Since its introduction back in 2021, the Alchemy initiative for MTG Arena has courted controversy from players. The idea of digital-only cards that paper players would never get to use was divisive enough. Factor in the complex mechanics and game-breaking interactions, and it’s no surprise Alchemy has been one of the biggest Magic: The Gathering talking points of the past few years.
With the release of Aetherdrift’s Alchemy set, the discourse around the concept has resumed. Players are sick of seeing digital-only cards in the majority of Arena formats, and they’re not happy with how balancing on the cards has been handled either. Even in Limited there’s no escaping these cards, and the associated complaints. If things carry on like this going forward, Wizards may have to make some serious changes to Magic’s premiere digital offering.
MTG Players Are Unhappy With Alchemy
Players’ criticism of the Alchemy cards in MTG Arena really spiked yesterday, in a long-running thread on r/MagicTCG. Crkenthusiast kicked things off with a simple question: “Does anyone else think alchemy cards ruin arena?” They also included a screenshot of an Island that taps for three additional green mana, as a result of popular Alchemy card Vigorous Farming.
Replies to this initial question came thick and fast. In fact, at time of writing, the thread has nearly 700 comments in total, the majority of which are negative. Clearly a lot of Magic: The Gathering players are unhappy with Alchemy right now.
Diving into the comments, there are a number of reasons why that is. Perhaps most prominent among them is the fact that Alchemy cards are non-optional in certain formats. If you want to play either Timeless or Brawl, you’re going to have to accept Alchemy cards being legal in the format. Many simply aren’t on board with this.
“I wish a format like timeless but without the alchemy cards. And the same for brawl, all cards except alchemy cards.”
milhomess
Milhomess wasn’t alone in this opinion. Carmanout added that “Alchemy card are very unbalanced. We need Brawl/Commander without alchemy cards.” GuavaZombie echoed this sentiment, noting that “I quit playing shortly after Alchemy came out. I mostly did Brawl with a bit of Standard and just didn’t care for the Alchemy aspect.”
Comments like these highlight a key point about Alchemy. Players on the whole, while they aren’t a fan of the cards, don’t mind them existing for the subset that enjoy them. What they do have an issue with is Alchemy cards being impossible to avoid.
“To go to the extreme; A simple opt-out of Alchemy option in player settings would go a long way. Since its seems to have divided the community so much.”
Kyrie_Blue
In a way, this is similar to the issue many players have with Universes Beyond. It’s fine as a sideshow, but irritating when it starts creeping onto the main stage.
The Downsides Of Digital
Another big issue players have with Alchemy cards on MTG Arena is the way they’re balanced. Unlike paper cards, where the only real balance options are bans or restrictions, Alchemy cards can be buffed or nerfed. While this sounds like an upside on the surface, in practice it leads to a lot of frustration and confusion.
“My problem isn’t the bespoke alchemy cards, it’s the alchemy nerfs/buffs where the regular printed cards do a different thing than the real ones do for totally arbitrary reasons. Meathook is nerfed but Goldspan Dragon isn’t. Why?”
Awkward-Bathroom-429
There are a number of issues at play here. First of all, the cognitive load involved in dealing with multiple versions of the same card. Alchemy rebalances tend to hit well-known cards that are oppressive in one way or another. As a result, players likely have the shorthand for these cards set up in their head already when the Alchemy version hits. As sfaviator puts it: “I’ve also misplayed due to knowing what the card does irl. I like brawl and it would be great to have it be a format without alchemy.”
The other issue, common to digital card games but relatively new to Magic: The Gathering, is the subjective nature of buffs/nerfs themselves. Often players view these changes as unnecessary, particularly in the context of formats like Timeless.
“This is my biggest gripe as well. Things like Hullbreaker Horror not being uncounterable or The One Ring costing me a mana to activate are infuriating. “
Aggravating_Author52
When these issues stack up, many Arena players feel, on balance, that no changes would be preferable to the buffs/nerfs we currently see. Replying to ZenEngineer asking if they’d prefer cards to simply be banned instead, Aggravating_Author52 said “If the options are banned or “re-balanced” then yes. It would be better still if they just did nothing 9 times out 10.” Nukeliod echoed this point: “Yeah, I think that would be better. The same card not doing the same thing across different formats is poor design and frustrating to play.”
No Escape
As if all of the above wasn’t enough reason for MTG players to dislike Alchemy, it also bleeds into Limited play too. Alchemy Draft sounds like an interesting idea on the surface, but in practice it’s often a frustrating mess due to a myriad of issues.
In an r/MagicArena thread titled “Why do alchemy drafts consistently suck?” Kapplepie asked the question on many players’ minds. The responses laid bare the issues players have with the format. RobertStadler9 put it succinctly: “Wizards puts a lot of work into paper draft formats (for standard sets, anyway). They don’t invest nearly as much in Alchemy.” Elaborating on this point, gwdinosaurs broke things down a little further.
“The Alchemy cards are not only designed for constructed, they are designed to be good in constructed. So you wind up with a format where card quality matters more than synergy because there are more bombs than removal in half the decks.”
gwdinosaurs
Ultimately, the problem here comes down to balance. Draft formats are delicate things, and Wizards spends months fine-tuning them for each new set. Alchemy sets don’t get that same luxury, and as a result tend to be a lot more lopsided than is ideal.
If you want an example of this trend in action, look no further than the current Alchemy Draft stats for Aetherdrift. According to 17Lands stats, the only cards in the A+ bracket for the format, meaning they have the highest associated winrates, are Deviant Skytech and Unforgiving Overtake. Both Alchemy cards, wouldn’t you know it. Great Fang Chroniclers also shows up just below that in A-, giving Alchemy cards an inordinate presence at the top of the metagame.
Of course, players can generally just choose not to engage with Alchemy Drafts to avoid these issues. The same can’t be said of those we discussed earlier, however. It’s clear that right now, Magic: The Gathering’s Alchemy initiative has problems to spare. Hopefully Wizards can address them in the sets to come.