In MTG Arena, there are many different formats and ways to play the OG trading card game. One of the more interesting formats unique to MTG Arena is Alchemy, and we’ll be going over some of the best decks for it today!
The Alchemy format is based off of Standard, but built exclusively for MTG Arena. In other words, the format is designed with a digital space in mind. This allows for cards with special mechanics – such as spontaneously generating new cards, or being re-balanced specifically for Alchemy.
For those looking to get into Alchemy, this guide will go through ten of the top decks in the format, what cards are in them, and why they are good. This can give you a good starting place whether you want to netdeck or simply get inspiration to make your own brew.
10 Best Alchemy Decks in MTG Arena
These decks are not ranked in any particular order, as they’re all good in their own way. Simply pick one that speaks to your playstyle and give it a try!
Rakdos Midrange
The first deck we are going to discuss here is a black/red deck that falls into the midrange category. Get ready to throw down some powerful spells to put the pressure on and keep it on.
Here’s the deck list:
- 2 Bloodtithe Harvester
- 3 Orcish Bowmasters
- 3 Crucias, Titan of the Waves
- 3 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
- 3 Graveyard Trespasser
- 4 City Stalker Connoisseur
- 3 Sheoldred, Apocalypse
- 3 The One Ring
- 4 Go for the Throat
- 4 Invoke Despair
- 2 Chandra, Hope’s Beacon
- 7 Swamp
- 1 Mountain
- 4 Sulfurous Springs
- 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
- 4 Haunted Ridge
- 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 3 Foresaken Crossroads
- 1 Mirrex
As you can see, this deck does exactly what a midrange deck wants to do. It sacrifices a bit of speed for more powerful creatures and spells, along with some added value generation. This all comes together to make this deck a real pain to deal with.
Grixis Midrange
Next up, we have another midrange deck, but this one adds some blue into the mix.
Here’s the deck list:
- 4 Orcish Bowmasters
- 1 Shadowheart, Sharran Cleric
- 4 Crucias, Titan of the Waves
- 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
- 1 Oracle of the Alpha
- 1 Rusko, Clockmaker
- 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- 1 Sauron, the Dark Lord
- 2 The One Ring
- 4 Go for the Throat
- 4 Make Disappear
- 4 Mind Spike
- 2 Spiteful Banditry
- 1 Swamp
- 2 Sulfurous Springs
- 2 Underground River
- 3 Darkslick Shores
- 2 Blackcleave Cliffs
- 4 Stormcarved Coast
- 1 Otawara, Soaring City
- 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 4 Xander’s Lounge
- 1 Plaza of Heroes
- 1 Barad-dûr
- 1 Mines of Moria
- 1 Mount Doom
- 1 Rivendell
This deck slows down even more than the previous one, being just shy of becoming a control deck. But this (plus the extra color) allows for some really powerful additions to the deck. For instance – “Sauron, the Dark Lord” can be really hard to deal with, and the addition of the Power Nine into your deck can lead to some crazy plays.
Mono Black
Our third MTG Arena Alchemy deck is a mono black brew that takes advantage of Alchemy’s unique mechanics and ban list to great effect. If you are like me and continually mourn the loss of “The Meathook Massacre” and “Invoke Despair” in Standard, then this is the deck for you.
Here’s the deck list:
- 2 Orcish Bowmasters
- 1 Viconia, Nightsinger’s Disciple
- 3 Graveyard Trespasser
- 2 Citystalker Connoisseur
- 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- 2 Palantír of Orthanc
- 2 The One Ring
- 1 March of Wretched Sorrow
- 3 Go for the Throat
- 2 Infernal Grasp
- 2 Painful Bond
- 1 Blot Out
- 2 Path of Peril
- 4 Invoke Despair
- 2 A-The Meathook Massacre
- 3 Sanguine Brushstroke
- 1 Plains
- 20 Swamp
- 2 Caves of Koilos
- 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 1 Raffine’s Tower
This deck runs some strong removal, including a few powerful board wipes. Pair this with some nasty drain/lose of life effects, and it can be hard for your opponent to stabilize in time to stop you from running away with the game.
Jund Midrange
Keeping the midrange train going, we have a Jund build this time. Black/red/green can be a nasty combination.
Here’s the deck list:
- 4 Delighted Halfling
- 4 Orcish Bowmasters
- 4 Crucias, Titan of the Waves
- 3 Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion
- 4 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- 3 The One Ring
- 3 Go for the Throat
- 1 Sheoldred’s Edict
- 3 Duress
- 1 March Toward Perfection
- 1 Strangle
- 2 Perilous Iteration
- 1 Liliana of the Veil
- 1 Chandra, Hope’s Beacon
- 3 Llanowar Wastes
- 2 Karplusan Forest
- 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
- 4 Copperline Gorge
- 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
- 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 4 Forsaken Crossroads
- 4 Ziatora’s Proving Ground
- 2 Plaza of Heroes
This deck can get out some nasty creatures early on. It also runs a solid suite of removal, disruption, and some reanimator to make sure those nasty threats are hard to defend against. If you’re not careful, this midrange train will run you over.
Rakdos Sacrifice
Bringing back Rakdos, our fifth MTG Arena Alchemy deck runs sacrifice synergies to great effect.
