Hey all, Strickles here. Last week we saw a big update to the Alchemy format, where several cards were nerfed (made weaker) or buffed (made stronger) and one card was banned. Then, Foundations was released, meaning that Alchemy is a very fresh format right now.

The banning and nerfing of certain cards really knocked the top deck in both Bo1 and Bo3 down to more reasonable levels, and the format is kind of a playground right now of fun strategies to try, with no overbearing or overpowered player holding it down.

Today, I’ll go over each card that was changed in last week’s update, provide insight on how that change impacts the format, and even provide decklists that I’ve been playing with featuring the buffed cards and new cards from Foundations.

Let’s dive right in!

Banned

Monstrous Rage

Monstrous Rage received a ban in Alchemy, which is rare as they usually try to rebalance cards instead of just ban them. In their reasoning they cited that it would be hard to nerf Monstrous Rage without it still being too strong or being completely unplayable, so to leave it as is in formats like Historic, they decided to ban it instead.

Impact:

The impact of this ban is huge for the format. The best deck in Bo1, Mono-Red Aggro, and one of the best decks in Bo3, Boros Mice, were both red aggro decks that relied on Monstrous Rage to force through damage and punish their opponents for blocking. Well, we can finally block again!

Of course dedicated mouse decks can still play Might of the Meek to grant trample, but only having access to 4 cards in your deck that grant trample is a lot less than 8. I think that these aggro decks should still exist in the format, but should be much less explosive and you should be able to chump-block with relative confidence for the time being.

Nerfed

Leyline of Resonance

Leyline of Resonance was actually banned in Alchemy a couple of weeks ago as they tried to figure out how to rebalance it, well the balance is in. Now, instead of copying spells for free you can pay one generic mana to copy that spell.

Impact:

I think this is a good nerf to this card, but I do think it renders it pretty unplayable. The point of old Leyline of Resonance decks was that they could go off on turn three (or even turn two). Now you are likely going to have to wait until turn four, so that you can cast two spells and copy them for one mana each.

The thing is that on turn four your opponent likely has both removal and blockers, and without Monstrous Rage the ways to grant trample are much more sparse. So, all in all, I think that Leyline of Resonance will no longer be a player in the format.

Heartfire Hero

Heartfire Hero received a small nerf, changing from a 1/1 into a 0/1. While that might not seem like a big deal, it just means that a turn one Heartfire Hero is going to do somewhere from 3-4 less damage over a course of a game, which can be the difference between life or death.

Impact:

This was the other change that really hurt the top aggro deck in both Bo1 and Bo3. Heartfire Hero is now super easy to answer early on without taking too much damage, and without Monstrous Rage, there is no way to easily buff its power to high levels to punish the opponent for removing it.

I think that this nerf and the ban were really good changes for the format though. Red aggro is still playable but no longer frustrating to play against. It can still kill you early and quickly, but you have more ways to interact with them via blocking or early removal.

Aggro needs to exist for a format to be healthy, otherwise every deck is just a pile of the most greedy and slow cards and games take forever to complete. But aggro was definitely overbearing in Alchemy, and I think these changes bring it back in line.

Grenzo, Crooked Jailer

Heist haters rejoice! For Grenzo, Crooked Jailer was slightly nerfed. Previously you could cast any spell you had heisted without paying its mana cost, but now you can only cast spells with mana value 3 or less without paying their mana cost. This means that Grenzo is much less painful to face as a midrange or control deck, where he resolves, steals a powerful top end bomb, and immediately deploys it.

Impact:

Heist is a pretty average archetype at this point, seeing some play but not overbearing by any means. Grenzo would usually see a bit of play in these decks, as a two-of at the top end, as a way to help take over the game against slower decks. Well, I don’t think he is worth playing anymore as he no longer fills that role.

Yes you could still cast a removal spell or a cheap creature that you heist with Grenzo, but the whole point was that you spend six mana to create two must answer threats: Grenzo himself and whatever big bomb you steal from the opponent. There could still be a world where Grenzo sees play, but I just think that Heist decks should play something else at the top end now.

I think this Grenzo nerf was mostly targeted at Historic Brawl. If they were ever going to nerf a heist card again, I would suggest looking at Impetuous Lootmonger and make those treasures enter tapped please!

Buffed

Stalwart Speartail

Stalwart Speartail got a nice buff to make it much easier to take advantage of. Previously when it attacked you could pay three generic mana to trigger its ability. Now it just triggers for free. So you’ll be buffing all of the dinosaurs for free each time this thing attacks.

Impact:

Dinosaurs were always almost there as an archetype. It can have really powerful curve out draws that most opponents are not able to deal with. The buff to Stalwart Speartail makes it much easier to assemble big boardstates, as now you can attack with it, buff all of your dinos, and still deploy a four drop.

There is a bit of tension with this card, in that it deals 1 damage to each creature, including your own. The problem with this is that this deck really wants to make use of both Ixalli’s Lorekeeper and Llanowar Elves to accelerate out its curve, and unfortunately they will die to this trigger.

It is possible that the Dinosaur decks want less copies of Stalwart Speartail, and just wants to go all in on making use of the printing of Llanowar Elves to power out more expensive dinos ahead of curve. Time will tell, but if you are a dinosaur fan, give them a try!

Hymn to the Ages and Ribald Shanty

I’ve grouped these two together because they are almost guaranteed to see play in the same decks. Ribald Shanty was strictly buffed, changed from costing two mana to just costing one mana. 

