There’s a lot to love about MTG Arena. The very fact that it lets you easily play MTG games from home is a godsend, for instance. On top of this, the client even has its own formats, such as Alchemy, Brawl, Historic, and Timeless. As is true of all MTG formats, each of these has its own strengths and weaknesses, Alchemy more than most.
Since its debut, Alchemy hasn’t exactly been beloved in MTG, but it’s nonetheless full of potential. The fact that it can rebalance cards, rather than outright banning them, is a hugely exciting prospect. Wizards can even buff underwhelming archetypes to ensure the format is as balanced as possible.
In the pursuit of this goal, Wizards of the Coast has recently rebalanced seven cards in Alchemy. While this isn’t the largest number of changes we’ve ever seen, the new nerfs have the potential to be seriously impactful. For better or worse, these rebalances will also affect Brawl, Historic, and Timeless.
Golden Sidekick
The first card nerfed is one of the staples of the Alchemy Bats deck which blends life-gain elements with some of the format’s most popular fliers. Between Zoraline, Cosmos Caller, Deep-Cavern Bat, and Case of the Uneaten Feast, it’s quite easy to gain small chunks of life. Your creatures all have evasion too, making them rather difficult to block.
The one saving grace is that your threats are all relatively small, but Golden Sidekick can completely change that dynamic. Even ignoring other life-gain synergies, a single attack with Golden Sidekick ensures that one of your follow-up creatures will have at least a perpetual +2/+2 bonus.
This brings us to the nerf. Moving forward, Golden Sidekick is a 1/3 instead of a 2/2, so it’s less threatening as an attacker. Funnily enough, though, the toughness boost makes it harder for red decks to kill. Zoraline, Case of the Uneaten Feast, and other attackers with lifelink still make Golden Sidekick a real threat, so it’s a bit surprising the nerf didn’t just reduce its power only.
Impetuous Lootmonger
Next up, we have a powerhouse that was well deserving of a nerf. Impetuous Lootmonger is one of a handful of cards that make the Heist decks tick in Alchemy.
For many players, Heist is one of the most frustrating mechanics out there. For those unfamiliar, whenever you heist an opponent’s library, you are given a choice between three random nonland cards in the opponent’s deck. That selection gets exiled, and you may cast it at any point for the rest of the game.
This card selection means that even though you’re stealing cards at random from the opponent, chances are, you’ll have something solid to play. On top of that, cards like Impetuous Lootmonger and Triumphant Getaway reward you for playing the cards you heisted.
Impetuous Lootmonger in particular can be annoying, because it allows you to chain Heisted cards together. This snowballing effect is clearly what Wizards is trying to prevent with the card’s nerf.
The Treasures it creates now enter tapped. This makes it harder to cast multiple spells in the same turn. Lines of play such as casting a Heisted card, creating a Treasure, and leaving up the mana to cast Ribald Shanty are off the table. This change isn’t huge but makes it easier for aggro decks to compete.
Buxton, Decorated Host
Buxton, Decorated Host is the last of the Alchemy cards to receive a major nerf. In this case, the Convoke creature now costs an extra green mana to cast.
At five mana, this card was a bit egregious. The Alchemy Rabbits deck was capable of starts involving a one-drop on turn one, a two-drop on turn two, and then Hop to It followed by Buxton on turn three. In that scenario, you’d have a huge board already, and Buxton would immediately get to start adding to it.
By making Buxton cost more mana, some of the explosiveness of the Rabbits deck is removed. The added mana cost being green specifically when Hop to It creates only white creatures can make it a bit tougher to cast on curve, as well. Buxton still has potential, but this is a bigger blow to the Rabbits deck than you might expect.
Ethrimik, Imagined Fiend
Now, we’re starting to get into a group of cards that have actually gotten better with the recent rebalances. Ethrimik, Imagined Fiend is a weird card that buffs your other creatures but can’t attack or block if you have other creatures in play.
By itself, the anthem effect has proved to be not worth the mana investment of the creature. The Manifest Dread aspect is nice, but you only got that bonus if you controlled no other creatures. In that case, the anthem effect didn’t gain you a big edge.
Now, the card at least gives you that bit of value regardless of whether you control other creatures or not. This means that even if Ethrimik gets killed, you still get something for your efforts. It’s still unclear if Ethrimik will find a home, but it stands a better chance now.
Wingbright Thief
Our next two cards got a significant boost to their mana cost. For Wingbright Thief, the difference between three mana and two mana is huge and well worth the point of toughness lost.
As a two-drop, you’re able to name a card a whole turn earlier. This means that Wingbright Thief can come down prior to a Zoraline or Hop to It even when you’re on the draw. Then, you’ll get your life gain and card out of the deal without falling too far behind. For a 2/2 flier, this isn’t bad.
Still, Wingbright Thief doesn’t make it any harder for the opponent to actually cast the card they want to, which is a big difference when compared to effects like Anointed Peacekeeper. We’ll have to wait and see if the card makes an impact moving forward, but I’m skeptical despite the big change.
Chittering Illuminator
Chittering Illuminator, on the other hand, seems like it could be strong enough to see play with the cost reduction. At two mana, you can get a decent advantage if Chittering Illuminator lives, and you happen to have some creatures on top of your library.
On the flip side, even if it gets killed, you didn’t invest much mana into it, so you aren’t as far behind on the exchange. You even have the upside of getting to cast this from the top of your deck when applicable. In a deck filled with creatures, Chittering Illuminator seems like a perfectly fine inclusion now.
Dazzling Flameweaver
Lastly, Dazzling Flameweaver still costs the same amount of mana, and it’s not cheap. In an assertive Rakdos shell, however, Dazzling Flameweaver gives you a cool way to generate value.
Previously, if you played Dazzling Flameweaver on turn four, even if you could connect in combat that same turn, you wouldn’t be able to cast the card you conjured. Now, you get an extra turn to do so.
What’s nice about this change is that if the opponent untaps and kills Dazzling Flameweaver, not only do they have to pay three life, but you still generated value by getting to untap and cast the Conjured card.
Four mana is a lot for this effect, so it’s possible Dazzling Flameweaver isn’t good enough. Regardless, it’s cool to see these cards that never got time in the spotlight at least be given a better chance of seeing play.
