Last week we talked about Explorer/Pioneer, from how long it's taking for Pioneer to actually come to MTG Arena, as well as looking over what I wanted to see in Explorer Anthology 3. With then final card list released and frankly embarrassing in its lack of playable Pioneer cards, Magic players who have been clamoring for Pioneer to finally come to MTG Arena are not happy. However, that was last week! This week we're going to look at the Historic side of things.

Being released alongside Explorer Anthology 3 is Historic Anthology 7, which brings 25 Magic cards from across Magic's history onto MTG Arena and into the Historic format. Considering that the Explorer Anthology also gets added to Historic as well, we're looking at 50 new cards into one of the best formats in Magic right now.

However, while Historic is an awesome format and these new Anthologies are very exciting, before we can get to them, we need to talk about Historic as a format and how Wizards of the Coast is handling it.

Historic State Of The Format

Historic is meant to be the all-encompassing digital format. It is the format where you can play (almost) all the cards on MTG Arena, as well as the digital only cards alongside carefully curated cards from Magic's long history. It is also meant to be a live format, meaning that cards can be buffed or nerfed as appropriate, based on their current level of play. While this can be somewhat jarring for cards that see a lot of play in paper formats like Teferi, Time Raveler and Unholy Heat, it is a wonderful tool to have for the digital only cards which may come in too high or low due to being an unexplored design space.

However, there are two major issues with the format right now, both stemming from a lack of support.

The first and perhaps most important is a lack of attention when it comes to the "live" aspect of the format.

Crucias, Titan of the Waves is clearly one of the best cards in the entire format and far too good to exist in its current form. It is probably one of the most warping cards in the format and a clear example of a digital design card coming in too high, which is fine so long as Wizards of the Coast is willing to take action on it when needed. Crucias has been dominating Historic for six months now and we haven't heard a peep about it, let alone other cards like Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion that might also need to be addressed.

And that's to say nothing of the very powerful paper cards in the format.

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker was banned in Standard and is currently one of the most powerful cards in the format, but hasn't seen any sort of modification in Alchemy or Historic. And of course, the new big bad is The One Ring, which may eventually see ban action in Modern and is currently everywhere in Historic. And don't forget the cards already on the ban list like Oko, Thief of Crowns or Field of the Dead.

What's the point of having a "live" format if we're not going to see quick and interesting updates?

The second issue has been a lack of consistent release schedule. We've gotten a little less than one Anthology a year for Historic, which is odd considering how much fun they are and how little overhead there must be for selecting and programming 25 reprints. The pace of Remastered sets has also slowed to a crawl, with two released in 2020 and another most recently in 2023.

While the execution of these releases has been excellent, cultivating an open and interesting format that is completely unique compared to all other formats in Magic (high power, no fetchlands, not many ubiquitous utility cards like Lightning Bolt or Counterspell), they simply don't happen often enough or in a predictable enough manner.

I truly believe that Historic is the best format in Magic right now for deck-builders, providing an almost unlimited number of options in a format that is wide open and not bogged down by power level outliers that feel like "must plays." It is also the perfect home for many beloved cards like Tarmogoyf and Snapcaster Mage that have been power crept out of the formats they are legal in. It is unfortunately very expensive to get in to, but that's the only real count against it.

Historic Anthology 7

That all being said, while Explorer Anthology 3 is largely a joke, Historic Anthology 7 is perhaps the best Anthology ever released on MTG Arena. Of the 25 cards in the release, well over half of them have a serious chance at seeing significant play in Historic, which is far above the usual bar for an Anthology.

Let's go over some of the highlights!

First up are five of the six "Canopy" lands, which tap for painful mana of two colors and sacrifice to draw a card. These have seen a bunch of play in Modern and even Legacy over the years, providing two color decks a way to turn their lands into cards later in the game to prevent mana flood. Sunbaked Canyon has been a staple in Burn, and it's going to be really exciting to see how these lands fit into the non-fetchland mana bases of Historic.

The Titan cycle is a very fun one, perhaps one of the most popular "big mythic" cycles in the game. All five have seen good amounts of play in Constructed, with Primeval Titan being an all-star in multiple formats. Of course, we don't have Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or Field of the Dead legal in Historic, meaning Primeval Titan doesn't currently have a ton to do, but the potential is there. The other four are probably mostly fringe, but they're a fun thing to have access to and will be fun in Cube as well.

Oh boy was I excited when I saw Bloodghast was previewed and is coming to Historic! Bloodghast is one of my favorite cards of all time and an extremely fun piece for all sorts of recursive decks. You can sacrifice Bloodghast over and over again to various effects and keep returning it with land drops, while also discarding it for value and never needing to cast it. Unearth is another fun graveyard build around, as returning something like Monastery Mentor and casting a bunch of spells is an awesome plan. There's also just a ton of very powerful three-mana creatures in Historic to bring back.

Now this is a large part of what Historic is all about!

Power creep has been a major thing in Magic in the last five or so years, pushing out tons of absolute classic Magic cards that we've all been playing for a decade or more. Well now Historic is the place they can see play once again! Vendilion Clique was once a staple in Legacy decks, as well as Extended and Modern decks, but has fallen too far out of favor to see play anymore, while Bloodbraid Elf was once banned in Modern but currently sees zero play. The only bummer here is to not see Jace, the Mind Sculptor, the yin to Bloodbraid Elf's yang. And perhaps the best Sword of X and Y joins the party too!

Speaking of cards previously banned in Modern, Wild Nacatl also returns! It will be interesting to see if Wild Nacatl is capable of making moves without fetchlands, but it is a fun card to have access to once again and is another great case study in seeing a powerful card in a totally different context. Tribal Flames will probably be a big easier to build around, as Triomes are everywhere and there are a number of other good domain payoffs.

And amazingly there's more!

Giver of Runes is a fun and balanced version of Mother of Runes, seeing decent play in Modern and providing White decks with a 1-drop that they've been looking for. It will also be a great piece of protection alongside Skrelv, Deflector Mite in Hammertime, Auras, or other "go big" decks. It is a bit awkward that it isn't a human, but I think Historic decks are desperate enough for good 1-drops that it will see significant play. Worn Powerstone is also an interesting ramp option for non-Green decks that isn't even legal in Modern.

Even the if the remaining six cards don't end up making it in Historic, they're all still fun additions for Historic Brawl or Cube that have an outside shot in Constructed, making this by far the best Anthology ever.

Ten New Brews!

As this release is super exciting, I'm going to be doing a Ten New Brews for both of these Anthologies next week! I'll be favoring Historic strongly over Explorer due to the lack of good cards printed in the Explorer Anthology, probably looking to do a 7/3 or 8/2 split of Historic to Explorer.

Frankly? I'm super excited about this release and can't wait to get brewing!

I'll be playing all ten decks Wednesday next week on stream, and you'll also be able to find them on YouTube after the fact. Next week's article right here on CoolStuffInc.com will go over all ten decklists with my thoughts on each!