Now that Alchemy: Reality Fracture has been fully revealed, we’re truly at the end of an era. In around four months, the Alchemy format will be removed from Arena entirely, leaving nothing in its place. While the existing Alchemy cards will still live on in Historic and Timeless, not getting any new ones felt like a step backward.
That being said, it seems that digital-exclusive cards on MTG Arena might not be done for after all. In a new comment on Discord, Ian Adams, the design manager for Arena, has teased that digital cards could return if requested. Following this, MTG players have been sharing their thoughts across social media, although opinions are rather divided.
Not Dead After All?
“No digital cards on any roadmaps we’re discussing right now, but I’ve definitely been sharing the feedback that people miss them.”
Iam Adams (WotC_Ian) | Via: Discord/Reddit
Considering the death of Alchemy was only officially announced last month, talking about bringing it back already may seem baffling. It’s definitely not something I thought ever possible, as limited development resources felt like the unspoken reason for killing it. Clearly, however, that isn’t entirely the case, as Ian Adams is already speaking to their potential return.
Admittedly, while Alchemy cards could come back, the italics there are doing a lot of heavy lifting. In his comments on Discord, there are no digital cards on any roadmaps being discussed right now. Instead, it seems that the future of digital cards is in the hands of players’ opinions being shared with Wizards.
While Adams notes he’s been sharing feedback from players, the jury is definitely still out. To try and tip the scales in Alchemy’s favor, however, many players were quick to share the want more for cards in the future. Both on Reddit and on Discord, many highlighted how interesting Alchemy cards were, while noting how their death is disappointing.
Unfortunately for Alchemy fans, it doesn’t help that Alchemy: Reality Fracture is going out on such a high. Of course it’s nice that the final sendoff is exciting, but not getting any more cards after these fantastic designs is a little disheartening. Still, if these are the cards that Wizards can make for Alchemy, the thought of future cards specifically for Brawl and Historic is a lot more exciting.
Always Against Alchemy
As much as some MTG players, like myself, enjoy the digital-exclusive cards on MTG Arena, they’re hardly universally beloved. Not only have past cards proven broken, causing chaos across multiple formats, but there are consistent complaints about Alchemy stealing cards. No matter how many times it’s disproved through reminders that the Arena team works independently, these complaints are remarkably consistent.
Most recently, some MTG players were upset that Alchemy: Reality Fracture cards like Dina, Flesh Sower weren’t part of the main set. In theory, it feels like these cards were left on the cutting room floor, as they’re seemingly important enough to warrant inclusion. While this is already frustrating, it can feel even worse when the Alchemy cards get genuinely interesting, almost paper-playable mechanics.
In reality, these new Alchemy cards wouldn’t exist without the Arena team, so Alchemy is never stealing anything. Even this, however, doesn’t stop complaints about Alchemy pinching card names from hypothetical future paper cards. On top of these frustrations, it doesn’t help that some Alchemy cards are especially powerful, making being blown out by them feel extra demoralizing.
While these factors have created plenty of Alchemy haters, it’s not just an ouroboros of frustration. Instead, as players pointed out on Reddit, the lack of Alchemy cards could free up development resources elsewhere. Ideally, this will allow Wizards to add more old cards to the platform, or potentially even entire Commander precons.
A Long Wait Ahead
Sadly, while these non-Alchemy additions have been long requested, there’s no guarantee they’ll materialize. The same is also true for any new designed-for-digital cards, since nothing is planned right now. Given how long Wizards tends to work in advance, too, we might be waiting a long, long time for anything to appear.
Thankfully, even if nothing is planned right now, it does sound like there’s some reason to be optimistic. Hopefully, Alchemy’s demise freeing up development resources will allow for bigger and better things, and there’s no shortage of things to work on. Not only could older and uncraftable cards be properly added to the client, but we’re still waiting on four-player multiplayer, too.
Ultimately, since Wizards of the Coast rarely lifts the veil of the development curtain, waiting is all we can really do right now. In the meantime, we can at least enjoy Alchemy: Reality Fracture now that it has been released on MTG Arena. After that, however, we may be waiting a long while for any more digital exclusive delights.
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