Hey all. It is a big day for Alchemy players, with the release of Alchemy: Edge of Eternities bringing 30 new cards to the format, and we have several rebalances to look over as well.

Today I’ll be going over every card in the set, and discussing which ones I think have a chance to break into the format, either by buffing up an existing deck, or making a new deck all itself!

Then, I will go over the rebalances that were announced just yesterday, and also discuss how those changes will impact existing decks in the format.

So let’s dive right in!

Alchemy: Edge of Eternities

Candela, Aegis of Adagia

Candela, Aegis of Adagia is a cheap spacecraft, and it will play similar to Sunpearl Kirin, flashing in to save a creature from a removal spell, or to replay it for value.

Candela is very different from Sunpearl Kirin and Nurturing Pixie before it, in that it only returns creatures to your hand, not nonland permanents. So it can’t loop with Naktamun Shines Again, or return cards like Nowhere to Run to your hand for extra value.

Sadly I don’t think this card has a home. Orzhov Pixie died with rotation, and this doesn’t do nearly enough to rebuild what was lost. If you do get it all the way stationed up the value will be pretty powerful, but I just don’t think there is any deck that wants this yet.

Squadron Carrier

Squadron Carrier is a pretty sweet engine for dedicated spacecraft decks. Giving all of your spacecrafts a way to make a pilot removes the problem that come with cards like spacecraft, vehicles, and equipment, which is that they all need creatures but don’t (usually) come with the creatures to make those cards work.

Squadron Carrier solves that problem by letting you play a large amount of spacecraft and still have the creatures to station them up.

If you get this to 10+ counters you will likely win the game in one hit thanks to all of your creatures now having flying.

I think the problem with this card is that it is a three drop that doesn’t do anything on turn three. You most likely need to play it on turn four, so you can immediately exhaust it to get your Starfighter Pilot down right away.

There isn’t a dedicated spacecraft deck in Alchemy, but with this card and other spacecraft in the set, it could be worth trying one out.

Stoic Star-Captain

Stoic Star-Captain is a nice piece for decks playing vehicles or spacecraft, helping you turn those cards into creatures much easier.

The exhaust ability to seek a spacecraft is quite powerful, but to make the most of it, I think you need to be playing very few spacecraft so that you are guaranteed to find that vehicles with its activation. Let me go over the two spacecraft I want to seek with this.

The first one is Lumen-Class Frigate, making Stoic Star-Captain a way to find your anthem effect consistently. Even if you already have one Lumen-Class Frigate, a second one isn’t going to hurt.

The second spacecraft is The Seriema which currently sees play in some decks trying to make use of Kona, Rescue Beastie, where The Seriemaserves as extra copies of Kona and giving Kona a way to tap. In this case, Stoic Star-Captain serves as extra copies of The Seriema giving the deck even more ways to eventually find Kona.

I think if the card sees play it will most likely be in that second scenario, as there are just more powerful two drops for aggressive decks that would make use of Lumen-Class Frigate.

Thought Partition

Thought Partition is not white Thoughtseize, but it is pretty close to white Inquisition of Kozilek. Let me explain. The best use cases for this card are going to be when you turn a one, two, or three drop into a five drop, which is why it is similar to Inquisition of Kozilek, which can only hit ones, twos, and threes.

Thought Partition is a powerful sideboard option for aggressive white decks, trying to throw their opponent off curve, or to make cards like Split Up and Pinnacle Starcage too expensive to be effective against them.

Cloudsculpt Armorer

Cloudsculpt Armorer is an interesting card. It has some built in synergy, as the shield counter it grants will seek you a card as soon as it is removed. However, I think it is a bit too expensive and a bit too small to see play in a format like Alchemy.

The best card I could find to pair with this is Spectacle of Destruction, which will lose a counter on your upkeep to seek a card, and then trigger Cloudsculpt Armorer to seek another card.

Overall, I expect this to be more of a brawl card.

Hydroponics Architect

Hydroponics Architect is a strange card. Once it starts attacking, random lands in your deck become islands that draw a card when they enter. The question is, how do you get the value from this card?

The most obvious answers are cards like Fabled Passage, or lander tokens, or other land search cards, since those lands will now be basic islands you should be able to search them with all of those abilities.

I really don’t think this card is worth it though. A 1 power flyer is pretty weak, it doesn’t attack for much or block well, and you have to put in a lot of work just to draw a card or two with this.

Machinist’s Dismissal

Machinist’s Dismissal is powerful in a dedicated artifact deck. I suspect this is a plant for formats like Historic, but if you are a dedicated artifact deck in Alchemy, this is a great sideboard option, as it will usually cost two or one, making it on par with Negate or better.

