Last week Alchemy: Duskmourn arrived on MTG Arena and we tried to predict which cards would be the best and have the highest chance of seeing competitive play.
Although it's still been a short time, today we already have some initial feedback on those that have actually been included in the decks, since obviously many are trying them and several lists have already been published with a fair amount of success in the ranked ladder of the format.
Will the cards that we rated as the best prove to be up to expectations? Let's find out right away, analyzing the strongest and most interesting decks that contain the new cards from Alchemy: Duskmourn!
Sultai Midrange
Let's start right away with what is most likely the deck that is not only the most innovative, but also contains the largest amount of Alchemy: Duskmourn cards all together: Verdant Dread, Unnatural Summons, and Lurker in the Deep.
The deck is basically a Simic Ramp that aims to resist and develop mana in the early game, then overwhelm the opponent with creatures with Impending and their value, in addition to that of Verdant Dread.
However, to get to this stage of the game, the counter spells, like Don't Make a Sound and Three Steps Ahead, are not enough, and therefore the addition of the black color is necessary as support for removal and board control, just like Assassin's Trophy and Deadly Cover-Up.
The goal is therefore to buy time, and the Manifested creatures in the early turns could keep the opponent busy and keep the enemy aggression at bay, thanks to Verdant Dread, but mostly to Unnatural Summons which allows you to put two 2/2s with a 50% chance of spending only 2 mana.
Overlord of the Hauntwoods and Traverse Valley help you ramp up, so you can get as much mana as possible, which will be useful for snowballing with Verdant Dread's activated ability or casting Lurker in the Deep, whose ability triggers with every Seek and therefore also with Traverse Valley.
Orzhov Bats
An archetype that already existed but that received a big upgrade is Orzhov Bats, with the incredible 2-drop: Golden Sidekick!
It perpetually buffs a random creature in your hand for each life gained and fits perfectly into the strategy of this deck that focuses on gaining life and having evasive threats.
Deep-Cavern Bat, Sanguine Soothsayer, Enduring Innocence, as well as Golden Sidekick itself, all share the lifelink keyword, with the addition of Zoraline, Cosmos Caller, which instead gives 1 life for each Bat that attacks (including itself).
If that wasn't enough, there's also Case of the Uneaten Feast which gains life for each creature that enters and is particularly good on curve with Golden Sidekick, so you can immediately buff a creature in your hand as early as turn 2 (although it can be killed in response to the enchantment trigger).
In the late game, then, Case of the Uneaten Feast lets you revive all the Bats your opponent has had to eliminate in the meantime, as does Zoraline, Cosmos Caller. The best part? Since Golden Sidekick buffs perpetually, the reanimated creatures still retain their increased stats, and you will most likely be able to play huge threats for little mana.
Starscape Cleric also benefits from all this gained life, allowing you to win in stalemate games and enhancing the late game thanks to Offspring. Just as a top of the curve is Three Tree Battalion, which is always great no matter what creature you find but which is particularly synergistic with Enduring Innocence, putting two hard-to-die pieces and drawing 2 cards.
Boros Mice
Boros Mice never stops growing because, despite already being among the top decks of the format, it has been further enhanced by Valiant Emberkin!
Its role as a 3-drop was already filled admirably by Mabel, Heir to Cragflame, which no one ever complained about because, in addition to strengthening the entire Mice team, it provides you with the legendary sword Cragflame with which you can trigger Valiant abilities.
However, Valiant Emberkin is even more immediate, making a first Valiant trigger twice as soon as it enters and maybe repeating the same with a second one, attacking immediately with haste.
It's therefore much more explosive and better supports an aggressive strategy largely focused on this ability, just like Boros Mice, so much so that it has completely replaced Prairie Survivalist which, despite not being a Mouse, played the same role in triggering abilities.
The rest of the deck is in fact the usual Mice that we know and that are ready to power up and provide value as soon as they are targeted by one of your spells or abilities, further helped by pump spells, like Monstrous Rage and Might of the Meek, and by Manifold Mouse's double strike.
As a new card, I also point out Soul Shredder in the sideboard, but I still give it a testing value since it's a one-of. I suppose it's a tech against heavy removal decks and could sometimes benefit from Recruit Instructor's tokens, but probably a less fancy Three Tree Battalion can fill the same role better.
Orzhov Enchantments
I left the best for last because Mothlight Processionist is the card that in my review I put on equal points with the first position (sadly, so far Enduring Friendship has not been enough to make Otters stand out), and it confirmed expectations because it is perhaps the most played card!
It provides both tempo and value advantages since, when it's on the battlefield, not only can creatures tap as if they had haste to help cast enchantments, but you get a copy of Mothlight Processionist with every enchantment, so you're never short on resources.
Ideally, you want to use your mana to cast creatures, which will then cast enchantments, thus advancing the game state quickly and overwhelming your opponent with value.
The Knight from Virtue of Loyalty, the Mice from Three Blind Mice, the Insects from Overlord of the Mistmoors, and Enduring Innocence itself, are all well-suited to this purpose as they are creatures with an enchantment side and can therefore play both the Convoke and be Convoked roles.
Just like Dedicated Dollmaker helps in Convoke, but like Mothlight Processionist, it plays a top player role, being synergistic with many of the enchantments present here!
Need creature or enchantment removal? Dedicated Dollmaker can give you a copy of Nowhere to Run and Porcine Portent, respectively. Need cards? It can turn Caretaker's Talent into a token that draws a card when it enters, but most importantly, it can copy itself infinitely with Level 2 of the Class, targeting itself and spending W-mana on each activation.
Speaking of infinite, its combo with Three Blind Mice is best known, and it works in a similar way to what we have seen: the enchantment becomes a token and targets itself at each new chapter of the Saga, thus obtaining a huge board of Mice in a few turns.
As if that wasn't enough, Dedicated Dollmaker also synergizes with Overlord of the Mistmoors under Impending, returning the token as a 6/6 creature with no time counters.
That's all for today! As expected, the surprises in Alchemy: Duskmourn were not long in coming, and as usual, these mini sets prove effective in shaking up the format and giving it an identity, thus making it different from the others, with all the pros and cons that this entails