A couple of months ago we were here wondering the heist mechanic would be too strong in post-rotation Alchemy and if they would nerf it. With the release of Alchemy Bloomburrow we can say we have received the first answers, as WotC seems to have compensated for the power of this ability with new cards that are equally powerful, releasing a set that also, especially thanks to the tribal factor of Bloomburrow, has an above-average amount of playables.
But which are the best ones?
After a week, for a format not excessively played like Alchemy, we are still in an experimental phase and it's still early to identify exactly what is impacting the meta the most, but of course there are already several brews online, as well as cards that are objectively strong and with high potential.
So I'll make a mix, taking into account both what is being played and the raw power, analyzing what I think are the best cards and establishing a ranking... Just to spice things up!
#8 Cindercone Smite
I'll start right away with what I already know is an unpopular opinion, since Cindercone Smite is probably not strong enough to deserve this position, but it is in terms of innovation!
If the metagame is still aggro or with small creatures like it is now, this card is definitely strong by eliminating the enemy 1 or 2 drop on the first turn and taking the tempo advantage creating a Treasure token. To better understand how strong it is, just imagine putting Lotus Petal into play on turn 1 without spending cards! Of course, you have to be on the draw for this, but in best-of-three you can always choose not to start, building the deck according to this strategy and perhaps playing: Captivating Crossroads, Cindercone Smite, Shove Aside and Phantasmal Extraction. The opponent will choose to start in 99% of cases and therefore you will be in an advantageous situation even if you go second, without forgetting the related additional draw!
I think this card pushes the idea of rebalancing the advantage of who starts to the next level and is quite innovative, while my only concern is that it's a sorcery! 2 damage instead of 3 is not a big deal in this format, but with valiant and prowess around it's very important to be able to interact at instant speed and this makes Cindercone Smite a bit clunky sometimes.
#7 Awestruck Cygnet
During spoilers I heard people talking about Awestruck Cygnet as Savannah Lions maybe with an upgrade. Well, while that's technically correct, the comparison is misplaced because you'll never play it because it's Savannah Lions… But at most a better Serra Angel!
It wants a specific deck around it, because it needs to grow as fast as possible, but as soon as that happens, Awestruck Cygnet is a huge threat, as are all the copies of it that won't need any further setup.
It's the best friend of the new Ace Flockbringer and Mockingbird, because in both cases you get a flying copy of it that increases the intensity ability by 2, as the copy also triggers for itself. Or it could be copied with the offspring provided by Cottontail Caretaker, although in this case you must be aware that the 1/1 copy is a token and not a card / duplicate and therefore, according to the rules of this mechanic, its Intensity will never increase and it will always remain 1/1. However, the token still triggers on every flier and is still useful for increasing the intensity of the real cards.
#6 Euru, Acorn Scrounger
It reminds most people of Rusko, Clockmaker since they both conjure a 3-mana artifact into play! Unfortunately, I think Euru, Acorn Scrounger will see much less play, since it needs Foods and a lot of tokens in general to work. Of course, Squirrels is the first deck that comes to mind where to put this card, but you might also prefer a more control shell since Chitterspitter will take care of populating the board with Squirrels and, as said, the important thing is the Food tokens!
It synergizes with the new Tasteful Offering, seeking cards, as well as with Scavenger's Talent, which at level 3 will also be able to reanimate it.
Just like Rusko, Clockmaker, in fact, Euru, Acorn Scrounger can easily be removed by the opponent, but they will still have to deal with Chitterspitter which can take over the game turn by turn.
#5 Recruit Instructor
Boros Mice was already one of the strongest and most popular decks, especially when it comes to best-of-one, and now it has gained another new toy! With already a lot of cards to choose from, the arrival of Recruit Instructor has left no chance for the inclusion of the new Brave Meadowguard, even though it's a fine card and maybe will see play in some mono-red version, but even for Instructor life is not that simple!
Despite being an excellent mythic, in fact, it's certainly less good than both Emberheart Challenger and Manifold Mouse, which are fully central to the deck's strategy, as well as Prairie Survivalist which, despite not being a Mouse, allows you to trigger valiant every turn and buff the team, especially Heartfire Hero.
Its Valiant ability is ok, although you'll often have to prioritize that of other Mice, while the trigger on every attack is really annoying for the opponent as it'll allow you to choose between a series of good tricks and never run out!
#4 Cottontail Caretaker
And after a mythic, here comes the ranking with an uncommon: Cottontail Caretaker! After Impetuous Lootmonger we understood that once the slots for rares and mythics run out they start printing them as simple uncommons, and, speaking of Lootmonger, this card features an interesting anti-heist design! In fact, it can only give offspring to a white creature and this makes it a bad heist target for the opponent since most of the time they are not playing that color, except for Boros and Mardu which can include some heist cards.
