MTG Arena Zone Premium
Join our Premium community, remove all advertisements, get access to exclusive content!
MTG Arena Zone Premium
Join our Premium community, remove all advertisements, get access to exclusive content!
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben Art by Cabrol

Mad Science Alchemy Event Guide and Decklists

Hello everyone! Today I’ll be going over one of the coolest events Arena has previewed, Mad Science! How it works is that every instant or sorcery you cast also has an attached Amass X which adds extra value to every spell you play! his will obviously heavily impact deck building and be a super weird format for sure!


Event Details

Mad Science Event

Science! The pursuit of knowledge, guided by careful consideration and best practices, for the betterment of all. But when the eternal night falls, suddenly things can get much more volatile. Form your hypothesis, enact your experiment, and hope that the sounds you hear outside are just the wind…

  • Duration: January 21, 2022 @ 8 AM PST until February 1, 2022 @ 8:00 AM PST
  • FormatAlchemy with Zombies! Emblem
  • Entry Fee: 2,000 Gold or 400 Gems
  • Ends After: 4 wins or 2 losses, whichever comes first
  • Match Structure: Best-of-one matches (BO1)

Zombies! Emblem

Zombies! Emblem

Whenever you cast an instant of sorcery spell, amass X, where X is that spell’s mana value.


Event Rewards

WinsRewards
4 wins2,500 gold + 3 Showcase Eternal Night Card Styles
3 wins1,500 gold + 3 Showcase Eternal Night Card Styles
2 wins1,000 gold + 2 Showcase Eternal Night Card Styles
1 win500 gold + 2 Showcase Eternal Night Card Styles
0 win1 Showcase Eternal Night Card Style

Showcase Eternal Night Card Style Rewards

The following Eternal Night card styles are available in this event. Each has an equal likelihood of being received, and you will always receive styles you don’t own yet:


Mad Science Alchemy Decklists (January 2022)

Considering this format is all about Instants and Sorceries which is a cool idea, I do have a bit of an awkward proclamation. Personally, I think playing Blue in this event is pretty much mandatory. Not only do you get access to the widest breadth of instants and sorceries, you also get access to Fading Hope and Unsummon which are excellent in a format where both sides are racing to make a big Zombie token.

With that and this event is somewhat competitive, I will only be recommending Blue decks today. However, of course you can play any other Alchemy deck as you see fit. You can find the full deck database here.

Rakdos Sacrifice by fireshoes – Mad Science
by MTG Arena Zone
Buy on TCGplayer $78.28
Alchemy
best of 1
1 mythic
12 rare
11 uncommon
36 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (9)
4
Shambling Ghast
$1.96
4
Sedgemoor Witch
$13.96
Instants (15)
4
Village Rites
$2.76
4
Deadly Dispute
$9.16
2
Kazuul’s Fury
$1.58
Sorceries (16)
4
Duress
$1.40
4
Bloody Betrayal
$1.40
Lands (20)
4
Haunted Ridge
$35.96
60 Cards
$134.32

Here’s a fun non-Blue deck by fireshoes that takes advantage of taking control of your opponent’s zombie token, then sacrificing it for value!

Mad Science Monoblue Tempo
by DoggertQBones
Buy on TCGplayer $57.8
Alchemy
best of 1
5 mythic
7 rare
12 uncommon
36 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (26)
1
Unsummon
$0.35
4
Fading Hope
$5.96
4
Negate
$1.40
4
Absorb Energy
$0.00
Enchantments (4)
Lands (24)
1
Faceless Haven
$0.49
60 Cards
$82.23

To start us off, you can’t get any more Blue than Monoblue! Although you lose out on access to other colors, being able to play 4 Thirst for Discovery is a pretty big advantage you’ll have over the other Blue decks. You could also play more Faceless Haven if that strikes your fancy, but I feel that creature lands are going to be very low priority in this format.

Mad Science Dimir Tempo
by DoggertQBones
Buy on TCGplayer $124.93
Alchemy
best of 1
3 mythic
16 rare
13 uncommon
28 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (3)
Instants (22)
4
Fading Hope
$5.96
4
Negate
$1.40
1
Power Word Kill
$0.35
4
Siphon Insight
$2.76
4
Memory Deluge
$3.16
Sorceries (8)
4
Duress
$1.40
4
Check for Traps
$1.40
Enchantments (4)
Lands (23)
9
Island
$3.15
6
Swamp
$2.10
4
Shipwreck Marsh
$27.96
60 Cards
$104

Next up and what I think may be the best deck of the event is Dimir. Dimir is heavily metagamed to what I expect people to bring (Blue) with a lot of hand disruption and plenty of ways to draw cards. No other color can have access to hand disruption on top of Siphon Insight which seems fantastic so this is likely the best deck for the metagame.

