Table of Contents
Hello everyone! Alchemy has been out for almost a month and personally I’ve been really enjoying it! It’s had mixed reception, but for the most part it seems people enjoy playing it and it’s been relatively popular. That said, sometimes we need to remember our roots! Even when Standard is considered a bit of a lame duck format currently, it’s still the most played on Arena and I believe still has room to explore, especially in Bo1!
To put that to the test, I revisited it with one of my favorite 2022 decks that’s been upgraded with new lands to see how it would fare and if we could make a dent in an established metagame. Lucky for me, Temur seemed to have not lost it’s step as it was still great against aggressive decks and reasonable against Turns! Let’s see my current list.
Creatures (15)
Sorceries (3)
Artifacts (4)
Enchantments (3)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$213.26
Sideboard
7 Cards
$3.37
Since we can’t really play any one drops, our curve always starts at 2. For the rampers, we have Tangled Florahedron and Prosperous Innkeeper. Florahedron is great as you can play it as a ramper or a land when you don’t need the early play while Prosperous Innkeeper gets you only one shot at mana, but doesn’t need to live to provide it!
Beyond the rampers though, we also play 3 copies of Abrade in the main deck. I know most Ramp decks in Standard/Alchemy are Simic, but I feel like that’s just not a great place to be. Not being able to interact with creatures easily feels like a surefire way to lose, and with how good 3 color manabases are nowadays, doesn’t make much sense. Abrade will kill most of the cheaper creatures of the format as well as tagging the occasional artifact like Esika's Chariot making it super versatile.
For our 3s, we have the lone four copies of Divide by Zero. I used to play Field Trip as well at the 3 slot, but that was a function of the mana bases in Standard 2022 being significantly worse. Now we can afford to just play Divide as it’s still absolutely busted, even in Bo1. Most Ramp decks don’t have interaction for the stack so gaining that ability alongside of nabbing a free card is a huge boon for the deck.
Moving up to the linchpin slot of the deck, the four drops are what really make this deck viable. First we have Quandrix Cultivator which has a relatively threatening body as well as ramps us further up the curve. A 3/4 isn’t an ideal stat line in an Esika's Chariot world, but even having a big chumper can be more helpful than you’d think!
Speaking of an Esika's Chariot world, we play four ourselves! I’m not a big fan of fraternizing with the enemy, but it’s much too good to ignore. In some matches, you can just jam it turn 3 on the play and absolutely steamroll the opponent. In others, you play it as a defensive entity that gives you 3 blockers to work with. This card is absolutely obscene and the 4s in general are what gives this deck legs against Turns and other Controlling decks in my opinion. Even if you’re ill suited to beat them, playing strong cards early can sometimes be enough!
Next we move up to the lone 5 drop in Battle of Frost and Fire. For most of the cards in the deck I would argue that you really can’t sub them out, but this is the only exception. I initially wasn’t playing any copies of Battle, but after consistently facing aggro decks in large numbers, I figured it was a good option. This should kill pretty much every threat (unfortunately including most of your own), but also helps you filter later in the game as well. Those two abilities together definitely make this a strong card, but if you aren’t facing waves of creature decks like I did, this isn’t mandatory.
Finally, we skip the 6 mana slot completely and go straight to the end game with our 7 and 8 drops. First we play 3 of the scourge of the format in Alrund's Epiphany. We don’t have ways to abuse this really as we don’t have as many cards that cascade advantage like Esika's Chariot, but it’s still pretty great at being a psuedo 6 mana play and producing 2 blockers in a pinch.
Next, we have what I dub the ultimate Monogreen killer in Koma, Cosmos Serpent. I’m not positive that I never lost to a Monogreen (or an aggro deck in general) when I resolved a Koma, but it’s probably very close. Koma just provides too much value and too many blcokers that a deck like Monogreen simply can’t keep up which makes it such a nice way to top the curve.
