Post by Xxsuperheroxx on Feb 6, 2022 2:17:41 GMT -6
mtg-arena-state-game-alchemy-2021-12-02
ALCHEMY
Alchemy is a new digital-only format. It uses the card pool of Standard as a base, but it extends that by adding rebalanced cards and digital-only cards.
Alchemy launched with eleven rebalanced cards from the current Standard and the Alchemy: Innistrad supplemental set, which adds around 60 totally new cards with mechanics that could only work well in digital Magic.
ORIGINS OF ALCHEMY
Introducing a new format like this is a big change, and it's one we've been thinking and working on for some time now. For the last several years, players have been coming to MTG Arena for fast, fun digital Magic, and the play rate has been intense—each day, we see millions of matches of Magic on MTG Arena.
One of the key things we've learned from watching all of this play is that digital-first Magic players engage with the game slightly differently than tabletop players do. This is the same pattern we see across Magic play, and one of the main ways Magic has grown over the last several years is by embracing the many different ways that players love to play the game. From Commander players to collectors, from Standard and Modern to Pioneer, Historic, and beyond, we're working to create more products built for how every group likes to play and engage with Magic.
Alchemy is built for our 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 us 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 and engaging every time players sit down to play.
Alchemy is simply an additional way to play, offering another option for players who want a new metagame and new strategies to conquer, who want a faster rate of evolution and change in that metagame, and who want a format that can work like a digital game.
ALCHEMICAL COMPONENTS
Alchemy begins with all the cards in the Standard card pool and rotates on the same cadence, and then it adds in new features with rebalanced cards and cards with digital-only mechanics from supplemental sets like Alchemy: Innistrad. It also brings a new approach to digital-only formats across MTG Arena. We think these new features will help us keep digital formats fair and fun, so the rebalanced cards and new cards in Alchemy: Innistrad will also be legal in Historic, Historic Brawl, and similar digital-only formats.
Non-digital formats, like Standard and the Limited formats for any Standard sets, will not change at all in this process. They will continue to use the normal, printed versions of each card, and the cards from Alchemy: Innistrad is not be legal there.
REBALANCED CARDS
Banned & Restricted have been rebalanced several digital-only cards from Jumpstart: Historic Horizons. Alchemy builds on this and extends it, creating a format where Wizards can rebalance cards that have printed equivalents as well. Some of these are nerfs, bringing cards that had an outsized impact on the metagame back into the intended balance—still strong, but no longer dominating the field.
ALCHEMY: INNISTRAD
In addition to the rebalanced cards, Alchemy also includes around 60 new cards found in Alchemy: Innistrad, a digital-only supplemental set featuring new cards and many new mechanics. Most of these cards are set on Innistrad, where fans will see some familiar characters, and a few of them call back to earlier sets in the current rotation.
Packs in the MTG Arena Store
These packs work just like normal store packs, but because Alchemy: Innistrad doesn't have any commons, those slots are filled with Innistrad: Crimson Vow commons. Duplicate protection has been extended a bit in these packs as well; once you have collected a playset of all rare cards in Alchemy: Innistrad, the rare slot will provide uncollected Innistrad: Crimson Vow rares. Once you've collected four copies of all rares for Innistrad: Crimson Vow, you'll receive 20 gems as usual. This process applies to mythic rares as well; once you have complete play sets of Alchemy: Innistrad mythic rares, you'll receive Innistrad: Crimson Vow mythic rares and then 40 gems.
Going forward, each Standard set will have a supplemental Alchemy set of around 30 cards that will be available about a month after the main set releases. These cards will all rotate out of Alchemy with the set they are based on, though after rotation, they will continue to be playable in Historic.
PLAYING ALCHEMY
With our December update, Alchemy joins Standard and Historic as one of the main formats on MTG Arena. It will offer all the same queue options, like ranked and unranked or Best-of-One and Best-of-Three, and it will also be used in a variety of events. Ranked play in Constructed Alchemy increases the same Constructed rank used in Standard and Historic, so players are able to move between different formats without hurting their ranked progress.
Any Standard deck that doesn't use the rebalanced cards is ready to go for Alchemy, and any deck using the rebalanced cards will just need to swap in the new, rebalanced versions that players have been granted. But to really experience Alchemy, you'll want to include some of the new cards as well. To help every player get this experience, and to celebrate the launch of Alchemy, when you login after the update, you will receive three Alchemy: Innistrad packs and several rare (or better) individual card rewards.
As a main format, wizards will also be supporting Alchemy with competitive events—the Qualifier Weekend from the December ranked season will use Alchemy, and there will be an Alchemy Arena Open in January. We will continue offering competitive events in Standard and Historic as well, but Alchemy will regularly be part of the mix.
PLAY BLADE UPDATE
With the addition of all the new queues and events for Alchemy, wizards update their "play" menu to allow players to find the mode they are looking for more easily among all the new options. The existing play menu (play blade) is functional, but the lists of queues and events can turn into a "wall of text" that is hard to parse.
With this release, it will get a makeover.
The new features and flow:
Events tab
Under the flag icon, the Events tab now shows visual panels for each event, and any events you are actively playing will automatically display at the top.
Find Match tab
Under the table icon, the Find Match tab lets you easily find the Constructed match you're looking for. Select ranked, unranked, or Brawl via the tabs, adjust Best-of-One or Best-of-Three, and choose the format you want. These are all the same options and queues as before (plus the additions from this update), but now rearranged for easier access.
