As soon as the Alchemy Qualifier Weekend was over, we didn't even have time to try out the winning lists, because the format underwent some rebalancing the very next day!
No buffs, just nerfs to tone down some of the strongest and most popular decks in order to reduce their explosiveness and have a fresher and less stagnant format for the months to come... Especially in view of the arrival of MTG—Final Fantasy, which will not have its own Alchemy miniset.
But let's take a look at the rebalances!
The Nerfed Cards
Ribald Shanty
Change: Costs 1R (was R).
We called it! In my last article, we talked about Chorus and a possible nerf that would make it less oppressive and more in line with the format's power level. It came even sooner than expected because, while the change didn't directly affect Hymn to the Ages, it still affects it and the entire Chorus pack.
We all agree that it would have been better to directly touch the blue instant, as it was the most problematic card, but it seems clear that WotC wanted to avoid the awkwardness of going from buffing Hymn to the Ages to then nerfing it again (it originally cost 5 mana).
Anyway, Ribald Shanty now costs 2 mana, and this especially affects the early game of the Chorus decks that are now less interactive and explosive in the very first turns. They can no longer curve out with Ribald Shanty and Hymn to the Ages in the first two turns or with a double damage spell followed by drawing 3 cards as soon as turn 3. Their potential remains, though, and once the game has started, you almost don't feel the weight of that extra mana anymore, with the usual 4 or 5 damage on a single creature and with Hymn to the Ages that, out of nowhere, gives us a new hand by drawing 5 or 6 fresh cards!
Losers: Grixis Control decks
The ones that are weakened are obviously the decks that used the entire Chorus package and therefore the various Grixis Control decks. Whether it is the version with Heist, Monument to Endurance + Artist's Talent, Cori-Steel Cutter, or Ral, Crackling Wit, it doesn't matter, since they all benefit from the power of the three Grixis Chorus and will now therefore have a little more difficulty in managing aggro in the early phase, without compromising too much their ability to do so!
Enduring Friendship
Change: Costs 1UR (was UR) — 2/2 (was 2/1).
With the arrival of Swiftspear's Teachings in Alchemy: Tarkir, a new dawn has come for Enduring Friendship, immediately becoming its ideal beneficiary, so as to curve out with the red sorcery on turn 1 and with the hasty Otter on turn 2. In this way, a copy of Enduring Friendship is immediately added to your hand thanks to Double Team, and at that point the damage is done: if they both are killed, they come back into play as enchantments, and together they boost all the Otters with a sort of prowess x2.
The metagame, however, quickly adopted the right countermeasures, focusing on removal spells and ensuring that Enduring Friendship is removed before attacking and that the Otter population is kept in check so that it cannot snowball with buffs.
Izzet thus began to shift towards a more explosive and prowess-based strategy, preferring the more resilient Drake Hatcher over Enduring Friendship so as to survive Ribald Shanty, Burst Lightning, and Torch the Tower most of the time, as well as being less reliant on questionable Otters like Elusive Otter.
This nerf could be a direct consequence of the one on Ribald Shanty, because, surprisingly, Enduring Friendship has also been rebalanced, costing one more mana and increasing its toughness to 2.
Was there any concern that in a format with 2-mana Ribald Shanty, a turn 2 hasty Enduring Friendship could get out of hand? It's likely, although there are other answers in Alchemy, and consequently perhaps this nerf could have been done in a softer way.
Loser: Izzet Otters
While before there was the doubt whether to play Otters or Prowess, now the choice is forced! With its 3 mana, Enduring Friendship cannot stand up to the competition and is unplayable, putting an end to the short but intense Otters era.
Now even Dragonblood Twins is a better option for Swiftspear's Teachings, and, as if that were not enough, it also weighs the nerf of the Chorus package, which was played regularly here, unlike the Prowess version, where it was rated too slow.
Naktamun Shines Again
Change: "… get +1/+0" (was +1/+1)
Naktamun Shines Again quickly established itself as one of the best cards in the format, finding its perfect home in Orzhov Dollmaker (or Orzhov Pixie, if you like).
With its second chapter, it can easily happen that you put one of Nurturing Pixie, Sunpearl Kirin, and Dedicated Dollmaker onto the battlefield so as to take back into your hand and/or restore the state of the enchantment and gain the buffs from the first chapter again. Once finished, it is even possible to recall the enchantment from the graveyard using Mischievous Lookout and start over.
This continuous loop meant that every single cheap creature quickly became a huge threat, even surpassing the large size of enemy green creatures and going out of reach of the damage spells.