Hymn to the Ages, on the other hand, was changed from costing five mana to costing two, but its intensity was dropped from 3 to 1. I do think this is a buff, because it is easier to get it going, and if you are playing a lot of chorus cards, your card draw spell being cheap will be a big boon.

Impact:

Previously, Chorus decks had popped up here and there, but were never a real contender in the format. I think these changes completely change that, and they are absolutely worth exploring at this point. Ribald Shanty costing one mana makes it a premium removal spell, especially in a world with Llanowar Elves, and Hymn to the Ages costing two makes it so easy to weave into your turns to gain card advantage.

There are two ways to build this type of deck. The first, is to play a critical mass of Chorus cards, such as these two plus Mycelic Ballad in some sort of Grixis control deck. I’ve seen Grixis Heist players incorporate this package into their deck to be a mix of Heist and Chorus.

The other option is to play ways to get these spells back from your graveyard to continue to intensify all of your chorus cards and keep the value coming. And that is what I did in this deck:

(Our deck builder is not currently updated with the changed cards, but the decklist should still import just fine. Apologies!)

The goal of this deck is to use removal and counterspells early on to slow down our opponent, and then take over the late game with our card advantage from Hymn to the Ages. We have Sapphire Collector and Sphinx of Forgotten Lore to flash back our chorus cards, and Mapping the Maze can return Ribald Shanty, Shove Aside, or Ill-Timed Explosion to keep the value going.

Tome of Gadwick

Tome of Gadwick received a simple but powerful buff. Previously, the equipped creature had to damage the opponent to draft a card from it’s spellbook. Now, you get that card when you attack with the equipped creature, meaning that you’ll get that spell before damage. This is great when combined with prowess creatures, as you can cast that spell before damage to trigger prowess.

Impact:

A blue prowess deck or tempo deck hadn’t really existed in Alchemy, but I think this buff moves us in a direction where that is now possible. The problem with those kinds of decks is that you have to balance between having enough creatures to pressure the opponent, and enough spells to reliably trigger prowess over and over again.

Tome of Gadwich really helps in that regard, as it gives you a spell every turn. Meaning that we can play a healthy amount of creatures without being scared of missing out on spells.

I tried this out in an Otters shell:

This list almost makes use of the buffed Chorus cards, as we can return them with Stormchaser’s Talent later in the game. The exact numbers and creatures you play still needs to be tuned and tested, but I wanted to try out Enduring Friendship and Kita, Otterball Elite, however, they could be subsisted out for different otters.

Nashi, Illusion Gadgeteer

Nashi, Illusion Gadgeteer was buffed to now have Flash himself. This is a really nice change for a midrange or control deck, as they can now hold up removal or counterspells, and if they don’t need to use them, flash in Nashi to conjure a copy of a card in their graveyard into their hand. 

Impact:

With the top aggro decks being knocked down a peg, I think that midrange and control have a chance to emerge from hibernation and be real players in the format. Previously, we had seen a four color control deck making use of Nashi, and I had previously been playing a Golgari Control deck that has since evolved into a Sultai Control deck that makes great use of him:

This deck is built around the powerful interaction of Up the Beanstalk and Overlord of the Hauntwoods, and has several other ways to trigger Up the Beanstalk, including Deadly Cover-Up, powerful X spells, and Liliana, Dreadhorde General. Nashi helps bridge us into the late game, serving as a surprise blocker, and a way to get back a removal spell or sweeper that we previously used.

A nice interaction is that our discard spell, Thought Rattle can seek a rat if we have threshold, and Nashi just so happens to be a rat. This deck has a lot of tapped lands, so be careful with your sequencing, and make sure that you have double green by turn three if you plan on impending Overlord of the Hauntwoods.

Talion’s Throneguard

Talion’s Throneguard was changed from a 2/1 to a 4/2, a very simple change but a powerful one, making it a real threat that must be answered.

Impact:

Talion’s Throneguard was already a nice sideboard option to fight against Heist to return your own heisted spells to your hand, or as just a tool to slow down an aggressive opponent. Well it is a lot better at that now, as not only will it be able to be used in that capacity, but it also is a real threat that will quickly close out the game.

I have it in several of my blue sideboards, but I also tried it out in a dedicated flash deck:

This is a tempo deck through and through, looking to always play on the opponent’s turn. This deck got a lot of cards from Foundations, and those combined with existing flash cards make for a complete deck. If you like tricky tempo decks, give it a try!

Fountainport Charmer

Fountainport Charmer was changed from costing three mana to costing two mana, and changed from a 3/3 to a 2/3 to compensate. This means that you can deploy it on turn two, curving it into a four drop a turn early, or wait until turn three to use offspring, and maybe cast a six drop on turn four.

Impact:

The biggest reason I think this change is so powerful, is that it curves so nicely with a turn one Llanowar Elves, as you will get to cast it with offspring on turn two, giving you that double discount very early. I expect some sort of green based creature/ramp deck to be a real player in the format because of this.

I’ve tried a couple different shells, but haven’t quite found the perfect match for this curve yet. Regardless, they both were fun to play:

Wrapping Up

I think there has never been a better time to try Alchemy. With the changes and addition of Foundations, there are a ton of interesting decks to brew and try out, and there isn’t currently a super oppressive deck at the top of the format keeping other decks down.

Thanks to the different rotation schedule from Standard, and the Alchemy drops each set, Alchemy feels so different from Standard in the best way possible. If you are getting tired of Standard, or just want to try something new, I cannot recommend Alchemy enough.

I hope this article was helpful as you try to evaluate the impact of the card changes on the format, and that you give some of these decklists a try!

As always, best of luck in all of your matches and endeavors.