Last Played tab
Finally, under the bookmark icon, the Last Played tab will let you requeue in an instant for the mode you last played.
ALCHEMY
Alchemy is a new digital-only format. It uses the card pool of Standard as a base, but it extends that by adding rebalanced cards and digital-only cards.
Alchemy launched with eleven rebalanced cards from the current Standard and the Alchemy: Innistrad supplemental set, which adds around 60 totally new cards with mechanics that could only work well in digital Magic.
ORIGINS OF ALCHEMY
Introducing a new format like this is a big change, and it's one we've been thinking and working on for some time now. For the last several years, players have been coming to MTG Arena for fast, fun digital Magic, and the play rate has been intense—each day, we see millions of matches of Magic on MTG Arena.
One of the key things we've learned from watching all of this play is that digital-first Magic players engage with the game slightly differently than tabletop players do. This is the same pattern we see across Magic play, and one of the main ways Magic has grown over the last several years is by embracing the many different ways that players love to play the game. From Commander players to collectors, from Standard and Modern to Pioneer, Historic, and beyond, we're working to create more products built for how every group likes to play and engage with Magic.
Alchemy is built for our 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 us 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 and engaging every time players sit down to play.
Alchemy is simply an additional way to play, offering another option for players who want a new metagame and new strategies to conquer, who want a faster rate of evolution and change in that metagame, and who want a format that can work like a digital game.
ALCHEMICAL COMPONENTS
Alchemy begins with all the cards in the Standard card pool and rotates on the same cadence, and then it adds in new features with rebalanced cards and cards with digital-only mechanics from supplemental sets like Alchemy: Innistrad. It also brings a new approach to digital-only formats across MTG Arena. We think these new features will help us keep digital formats fair and fun, so the rebalanced cards and new cards in Alchemy: Innistrad will also be legal in Historic, Historic Brawl, and similar digital-only formats.
Non-digital formats, like Standard and the Limited formats for any Standard sets, will not change at all in this process. They will continue to use the normal, printed versions of each card, and the cards from Alchemy: Innistrad is not be legal there.
REBALANCED CARDS
Banned & Restricted have been rebalanced several digital-only cards from Jumpstart: Historic Horizons. Alchemy builds on this and extends it, creating a format where Wizards can rebalance cards that have printed equivalents as well. Some of these are nerfs, bringing cards that had an outsized impact on the metagame back into the intended balance—still strong, but no longer dominating the field.
ALCHEMY: INNISTRAD
In addition to the rebalanced cards, Alchemy also includes around 60 new cards found in Alchemy: Innistrad, a digital-only supplemental set featuring new cards and many new mechanics. Most of these cards are set on Innistrad, where fans will see some familiar characters, and a few of them call back to earlier sets in the current rotation.
Packs in the MTG Arena Store
These packs work just like normal store packs, but because Alchemy: Innistrad doesn't have any commons, those slots are filled with Innistrad: Crimson Vow commons. Duplicate protection has been extended a bit in these packs as well; once you have collected a playset of all rare cards in Alchemy: Innistrad, the rare slot will provide uncollected Innistrad: Crimson Vow rares. Once you've collected four copies of all rares for Innistrad: Crimson Vow, you'll receive 20 gems as usual. This process applies to mythic rares as well; once you have complete play sets of Alchemy: Innistrad mythic rares, you'll receive Innistrad: Crimson Vow mythic rares and then 40 gems.
Going forward, each Standard set will have a supplemental Alchemy set of around 30 cards that will be available about a month after the main set releases. These cards will all rotate out of Alchemy with the set they are based on, though after rotation, they will continue to be playable in Historic.
PLAYING ALCHEMY
With our December update, Alchemy joins Standard and Historic as one of the main formats on MTG Arena. It will offer all the same queue options, like ranked and unranked or Best-of-One and Best-of-Three, and it will also be used in a variety of events. Ranked play in Constructed Alchemy increases the same Constructed rank used in Standard and Historic, so players are able to move between different formats without hurting their ranked progress.
Any Standard deck that doesn't use the rebalanced cards is ready to go for Alchemy, and any deck using the rebalanced cards will just need to swap in the new, rebalanced versions that players have been granted. But to really experience Alchemy, you'll want to include some of the new cards as well. To help every player get this experience, and to celebrate the launch of Alchemy, when you login after the update, you will receive three Alchemy: Innistrad packs and several rare (or better) individual card rewards.
As a main format, wizards will also be supporting Alchemy with competitive events—the Qualifier Weekend from the December ranked season will use Alchemy, and there will be an Alchemy Arena Open in January. We will continue offering competitive events in Standard and Historic as well, but Alchemy will regularly be part of the mix.
PLAY BLADE UPDATE
With the addition of all the new queues and events for Alchemy, wizards update their "play" menu to allow players to find the mode they are looking for more easily among all the new options. The existing play menu (play blade) is functional, but the lists of queues and events can turn into a "wall of text" that is hard to parse.
With this release, it will get a makeover.
The new features and flow:
Events tab
Under the flag icon, the Events tab now shows visual panels for each event, and any events you are actively playing will automatically display at the top.
Find Match tab
Under the table icon, the Find Match tab lets you easily find the Constructed match you're looking for. Select ranked, unranked, or Brawl via the tabs, adjust Best-of-One or Best-of-Three, and choose the format you want. These are all the same options and queues as before (plus the additions from this update), but now rearranged for easier access.
Last Played tab
Finally, under the bookmark icon, the Last Played tab will let you requeue in an instant for the mode you last played.