Of course you are not making it up lol
It says so on the card. It’s right there in the card text lol 
General Alchemy
- Thread starter Velrun
- Start date
Of course you are not making it up lol
It says so on the card. It’s right there in the card text lol I think it has a lot of gain. Who is the starting player is one of the most game-deciding factors in Magic and it’s random in the first game of the match. Trying to even out that big gap is probably very healthy for the game overall.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I do think mitigating the play/draw disparity is important, I think it's a better idea to do so with cards that break serve without asking who won the die roll on T10
So more like Land Tax cards? But not so powerful maybe.
I also like the idea of a card or cycle of cards that gets better if you are down 0-1.
Who reads cards? Not me.Of course you are not making it up lol
Big fan of this. Seems like an easy way to get some (proxied) power in my Cube without disrupting the power level. My biggest issue, weirdly enough, is the stupid finality counter that's not spelled out on the card, but I guess I can fix that if I'm proxying it anyways.
Again, super easy to handle in paper. A 5MV Vindicate on a 4/2 menace (even if it looks like it should fly) is pretty good, even with a restrictive mana cost. This one draws you a card, and the card you're drawing is guaranteed to be good enough to spend a mana on! I like it.
Look how they massacred my girl
could they seriously not have the art....not look like this?
This alchemy set feels particularly weird knowing that they probably used a lot of the BIG cards that would've been in the standalone set for it.
Finality counter is not spelled out because neither are all the others like lifelink counter, hexproof counter, deathtouch counter etc.
And finality is deciduous which means you’ll see it all the time.
People know what finality does in the back of their heads just like they know what menace does. And if they don’t then they soon will because they keyword is here to stay even though it is very new still.
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@MilesOfficial
This art is bad ass I would not like to approach Vona as my enemy on the battlefield.
This art is bad ass
I would not like to approach Vona as my enemy on the battlefield.ugh, more sick designs today
This is what Lorehold should've been doing even more in the Commander decks. There's zero reason it can't be in paper.
Ignoring the perpetual ability (which is easy enough to track here, because it tracks separately from the specific card), I love this. I'd really enjoy a 2/1 for 1 that has Escape for 2 and 2 cards.
I'm five years old so I love all the storm crow cards they do in Alchemy and like this having storm as well. They've attached it to a much more playable card than my beloved Crow Storm as well. This is easy to port to paper as well, no changes needed (other than to tell your players that these tokens technically go to the graveyard, but it's fine if they don't know that / do that in 95% of games).
I just wish this was printed in paper. I'd 100% play it.
Really really really like this effect. It's like a more flexible mix of Scout for Survivors and No One Left Behind. Would 100% play this if it were "real" and can easily address the "perpetually" with +1/+1 counters for 99% of games. They make this stuff obtuse on purpose to avoid people like me from actually printing them out, but it's functionally the same so so so much of the time.
This one actually made me mad! I want a kill spell that's just 2 mana to unconditionally kill anything 4mv or less. It doesn't exist in the game!! Again, the life gain is not really that important, though it is nice. I'd love this card just as much without it, and would even be happy to reveal creatures if I wanted to gain the life.
Super Pyroclasm. This effect would be earth-shattering at 2mv, and while my gut reaction is that this is too oppressive, I think control decks and Gruul midrange could really use a cheaper Anger of the Gods considering the creature power creep of the last 5 years. The unearth part is kind of interesting (and provides some late-game counter-play from opponents) but does not feel super relevant here.
Maybe this is my call to finally sleeve up Strategy, Schmategy.
This is the kind of card Alchemy makes sense for, but again, would be totally fun in paper as well. You could make piles of the leftover cards in your Cube that this can hit for each value of X, which is not too complicated from a practical level.
If I ever go past the line and start using Alchemy cards for real, this will make it in my list.
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I hate having cards designed exclusively for Alchemy. At least put them out in a Secret Lair for us weirdos!!
This is what Lorehold should've been doing even more in the Commander decks. There's zero reason it can't be in paper.
Ignoring the perpetual ability (which is easy enough to track here, because it tracks separately from the specific card), I love this. I'd really enjoy a 2/1 for 1 that has Escape for 2 and 2 cards.
I'm five years old so I love all the storm crow cards they do in Alchemy and like this having storm as well. They've attached it to a much more playable card than my beloved Crow Storm as well. This is easy to port to paper as well, no changes needed (other than to tell your players that these tokens technically go to the graveyard, but it's fine if they don't know that / do that in 95% of games).
I just wish this was printed in paper. I'd 100% play it.
