Opinion: Alchemy Deserves More Attention (and Naya Cabaretti Ramp)

There has been some division with the introduction of Alchemy on MTGA. Some say leave our favorite online CCG alone, and let bygones be bygones, while others trill with excitement at the opportunity to venture into the realm of contemporary Magic, with digital cards. With rebalanced cards, nerfs and buffs, and new digital only cards, what’s not to love?

MTGA has evolved so much in recent months. There have been several entirely new formats introduced, and it certainly seems like the game continues to grow in popularity. Alchemy and Explorer are just the beginning, as WOTC has already explained that Explorer is just a steppingstone towards a future where we have Pioneer on MTGA. When Alchemy was first announced, I happened to be extremely excited. I started playing Arena around the time of Throne of Eldraine. It was a crazy time then, but I think it was one of the best times to get into Magic. I turned to streamers and content creators to try and catch up on new cards and current decks and strategies to try and get an edge.

What is going on with MTGA Alchemy?

People such as CovertGoBlue, Crokeyz, HelloGoodGame, and a list of so many others. Anyone who puts the hard work in to make content for us to watch and enjoy deserves the attention, and I’ve listed several others at the end of this article. Some content creators struggled to make Alchemy content when it finally arrived on Arena.  They were losing viewership, so they stuck to what they were doing before, and I wanted to understand why. When Alchemy launched, many were upset that their favorite format, Historic, was now tainted with digital only cards. The price of entry to play Alchemy was quite high on initial release as well, since you could not buy Alchemy packs with gold, at first. To top it all off, Alrund’s Epiphany was not yet banned in Standard, and it felt like a huge mess.

What’s are complains connected to Alchemy about?

You had players complaining about being bored of playing against extra turns every game, in which case they may have left Standard to go enjoy Historic matches instead. Then factor in that those same players might, understandably, have not wanted to participate in a format with digital only card inclusions. So, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Everyone had reason to be upset, and the timing of Alchemy’s release was a bit unwelcoming. You still had to suffer through another players eight turns in a row, or queue into a Historic match only to face a new digital only card you’ve never seen before and have no idea how to interact with it.

Not all hope was lost, however. Explorer launched shortly after Alchemy, and in my opinion, saved the game from most of the problems discussed above. They said it was a way to slowly introduce Pioneer to MTGA, so its basically Pioneer Lite. From what I experienced, it felt very much like Historic. I think the lesson to be learned in all of this is timing. If Explorer had been announced at the same time as Alchemy, the backlash would have been less severe.

Naya Cabaretti Ramp: Fun Way to Play Alchemy

Given that some time has passed since Alchemy’s release, the format seems to be growing in popularity and I personally have been having a great time playing it. All in all, it certainly seems like an exciting year to be playing Magic. With the upcoming release of Alchemy Horizons: Baldur’s Gate and the Alchemy: New Capenna drop from earlier this month, the format is shaping up to become much more diverse beyond the brutal domination of Rakdos so far.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with a Naya Ramp deck in Alchemy based around the new Cabaretti Revels enchantment. Fable of the Mirror Breaker seems like an obvious choice, but I played through a few Constructed Alchemy Events and found that the Brutal Cathars and Skyclave Apparitions were necessary to have enough removal. The version I listed here I was able to obtain 7 wins within a best of one Alchemy Event, although it could have just been the luck of the draw. Keep in mind this deck is just for fun and not recommended for playing on the ladder.

naya-cabaretti-ramp

How to play Alchemy Naya Ramp deck?

The plan of the deck is simple- play as many ramp creatures as possible to out scale the opponent in mana and cast large threats. You could easily run this type of deck without the enchantment at all, but man is it good, and oh so fun! Just getting value off each creature you cast is insane, and the deck would feel a lot less powerful without it.

The deck certainly needs a lot of tweaking, as I am not an expert deck builder and haven’t yet mastered making perfect manabases. So, feel free to make any changes you feel will make the mana more consistent or the deck stronger in power. I hope you enjoy the deck list, and try out Alchemy if you haven’t already, it’s crazy fun!