I don’t think I’m going to surprise anyone by stating that I’m not a big fan of Alchemy cards being injected into an existing Draft format. Nonetheless, I always play a few, check out the new cards, and I assume most others do the same. I often run into the issue of just learning the cards as I seem them pop up, so I figured I’d just do a quick ratings list for anyone in that same boat – welcome aboard!
Just a disclaimer for the uninitiated, these cards are typically extremely powerful in Limited, so don’t be shocked by the ratings!
A-
The whole turning your artifact into a 1/1 Gnome seems more like a pro than con in most scenarios, as there aren’t too many appealing artifact creatures to begin with. Exiling from your graveyard, battlefield, or a newly acquired Gnome, to draw a non-land card every turn seems like a solid upside for playing a Grizzly Bear.
D-
Even if you end up with enough Chorus’ to make a choir, this is a weak, situational effect, not worth starting a chant over.
B
Can’t really go wrong putting this in your deck. Two mana instant removal for large creatures with a bonus for being on the draw, and a failsafe via cycling.
A-
Nothing challenges this in the air early game, and while the tax is optional, it’s hard to pay while you’re getting batted for three each turn.
C
This really depends on the deck. Without Merfolk and/or explore, there’s no reason to play it. If you’ve got a rare or multiple Waterwind Scouts however, this card gets a lot better. You still have to line it up with exploring on the same turn, so it’s a little narrow, but very strong in a dedicated deck.
D
There are plenty of things to do with your mana if you run low on resources, so card draw is a really low priority overall. There are some decks that might want Jace’s Ingenuity, though, so it’s not unplayable.
A
It’s been a while since Thieving Magpie was Standard playable, but it’s still a threat in Limited. I figured this thing would put a bird in hand, but it puts them right on the battlefield. With cards like Tinker’s Tote, or Cartographer’s Companion in the mix, it’s pretty easy to start collecting free Birds (guitar solo).
B
This works well with the myriad of enter the battlefield (ETB) triggers on the artifacts each color has access to: Tithing Blade, Tinker’s Tote, Inverted Iceberg, Idol of the Deep King, etc. The fact that the seek mechanic doesn’t let you choose the card, means you may want to curate your deck a bit. It’s a bit random, but it seems like it can be very powerful, and definitely fun!
A
This seems pretty hard to beat if the game goes late. It also makes all of your other descend cards go crazy simply by existing. I’m not sure how many Chupacabra Echo’s you can cast in a single game, but this guy wants you to hold his beer.
C
If you end up with some rare Vampires (preferably multiple), and ways to enable the requirement, I’m happy to throw this in my deck. With most of the common and uncommon Vampires being fairly weak, it’s not powerful enough to try to build a deck around.
B
This is a pretty sweet design. Even if you don’t get to attack with the Reconsecrator (tips hat to the name), you can still return annoying cards like Deathcap Marionette, Deep-Cavern Bat, or Skullcap Snail.
C
Barter in Blood can be great at times, but given the amount of random tokens running around, this will be a card you likely want to avoid in best of one, and keep in the sideboard for best of three.
D+
I’m not a huge fan of Duress type effects in Limited, outside sideboard games. Also, not seeing the entirety of your opponent’s hand is a big deal, as those cards could be anything, even another hand!
A
Not only does this thing thin your deck of lands, it throws them at the best creature on the battlefield – something that I would like to see in paper. If your opponent manages to break the breaker, you now have a ton of mountains, that you can tap (or not), that part is up to you.
A
A Dinosaur Pirate (complete with hook talon), is the mascot to tie any proper ship together. It has firebreathing, creates treasure, and steals your opponent’s booty (cards from library). Thank goodness it’s legendary, imagine a pack of these pirate-saurs.
C
This one’s a bit unexciting, as the majority of Pirates are cheaper creatures. If you’ve already generated treasure and are casting this, it’s likely a bit too deep in the game where a two-drop is going to make a huge impact.
C+
This is the most efficient Chorus if you’re looking to get intensified. These are fine on their own, but get much stronger if you can get your hands on multiple copies.
D
Eight mana in Limited is a lot. But if I ever get to cast this, I will certainly spam some emotes before I concede.
A
I’ll call this guy 2-Poq (weavarr), since it doubles all of your future lands played. It comes down as a 4/4, and attacks as a 6/6 the following turn. It also copies any land, and Promising Vein can put lands into play during your opponents’ turn, if you’re trying to get B.I.G.
A
This fungus is not a fun guy (at least to play against). Even if you manage to exile the living spore, most decks will have a way to recur the copies from the graveyard, which will create more. A win condition by itself, there’s quite a few other Fungus creatures you can reanimate, like Akawalli, the Seething Tower, or the classic Skullcap Snail after their draw step.
A-
Though this obviously shines in Gruul, about half of the spellbook is Mono-Green, so you should be able to put it into any deck. The spellbook is basically a collection of bombs you’d not like to face in their original sets.
A-
This Dinosaur not only hates flyers and antiquities, he’s also up for stomping (savagely, I might add) any ne’er-do-wells that may oppose.
B+
Instant speed exile that allows your worst creature to become your opponents (former, sorry for your loss) best creature. I’m sure there are some fun interactions that will transpire with this one.
A
In my experience, cards that grow creatures in your hand/library/play for the remainder of the game are very potent in limited. The fact that this thing is already huge for its mana cost and can make itself angry, means that it will likely take over games where it is not immediately addressed.
B+
A 3/1 that comes into play with the option of a bonus land or card drawing enchantment is pretty hard to write off. You have to cast this guy three times to bet the pair of Demons, but it’s obtainable with graveyard recursion and Mischievous Pup.
C+
A weird sorcery removal spell, that wants to pick off smaller creatures. The idea is awesome, but this will likely be a win more type of card, and often worse Rumbling Rockslide.
B-
It doesn’t take too many bodies to make your reanimated creature a game ending threat, and growing all of your graveyards deceased, is actually pretty relevant given the abundant recursion in the set. It’s a bit slow, but it’s a nice finisher I’d like to try out.
B+
Between haste and five toughness, this Gnome is going to do its best to connect, and if you manage to, this card will snowball quickly. If it’s unable to deal damage itself, the passive ability also triggers off of other discover outlets, like Etali’s Favor, Geological Appraiser, etc.
B
Oh boy, this card really gives Simic some much-needed legs. While Simic is among the worst archetypes of the format, if you happen to get a couple of these in a Merfolk shell, you could probably even win a game!
A-
For those unfamiliar with the double team mechanic, you can read it here. This plays well with the abundant ETB artifacts like Jade Seedstones, or Lodestone Needle.
And that wraps things up! Hopefully this will help you with some initial assessments for Alchemy: Ixalan. If you didn’t read any of this, just pick all the Alchemy cards you see and you’ll be fine!
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!