Alchemy: Innistrad - Day 1 Decks from Across the Web • MTG Arena Zone

Table of Contents

Mono-Colored Aggro
Omnath Decks
Bant
Other Archetypes from Standard, and Many More

For the first time since the creation of Historic, a new format has arrived on MTG: Arena – Alchemy. Alchemy is a rotating format that is in lock-step with Standard: it contains all of the sets that are legal in Standard, and rotates at the same time. The difference? Alchemy has no banlist. Instead, Wizards will periodically make balancing changes to cards.

Additionally, supplemental Alchemy-exclusive cards will be added to the format in the weeks following each Standard-legal set release. These Alchemy sets include digital-only mechanics that are designed to function only on Arena, similar to Jumpstart: Historic Horizons. Today, the first of these Alchemy sets, Alchemy: Innistrad, has been released with the launch of the format. You can find the spoilers here.

The introduction of a new format is rare in Magic, especially so for Arena, and it’s one of the most exciting times for content creators, deckbuilders, and competitive players alike. We’ve been gathering a collection of all of the decks we could find since the set’s release this morning and compiled them into a master list for you to browse – press here to jump straight to the decks.

You can read all about Alchemy in our announcement article, and you can check out our growing collection of Alchemy-related content below:

In the meantime, let’s take a look at the new decks! We’ll get started with a brief overview on what archetypes we’ve been seeing the most of so far.

Mono-Colored Aggro

Given that Alchemy is inherently similar to Standard, it’s no surprise to see many of the popular archetypes in Standard being adapted to the new format. In particular, Mono Green and Mono White aggro decks have been showing up a lot so far. Although both archetypes received nerfs in the form of Esika's Chariot, Luminarch Aspirant, and Faceless Haven, they also both got new tools from the new cards.

In particular, we’re seeing lots of Tenacious Pup in Mono Green decks, and Captain Eberhart and Inquisitor Captain seem to be instant hits in Mono White.

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In addition, we’re also seeing a return of Mono Red decks – which haven’t had much success in Standard lately – thanks to powerful new Alchemy cards like Toralf's Disciple and Rahilda, Wanted Cutthroat.

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Rahilda, Wanted Cutthroat // Rahilda, Feral Outlaw/

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Omnath Decks

Omnath, Locus of Creation is back! The four-color Elemental legend was notoriously broken and dominated the Standard format for a brief period of time after its release in Zendikar Rising before it was eventually banned. Now, the card has been re-balanced for Alchemy, where some version of every card is legal. On top of the fact that the power level of Omnath itself has been turned down a bit, the deck will also have to contend with the lack of a key card from its original run in Standard: Fabled Passage.

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However, it’s clear that players are going to at least try the splashy Elemental and see if it still has what it takes to compete in the format. Alchemy: Innistrad has also brought some interesting tools for land decks, namely Hollowhenge Wrangler and the quite powerful ramp-and-go-seek spell Settle the Wilds.

Bant

Another archetype that hasn’t been seen much in Standard since the rotation is Bant, but players are revisiting the green/white/blue color combination in Alchemy, where some of the strongest archetypes have been nerfed. We’ve seen party decks in Alchemy thanks to some new Warriors, Wizards and Rogues. Along with them, blink decks are cropping up bolstered by powerful new enters-the-battlefield triggers such as those on Clone Crafter and Ominous Traveler.

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Other Archetypes from Standard, and Many More

It’s only natural that players try out many of the archetypes from Standard, including those that have been hit with nerfs, to see if the decks are still viable in the new format. Other than the mono-colored decks mentioned above, we’ve also got examples of players trying Izzet Epiphany, Cleric Tribal, Mono Black, and others.

This has just been the first day of the new format, and things will probably be changing fast in Alchemy for a while. There has been a wide variety of decks to pour through so far, and Wizards will surely want to keep it that way. Once the strongest decks in the Alchemy format have begun to emerge, its entirely possible we could be looking at more nerfs and/or buffs coming sooner rather than later.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the format as it continues to progress. You’ll find our full list of decks from today below, and you can be sure to find more decklists tomorrow. See you then!