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Another Wednesday means it’s time once again to review Wizards of the Coast’s once-weekly MTG Arena Announcements. Last week, Wizards dropped a major bombshell by announcing a new MTG Arena exclusive format: Alchemy. We’ve got a lot of Alchemy content already, with tons more planned in the days to come. Browse our currently available Alchemy below, or head on over to our Alchemy: Innistrad spoilers page.
We’ve got some new information about Alchemy events coming to Arena in today’s announcements, so let’s get into it. We’ll provide you with a quick summary of all of today’s announcements, and you can find the full text from Wizards at the bottom of the page.
Alchemy Arrives on MTG Arena 12/9: Welcome to Alchemy Event
Tomorrow, December 9, the MTGA client update will roll out launching the new Alchemy format – a rotating format that contains all of the cards from Standard, plus special made-for-digital cards and rebalanced versions of some Standard cards. Alchemy will feature ranked and unranked, best-of-one and best-of-three play just like Arena’s other major formats. We encourage you to check out our coverage of Alchemy’s announcement for more detailed information on the format.
Along with the format’s release, Arena will be launching the free to enter Welcome to Alchemy event. Players will get three free Alchemy: Innistrad packs just for joining, and you can win three additional packs by playing to five wins. Losses won’t matter in the event, so you can play as long as you like to earn the extra packs.
Alchemy: Innistrad packs will be available for purchase as well, with one pack available for 1,000 gold or fifteen for 3,000 gems. Additionally, you will be able to buy The Alchemist Bundle as a one-time purchase that will include 20 packs of Alchemy: Innistrad for 15,000 gold or 3,000 gems.
Announcing the Arena Decathlon
Also in today’s bulletin is the announcement of the Arena Decathlon, a ten event series that will take place across fifteen days and offer some impressive rewards. Two events will be run at a time, and each event will earn tokens. Three tokens will grant you an entry to the Decathlon finals, six tokens will award two entries, and eight tokens will earn three entries. Players who manage to earn all ten tokens will not only earn their finals entry tokens, but will also score an invitation to the February Qualifier Weekend.
Each of the Decathlon events will cost either 2,000 gold or 400 gems to enter, and all players who participate will receive an “Arena Decathlete” sleeve. In order to earn a token, players must reach seven wins in the event. You can read up on the full details of the Decathlon at Wizards’ official site for the event. The schedule of events will be as follows:
December 18–21
- Alchemy
- Phantom Innistrad Sealed (three packs of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and three packs of Innistrad: Crimson Vow)
December 21–24
- Phantom Innistrad: Crimson Vow Traditional Draft
- New player decks
December 24–27
- Phantom Zendikar Rising Bot Draft
- Historic Artisan
December 27–30
- Historic
- Alchemy Singleton
December 30–January 1
- Traditional Standard
- Phantom Strixhaven: School of Mages Turbo Draft
New Historic Brawl Bans
Along with the Alchemy update tomorrow, three cards are going to be banned in the Historic Brawl format: Agent of Treachery, Field of the Dead, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Wizards says that the cards are being banned because they are “overly prevalent” in decks in the format, and that each card “either exploits or pushes against” the main element of building around a single permanent as your commander.
While cards may now be balanced for digital “live formats,” Wizards believes that rebalancing any of these cards would either “result in an unsatisfying card” or would not go far enough to restrict their power levels.
Wrapping Up
That covers everything from this week’s announcements – you can read the full text from Wizards below. Tomorrow’s update is going to shake up Arena in a way that we’ve barely seen since the client’s release. We’ll be keeping you up to date with all of the latest happenings with Alchemy and Arena in general, so stay tuned and we’ll see you again soon.
MTG Arena Announcements, December 8, 2021
Alchemy Launches Tomorrow!
Alchemy launches tomorrow, December 9! This is a new format in MTG Arena, much like Standard or Historic. It introduces new digital-only cards, legal in Alchemy and Historic, and Alchemy packs that become available about a month after each Magic set released in MTG Arena.
Alchemy rotates every year, following the pattern of Standard. It has Play and Ranked support, and it is available in both Best-of-One and Best-of-Three matches.
You can find answers to all your Alchemy questions by visiting these two resources:
Welcome to Alchemy Event
Try out the new Alchemy format, have fun, and earn Alchemy: Innistrad packs—no entry required! The Welcome to Alchemy event Kicks off tomorrow, December 9, and runs through December 17, and you get three Alchemy: Innistrad packs just for joining.
When you notch five wins—losses don’t matter in this event—you’ll earn three more Alchemy: Innistrad packs plus 2,000 XP!
