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On July 28, 2022 Historic Anthology 6 and Explorer Anthology 1 will be released on MTG Arena, adding 20 new cards from each set curated for their respective formats. This is where it gets interesting as Historic diverges further from Explorer – and we’ve already seen 3 cards previewed for each set so far:
- Favored Hoplite – Explorer Anthology 1 – Our Review and Theorycraft
- Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet – Explorer Anthology 1 – Our Review and Theorycraft
- Supreme Verdict – Explorer Anthology 1 – Our Review and Theorycraft
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope – Historic Anthology 6
- Go-Shintai of Life's Origin – Historic Anthology 6
- Tarmogoyf – Historic Anthology 6
The full list of cards are to be revealed the day before release, on July 27, but it looks like the official MTG Arena Twitter account has teased some cards that may be coming to MTG Arena. They are just arts of the cards, but we assume that they are to be added. Let’s take a look at the cards and see what some of our writers think!
Chalice of the Void
PVDDR: I don’t think this card is too good, but the experience is profoundly unfun – it’s usually either too bad or obnoxious. I’m hoping we can hit the sweet spot of “reasonable sideboard card against 1-2 archetypes” which in my view would be the only situation this card can be considered a good inclusion.
DoggertQBones: Chalice is going to be an extremely potent sideboard card to neutralize decks highly reliant on 1 or 2 mana spells. Since I am a man of dubious morals, I expect to play many copies of this in as many decks as possible.
Metallix87: Chalice is a classic card that I believe is the wrong sort of card to add to Historic. Cards that say ‘your opponent doesn’t get to play Magic’ hover between oppressive and pointless, and the sort of deck you’d want this to hose, something along the lines of Storm, doesn’t even really exist in Historic anyway.
Josh: Perhaps WOTC has decided to shift the pendulum to more reactive style instead of proactive style decks. This is a tool in a control deck’s toolbox that can help fix certain problem matchups.
Bohe: As a Storm Modern Player this is one of my worst enemies… however, with this card in Historic, Prison decks can be relevant once again… I would love to play Mono Red Prison on Magic Arena!
Omrithopter: I don’t foresee this card being format-warping currently, izzet Phoenix and auras are the only two decks which chalice is really good against, and not many decks can run chalice for free. What interests me more about chalice is why it was included in the first place; this might be wishful thinking but my prediction is that chalice is being included in the anthology to make sure other cards in the anthology don’t break the format, so maybe we’re getting some storm enablers.
MonkeyInATopHat: This is a staple in every major format that will be guaranteed to see play in many a side board. It’s a little disappointing we get it AFTER major nerfs to all the decks it’s good against, like Phoenix and Food, but I still feel confident saying this will find a home. Especially in UW control.
Temur Battle Rage
PVDDR: I think TBR is a cool card, it enables some different strategies and play patterns and it seems like it’s of a power level comparable to the rest of the format if you can make it work. The biggest contender is probably Death's Shadow but I’m sure there are other potential targets as well.
DoggertQBones: I LOVE TEMUR BATTLE RAGE. I have killed many players with it and I’m excited to kill many more!
Metallix87: Less of an Explorer card than a Historic card, I think it’s very possible this card goes a long way to help make Death's Shadow even more of a ‘real’ deck in Historic. Doing work in Prowess-based decks in both formats is likely gravy for a solid inclusion.
Josh: I feel like this card might give legs to a style of deck that has been on the fringes for the while, we have seen green white and blue green versions of the combat-trick surprise-kill style decks even in standard, perhaps now its red’s turn.
Bohe: One key part of Death Shadow decks on Modern back in the day was the ability to kill opponents from nowhere thanks to this card. This can make Death Shadow Decks available in Historic once and for all.
Omrithopter: This card sees no play in pioneer so it’s unlikely to in explorer, but it has a lot of potential in historic with death’s shadow, and possibly izzet wizards as well.
MonkeyInATopHat: This is chaff. No decks will use it in either Explorer or Historic, as it is already outclassed by several cards already in the format. This is a real head scratcher of an inclusion.
