MTG Arena Anthologies are More Controversial than Expected

Its July 27, 2022, and MTG Arena’s Explorer and Historic anthology contents have just been confirmed. Scheduled to release tomorrow, these anthologies had a solid beginning to their spoiler seasons. The follow-up has left something to be desired with early Reddit spoilers with an underwhelming list of cards. Now that these cards have been confirmed, we can talk about them and what’s missing.

Explorer

The Explorer Anthology is the stronger of the two. While a good amount of solid cards are being introduced to help some archetypes in Explorer catch up to their Pioneer version, other cards introduced had some undeniably better options.

Supreme Verdict Supreme Verdict This spell can't be countered.
Destroy all creatures. was one of the best and easiest inclusions for this Explorer Anthology. UW control has been making waves in recent Pioneer tournaments to the point where it contends for the seat of the best deck in the format. Most of Pioneer’s typical UW control cards are already on MTG Arena, and Supreme Verdict was the only missing key card. With its inclusion, UW Control stands to make a huge impact.

Mono Blue Spirits is a cheap and powerful archetype in Pioneer, making it very common in paper play. Mausoleum Wanderer Mausoleum Wanderer Flying
Whenever another Spirit you control enters, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Sacrifice this creature: Counter target instant or sorcery spell unless its controller pays {X}, where X is this creature's power. is debatably the best card in the deck and the critical piece of the archetype missing from Explorer! A one drop that can both grow and counter disastrous spells in a pinch is a massive upgrade to any tempo archetype. This is yet another slam dunk from the Explorer Anthology.

The heavy hitters keep coming! Kalitas is another major staple in a Pioneer archetype almost entirely available on Magic Arena: Rakdos Midrange. Dreadbore Dreadbore Destroy target creature or planeswalker. is still missing, but as mentioned in a previous article, Kalitas is strong enough to merit the creation of multiple different archetypes. Two of the cards above were spoiled long ago, but I start with these because they are the most relevant spoilers in the whole Anthology

The Weird Inclusions

Favored Hoplite is one of the premier one drops for one of Pioneer’s best decks, so why is this weird? The strange bit is that Favored Hoplite made it in over Monastery Swiftspear Monastery Swiftspear Haste
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.) . This seemed like one of the most obvious inclusions in the Anthology but has been missed yet again. Unlike the case with Delve cards like Treasure Cruise, all of Monastery Swiftspear’s abilities have already been coded into the game. The only reason left that Magic Arena hasn’t currently been implemented is because its inclusion would warp the meta too much. Monastery Swiftspear is an incredibly powerful creature that will bring a massive boon to aggressive decks. That said, they could have temporarily banned the card (like they did Winota before she was actually banned) if the issue was indeed that bad. To make matters stranger, Monastery Swiftspear is in the same Boros Heroic deck that Favored Hoplite Favored Hoplite Heroic — Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature and prevent all damage that would be dealt to it this turn. is.

Unlike the last Heroic creature, this sees no Pioneer play at all. It may see some Explorer play, but if the goal of Explorer is to get as close to Pioneer as possible, this misses the mark.

This is an acceptable inclusion in the Explorer Anthology. While Ensoul Artifact aggro is not popular in current Pioneer, it has been popular in the past. With the inclusion of Darksteel Citadel, Ensoul Artifact Ensoul Artifact Enchant artifact
Enchanted artifact is a creature with base power and toughness 5/5 in addition to its other types. will see Explorer play. That being said, Monastery Swiftspear Monastery Swiftspear Haste
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.) or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx would be much better (but could risk destroying any sense of metagame that the format has).

Slaughter Games sees fringe play in Pioneer, primarily found in Niv to Light decks. This is an excellent effect to include in Explorer. Should any combo decks rise and dominate a format, Slaughter Games Slaughter Games This spell can't be countered.
Choose a nonland card name. Search target opponent's graveyard, hand, and library for any number of cards with that name and exile them. Then that player shuffles. will ensure that decks that can afford to play it have access to a fantastic sideboard tool. That being said, Bring to Light Bring to Light Converge — Search your library for a creature, instant, or sorcery card with mana value less than or equal to the number of colors of mana spent to cast this spell, exile that card, then shuffle. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. would have birthed a whole new archetype into Magic Arena and would be a better inclusion than Slaughter Games.