Its creature type makes it a natural inclusion in Selesnya Rabbits, ideally to offspring another 2-drop to curve out on turn 3, like Valley Questcaller. It's also possible to copy Burrowguard Mentor / Regal Bunnicorn, but be aware that its token will remain 1/1 and will not grow based on the number of pieces you have like the original one.
The list of white cards, giving a huge value if duplicated at the cost of only 1 extra mana, is large, and among the best I want to highlight: Nurturing Pixie, Cottontail Caretaker, Dedicated Dollmaker, Prairie Survivalist, Essence Channeler, Stalwart Realmwarden, Sandcloud Harbinger, Aven Interrupter, Ace Flockbringer, Darkstar Banisher and Jewel Mine Overseer.
Cottontail Caretaker fixes your mana curve by almost acting as a mana sink, since you choose which piece to give offspring to and the latter is also cumulative! It's possible to cast Cottontail Caretaker to pass the ability to another Cottontail Caretaker in hand, which will then give two instances of offspring to another creature. Once the latter has been played and created 2 additional copies, it can then be returned to hand with Nurturing Pixie and generate an insane late game value!
#3 Leaf-Leap Guide
During the spoiler session, I would have put this creature in first place without even thinking about it! Its power level is absurd, growing with every creature that hits your battlefield, including tokens and therefore everything with offspring, and permanently boosting each of those creatures in an improved "lord effect".
If not removed immediately it risks becoming huge in a very short time and thanks to vigilance can completely block the enemy race. Vigilance also allows you to activate its ability at the end of the opponent's turn for value, since the bounced creature will not lose its buff, or to save something targeted by an enemy removal.
Its only flaw is perhaps the Simic colors that do not favor the swarm too much and Leaf-Leap Guide at the moment is only seeing play in Frogs which is a good deck, but not exceptional. Who knows if this card will be able to emerge because the potential is all there and it could even be considered for the Historic format.
#2 Three Tree Battalion
Silver medal for Three Tree Battalion, a new version of Collected Company, although barring special cases it will be less good! The copy of the chosen creature is only 1/1, so it doesn't impact the board excessively and must compensate with an enter triggered ability or powerful abilities in general. However, it still has advantages such as needing to find only one creature among the first 6 cards, thus greatly reducing the chance of missing and being able to afford a more moderate number of creatures in the deck.
In fact, it's possible to play it basically in any white creature deck: Orzhov Bats, Azorius Fliers, but also Boros Mice, despite a good number of tricks and removals, without worrying excessively about the ratio between creatures and spells as instead happens with the green counterpart Collected Company.
Also note that, even if its effect of course wants to recall offspring by creating a 1/1 with the same abilities, it conjures a duplicate on the battlefield and not a token as for offspring. The latter is a card in all respects and therefore can also be bounced to hand or exiled with Dedicated Dollmaker, returning its artifact copy with the original power and toughness.
#1 Buxton, Decorated Host
And the winner of my personal ranking is: Buxton, Decorated Host! The Convoke strategy didn't even have time to cry for the recently rotated out Knight-Errant of Eos because, thanks also to Emmara, Voice of the Conclave and the Rabbits that go wide, Buxton was immediately a worthy replacement, finding in this strategy its perfect home and bringing Selesnya Rabbits up between the top decks.
Making two pieces in the first two turns, it can be cast starting from the third, putting another permanent directly into play and overwhelming with advantage the opponent who in the meantime has already fallen quite a bit behind. Even more so if it was convoked with 3+ creatures, being able to seek Emmara, Voice of the Conclave that gives you a convoke spell directly from her spellbook, for a 3-for-1 without any effort.
Unlike Knight-Errant of Eos which provides card advantage when it enters and then remains only a 4/4, Buxton, which has already triggered, still needs to be removed since its ability triggers at the end of each of your turns and can continue to make trouble.
It checks tapped creatures, so at worst you can just attack with all the others without having to expose the Rabbit Noble in combat, but often it will be even better than that! In fact, you'll just need to tap the creatures to convoke Emmara, Voice of the Conclave, a spell from her spellbook, or tap them for Warden of the Inner Sky's activated ability, in a version focused more on Convoke than on Rabbits, and, in both cases, you will end up putting a permanent from your deck into play completely for free, including a removal spell like Case of the Gateway Express.
That's all for today! These were in my opinion the best and most interesting cards of this new Alchemy Bloomburrow that, together with its main set, are giving a lot of push to the format and are helping to renew it after the rotation. Here, with a digital expansion for each new set, the brewing material is never lacking, so, if you like building new decks, Alchemy could be your place!
