While it has now become a traditional part of in-set releases, there isn’t much love for MTG’s digital-only cards. In many ways, it seems the format can never get anything right. If it creates cool, new, interesting cards, paper players lament not getting them, too. Should Alchemy lean into its digital possibilities, however, then there’s often kickback about that, too.
Most recently, MTG players are up in arms thanks to Alchemy: Secrets of Strixhaven seemingly stealing a card name. By supposedly spoiling a long-running card naming trend, it’s easy to see why players are upset, however, things arguably aren’t that simple.
MTG The Mystical Archive
Stealing the namesake for Magic’s most impactful Bonus Sheet ever, it’s no wonder that paper players are up in arms about The Mystical Archive. If that weren’t bad enough, this land might be an all-timer, too. Capable of creating copies of cards like Force of Will, Armageddon, and Berserk, this land could easily impact every MTG format it touches. While you aren’t guaranteed to hit a homerun, with the 25 cards on the sheet, you’ll generally get something that has a meaningful impact on the game.
Considering that this effect is on land, The Mystical Archive has a chance of seeing play in one or two-colored Alchemy, Brawl, and slower Historic decks. With how prominent this card could become on MTG Arena, the card name’s absence from paper play could feel even worse.
While many MTG players are extremely unhappy with The Mystical Archive, the flavor this card offers is undeniably on point. Literally allowing players to peruse the Archives to choose a spell from it, the digital-only Drafting mechanic feels like the perfect way to represent this card. That said, as some MTG players point out, paper Magic can do this, too, as demonstrated by Garth, One-Eye.
Considering all this, it’s no wonder that paper MTG players feel like The Mystical Archive’s name was stolen from them. This is hardly the first time that paper players have felt this way, as Phyrexian Harvester‘s design space caused a similar uproar. Initially upset that part of the Phyrexian Obliterator cycle seemed to have been stolen from paper, the controversy ultimately revealed that this wasn’t the case. As revealed by MTG designer Gavin Verhey, Alchemy’s design team works completely separately from the paper one. Because of this, if it weren’t for Alchemy, The Mystical Archive simply wouldn’t exist.
While this means that “The Mystical Archive” being stolen from paper MTG is a complete misnomer, the name’s absence from the main set still feels like a missed opportunity. Great Hall of the Biblioplex, in particular, would have been a cool place to use this card name. Swinging for lethal with The Mystical Archive could have created some really cool Limited and Constructed moments that players wouldn’t soon forget.
More Powerful Digital Cards
While not quite as noteworthy as a card that’s stealing the name of a bonus sheet, there are a few other MTG Alchemy spoilers that look to make an impact, too. Thanks to Conjuring copies of a banned Modern card, Corpseweaver Prodigy could make some waves in multiple digital MTG formats. So long as you’ve gained life during your turn, you’ll get a copy of Bridge From Below in your graveyard, setting up massive combo potential. Alongside Balutrade Spy, Corpseweaver Prodigy could easily create game-ending boards while shutting your opponent’s graveyard shenanigans off.
Thanks to its landfall trigger, many MTG Arena players are also excited about Advanced Floral Invocations. With the potential to go nuts alongside Commanders like Teval, the Balanced Scale, this enchantment can turbocharge any self-milling game plan, before turning into a win condition. Thanks to this, the card should appear in all kinds of different Brawl decks.
Giving X-spell matters decks a meaningful support piece, Scalar Scholar looks like an exciting Brawl card. On top of creating some massive cost reductions with Blink effects, Increment can turn this Scholar into a meaningful beater. Sadly, despite its potential, this card remains too slow for Historic, likely relegating it to Brawl only.
Last, but certainly not least, Distracted Botanist looks like it could genuinely become a problem. Between powerful enchantments like Underworld Breach and Cthonian Nightmare, this creature could easily refill your hand in a focused strategy. Combine that with Sheoldred the Apocalypse and Necrodominance, with Culling the Weak to kill it, and this card has every chance to impact Historic.
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