The once powerhouse-turned-meme has made its way into Explorer! This is an enjoyable inclusion that sees absolutely no Pioneer play at all. Siege Rhino Siege Rhino Trample
When this creature enters, each opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3 life. , in its time, wholly dominated Standard and is an excellent example of what power creep has done to MTG over the years. As a bit of a paper boomer myself, I would love to see Siege Rhino come alive in Explorer! This inclusion is very cool but not a great one. As mentioned multiple times previously, there are better inclusions than this.

The Rally the Ancestors combo deck was one of the first decks that I ever built. The deck was crazy, playing a bunch of aristocrat creatures like Zulaport Cutthroat Zulaport Cutthroat Whenever this creature or another creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. , Nantuko Husk Nantuko Husk Sacrifice a creature: This creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. , and Cavern Sifter that could set up a combo in the graveyard while keeping tempo on board. In the mid to late game, you would Rally the Ancestors Rally the Ancestors Return each creature card with mana value X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. Exile those creatures at the beginning of your next upkeep. Exile Rally the Ancestors. to bring everything back and kill your opponent with Zulaport Cutthroat and Nantuko Husk! This is another inclusion that I love, but it sees absolutely no Pioneer play. Its status is basically a more niche Siege Rhino Siege Rhino Trample
When this creature enters, each opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3 life. for the purposes of this Anthology.

Sure, Back to Nature Back to Nature Destroy all enchantments. is not an excellent inclusion for Pioneer, but it is perfect for Historic! This might end up killing the Nine Lives Nine Lives Hexproof
If a source would deal damage to you, prevent that damage and put an incarnation counter on this enchantment.
When there are nine or more incarnation counters on this enchantment, exile it.
When this enchantment leaves the battlefield, you lose the game. enchantress deck ultimately, but that deck should still be able to act as a meta check when people forget about it, which is kind of the role it plays already.

Elvish Mystic sees a ton of Pioneer play but should have probably been a Nykthos. This card will allow Collected Company Collected Company Look at the top six cards of your library. Put up to two creature cards with mana value 3 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. and Ramp decks to see a boost in power! With Llanowar Elves Llanowar Elves {T}: Add {G}. already present, decks that want eight mana dorks now have the rightful access they should have. When observing the archetypes that want this in Pioneer, however, better cards could have been included to make Explorer feel as close to Pioneer as possible.

This is an acceptable inclusion but still feels underwhelming because of how many other cards are missing. Tireless Tracker Tireless Tracker Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, investigate. (Create a Clue token. It's an artifact with "{2}, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
Whenever you sacrifice a Clue, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. is another MTG card with a profound competitive history and is a card that players will be excited to use. Able to come down on curve, grow and present card advantage, Tireless Tracker is a fantastic option for midrange decks. It can also be effective as a sideboard option for Human tribal against slower decks.

Ok, this is a weird inclusion in either of the Anthologies. I can see myself creating a Shadowborn Apostle Shadowborn Apostle A deck can have any number of cards named Shadowborn Apostle.
{B}, Sacrifice six creatures named Shadowborn Apostle: Search your library for a Demon creature card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Historic Brawl deck, but I cannot see this impacting any formats on Arena. I would love to eat my words, as a Shadowborn Apostle deck would be really cool to see, but I’m not expecting to.

As someone who loathes life gain decks, Tainted Remedy Tainted Remedy If an opponent would gain life, that player loses that much life instead. is an inclusion I like more than most players. I only appreciate this in the mirror, however, as stacking life gain triggers turns MTG Arena into a game of “when do I restart the client?” instead of an actual game of Magic. While there are much better cards to include, there are also worse.

Titan’s Strength Titan’s Strength Target creature gets +3/+1 until end of turn. Scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.) is a good inclusion from the Explorer Anthology. This sees play in Heroic in Pioneer, so it aligns with Explorer’s original mission statement. Cards like this, however, are making Monastery Swiftspear Monastery Swiftspear Haste
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.) presence as the elephant in the room even more significant.