Mad Science Azorius Tempo
by DoggertQBones
Buy on TCGplayer $128.78
Alchemy
best of 1
2 mythic
19 rare
16 uncommon
23 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (3)
Instants (31)
4
Fading Hope
$5.96
4
Negate
$1.40
4
Sejiri Shelter
$5.96
2
Divine Smite
$0.70
4
Absorb Energy
$0.00
4
Memory Deluge
$3.16
Enchantments (4)
Lands (22)
9
Island
$3.15
4
Plains
$1.40
4
Deserted Beach
$23.96
60 Cards
$104.83

While Dimir may be the best metagame call, I’m thinking Azorius may be the inherent strongest deck in the field. You have most of the advantages of Monoblue, but getting access to Divine Smite (which should just be a kill spell) and Sejiri Step to protect your army seems like a huge advantage versus the other Blue decks in the format.

Mad Science Izzet Tempo
by DoggertQBones
Buy on TCGplayer $131.13
Alchemy
best of 1
3 mythic
14 rare
14 uncommon
29 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (5)
Instants (23)
1
Unsummon
$0.35
4
Fading Hope
$5.96
4
Negate
$1.40
Sorceries (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (24)
8
Island
$2.80
6
Mountain
$2.10
2
Frostboil Snarl
$0.98
60 Cards
$101.54

If we’re playing Blue, why not look to play the best draw spell on Arena? Expressive Iteration is such a busted card that it very well may be worth trading off better removal just to play it.

Mad Science Jeskai Tempo
by DoggertQBones
Buy on TCGplayer $196.43
Alchemy
best of 1
3 mythic
27 rare
14 uncommon
16 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (4)
Instants (24)
4
Fading Hope
$5.96
2
Unsummon
$0.70
4
Negate
$1.40
3
Sejiri Shelter
$4.47
4
Memory Deluge
$3.16
Sorceries (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (24)
1
Island
$0.35
1
Plains
$0.35
4
Sundown Pass
$51.96
2
Deserted Beach
$11.98
60 Cards
$210.44

If we want parts of Azorius and Izzet, we can just combine them to get Jeskai. With this, you unfortunately have the worst mana base out of all my recommendations, but getting access to prootection spells as well as Expressive Iteration could very well be worth the tradeoff.

Mad Science Grixis Tempo
by DoggertQBones
Buy on TCGplayer $168.97
Alchemy
best of 1
3 mythic
30 rare
16 uncommon
11 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (4)
Instants (17)
4
Fading Hope
$5.96
1
Unsummon
$0.35
2
Power Word Kill
$0.70
4
Siphon Insight
$2.76
4
Memory Deluge
$3.16
Sorceries (12)
4
Duress
$1.40
4
Check for Traps
$1.40
Enchantments (4)
Lands (23)
1
Island
$0.35
1
Swamp
$0.35
4
Shipwreck Marsh
$27.96
1
Haunted Ridge
$8.99
60 Cards
$193.68

For the final recommendation of the article, we use the same logic from Jeskai to arrive to Grixis! I’m not sure if making your mana worse is worth getting Expressive Iteration, but the card is so good that it may be worth your while!


End Step

Have you got a cool brew to show off for this event? Submit it using our deck builder! Let us know how you fare in the comments below, or join our Discord community.

In case you missed it, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is coming to MTG Arena on February 10! Previews start next week, so don’t miss out and be sure to check out our hub for the upcoming expansion where you can find all the information in one place:

Premium >

Enjoy our content? Wish to support our work? Join our Premium community, get access to exclusive content, remove all advertisements, and more!

  • No ads: Browse the entire website ad-free, both display and video.
  • Exclusive Content: Instant access to all exclusive articles only for Premium members, at your fingertips.
  • Support: All your contributions get directly reinvested into the website to increase your viewing experience!
  • Discord: Join our Discord server, claim your Premium role and gain access to exclusive channels where you can learn in real time!
  • Special offerFor a limited time, use coupon code L95WR9JOWV to get 50% off the Annual plan!
MTG Arena Zone Premium
DoggertQBones
DoggertQBones

Robert "DoggertQBones" Lee is the content manager of MTGAZone and a high ranked Arena player. He has one GP Top 8 and pioneered popular archetypes like UB 8 Shark, UB Yorion, and GW Company in Historic. Beyond Magic, his passions are writing and coaching! Join our community on
Twitch and Discord.

Articles: 2038