Really really really like this effect. It's like a more flexible mix of Scout for Survivors and No One Left Behind. Would 100% play this if it were "real" and can easily address the "perpetually" with +1/+1 counters for 99% of games. They make this stuff obtuse on purpose to avoid people like me from actually printing them out, but it's functionally the same so so so much of the time.
This one actually made me mad! I want a kill spell that's just 2 mana to unconditionally kill anything 4mv or less. It doesn't exist in the game!! Again, the life gain is not really that important, though it is nice. I'd love this card just as much without it, and would even be happy to reveal creatures if I wanted to gain the life.
Super Pyroclasm. This effect would be earth-shattering at 2mv, and while my gut reaction is that this is too oppressive, I think control decks and Gruul midrange could really use a cheaper Anger of the Gods considering the creature power creep of the last 5 years. The unearth part is kind of interesting (and provides some late-game counter-play from opponents) but does not feel super relevant here.
Maybe this is my call to finally sleeve up Strategy, Schmategy.
This is the kind of card Alchemy makes sense for, but again, would be totally fun in paper as well. You could make piles of the leftover cards in your Cube that this can hit for each value of X, which is not too complicated from a practical level.
If I ever go past the line and start using Alchemy cards for real, this will make it in my list.
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I hate having cards designed exclusively for Alchemy. At least put them out in a Secret Lair for us weirdos!!
Worth testing interesting
A better balanced take on Pest Infestation, which is more than welcome! The versatility and decision making involved make it far more interesting than the raw power of Pest Infestation. Unlike other designs, this seems properly balanced if you conjure creatures from the cube. It doesn't seem overpowered, but it doesn't seem weak, either.
While Pest Infestation is a token maker and this one isn't, I'm very temped to make the switch. Interestingly, this one is actually weakest against artifact decks because they can sacrifice a trinket. The main issue is that Pest Infestation has clear synergies while Variable Solutions is, de facto, a good stuff card.
Very neat design worth examining. The most interesting part is that it produces discard fodder with each activation, making it similar to Master of Death, Squee, Goblin Nabob or Life from the Loam. In fact, it stacks with itself, costs a single mana and the +1/+1 is very relevant on cards like Dreadhorde Arcanist.
Now, the problem is that it requires, not just instant and sorceries, but spells that target so it's likely to run into a worse version of the Young Pyromancer problem. But since I have an empty slot in my Orzhov section, I'm more than willing to test it.
Neat but not too interesting:
This is a Frilled Mystic variant that can be played for 3 mana. The issue is the conjuring. If you conjure cards from the cube, it can be very, very strong. If you conjure random cards, it's going to suck.
This is a Hedron Crab that doesn't get killed and then turns into its own wincon at the end. Hybrid cost is great, but it feels a bit too self-contained for my tastes.
I would like to try Bridge from Below, but it's such an odd card it doesn't quite work out. Well, this dude creates several of them and even exiles your opponent's creatures to stick them in there. Middling design aside, the real issue is the life gain since it has no synergy with graveyard decks at all.
A better Bloodsoaked Champion in white that doesn't get obsolete as the game goes on. While the tracking isn't too annoying, it lacks both human and zombie synergies and I'm not actually looking for power.
Not worth the hassle:
While everyone seems to like this, I'm not sure it actually does anything. Other than Devoted Druid, what do you actually want to bring back with this card? It also faces competition from Sevinne's Reclamation and Pre-War Formalwear.
This is neat and being able to flash it in makes it versatile as a blocker but, like all prepared cards, the inherent delay limits it quite a bit. I think this is best seen as a token maker rather than a pure storm win.
You can do better with a GB slot.
Stapling a mana rock to Quiet Speculation is a very good idea. However, adding seek and the inherent narrowness of targets makes this hard to justify in cube.
This is a 2 mana spell copier like Krark, the Thumbless, but which has some advantages. It can be activated on the spot, it's harder to kill and has some value as a mana rock. The problem is the cost increase. It makes it questionable as a CA engine, limiting it to sculpting winning hands with Seething Song (+5 mana), Time Spiral (+10 mana) and Brain Freeze.
It seems like it would be good in powered cubes, though, since copying Ancestral Recall, Time Walk or even Swords to Plowshares would make it worthwhile. But Izzet is the most competitive guild in powered cubes, so I don't see it being ran.
A better Recomission, the tracking here adds little other than power, the interest is in the replicate.
A 3-damage pyroclasm is massive, the drawback is hard to gauge. For some decks, it may as well be trinket text. For others, it allows rebuying a lot of ETB effects.