Once again, this change could be related to Ribald Shanty's one, fearing that the speed reduction of the red spell would not keep up with the speed with which Naktamun Shines Again buffs its team. Therefore, now the white Saga only buffs the power, leaving the toughness of the creatures unchanged and therefore their chances of dying in combat or from damage-based removals.
Losers: Orzhov Dollmaker, Azorius Fliers
As mentioned, the main loser of this change is Orzhov Dollmaker, which was the one that used the enchantment the best. The deck is still playable with all its midrange elements intact, such as the discard engine with Nurturing Pixie and Hopeless Nightmare; the value combo with Dedicated Dollmaker and Overlord of the Balemurk; and, of course, all the loops seen with Naktamun Shines Again, but it's obviously more exposed to enemy removals, less capable of locking the board, and more open to trades in combat... even in the late game, which previously represented much more of a safe zone for the deck.
The rebalancing of Naktamun Shines Again, however, has a slightly lesser impact on Azorius Fliers, which, although it continues to easily expose the team to removals, is less tied to the combat phase, as the creatures are almost all evasive and will find it more difficult to find blockers ready to stop them!
Awestruck Cygnet
Change: Becomes a 4/4 (previously 5/4)
So, since Naktamun Shines Again alone wasn't enough, here's also a little nerf for Awestruck Cygnet, exclusive to the Birds deck!
Previously, starting with Awestruck Cygnet on turn 1, followed by a second Awestruck Cygnet and Mockingbird on turn 2, allowed you to deal exactly 20 damage by turn 3 (Awestruck Cygnet and 2x Mockingbird also works, but you need any other Flier to cast on turn 3 and to set replacement effects to manual on MTG Arena, because by default the second Mockingbird's intensity increases by 1 instead of 2).
This sudden start was often a bit too much, resulting in the opponent finding themself already dead after simply playing their first land tapped or not having left mana open for red removal since the first turn.
Maybe also as a result of the nerf to Ribald Shanty, it was decided to slightly limit the power of Awestruck Cygnet, making it attack for 4, exactly like Serra Angel, and eliminating the turn 3 kill from the equation.
However, nothing too drastic, since two or three 4/4s in the first three turns are still able to win the game, and considering that only 1 mana was spent on them, I would say that this change is positive and much more in line with the power level of the format.
Loser: Azorius Fliers
Birds or Fliers is the only archetype that used Awestruck Cygnet and that comes out of it partially as a loser, since, as mentioned, the change was not that severe. However, it adds to it the nerf of Naktamun Shines Again, which, although also sustainable, overall makes the deck a little less performant than before, although still very playable.
The Winners
But let's see instead which decks have not been hit by the nerfs and which, being already excellent before, have done nothing but increase their value by weakening the others.
Golgari Roots
Off the radar, with everyone focused on defeating Orzhov Dollmaker and Izzet Aggro, Roots was perhaps the archetype that performed best on Day 2 of the Arena Qualifier Weekend, leading many to qualify for Arena Championship 10.
Among them was Przemyslaw Olszewski, who secured qualification by winning all 6 matches on Day 2, even though 4 would have been enough, thanks to the rule change that had just come into force.
Boros/Mardu Mobilize
As an aggro/midrange that doesn't run Naktamun Shines Again, Mobilize might be the perfect destination for any Orzhov players disappointed by the rebalance.
You have Three Tree Battalion as a similar element of value, while the aggro plan, which was previously possible with Hopeless Nightmare's recursion and Overlord of the Balemurk awakened on turn 3, is even more vivid here, with the premium uncommons Swiftspear's Teachings and Waystone's Guidance ready to rumble!
Izzet Prowess
But the one that, for me, comes out as the biggest winner from the rebalances is Izzet Prowess! Despite being openly declared as one of the two best decks in the format, it has dodged the bullets of nerfs like Neo in The Matrix, which instead went to hit Ribald Shanty and Enduring Friendship, but Prowess was not already playing!
It's the aggro of the format. It's very fast, with almost all of its mana costs between 1 and 2, and it's also resilient to removal spells, with Cori-Steel Cutter constantly generating threats, so you have to keep it in mind and respect it if you want to succeed in this field.
That's all for today! These were my thoughts about the nerfs in Alchemy and the decks that benefited or were harmed by the changes. They certainly shook up the format and made sure that this is not "already solved" after the Qualifier Weekend but that there is still a lot to experiment with!