Network Marauder

Network Marauder is close to being sweet, but I think it is one toughness off. I think the best curves with this card are when you play it on turn two, and then again on turn three, making it a 3/2 and having buffed all of your artifact creatures and spacecraft cards twice.

I just don’t know where you go from there. You want to play big artifacts to trigger this, but you also want cheap artifact creatures that are going to be buffed by this.

Honestly if this does see play it would probably be in the top end of an artifact aggro deck, where you are just playing this as a one or two time anthem. I just wish it had three toughness so it could survive the cheap removal of the format.

Cantor of the Refrain

Cantor of the Refrain is a nice payoff for an aggressive warp deck, giving you recursive threats that can continue to come back again and again. This card is a theme of a couple of other cards in black, and I think that we will have to try to build a black warp deck.

I want to try playing this with a sacrifice outlet, such as Eaten Alive, Gas Guzzler, Umbral Collar Zealot, or Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER so that we are consistently getting these into the graveyard to be brought back.

However, they could just be good enough as attackers that you get back after the opponent blocks them or wraths your board.

Gravitic Herald

Gravitic Herald is probably broken, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

I think the best use of this card is in a deck that only has one permanent card with mana value 3 or less in it, so that Gravitic Herald will always seek that card and let you warp it in for free.

I’m not sure what that card is, but a 2/4 lifelink body is a nice blocker and will keep you alive while you do whatever you are trying to do.

Monoist Gravliner

Monoist Gravliner is an interesting spacecraft. It only asks for 6 charge counters, so you will probably only be using two or three creatures to station it up, but honestly you could go further to give more creatures deathtouch and lifelink.

I think I want to try this card with creatures like Cantor of the Refrain, which will turn those random 2/1s into serious threats. No longer can your opponent put their large creatures in front of your dorks, they will have to trade.

If you are playing a black aggro deck, Monoist Gravliner is a great way to help you stay relevant in the mid to late game after your creatures have lost their oomph.

Song of Point Prime

Song of Point Prime is our first card that conjures a Cantor of the Refrain, and it conjures it directly into your graveyard. This is quite powerful, because you don’t have to pay for it in the future, you get it back for free the next time you warp something.

The card itself is only okay, as generic edict effects are almost never going to get the creature you want to get, but the added value makes it worth it in a dedicated warp aggro deck.

Voidcalled Devotee

Voidcalled Devotee is our other card that conjures Cantor of the Refrain, and this one is sweet. Not only does it have warp itself, letting you play it on turn two and three to get two copies of Cantor of the Refrain into your graveyard, but it is also a 3/3 with haste, giving you a lot of damage on those early turns.

Thanks to warp, it also can get back your copies of Cantor of the Refrain, making it a great way to get back those copies of Cantor of the Refrain itself.

If warp aggro comes together, Voidcalled Devotee is going to be a big part of why it is a force to be reckoned with.

Cosmic Sovereign

Cosmic Sovereign may look like a silly card, and it is a silly card but I think it could actually see play in some sort of Jund Dragons deck

I say Jund because of Territorial Strike which can behold Cosmic Sovereign to grows its power, giving you a five drop on that first attack with it. Obviously the creatures you get will be random, but once you start attacking and getting five, six, or bigger mana value creatures, your opponent is going to have to start chump blocking.

Even in other decks, like a slower mono red deck, this is going to be a must answer threat, that can easily take over the game in two or three attacks. Don’t sleep on this dragon.

Kavaron Consumed

Kavaron Consumed is a very powerful card in powerful formats. In formats like Historic, Timeless, and Brawl, this can easily put something very scary into play, that will win the game with its enters or attacks trigger.

In Alchemy, we have some big options, and this could definately see play in a deck trying to cheat in something like Summon: Bahamut, Summon: Knights of Round, Extinguisher Battleship, or plenty of other big creatures.

I’m not sure what the rest of the deck looks like, but it could be a fun build around.

Mine Security

Mine Security is a really powerful card. A 3/1 Trample for two mana is a great aggresive creature, but it gives you a free Flametongue Kavu into your top eight cards, giving you a piece of removal and importantly another kavu.

I have been loving decks with Possibility Technician as a card advantage engine, although the only other somewhat decent kavu for constructed is Terrapact Intimidator Mine Security gives us another playable kavu that will conjure another free kavu, giving us more and more triggers with Possibility Technician.

I am excited to build mono-red decks, gruul decks, and more with this kavu soldier.

Thendar, the Overminer

Thendar, the Overminer is a weird card. It combos well with cards like Fabled Passage, which will give you an extra Wastes when you crack it, but also allows you to slowly turn your opponents mana base into Wastes as you slowly destroy more and more of their lands.

I like that it triggers itself on your endstep, letting you get to work on color screwing your opponent and making their spells uncastable.

