Alchemy Rebalancing for July 18, 2023

We have two Alchemy card rebalances to announce for the release on July 18, 2023.

Crucias, Titan of the Waves

• Now 3/1 (from 3/3)

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is banned.

Alchemy Card Rebalancing

Black-red midrange decks featuring Crucias, Titan of the Waves, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse have been one of the best-performing archetypes in Alchemy. The One Ring further powered up these decks with the release of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™. As a result, we are rebalancing Crucias, Titan of the Waves and are banning Fable of the Mirror-Breaker in Alchemy.

With Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty rotating out of Alchemy with the release of Wilds of Eldraine later this year, we are banning Fable of the Mirror-Breaker instead of rebalancing the enchantment. We want to avoid disrupting the Historic metagame with a rebalance that would only be in effect for a few months.

Crucias, Titan of the Waves is losing 2 toughness to be more vulnerable to removal and in combat. Players were often pressured to pass their turn and save expensive removal spells to prevent Crucias from triggering, and Crucias's stats were good enough to stave off attacks in the early game.

Now, Crucias will be exposed to cheap removal such as Cut Down and Play with Fire which reduces the opportunity cost of preventing its trigger. Aggressive decks will also be able to more profitably attack into Crucias before its powerful card filtering ability takes control of the game.