Searing Blood sees no Pioneer play, but it is a sound card. This card has traditionally seen sideboard play in burn decks for long periods of time. If burn becomes a contender with this Anthology, Searing Blood Searing Blood Searing Blood deals 2 damage to target creature. When that creature dies this turn, Searing Blood deals 3 damage to the creature's controller. will have a role to play.

Another exceedingly bizarre inclusion, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death Alesha, Who Smiles at Death First strike
Whenever Alesha attacks, you may pay {W/B}{W/B}. If you do, return target creature card with power 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped and attacking. is not a popular competitive card. It is good enough to see play in some Collected Company Collected Company Look at the top six cards of your library. Put up to two creature cards with mana value 3 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. deck though.

Temur Battle Rage Temur Battle Rage Target creature gains double strike until end of turn.
Ferocious — That creature also gains trample until end of turn if you control a creature with power 4 or greater. is a good inclusion in the Anthologies, but not for Explorer. This is a critical piece in Death’s Shadow Death’s Shadow This creature gets -X/-X, where X is your life total. decks. Since that archetype is an underpowered option for Historic, cards that may increase its prevalence are welcome additions to MTG Arena.

Hangerback Walker is another dubious inclusion in the Explorer Anthology. While it doesn’t have any Pioneer presence, Hangerback Walker was the Ledger Shredder Ledger Shredder Flying
Whenever a player casts their second spell each turn, this creature connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.) of a different time. Like it, Hangerback Walker was worth nothing at its release and quickly rose in price as stronger players started taking down tournaments with it. This inclusion is ok. Hangarback Walker should see play somewhere, but also whiffs on Explorer’s Mission Statement.

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Historic Anthology

Well, the Explorer Anthology did have some sound cards, but it also had a lot of things that didn’t make sense. Fortunately, the Historic Anthology has lower expectations surrounding it. While Explorer is supposed to act as a Pioneer-lite, Historic can be anything it wants. The goal for this Anthology should simply be to get players excited about the digital-only format! What cards are getting added to MTG Arena?

Starting strong, Tarmogoyf Tarmogoyf Tarmogoyf's power is equal to the number of card types among cards in all graveyards and its toughness is equal to that number plus 1. is a cool addition to Historic! This card dominated Modern for a long time and had a huge presence in the secondary market. While it’s not very relevant anymore, Tarmogoyf still shows up in Jund decks. This is a new kind of effect that will have a lot of Arena players scratching their heads at first, but this is only a good thing for any format. Tarmogoyf is at that sweet spot where it should create a lot of interest in Historic because of its power level.

This is the other fascinating card in the Anthology! While I do not like this card, Chalice of the Void Chalice of the Void This artifact enters with X charge counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact, counter that spell. will introduce a new kind of strategy to Historic. Should a meta deck consist of a bunch of one drops (like Arclight Phoenix Arclight Phoenix Flying, haste
At the beginning of combat on your turn, if you've cast three or more instant and sorcery spells this turn, return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. , for example), Chalice of the Void can turn their entire deck off by paying XX as one. As a result, artifact hate will show up much more if Chalice of the Void ends up being potent enough to keep up with Historic strategies.

Did anyone miss Dimir Rogues? Glimpse the Unthinkable Glimpse the Unthinkable Target player mills ten cards. is a neat addition to Historic! It is powerful enough that it might create new playable archetypes, which should be a big goal behind this Anthology. With [/ooltips]Arclight Phoenix[/tooltips] and Kroxa being healthy options in the format, this card’s playability, in the long run, may remain a question mark. That being said, who said that players couldn’t use this to mill themselves?