Finally, we finish the deck with a full four copies of Magma Opus. I love Opus as it will absolutely demolish creature decks when you have a chance to cast it as it’s always like a 4+ for 1 that also stalls. Sure, it’s very expensive, but you can also pitch it for a burst of mana if you’re in dire straits as well! With all the ramp and all the top end, this deck is very good at getting to the late game and windmill slamming bombs at the edge of death which is the game play I absolutely live for.
POTENTIAL INCLUSIONS / NOTABLE EXCLUSIONS
Fading Hope
If you wanted to go straight Simic, I think playing 4 Fading Hope is mandatory. You need a way to stall in some capacity and this is your best bet without Red.
Jwari Disruption
A reasonable card as it’s both a land and interaction, but I don’t want an excess of MDFCs and this is somewhat weak in a deck where we’re generally tapping out.
Malevolent Hermit
Hermit is a really interesting card as it would mostly be for Control decks, but it’s surprisingly decent against aggro since it’s a blocker on 2 and 3. If you are facing a good mix of decks, I would definitely consider trying out some copies.
Cyclone Summoner
A solid finisher against the aggro decks, I prefer Magma Opus but you could try this instead of it suits your fancy more.
Spikefield Hazard
Pretty similar logic to Jwari Disruption.
Cinderclasm
If you feel like you’re facing an insane amount of Monowhite, this is an option.
Smoldering Egg
This build doesn’t play enough instants and sorceries to justify this (as well as Battle of Frost and Fire that kills it), but it could be built differently to include this as in theory it would be really good in the deck.
Igneous Inspiration
I know Inspiration isn’t that popular, but the card is pretty good. Kill something draw an ok card shouldn’t be underestimated.
Goldspan Dragon
Goldspan could be a great addition if the need for board wipes significantly lessens as it’s such a good clock and ramps well. Double Red can be a bit hard on the mana, but this isn’t unreasonable by any stretch.
Shatterskull Smashing
I love Smashing, but Red is mostly a splash for this deck so I feel this would be a tapped Mountain more often than I’d like.
Neverwinter Dryad
Simic does have an advantage over Temur with Neverwinter Dryad which is a pretty good turn 1 play and cool chumper later in the game. We don’t play enough Forests to play this, but I do like the card.
Wrenn and Seven
Very reasonable mid game bridge, especially with Esika's Chariot. That said, I found between Blizzard Brawl, Brutal Cathar, and Fading Hope that every major player had a super efficient answer that was making this card pretty rough to play.
Expressive Iteration
Not playing one of the best cards in Standard is a bit rough, but our curve is a little too wacky to play this and the meta is a bit too fast. That said, I wouldn’t completely discount this ans an option either.
Prismari Command
Small interaction and one shot ramp? Not too bad, but weaker than our other options.
TIPS AND TRICKS
- I tend to play out my Tangled Florahedron as a land much more often than a creature. It depends on your hand, but not being killed is a pretty big boon.
- Knowing when to chump with Prosperous Innkeeper is really important. If you can deploy a creature or two in the next turn, I generally don’t like throwing away an Innkeeper unless I really need to preserve life. However, if I can get a trade with innkeeper, I’ll pretty much always take it.
- Quandrix Cultivator gets a land into play untapped so try to play it on a turn you can double spell for maximum value (if possible).
- I could be greedier than most, but I tend to not pitch Magma Opus for a Treasure unless it allows me to cast a big spell the very next turn or I’m extremely desperate. I the same vein, make sure you sequence your land drops in a way (if possible) to pitch Opus if you need as monogreen lands can’t do it.
- Foretelling Alrund's Epiphany on 2 is very common and quite good, but I wouldn’t prioritize that over playing ramp or interaction generally.
- If you aren’t under massive pressure, I like crewing and attacking with Chariot even against aggro decks. Sometimes it’s too fast to beat.
- In general, never keep a hand without a 2 drop as it’ll be much too slow.
- Environmental Sciences is the most common grab with Divide by Zero, but don’t discount Pest Summoning against Monowhite. In a similar vein, if I’m afraid of an Esika's Chariot particularly or my opponent has a Ranger Class out, Containment Breach can be a great grab, even pre-emptively.
