Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has released their weekly MTG Arena update that includes details on Alchemy rebalancing, upcoming events, and more.
Alchemy And Historic Card Rebalancing
A new slate of rebalances are coming to Alchemy today on MTG Arena, impacting seventeen cards. All but two of the rebalances are buffs, and the majority of the changes aim to make Dimir Zombies a semi-competitive archetype in the format. Up first, however, is the biggest shocker of all the changes that targets Historic.
Fires of Invention is coming off the banned list for Historic! While this change won’t impact Alchemy, it will seemingly make waves in Historic despite its mana cost increasing by one. Even at an extra mana, this powerful enchantment is sure to spawn its own archetype.
Next up is the lone Alchemy nerf as Town-Razer Tyrant gets tuned down once again.
This four-mana Dragon has been terrorizing Alchemy since its inception, but it’s taking another nerf following its ability changing to only be able to target nonbasic lands. On top of not being able to tag basic lands, the timing for when the player chooses to take damage or sacrifice the lands is shifting toward the beginning of the end step instead of the upkeep, allowing the player to use the land in their main phases before ditching it or taking two damage.
The next eight rebalanced cards are all Zombies as the Alchemy team looks to make the tribal strategy playable.
Multiple lords are getting buffed as Narfi, Betrayer King costs four instead of five now and Death-Priest of Myrkul is a 3/3 over a 2/2 with a cheaper activated ability. Most of the other Zombies cost a mana less than before, while Sepulcher Ghoul gained a point of toughness and Cobbled Lancer’s activated ability was decreased by a colorless mana.
The rest of the rebalances don’t really have a theme, but strengthen cards that aren’t seeing play in the format.
Alrund, God of the Cosmos gets buffs to both sides, with his ability looking at an additional card while Hakka moves to a 3/3 over a 2/3.
Cosmos Charger has its mana cost and foretell cost reduced by a colorless mana.
Gitrog, Horror of Zhava got a slight buff by making its sacrifice ability not allow tokens to be sacrificed.
Tibalt, Wicked Tormentor has a minor buff with his second +1 ability going up to four damage instead of three.
Tireless Angler now triggers with Swamps along with Islands.
Sinister Reflection has its mana cost switched to 1U instead of UU to make it easier to cast in decks that aren’t mono-blue or heavy blue.
Lastly, Vega, the Watcher now has ward 2 to make it harder to interact with early in the game.
The rebalances will go live today with the MTG Arena client update. More details about the Alchemy changes can be found here.
Arena Open This Weekend
The next Arena Open starts Saturday and the formats will be Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Sealed and Draft. As usual, players can opt for Best-of-One or Best-of-Three on Day 1 with unlimited entries. Day 2 will feature Best-of-Three draft with a top prize of $2,500. The entry fee for either Day 1 option is 25,000 gold or 5,000 gems and includes the Phyrexian card style for Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant.
Players choosing Best-of-One will need seven wins before three losses to qualify for Day 2. Best-of-Three players will need four wins before a single match loss to reach the second day of competition. Day 1 begins at 6 AM PT/9 AM ET on February 26 with the signup period ending at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET on February 27. Day ends at 6 AM PT/9 AM ET on February 27. The prizes for Day 1 can be seen below:
Day 1 Prize Structure
| Best-of-One | Best-of-Three |
|---|---|
| 7 wins: Make Day 2 | 4 wins: Make Day 2 |
| 6 wins: 2,500 gems | 3 wins: 5,000 gems |
| 5 wins: 1,000 gems | 2 wins: 3,000 gems |
| 0-4 wins: no rewards | 1 win: 1,000 gems |
| 0 wins: no rewards | |
Players making Day 2 need to register between 6-8 AM PT/9-11 AM ET on February 27. Day 2 ends at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET on February 27. Players only get one entry to Day 2 and play their matches after a draft, needing eight wins before two losses to take home the max prize. The prizes for Day 2 can be seen below:
Day 2 Prize Structure
| Wins | Rewards |
|---|---|
| 8 wins | $2,500, Invitation to March 26-27 Qualifier Weekend |
| 7 wins | $2,000, Invitation to March 26-27 Qualifier Weekend |
| 6 wins | $1,000 |
| 5 wins | 25,000 gems |
| 4 wins | 10,000 gems |
| 3 wins | 7,500 gems |
| 0-2 wins | 5,000 gems |
Prizes for seven and eight wins now also include an invitation to the March 26-27 Qualifier Weekend on MTG Arena. Full details on the upcoming Arena Open can be found here. Another Arena Open is set for April 16-17 and will be Historic.
Neon Arcade Event Set For March
The Neon Arcade event is scheduled for March 4-18 and will feature Alchemy Singleton with a twist. Players will share a High Score emblem that reads, “Whenever you cast a spell, if its mana value is greater than the number of charge counters on High Score Emblem, put a number of charge counters on High Score Emblem equal to the difference and create a Treasure token. This ability triggers only once each turn.”
Entry fee for the event is 2,000 gold or 400 gems and awards gold and Soft Glow card styles. Each run lasts until you reach four wins or two losses. The prizes can be seen below:
| Wins | Rewards |
|---|---|
| 4 wins | 2,500 gold, 3 card styles |
| 3 wins | 1,500 gold, 3 card styles |
| 2 wins | 1,000 gold, 2 card styles |
| 1 win | 500 gold, 2 card styles |
| 0 wins | 1 card style |
Soft Glow card styles available in the event include:
- Blade of the Oni
- Cloudsteel Kirin
- Eater of Virtue
- Explosive Singularity
- Greasefang, Okiba Boss
- Kodama of the West Tree
- Lion Sash
- Lizard Blades
- Mechtitan Core
- Mindlink Mech
- Mirror Box
- Mukotai Soulripper
- Ogre-Head Helm
- Reckoner Bankbuster
- Soul Transfer
- Surgehacker Mech
- Tameshi, Reality Architect
- Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh
- The Reality Chip
- Thundering Raiju
Alchemy: Try The Latest Changes! Event Returns
Players can get back in the Alchemy: Try The Latest Changes! event queues today and earn prizes like Individual Card Rewards (ICRs) and XP. The event is free to enter and runs through Saturday. Bring your latest Alchemy deck and walk away with two rare ICRs from Alchemy: Innistrad and 1,000 XP.
Event Schedule
Midweek Magic
- February 22-24: Blast from the Past
- March 3-5: Alchemy All Access
- March 8-10: Omniscience
- March 15-17: Standard Shakeup
- March 22-24: What Was Written
Quick Draft
- February 11-25:: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
- February 25-March 11:: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- March 11-25: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
- March 25- April 8: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- April 8-22: Zendikar Rising
Other Events
- February 10-March 4: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Sealed
- February 26-27: Limited Arena Open
- March 4-18: Neon Arcade
- March 18-25: The Unbroken Blade
- April 16-17: Historic Arena Open
Read the original article from WotC.