Avacyn is a strange card to include in this Anthology. With its high mana value, the only place that Avacyn is likely to see play is in Indomitable Creativity Indomitable Creativity Destroy X target artifacts and/or creatures. For each permanent destroyed this way, its controller reveals cards from the top of their library until an artifact or creature card is revealed and exiles that card. Those players put the exiled cards onto the battlefield, then shuffle. -like combo decks. Even then, if Avacyn ends up being a solid option, the meta will adjust to dealing with indestructible permanents. Creativity should go back to other threats at that point, making Avacyn’s inclusion a confusing one.

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This inclusion panders to the few excited to play Shrines in Historic Brawl. I do not expect it to see play outside of that, but I would love for it to have an unexpected meta breakout!

I’m pretty intrigued by Laelia’s inclusion. This card is quite powerful, providing a threat, card advantage, and vast potential to become a combo finisher. With Laelia being a Commander card, this is only legal in Eternal Formats. While it may not see play there, Laelia should see play in a weaker format like Historic. This is my nomination for the sleeper card of the whole Anthology.

Night of Souls’ betrayal hints that someone in testing broke the format, and it needed a fix. This does notably shut down the oven cat combo since the cat will die as it enters the battlefield. Ravenous Squirrel Ravenous Squirrel Whenever you sacrifice an artifact or creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
{1}{B}{G}, Sacrifice an artifact or creature: You gain 1 life and draw a card. will also have no opportunity to grow upon cast if this card is resolved. All in all, Night of Souls’ Betrayal Night of Souls’ Betrayal All creatures get -1/-1. is a fascinating inclusion that may allow new strategies to rise to prevalence by suppressing problematic cards.

vv

The exciting yet controversial cards continue to appear! Ophiomancer Ophiomancer At the beginning of each upkeep, if you control no Snakes, create a 1/1 black Snake creature token with deathtouch. seems like a fantastic addition to aristocrat strategies that can sacrifice the snakes for other abilities.

Phyrexian Metamorph Phyrexian Metamorph ({U/P} can be paid with either {U} or 2 life.)
You may have this creature enter as a copy of any artifact or creature on the battlefield, except it's an artifact in addition to its other types. starts the overarching theme for the entire Historic Anthology: artifacts. Affinity players will love what the rest of this Anthology has in store, but nobody else will. Phyrexian Metamorph on its own is an exciting inclusion that will probably see some play in the metagame.

My first thought when looking at Retrofitter Foundry Retrofitter Foundry {3}: Untap this artifact.
{2}, {T}: Create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token.
{1}, {T}, Sacrifice a Servo: Create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying.
{T}, Sacrifice a Thopter: Create a 4/4 colorless Construct artifact creature token. is that this is meant to be a tool to fight control decks with, but after doing some digging, this could be MUCH better than people think. It turns out Retrofitter Foundry has a pretty sizeable secondary market price, and it’s entirely due to Legacy. It’s not uncommon for decks to play a bunch of Retrofitter Foundries alongside Thopters like Ornithopter Ornithopter Flying and Changeling Outcast Changeling Outcast Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
This creature can't block and can't be blocked. , using Retrofitter Foundry’s final ability to turn them into 4/4 constructs. It is essential to remember that, with Force of Will Force of Will You may pay 1 life and exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target spell. everywhere in Legacy, making sure you get value by spending as few resources as possible is much more critical. If a Foundry is in play, it can force an opponent to Force of Will an Ornithopter, which is funny. With this new information, Retrofitter Foundry may birth a new type of Affinity deck into the format.

That’s a Lot of Lands!

The rest of the Explorer Anthology is the artifact lands cycle introduced in Modern Horizons 2. This should boost Affinity, but it seems like wasted slots otherwise. There are a lot of things that these could have been that would’ve created new archetypes instead of lands to support the advancement of one. For those who want to experiment with these, they are an exciting option. This can only be disappointing for the many who would’ve preferred other things, like Monastery Swiftspear Monastery Swiftspear Haste
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.) .

What did you Want to See?

We’ve given lists in our past articles to cards that would help Explorer come close to what Pioneer is doing. Many of those cards are missing, and players aren’t happy about it. “Disappointing” is the word of the day for MTG Arena players, but these inclusions may create more lively gameplay than players expect. We’ll have to see how much these cards will actually do to change Historic and Explorer.