Blood Age Muster
Mediocre effects not worth the digital mechanics,an overpowered titan variant with Lightning Helix rather than Lightning Bolt and two messy spellbook cards that dissapoint me. Why does The Mystical archive get funky removal, including Berserk, but also Armaggedon and Giant Growth? Why aren't the creatures of Blood Age Muster 2/2s in the first place?
Too many hoops for it to be viable. Emry is already questionable and this is limited to exiled cards and takes two turns to bring them back. It's clear it was broken as designed and then "fixed" by adding limitations until the card didn't work.
Extra (not from Alchemy)
Creating a Serra Angel token is neat but it's a very "untap with this and win" card. The companion clause seems impossible to meet unless you want to give it for free.
A better balanced take on Pest Infestation, which is more than welcome! The versatility and decision making involved make it far more interesting than the raw power of Pest Infestation. Unlike other designs, this seems properly balanced if you conjure creatures from the cube. It doesn't seem overpowered, but it doesn't seem weak, either.
While Pest Infestation is a token maker and this one isn't, I'm very temped to make the switch. Interestingly, this one is actually weakest against artifact decks because they can sacrifice a trinket. The main issue is that Pest Infestation has clear synergies while Variable Solutions is, de facto, a good stuff card.
Very neat design worth examining. The most interesting part is that it produces discard fodder with each activation, making it similar to Master of Death, Squee, Goblin Nabob or Life from the Loam. In fact, it stacks with itself, costs a single mana and the +1/+1 is very relevant on cards like Dreadhorde Arcanist.
Now, the problem is that it requires, not just instant and sorceries, but spells that target so it's likely to run into a worse version of the Young Pyromancer problem. But since I have an empty slot in my Orzhov section, I'm more than willing to test it.
Neat but not too interesting:
This is a Frilled Mystic variant that can be played for 3 mana. The issue is the conjuring. If you conjure cards from the cube, it can be very, very strong. If you conjure random cards, it's going to suck.
This is a Hedron Crab that doesn't get killed and then turns into its own wincon at the end. Hybrid cost is great, but it feels a bit too self-contained for my tastes.
I would like to try Bridge from Below, but it's such an odd card it doesn't quite work out. Well, this dude creates several of them and even exiles your opponent's creatures to stick them in there. Middling design aside, the real issue is the life gain since it has no synergy with graveyard decks at all.
A better Bloodsoaked Champion in white that doesn't get obsolete as the game goes on. While the tracking isn't too annoying, it lacks both human and zombie synergies and I'm not actually looking for power.
Not worth the hassle:
While everyone seems to like this, I'm not sure it actually does anything. Other than Devoted Druid, what do you actually want to bring back with this card? It also faces competition from Sevinne's Reclamation and Pre-War Formalwear.
This is neat and being able to flash it in makes it versatile as a blocker but, like all prepared cards, the inherent delay limits it quite a bit. I think this is best seen as a token maker rather than a pure storm win.
You can do better with a GB slot.
Stapling a mana rock to Quiet Speculation is a very good idea. However, adding seek and the inherent narrowness of targets makes this hard to justify in cube.
This is a 2 mana spell copier like Krark, the Thumbless, but which has some advantages. It can be activated on the spot, it's harder to kill and has some value as a mana rock. The problem is the cost increase. It makes it questionable as a CA engine, limiting it to sculpting winning hands with Seething Song (+5 mana), Time Spiral (+10 mana) and Brain Freeze.
It seems like it would be good in powered cubes, though, since copying Ancestral Recall, Time Walk or even Swords to Plowshares would make it worthwhile. But Izzet is the most competitive guild in powered cubes, so I don't see it being ran.
A better Recomission, the tracking here adds little other than power, the interest is in the replicate.
A 3-damage pyroclasm is massive, the drawback is hard to gauge. For some decks, it may as well be trinket text. For others, it allows rebuying a lot of ETB effects.
Like usual, most of these cards are interesting ideas with some digital-only bullshit stapled on them.
Blood Age MusterMediocre effects not worth the digital mechanics,an overpowered titan variant with Lightning Helix rather than Lightning Bolt and two messy spellbook cards that dissapoint me. Why does The Mystical archive get funky removal, including Berserk, but also Armaggedon and Giant Growth? Why aren't the creatures of Blood Age Muster 2/2s in the first place?
Too many hoops for it to be viable. Emry is already questionable and this is limited to exiled cards and takes two turns to bring them back. It's clear it was broken as designed and then "fixed" by adding limitations until the card didn't work.
Extra (not from Alchemy)
Creating a Serra Angel token is neat but it's a very "untap with this and win" card. The companion clause seems impossible to meet unless you want to give it for free.