There’s little doubt about the fact that Alchemy is the most controversial format in Magic: The Gathering. Despite offering exciting card designs for the digital space, many MTG players aren’t happy about the digital exclusivity of these cards. For many cards, this exclusivity is necessary as replicating Conjure or Seek in paper Magic is a very difficult feat.
Despite this, some Alchemy cards could work on paper. 16 of the cards designed for Alchemy, in fact, work on paper with absolutely no changes or adjustments. Despite this, those cards remain digital-only. That, however, may be about to change. Thanks to a comment from MTG designer Mark Rosewater, we now know that Alchemy cards getting paper reprints is a possibility.
Alchemy Comes to Paper?
Technically, Alchemy cards have already come to paper, however, they’re not properly playable. Oracle of the Alpha, Rusko, Clockmaker, and some other Alchemy cards appeared in Mystery Booster 2 as Acorn cards. Despite not being playable in sanctioned Magic, these cards are very expensive because, largely due to their rarity.
Now, however, we finally have confirmation that tournament-legal Alchemy reprints in paper are a possibility. This comes from Mark Rosewater’s Blogatog. Responding to a question regarding whether reprinting Alchemy cards in paper is even a possibility, Rosewater stated that “reprinting Alchemy cards that work in paper is in bounds.”
There are a few things that this could mean. Potentially, the Conjure cards, which debuted in Mystery Booster 2, could work in paper Magic with a few tweaks. Alternatively, Rosewater might just be talking about the existing Alchemy cards that don’t require any tweaks to become paper playable. Personally, we think the latter is more likely, given Rosewater doesn’t go into specifics here.
Even with this caveat in mind, it’s still worth taking this announcement with a grain of salt. Rosewater simply said that these reprints are ‘in bounds.’ For now, there’s no actual guarantee these reprints are going to happen. Despite that, many MTG players have been hugely excited by this possibility, since Alchemy does house some incredibly interesting designs.
16 Paper Printable MTG Alchemy Cards
These are the 16 MTG Alchemy cards that work in paper with no tweaks or rules changes:
- Tsargan, Raider Warlord
- Bail Out
- Welcome the Darkness
- Dedicated Dollmaker
- First Little Pig
- Ominous Lockbox
- Wish Good Luck
- Deviant Skytech
- Eager Flameguide
- Reflection Net
- Sala, Deck Boss
- Thunderbond Vanguard
- Ethrimik, Imagined Fiend
- Tempest Trapper
- Speedbrood Stalker
- Goblin Crash Pilot
Honestly, a lot of these cards aren’t very interesting. That said, there are a few cards that, depending on what legality they have, could create some waves. Dedicated Dollmaker is probably the most exciting of the bunch. This card is infamous for creating an infinite combo with Three Blind Mice, but it synergizes incredibly well with any card that has a powerful enters ability. Using Dedicated Dollmaker to copy something like Overlord of the Balemurk, for example, is a really scary application. Even moreso for the Evoke elementals like Solitude and Grief. If the card becomes Modern legal, it will likely make an appearance in Orzhov Ketramose.
Besides its potential use in Death’s Shadow decks, Welcome the Darkness is an incredibly powerful card to cast with a higher X value. This could, essentially, gain life, draw a bunch of cards, and create a body, which is an insane amount of value. Welcome the Darkness is even an instant, which lets you hold up other interaction instead of committing to this card. Honestly, if the card weren’t an instant, it wouldn’t be any good.
Wish Good Luck could see some fringe play in decks with deckbuilding constraints that prevent creatures. Indomitable Creativity, for example, could get some mileage out of this. It depends on how good the tapped Treasure token ends up being. This seems more like a Pioneer card, if anything.
The rest of the 16 cards probably won’t make the cut in any two-player formats, but they could strengthen some rather niche Commander themes. Sala, Deck Boss and Loot, the Pathfinder have a field day with this copy effect, which has the potential of creating infinite combos. Copying the mana effect, in particular, opens a lot of paths for Loot.
Bail Out is an interesting card in Commander thanks to the number of board wipes that exist. The card can play double-duty in Aristocrat decks. Cards like Heroic Intervention see play in Commander all the time. This may be a bit more expensive, but the added utility could make this card a strong pick in certain strategies.
Tempest Trapper is an incredibly fun card in a spellslinger Commander deck. Tutoring a card at random from your deck is incredibly silly, but could cause issues in competitive play when randomness needs to be created faithfully. Fortunately, this is very unlikely to ever be competitively relevant.
Did You Get What You Wished For?
If anything, this demonstrates that, for the most part, printing Alchemy cards in paper Magic might not be as exciting as players expected. Since the majority of Alchemy cards won’t work on paper without changes, we’re left with a rather small bunch of viable reprints.
Despite this, Alchemy releases may be a bit more exciting than usual going forward. Since any truly paper-playable cards are now potential reprints, there’s good reason to watch the format’s developments.