Alchemy
Alchemy is a digital-only rotating format and play mode for Magic: The Gathering Arena that was introduced in December 2021 as a fast and ever-evolving experience.[1][2] It intentionally diverges from the metagame of Standard and other formats to provide an alternative experience to play.[3]
 | |||
| Where to Play | |||
Paper | MTGO | Arena | |
| Constructed | |||
| Players | 2 | ||
| Life | 20 points | ||
| Decks | 60+ cards (plus sideboard, ≤4 card copies) | ||
| Rules | Best-of-one & Best-of-three | ||
| Scryfall Statistics | |||
|
3642 legal cards  6.5%  14.5%  14.2%  14.7%  14.5%  14.1%  21.6% | |||
|
1 banned card 100% | |||
Description
Alchemy was built for digital-first players, who consume content more quickly but also want a metagame that stays fresh and evolves. As a digital-only format, Alchemy lets Wizards of the Coast add new cards after a set release, offer new mechanics that can only work in a digital game, and rebalance cards to keep the environment interesting.
Alchemy begins with all the cards in the Standard card pool and adds in new features:
- Rebalanced cards.[5]
- Cards with digital-only mechanics, as released in supplemental digital sets.
The format can be played in Best-of-One and Best-of-Three matches, both ranked and unranked, and is also featured in special events. Alchemy cards, recognizable by the holofoil A stamp, are also used in other digital-only formats like Historic and Historic Brawl.
History
Alchemy was inducted as a tournament format starting with the Neon Dynasty Championship in 2022.[6]
In 2023, the first major divergence to Standard occurred when The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, a straight-to-Modern product, was made legal in Alchemy. The format further diverged upon the release of Wilds of Eldraine as Standard transitioned to a three-year rotation while Alchemy kept the two-year rotation.[7]
Starting with Magic: The Gathering Foundations, MTG Arena began shifting away from Alchemy for new players in favor of Standard.[8]
Alchemy expansions
Starting with Innistrad: Crimson Vow, most in-universe premier sets feature an adjacent Alchemy set of around 30 cards that is available roughly one month after the release of the main set. These cards all rotate out of Alchemy with the set they are based on, though after rotation they can still be played with in Brawl, Historic, and Timeless.
To date, no Universes Beyond set has ever received a corresponding Alchemy expansion (note that expansions based on Dungeons & Dragons are not considered to be Universes Beyond). However, cards from Universes Beyond sets may still be rebalanced (e.g., A-The One Ring).
Unlike most Alchemy expansions, Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate was a full-sized draftable set that released as a counterpart to the paper set Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate.
Set legality
Cards from the following sets are currently legal in Alchemy:[9]
It is currently not announced how Alchemy will be affected by the shift to a calendar year rotation that was announced for Standard. The schedule below is the most likely result.
^† Upcoming set, not released yet.
Banned list
- Monstrous Rage was banned on November 12, 2024 as part of several changes aimed at de-powering the aggro red deck based around Cacophony Scamp, Heartfire Hero and Leyline of Resonance.[10] Wizards of the Coast recognized that the deck's speed and ability to end games as quickly as turn two was having a detrimental effect on the format.
- Sewer-veillance Cam was banned on May 18th, 2026.
Previously banned cards
- See also: Banned and restricted cards/Timeline
- Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki[11] was banned due to its impending rotation and high play rates in Historic; rebalancing it for the months remaining would have impacted Historic's use of it, and so it was deemed more pertinent to be banned.
- Grinning Ignus is the only other card to have been banned in Alchemy.[12] Digital play design found that any rebalancing would eliminate the combo with Racketeer Boss in the same way as banning Grinning Ignus and thus banning was the correct option.[13] Racketeer Boss was subsequently rebalanced itself to remove the repeatable treasure creation.[14]
Suspended list
No cards are currently suspended in Alchemy.
Previously suspended cards
- Leyline of Resonance was suspended from October 22 to November 12, 2024 while the Arena team worked on a rebalance for the card.[15][10] Its ability to provide explosive starts allowed aggro decks to win the game on turn two before an opponent could interact.[16] It was unsuspended as A-Leyline of Resonance.
- Cori-Steel Cutter was suspended on June 30, 2025 pending a rebalance due to the ease with which it could create and empower tokens and the difficulty of answering it efficiently.[17] It was unsuspended when its rebalanced version, A-Cori-Steel Cutter, was released alongside Alchemy: Edge of Eternities on August 19, 2025.[18]
Flavor text
Many Alchemy cards feature flavor text that is not visible on the cards themselves, but rather in a separate pop-up box. This text is not recorded on Scryfall.
References
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (December 2, 2021). "Introducing Alchemy: A New Way To Play MTG Arena". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-12-02.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (December 2, 2021). "MTG Arena: State - Alchemy". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-12-02.
- ↑ David Humpherys (December 8, 2021). "Designing for Alchemy". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-12-08.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (May 25, 2022). "MTG Arena Announcements, May 25, 2022". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25.
- ↑ Donald Smith (December 2, 2021). "Alchemy Rebalancing Philosospy". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-12-02.
- ↑ Mani Davoudi (March 8, 2022). "The Neon Dynasty Championship Alchemy Primer". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2022-03-07.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (May 7, 2023). "Updates to Standard and Alchemy on MTG Arena". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ MTG Arena Play Stream (Video). Weekly MTG. YouTube (August 9, 2024).
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast. "Alchemy Format". magicthegathering.com.
- ↑ a b Clayton Kroh, Jay Parker (November 11, 2024). "MTG Arena Announcements – November 11, 2024". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Donald Smith (July 18, 2023). "Alchemy Rebalancing for July 18, 2023". magicthegathering.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2023.
- ↑ Donald Smith (July 5, 2022). "Alchemy Rebalancing for July 7, 2022". magicthegathering.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022.
- ↑ Sean Murray (July 5, 2022). "Magic: The Gathering Arena Hits Grinning Ignus In Alchemy's First Ban". TheGamer.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (August 10, 2022). "Alchemy Rebalancing for August 11, 2022". magicthegathering.com. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (October 22, 2024). "MTG Arena Banned and Restricted Announcement - October 22, 2024". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ u/Avengedx (September 28, 2024). "[Discussion] DSK Day 4: What's working and what isn't?". Reddit.
- ↑ Carmen Klomparens, Jadine Klomparens, Arya Karamchandani, Gavin Verhey & Dave Finseth (June 30, 2025). "Banned and Restricted Announcement – June 30, 2025". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (August 18, 2025). "MTG Arena Announcements, August 18, 2025". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2025-10-04.