), and graveyard payoffs like Ledger Shredder or Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger (in other color pairs) may offer stronger standalone value. Because Hardened Academic req