Here’s the deck list:
- 4 Shambling Ghast
- 4 Voldaren Epicure
- 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
- 4 Orcish Bowmasters
- 4 Crucias, Titan of the Waves
- 4 Oni-Cult Anvil
- 3 The One Ring
- 4 Deadly Dispute
- 2 Infernal Grasp
- 4 Sanguine Brushstroke
- 7 Swamp
- 3 Mountain
- 4 Sulfurous Springs
- 4 Haunted Ridge
- 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 3 Forsaken Crossroads
What makes this deck so strong is that it gets immense value out of sacrificing its own creatures, all while damaging your opponents for it. It gives you card draw, mana, and life… what more is there to say?
Five Color Legends
To shake things up, our sixth MTG Arena Alchemy deck is a WUBRG legends brew staring “Jodah, the Unifier”.
Here’s the deck list:
- 4 Delighted Halfling
- 1 Skrelv, Defector Mite
- 3 Hajar, Loyal Bodyguard
- 1 Jirina, Dauntless General
- 2 Melira, the Living Cure
- 1 Arwen, Mortal Queen
- 4 Crucias, Titan of the Waves
- 4 Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea
- 1 Lagrella, the Magpie
- 3 Aragorn, the Uniter
- 3 Ratadrabik of Urborg
- 2 Djeru and Hazoret
- 4 Jodah, the Unifier
- 3 Tear Asunder
- 1 Forest
- 1 Brushland
- 1 Llanowar Wastes
- 1 Yavimaya Coast
- 1 Blackcleave Cliffs
- 4 Razorverge Thicket
- 3 Copperline Gorge
- 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
- 4 Secluded Courtyard
- 3 Forsaken Crossroads
- 4 Plaza of Heroes
Jodah is a powerhouse, but what really makes this deck strong is its resilience. It brings out powerful legends and makes them very difficult to remove (or remove permanently). You’ll have a hard time keeping these legends off the battlefield.
Rakdos Reanimator
You just can’t keep Rakdos down! Especially when it’s a reanimator deck. Now, this name is a bit misleading as it technically runs all five colors, but that’s only for one card, so decide for yourself whether Rakdos is a fitting descriptor.
Here’s the deck list:
- 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
- 4 Crucias, Titan of the Waves
- 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
- 3 Atraxa, Grand Unifier
- 4 Etali, Primal Conqueror
- 4 Assemble from Parts
- 4 Abrade
- 4 Go for the Throat
- 3 The Cruelty of Gix
- 5 Swamp
- 5 Mountain
- 4 Sulfurous Springs
- 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
- 4 Haunted Ridge
- 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 2 Phyrexian Scrapyard
This is another deck that boasts resiliency. In this brew, however, it leans into that with some very powerful ETB effects. Repeated Atraxa and Etali triggers are not something you want to go up against. Watch out for this deck.
Mono Red Aggro
Our next deck is a classic. Most formats will have at least one mono red aggro deck, and Alchemy is no exception.
Here’s the deck list:
- 4 Phoenix Chick
- 4 Tiefling Outcasts
- 4 Big Spender
- 4 Bloodthirsty Adversary
- 3 Ambergris, Citadel Agent
- 4 Thundering Raiju
- 4 Play with Fire
- 1 Mephit’s Enthusiasm
- 3 Molten Impact
- 3 Traumatic Prank
- 21 Mountain
- 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
This deck is classic aggro. You hit ‘em hard and fast. This deck does that extremely well. Overwhelm and rush down your opponents for some brutally fast wins.
Azorius Control
Our penultimate deck for the top ten is a white/blue control deck. I at least am excited to see one on the list; hope you are too.
Here’s the deck list:
- 1 Monastery Mentor
- 3 Calim, Djinn Emperor
- 4 The One Ring
- 4 Fragment Reality
- 4 Reprieve
- 4 Soul Partition
- 4 Undersimplify
- 4 Divine Purge
- 2 Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset
- 2 The Wandering Emperor
- 6 Plains
- 4 Island
- 4 Adarkar Wastes
- 4 Seachrome Coast
- 4 Deserted Beach
- 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- 1 Otawara, Soaring City
- 4 Forsaken Crossroads
This deck runs a lot of powerful disruption and exile effects that will be a pain to deal with. And while it runs four copies of “The One Ring”, the deck is a bit light on card draw for my taste. Either way, this deck is solid. Enjoy exiling your opponent’s cards.
Abzan Legends
Last but not least, we have an Abzan brew to round out our top ten.
Here’s the deck list:
- 4 Delighted Halfling
- 1 Skrelv, Defector Mite
- 4 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
- 2 Frodo Baggins
- 1 Klement, Novice Acolyte
- 2 Melira, the Living Cure
- 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 2 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- 4 Boromir, Warden of the Tower
- 1 Glissa Sunslayer
- 1 King Darien XLVIII
- 4 Ratadrabik of Urborg
- 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- 2 Thalia and The Gitrog Monster
- 1 Assemble the Team
- 2 Brushland
- 2 Caves of Koilos
- 2 Llanowar Wastes
- 3 Razorverge Thicket
- 1 Overgrown Farmland
- 1 Deathcap Glade
- 1 Shattered Sanctum
- 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
- 3 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- 4 Plaza of Heroes
- 1 Barad-dûr
- 4 Great Hall of the Citadel
- 1 Minas Tirith
Like our five color brew, this deck runs powerful legends that are hard to get rid of. Again, resiliency is the key here. Once this deck gets going, it will be really hard to stop.
Join the High Ground!
There are of course many other decks to build and play with in the Alchemy format, but these are some of the top decks to get you started in MTG Arena with your best foot forward.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletter for more gaming content!
Happy brewing planeswalker!
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