To put it lightly, Alchemy is not the most beloved MTG format. In fact, it seems the MTG Arena-exclusive format and the cards it creates can’t ever get things right. When cool new cards appear, paper players lament how they’re not available as real cards. Alternatively, when the MTG Arena developers push things a little too far, players are quick to slam its experimental nature.
Between cards that Conjure the Power Nine into existence and those that break color identity rules, it’s very easy to find over-the-top cards. This is exactly what’s happened to Key to the Archive, recently, which has found itself in some hot water. Thanks to the Conjure mechanic, this card seems to flagrantly break color identity rules, but it’s hardly the only offender.
MTG Key to the Archive
Released as part of the original Alchemy: Innistrad set, Key to the Archive is almost five years old at this point. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that some MTG players were recently taken aback by its surprising ability. Not only is this card a fairly decent mana rock in Brawl, but it also has one hell of a Spellbook to draft from.
When Key to the Archive enters on MTG Arena, you’re presented with three out of its 15 Spellbook cards. Spread across all five of Magic’s colors, there are some seriously strong cards here, like Demonic Tutor and Lightning Bolt. Thankfully, not every card in the entire Spellbook is that strong, but it’s still one hell of a mana rock.
Realistically, with three random cards to pick between, the chances of Key to the Archive hitting something good are quite high. Notably, since Key to the Archive is a colorless artifact itself, there’s no limit on where it can be played.
Since Key to the Archive can be run in colorless Brawl decks, it’s easy to argue that it breaks color identity rules. After all, a Brawl Commander like Ugin, Eye of Storm can, somewhat easily, cast a Time Warp. If you’re not paying attention, calling this unexpected would be an understatement, but, admittedly, it’s hardly that unique.
Fundamental Format Features
Realistically, while it does seem that Key to the Archive flagrantly disregards color identity rules, this isn’t a new problem. After all, this card was in the very first Alchemy set, and an off-color Spellbook was hardly a one-and-done experiment. Most recently, Thoughtsteal Sprites also featured an off-color Spellbook, as did Dragonweave Tapestry.
Even if Key to the Archive isn’t a failed early Alchemy experiment, it’s undeniably a weird design space. On paper, Wizards is very careful about the sanctity of color identity rules, as the recent Prepared mechanic demonstrates. In Secrets of Strixahven, every single Prepared spell matches the color of the creatures it’s attached to.
Before this, we’ve also seen how Adventures and Omens add to a card’s color identity, through color pips, which Conjuring and Spellbook cards lack. On paper, this prevents wildly off-color plays; however, that’s clearly not a massive concern on MTG Arena. Due to this, it seems that there’s a clear and fundamental difference in the design space of Brawl and Commander, thanks to Alchemy.
Admittedly, it’s worth remembering that Brawl and Commander are literally different formats. Ugin, Eye of Storm being a legal Commander in Brawl is evidence enough of that. After all, planeswalkers are still restricted to the 99 of decks in Commander, despite discussions about a rules change.
If anything, this stark difference in how Spellbooks and Conjure mechanics are used is likely one of many factors that’ll keep them out of paper. While Wizards has been pushing boundaries recently, such as with Prepared spells, Alchemy is still on a different level. As Wizards continues to innovate, however, it may not be long before that changes.
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