The problem with this card in Alchemy is that there aren’t many other ways to destory lands in the format, so you are just going to have its effect to either ramp with your fetch lands or to slowly color screw your opponent.

I’m not seeing it outside of Brawl, but I would love to be wrong and see some cool deck built around this guy.

Brood Astronomer

Brood Astronomer is one of several cards that can conjure on of the five planet lands into play. Brood Astronomer is pretty great, turning one of your existing lands into a planet, which helps turn on some other cards. It then acts as a mana creature, and later in the game can help you cast big spells.

Honestly this card is just pretty sweet on its own. Even if you just want a mana creature, you are totally fine upgrading one of your lands into a planet, even if you don’t have any reason to station on.

I foresee this seeing play in Kona, Rescue Beastie decks, as this ramps into Kona, and gives you a planet to tap the Kona with after you play it. It could also be a player if the planets package comes together.

Eumidian Lifeseed

Eumidian Lifeseed is an interesting card. I kind of view it similar to cards like Bushwhack, which let you cheat on your land count since this card is for all intents and purposes a land. All of the lands in its spellbook have some sort of activated ability, so it will help activate those lands.

I wouldn’t just play this card to play it, but if you are trying to get artifacts into play or have a lot of lands with activated abilities this card could fit the bill.

Mutable Pupa

Mutable Pupa is going to bait me into trying Mono Green Aggro again isn’t it? Ever set, they print some crazy green creatures, and every set it isn’t enough to make mono green playable again.

Mutable Pupa is a great one drop because it grows throughout the game thanks to evolve. The best curve is pupa on one and then to follow it up with a card like Frenzied Baloth which will grow its power and toughness and give it some keywords right off the bat.

I think the main use for this card is just as a great one drop that grows over the course of the game, and any keywords it picks up along the way are gravy. Although I do think it would be fun to play it alongside cards like Qarsi Revenant to give flying.

Worldweave

Worldweave is a card for Brawl. You could try it in Alchemy, but taking off turn three to play an enchantment that doesn’t do anything that turn, and doesn’t really pay dividends until a couple turns later, might not be worth it.

Ambassador of Evendo

Ambassador of Evendo is similar to Hydroponics Architect discussed above, asking you to have ways to find the lands in your deck that have been turned into card advantage machines. Unlike Hydroponics Architect, the land changed by the ambassador can draw a card every turn, so if you do manage to fetch them out of your deck you are going to be drawing a ton of extra cards.

There is an existing Simic deck in Alchemy, but I don’t think that Ambassador of Evendo fits into that build, so if this was going to see play it would have to be a whole different deck.

My first though is some sort of Temur ramp deck that can search lands out from the deck, letting you ramp to your late game and have enough cards to keep the powerful spells coming.

Axavar, Fate Thief

Heist returns with Axavar, Fate Thief, and this card can get pretty heisty. The cool part of this card is that you can warp it for just one mana, triggering it on turn one to discard a card and heist the opponent on the first turn.

Similar to the wording of Impetuous Lootmonger, you don’t have to discard a card to heist, so if you are empty handed you will be heisting for free.

I really like the warp part of this card but really dislike the full cost version. When you cast it on turn four, it is just a 4/3, and unless some creatures traded in combat you aren’t going to get a heist off of it.

Rakdos also has pretty bad mana right now, so I’m not thrilled with this card, and I honestly don’t see it being a player in the format.

Prototype X-8

Prototype X-8 is cool with a wide variety of cards. First, it is great with creatures that have powerful enters effects, as you will get them twice, or dies effects as you will get them right away. It also works well with warp creatures, as you can warp the creature in, and then it will die and come back and not warp out.

The trick with this card is filling up your graveyard with creatures to discount X-8, and then having enough creatures with powerful enters, dies, etc effects, or warp creatures to make it work. I guess even without those creatures this would still be an 8/8 for two mana, which would be pretty nice.

There isn’t currently a home for this deck, but self-mill is always fun and could surely come together.

Sliver Weftwinder

This is a Brawl card. We don’t have any sliver cards in Alchemy except Thrumming Hivepool, and Sliver Weftwinder is too difficult to cast, and too slow of an engine for the format.

Val, Marooned Surveyor

Val, Marooned Surveyor goes infinite with Trelasarra, Moon Dancer in Historic and Timeless, but in Alchemy I’m not sure she is worth the squeeze. A 2/3 vigilance for two is pretty solid on rate, but you can’t really build a deck around these abilities, so mostly you will be getting just a few pings over the course of a game.

Looks pretty fun in Historic and Brawl though!

Volatile Orbit

Volatile Orbit is another card asking us to play planet lands, and it is both a payoff and an enabler for that deck. If you already have a planet it gets to do four damage to any target, serving as key removal early on or as reach to end the game.

