First printed in Secrets of Strixhaven (2026)
Creature — Bird Cleric
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.
"Do you think I've spent a lifetime studying war and learned nothing?"
2/1
- Illustrated by
- Vincent Christiaens
- Watermark
- Lorehold
Legality
- Legal in
- Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Future Standard, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Pauper, Penny Dreadful, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, PreDH
Ruling (1)
- If multiple cards leave your graveyard at the same time, Hardened Academic's last ability will trigger only once.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.03 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 31 Oct 2026).
In Limited on MTG Arena
Win rates in Arena drafts and sealed, retrieved from 17Lands (CC BY 4.0).
| Set | GIH WR | vs set | IWD | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS), Premier Draft | 61.2% | +5.8 | +5.6 | 13821 |
| Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS), Sealed | 63.2% | +7.4 | +8.4 | 1268 |
- GIH WR
- win rate of the games in which the card was in the opening hand or drawn
- vs set
- points above or below the average win rate of all decks in the set
- IWD
- improvement when drawn: GIH WR minus the win rate when the card stayed in the library
- Games
- games in which the card was seen
Combos
65 combos, the most popular first:
- Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature LTB…: Goblin Bombardment + Hardened Academic (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite colorless mana, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashnod's Altar + Hardened Academic (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature LTB…: Hardened Academic + Viscera Seer (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature LTB…: Hardened Academic + Umbral Collar Zealot (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature LTB…: Altar of Dementia + Hardened Academic (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite colored mana, Infinite creature ETB…: Hardened Academic + Phyrexian Altar (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature ETB…: Carrion Feeder + Hardened Academic (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature ETB…: Bartolomé del Presidio + Hardened Academic (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature LTB…: Hardened Academic + Yahenni, Undying Partisan (+ 1 other requirement)
- Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature LTB…: Blasting Station + Hardened Academic (+ 1 other requirement)
