Since its release in December 2021, the Alchemy format has been highly controversial. Featuring groundbreaking new mechanics that weren’t possible on paper, players were immediately wary of this new venture. The fact that it was later accused of stealing cards, not to mention causing problems, only added fuel to the fire.
Thankfully for anyone who has remained a steadfast Alchemy hater over the years, there’s good news on the horizon. According to a new article from the Italian website Metropolitan Magazine, Alchemy is being sunset soon. From the looks of things, this will be happening a lot sooner than later, too.
Alchemy Is Dead?!
“During the presentation, Wizards of the Coast announced a major shift for the digital landscape of MTG Arena, confirming the gradual closure of the Alchemy format.”
Via: metropolitanmagazine.it
In their article, Metropolitan Magazine states that after Reality Fracture is launched digitally on September 29th, the MTG Arena development team will shift its focus. Notably, since it was discovered by MTG players on Reddit, this copy has been removed from the live article. Not only do players have screenshots, but the Wayback Machine has already preserved the site’s old copy.
Unfortunately, even before the copy was removed, it didn’t give many specifics about what’s happening. Due to this, and the translation as well, some MTG players are left questioning what this means for Alchemy. As GrizzlyBearSmackdown put on Reddit: “I wonder if this means they’re getting rid of the format entirely on the client, or if it just means we’re no longer getting the Alchemy-specific sets.”
Even with only a handful of details to go off of, MTG players on Reddit are already celebrating the death of the format. Many players were quick to note that Alchemy has never been that popular, not to mention the problems its cards caused across digital formats. While the nerfs and reworks definitely weren’t perfect, Alchemy is far from the least popular MTG format.
The last time that Wizards peeled back the curtain on MTG Arena playrates, Explorer (now Pioneer) and Timeless were played less than Alchemy. With this in mind, sunsetting the format seems like a wild move, even if its new cards did take up some development resources. Personally, as an Alchemy fan, I’d say these cards were a good thing, especially since some are interesting enough to come to paper in Mystery Booster sets.
More Info Coming Soon?
Sadly, right now, there’s really not much to go off with this announcement. Notably, Wizards of the Coast hasn’t said anything officially so far, so this could be a leak or fake entirely. Whether either is true remains to be seen, so we’ll have to wait until Reality Fracture’s release to find out.
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