Thread by @Metallix87

Been a while, but incoming long thread: #mtgalchemy has been up for almost three months now and, seemingly, the launch of this new digital format has been a disaster. Facing a negative reaction from the community and a poor player base, I wanted to take today to talk about it.

Note: This will not be a thread about the Magic Arena economy. I've done that thread, and said most of what I had to say on that subject already. This thread is about the other big challenges the Alchemy format is facing, and my own perspective on it's current state.

I want to start by saying upfront: I love the idea of Alchemy as a format. I think it plays to the strengths of Arena as a digital client, and I had a lot of hope for it at launch. I found most of the new cards extremely fun, and the idea of rebalancing cards was neat to me.

I actually think the initial "version" of Alchemy was pretty good. It had a unique metagame that separated it from Standard, and the decks were pretty darn fun. That said, it became clear to me that one of the problems I could see was with regards to the rebalances.

Again, I think the idea of rebalancing cards is great. I also believe that the backlash from the Historic community against Alchemy was largely overblown, since the overwhelming majority of rebalances would target cards that don't really see any play in Historic.

Yes, I know that Luminarch Aspirant saw some amount of play in the format prior to Alchemy, but it was already falling out of favor in the Humans decks, which were the primary tier decks running it.

The problem largely wasn't with nerfs, it was with the cards being buffed. I think that buffs, as a concept, are great for refreshing a meta, especially when so many cards see no actual Constructed play at all. The issue was the buffs weren't resulting in the cards being "good".

Why is this an issue? Because as time went on, we got to see more and more nerfs impacting the meta, while the buffs were not. This has come to a head now, in March, with the latest buffs having zero impact on the format, but the nerfs drastically reducing diversity.

Currently, if you hop on to Arena and into the Alchemy ranked queue, you'll see primarily modified decks from the current Standard format. In fact, there's less diversity in Alchemy than there is in Standard because of how drastically the nerfs have impacted the format.

This lack of competitive diversity is definitely a bit off-putting if you're new to the format and trying to come in from Standard. Hopefully, the upcoming Set Championship paints a brighter picture of the format than what we're seeing now, but I'm not overly optimistic.

Then we have the issue of card acquisition. Again, I'm not focusing on the economy portion of the client, but I do want to talk about the lack of Alchemy packs on both the Mastery Pass track and also as rewards for events like draft and such. Alchemy stands alone.

Without a natural way to get more access to Alchemy cards beyond spending Gold and/or Gems, or just burning through Wild Cards, there's fewer avenues for players to naturally accrue a collection of cards for the format from play time.

Of course, again, a lot of players were likely burned by how the meta shook out from nerfs (and also the release of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, a very powerful set), as many of the Alchemy cards have no real homes in the format at present.

Then we have the issue of the negative player reception to the cards and format. I want to be clear about this: The overwhelming majority of negative opinions are coming from people who seemingly have played little-to-no Alchemy, and just refuse to give it an honest chance.

It's so bad that I actually saw someone on Reddit ask Wizards to remove all of the free Alchemy cards they've received from their account so as to prevent it from "tainting" their Arena account. You really can't make this stuff up. Wizards obliged them, of course.

Why is this? A lot of paper players have latched on to the notion that change is bad, and that digital Magic should always reflect exactly what the paper experience is. Magic Arena should not take advantage of the pros associated with a digital game in modern times.

To go even further, a lot of them believe, and will tell you overtly, that digital Magic isn't even "real Magic" because of the lack of "the Gathering" aspect. It becomes difficult to try to sway people like this when they so vehemently refuse to even consider giving it a try.

Lastly, there are those who believe Alchemy is a "cash grab" by Wizards. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can make that argument for basically any and every Magic product released. The reason it rears up for any given product is because it's code for "I dislike this."

This goes back to an earlier thread I made about how the community, as a whole, really needs to change how we talk about this game we all love. All Magic is fun, because Magic is a fun game, as I usually try to say again and again.

I don't know what the solutions to a lot of these issues are, but I feel the upcoming Alchemy: Neon Dynasty release, which arrives on Arena in mid-March, could be a make-or-break product for the format. A lot is riding on it and the Pro Tour to revitalize interest in Alchemy.

The one issue I do believe Wizards can directly do something about is card acquisition. The Arena client should add Alchemy boosters to the free side of the Mastery track, and potentially add them as rewards for more events on the client.

Another thing that could potentially help is making card buffs a bit more substantial, to ensure that the rebalanced cards do stand a chance of seeing some serious play in the meta.

I want Alchemy to succeed. I think there's a lot of room to do cool things with digital-only cards and card rebalances. I know some Limited streamers have suggested an Alchemy-equivalent for draft as a possibility, and I do think there's potential there if Alchemy can be saved.

I'd love to read any of your thoughts on what could help Alchemy recover from it's initial slump. And no, I'm not interested in the empty "ditch Alchemy" takes, I've seen enough of those for a lifetime. Let's talk about positive ways to help this new format succeed and shine.