Are MTG Arena Anthologies Worth It?

After recently unveiling the card list, the launch of Explorer Anthology 1 and Historic Anthology 6 is tantalizingly close. With a mediocre collection of cards that have already inspired wild conspiracy theories, there’s one question on every player’s lips. Are the latest MTG Arena Anthologies Worth it? 

For 4000 gems or 25000 gold, the latest MTG Arena Anthologies certainly don’t come cheap. This price is roughly equivalent to $25 if you need to buy gems for the purchase. Despite this price tag, both Explorer Anthology 1 and Historic Anthology 6 offer incredible value. Both Anthologies feature four copies of 20 cards, saving players from spending 80 Wildcards! There’s no question then that the value is there, but deciding to buy the MTG Arena Anthologies isn’t that simple. After all, will you use all the cards you’re buying? 

Explorer Anthology 1 and Historic Anthology 6 are only available for a limited time, until the 5th of October. This means you don’t have long to decide if you want to commit to this purchase. Thankfully, we’re here to take you through exactly how worthwhile each is. So, without any further ado, let’s assess whether the latest MTG Arena Anthologies are worth it!

Is Explorer Anthology 1 Worth It?

As the first of its kind, Explorer Anthology 1 is undoubtedly the more anticipated of MTG Arena’s Anthologies. This also means that Wizards of the Coast has the pick of the litter when deciding what Pioneer staples to introduce. Explorer Anthology 1 features several exciting and powerful Pioneer cards thanks to this freedom. That doesn’t mean that you should dive straight into purchasing the Anthology without thought, however. 

This hesitation is because it is improbable that any player will be planning to use every card in Explorer Anthology 1. Blue players, for instance, will potentially only want a meager handful of cards from the Anthology. Those cards are Battlewise Hoplite Battlewise Hoplite Heroic — Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then scry 1. (To scry 1, look at the top card of your library, then you may put that card on the bottom.) , Mausoleum Wanderer Mausoleum Wanderer Flying
Whenever another Spirit you control enters, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Sacrifice this creature: Counter target instant or sorcery spell unless its controller pays {X}, where X is this creature's power. , and Supreme Verdict Supreme Verdict This spell can't be countered.
Destroy all creatures. . If a player were looking to craft playsets of these cards using Wildcards, they’d need to spend eight rare Wildcards and four uncommon Wildcards. 

Thanks to the dire state of MTG Arena’s economy, this already makes Explorer Anthology 1 worth it. For the equivalent price of the Anthology, players can purchase between 20 and 25 packs of their choice, depending on their currency. This will earn a player between 3 to 4 rare Wildcards, less than they’d need to craft the above cards. Similarly, black players looking to use Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet Lifelink
If a nontoken creature an opponent controls would die, instead exile that card and create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
{2}{B}, Sacrifice another Vampire or Zombie: Put two +1/+1 counters on Kalitas. are also better off purchasing the Anthology. Mythic Wildcards, after all, are so challenging to obtain that Wizards has had to implement dedicated “Mythic Packs” into Arena. 

While black and blue players are incentivized to buy Explorer Anthology 1, the same is not valid for every color and deck. Boros Feather players, for example, will only really want a pair of cards from this Anthology, Favored Hoplite Favored Hoplite Heroic — Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature and prevent all damage that would be dealt to it this turn. and Titan’s Strength Titan’s Strength Target creature gets +3/+1 until end of turn. Scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.) . As uncommon and common cards players would be much better off buying packs or using their available Wildcards to craft these cards. Similarly, Green players after Elvish Mystic Elvish Mystic {T}: Add {G}. do not need to buy the Anthology, as they’re only after a playset of commons. 

As a result, whether or not Explorer Anthology 1 is worth it entirely depends on what cards you’re after. If you need a playset of any rare cards in the Anthology, you’ll immediately be getting your money’s worth from purchasing it. If you’re just after commons like Elvish Mystic Elvish Mystic {T}: Add {G}. or Temur Battle Rage Temur Battle Rage Target creature gains double strike until end of turn.
Ferocious — That creature also gains trample until end of turn if you control a creature with power 4 or greater. , however, it’d be better to save your money.

Is Historic Anthology 6 Worth It?

Similar to the reasoning behind Explorer Anthology 1’s valuation, Historic Anthology 6 being worth it or not entirely depends upon which cards you might want to play. Looking at it in its entirety, Historic Anthology 6 may look very disappointing due to the entire cycle of bridge Artifact lands. However, there’s still plenty of value to be had. 

As we stated for Explorer Anthology 1, you only need to want a single playset of rare cards from the Anthology to make the purchase worthwhile. This is due to the abysmal state of MTG Arena’s economy, which makes obtaining specific cards via Wildcards incredibly difficult. It’s important to note, however, that most decks rarely use four copies of any one card. For example, Chalice of the Void Chalice of the Void This artifact enters with X charge counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact, counter that spell. is a powerful card in Modern and influential sideboard tech. Despite its power, however, it’s incredibly rare to run four copies of it in a deck.

The same is true for the majority of cards within Historic Anthology 6. Night of Souls’ Betrayal Night of Souls’ Betrayal All creatures get -1/-1. , Glimpse the Unthinkable Glimpse the Unthinkable Target player mills ten cards. , and Phyrexian Metamorph Phyrexian Metamorph ({U/P} can be paid with either {U} or 2 life.)
You may have this creature enter as a copy of any artifact or creature on the battlefield, except it's an artifact in addition to its other types. are all powerful cards. However, it’s unlikely that you’d use four copies of them in any deck. As a result, you may only end up needing to use two or three rare Wildcards to get all the Historic Anthology 6 cards you may actually use. In this situation, purchasing packs to get the Wildcards you’re after would be more cost-effective. Retrofitter Foundry Retrofitter Foundry {3}: Untap this artifact.
{2}, {T}: Create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token.
{1}, {T}, Sacrifice a Servo: Create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying.
{T}, Sacrifice a Thopter: Create a 4/4 colorless Construct artifact creature token. is the only exception to this rule, as we’re expecting it to be very dominant in Historic.

If you’re looking to use any one of Historic Anthology 6’s mythic rarity cards, however, this assessment changes. As we mentioned in our review of Explorer Anthology 1, needing even a single copy of a mythic card from an Anthology makes the entire purchase worthwhile. This is due to the difficulty of obtaining mythic Wildcards on MTG Arena. Curiously, Historic Anthology 6’s mythic cards aren’t typically found in many Tier 1 decks. Despite this, in Historic, they should all be enjoyable to play with, making owning them more worthwhile.

Should You Buy MTG Arena Anthologies? 

Due to the difficulty in obtaining Wildcards in Arena, which you would need to craft the Anthology cards, it’s highly advisable to purchase Explorer Anthology 1 and Historic Anthology 6. That is so long as you want to play Explorer and Historic, at least. So long as you want four or more rare cards, or one mythic card, from either Anthology, it will be worth purchasing.

By purchasing either or both Anthologies, you’ll also get access to many more cards than you need. This may seem excessive initially, but many of the latest MTG Arena Anthologies’ cards should be incredibly fun to play with. Even if you’re not into deckbuilding, there’s also no guarantee which way the meta will turn. After the launch of Dominaria United, it’s entirely possible that Avacyn, Angel of Hope Avacyn, Angel of Hope Flying, vigilance, indestructible
Other permanents you control have indestructible. could utterly dominate Historic. If this is the case, you’d be kicking yourself that you didn’t purchase Historic Anthology 6. 

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