Alchemy: Innistrad Packs in the Store Tomorrow
Beginning tomorrow, you can pick up Alchemy: Innistrad packs in the MTG Arena Store:
- 1 pack for 1,000 gold
- 15 packs for 3,000 gems
These packs are duplicate protected. If you already have four copies of each Alchemy: Innistrad card of the rarity you open (either rare or mythic rare), you’ll receive a card of the same rarity from Innistrad: Crimson Vow instead—or gems if you’ve collected all cards of that rarity. (Find complete details on Alchemy Innistrad duplicate protection in the State of the Game article.)
Grab the Alchemist Bundle
Here’s a chance to start building your Alchemy collection. The Alchemist Bundle will be available in the Store on Thursday, December 9, and is a one-time purchase that includes 20 packs of Alchemy: Innistrad for either 15,000 gold or 3,000 gems.
Arena Decathlon
With ten events across fifteen days and amazing prizes, Arena Decathlon will test your skills in a range of MTG Arena‘s game modes with a chance to score a chariot-load of rewards in the Arena Decathlon Finals—including one copy of each card in the upcoming Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty set (available upon release)!
Earn tokens from each event from the schedule below. Collect three tokens from different events to claim one Arena Decathlon Finals entry. Earn six tokens from six different events and get two Finals entries. Eight tokens from different Arena Decathlon events will get you three Finals entries!
Shoot the moon by claiming a token from all ten Arena Decathlon events, and not only will you get three entries to the Arena Decathlon Finals but also an invitation to the February Qualifier Weekend!
December 18–21
- Alchemy
- Phantom Innistrad Sealed (three packs of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and three packs of Innistrad: Crimson Vow)
December 21–24
- Phantom Innistrad: Crimson Vow Traditional Draft
- New player decks
December 24–27
- Phantom Zendikar Rising Bot Draft
- Historic Artisan
December 27–30
- Historic
- Alchemy Singleton
December 30–January 1
- Traditional Standard
- Phantom Strixhaven: School of Mages Turbo Draft
Visit the Arena Decathlon article for all the event details, plus the huge list of Finals prizes!
New Play Blade Arrives
There’s a refreshed play blade coming to MTG Arena that will make finding events and replaying your last game mode a breeze!
Jay Parker reveals updates—including Alchemy info—coming to MTG Arena in his latest State of the Game article. Check it out!
Historic Brawl Bans
With the Alchemy game update, the following cards will be banned in Historic Brawl:
These cards have been overly prevalent in main decks, and each one either exploits or pushes against one of the primary elements of the format: gameplay focusing on a single important permanent, Singleton deck building, or color restrictions.
Although rebalancing is now a tool at our disposal, we intend to preserve the spirit of any rebalanced card. For these three cards in Historic Brawl, this still presents a problem, as rebalancing would likely either result in an unsatisfying card or be ineffective at addressing the issue. In cases such as this, bans are still warranted.
Event Schedule
Midweek Magic
- December 7–8: Rule of Law
- December 14–15: Alchemy Singleton
- December 21–22: Historic Pauper
- December 28–29: One for All
Quick Draft
- November 26–December 10: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
- December 10–24: Kaldheim
- December 24–January 7: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Arena Decathlon
- See the scheduled events on the Arena Decathlon page.
Qualifier Weekend
- December 18: Day 1 (must qualify through previous play)
- Format: Innistrad: Crimson Vow Traditional Draft (Best-of-Three)
- December 19: Day 2 (must qualify during Day 1 to participate)
- Format: Innistrad: Crimson Vow Traditional Draft (Best-of-Three)
Other Events
- December 9–17: Welcome to Alchemy!
- January 6–21: Arena Cube Draft
- January 6–21: Arena Cube Traditional Draft
December 2021 Ranked Season
The December 2021 Ranked Season begins November 30 at 12:05 p.m. PT (20:05 UTC) and ends on December 31 at 12 p.m. PT (20:00 UTC).
- Bronze Reward: 1 Innistrad: Crimson Vow pack
- Silver Reward: 1 Innistrad: Crimson Vow pack + 500 Gold
- Gold Reward: 2 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 Gold + Thirst for Discovery card style
- Platinum Reward: 3 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 Gold + Thirst for Discovery card style + Kessig Wolfrider card style
- Diamond Reward: 4 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 Gold + Thirst for Discovery card style + Kessig Wolfrider card style
- Mythic Reward: 5 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 Gold + Thirst for Discovery card style + Kessig Wolfrider card style