It can then sacrifice to get a planet, turning on future copies of the card, and it even puts eight charge counters on it, meaning that it will only be four away from being on.

I’ll be trying to put together some sort of planets deck, but I’m not sure what that deck looks like yet, but it will definitely have this card and Brood Astronomer discussed above.

Vv’viza, Orbital Overseer

Vv’viza, Orbital Overseer is pretty powerful. A 4/4 flying, vigilance for four mana that ramps you is very solid on curve. This blocks well, and if you attack the turn you play it you are going to get a 2/1 lander to also block with.

Vigilance is great with your planet, because you will be able to attack and then station your planet, and those lander tokens you make are also going to be able to help station your land.

There isn’t currently a deck for Vv’viza, but it is powerful enough that I am going to be looking at some sort of Bant deck to fit it into.

Drix Interlacer

Drix Interlacer is very powerful in Historic, Timeless, and Brawl, but I doubt it has enough support for Alchemy. Even in the games where you get this down on turn one, it is going to take several turns until this is drawing two cards, probably turn four or five, and it is powerful at keeping you going, but I just think this is meant for more powerful formats with a ton of cheap artifacts that can easily make this a draw three or more early in the game.

Spirited Simulacrum

Spirited Simulacrum is a sweet warp design and a sweet call back. There will be games (of Brawl, not Alchemy) where you have time to warp this in, get your land and your nonland, and then cast it again on a later turn for another land and nonland.

This card is too slow for Alchemy, but Brawl players can either play it alongside their Solemn Simulacrum or upgrade their solemn.

Rebalances

Cori-Steel Cutter

No longer gives +1/+1 and trample.

Cori-Steel Cutter returns to Alchemy with a bit shaved off the top. Losing +1/+1 and trample is pretty big, as it makes the tokens much more blockable, but it is still going to be pumping out hasty tokens every turn, so Izzet is going to have to try this one out again.

Fortunately, we do have Seam Rip in the format now, giving us a good cheap removal spell for Cori-Steel Cutter.

Awestruck Cygnet

Changed: Whenever a creature you control with flying enters
To: Whenever another creature you control with flying enters

They described that this change was to specifically nerf the interaction of Awestruck Cygnetwith Mockingbird causing two intensity triggers making it really easy to get to that key third intensity. This is a reasonable nerf that won’t completely kill this card or deck, but just removes the nut draws from happening, which I believe is usually good.

Recruit Instructor

Changed: Whenever one or more mice you control attack
To: Whenever Recruit Instructor attacks

Recruit Instructor got pretty destroyed with this nerf. No longer do you get that almost guaranteed value, your opponent gets a turn to remove it. Of course you could get around this by curve Swiftspear's Teachings into Recruit Instructor to attack right away, but this nerf should slow down the card advantage that this card grants, making mice more reasonable to interact with.

Shellfish Scholar and Thought Rattle

Cost: 1U (was 2U), 2/2 (was 3/2)

Gains: You gain 1 life for each Rat card in your hand.

On to some buffs, we have two buffs for Rat cards, and I think these are some pretty nice changes. I’ve always been a fan of Thought Rattle and gaining some life helps you not feel too bad for taking off your turn two to attack their hand.

Shellfish Scholar costing two mana instead of three is huge. Now it can easily come down first before your other rats to make sure you are filling up your graveyard with copies of Think Twice getting closer to threshold to cash them all in with that ability.

At two mana, it can also be seeked by Naktamun Shines Again, giving me hope that some sort of Esper Rats deck could come together.

Speedbrood Stalker

Gains: Lifelink, 3/4 (was 4/3)

With lifelink and an extra point of toughness, Speedbrood Stalker can easily be a mid game stabilizer for slower decks in the format. Now, it comes down, destroys a creature or two, and then blocks well. I’m not sure what decks will want it, but if you are building something slower in black, consider it for the top of the curve.

Other Rebalances

Other rebalances aren’t targeted toward the Alchemy format, so I haven’t discussed them here.

I would have like to have seen them nerf a couple of other cards, like Fountainport Charmer, Swiftspear's Teachings, and Waystone's Guidance, but todays rebalances give me hope that there will be more in the future.

Wrapping Up

I’ve been having a ton of fun playing Alchemy since the release of Edge of Eternities and Alchemy: Edge of Eternities should make the format even more fun!

Yes there are a couple of popular decks that can be tough to play against like Mobilize, but with a bit of planning and good sideboarding, those decks can be fought against.

The format truly feel wide open, like any type of deck can see play, so I’m looking forward to jumping on to Arena and brewing some decks with these new (and rebalanced) cards!