The Ultimate Guide to Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate Draft

Bryan Hohns (Veveil) July 25, 2022 Deckbuilding, Draft, Limited, Strategy

Last updated on January 12, 2024

Illithid Harvester | Illustration by David Astruga

Greetings planeswalkers! Today I have the distinct pleasure of writing my first ever digital-only guide for the first fully digital Draft set, Alchemy Horizons: Baldur’s Gate. This set’s unique Draft environment plays out like an odd mix of Adventures in the Forgotten Realms and Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate.

Alchemy Horizons features cards from both sets as well as some original cards, with unique digital-only mechanics and some fan-favorites like adventures returning. Ready to take a look? Let’s dive right into it!

Table of Contents show

Set Oddities

Baldur's Gate | Illustration by Titus Lunter

Before we get into the thick of the set from a “normal” perspective (mechanics, archetypes, top commons, etc.), I want to touch on some unusual things about the first Alchemy Horizons set.

Same Art, Different Cards

Feel like you’re seeing double? Well, you are in a sense, because HBG marks the first time ever in Magic history that WotC has used the same art for two different cards. This is likely because certain multiplayer cards wouldn’t have translated well to a 1v1 Limited/Alchemy environment.

So WotC made the unprecedented decision to reuse assets on new digital-only cards (formally known as “reimagined cards”). Liara and Tasha are just two examples of this as there are several others in the set. Try not to get them mixed up with their Battle for Baldur’s Gate versions because most of these reimagined cards play out dramatically differently than their counterparts.

Rebalanced Cards

There are five cards in the set that have been rebalanced from their paper counterparts rather than being entirely new cards:

The Ghoul was buffed with +0/+1 while Minsc and the Manual were each nerfed (Minsc costs one extra mana and the Manual now has “activate only at sorcery”). The Dragon was also nerfed (multiple copies won’t reduce costs to green), but the nerf should basically never come up in Limited. And it’s debatable whether a 3-mana 3/3 to a 4-mana 4/4 is a buff or a nerf for Baby Lysaga, because you could argue either case.

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate Reprints

A fair chunk of this Alchemy Horizons set is made up of reprints from its recent paper counterpart. Cards like Blessed Hippogriff, Icewind Stalwart, Juvenile Mist Dragon, and Pseudodragon Familiar return to fill out a very different Limited environment.

Card evaluations for multiplayer versus single player couldn’t be more different. For example, Sword Coast Serpent was just a decent common in Battle for Baldur’s Gate, but it’s a top uncommon in HBG.

D&D: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Reprints

Maybe for flavor or universe continuity more than anything else, Alchemy Horizons: Baldur’s Gate also features a substantial number of cards from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Top commons like Grim Bounty and Priest of Ancient Lore are joined by mediocre filler like Iron Golem, Spiked Pit Trap, and Shocking Grasp.

New Mechanics

There are three new mechanics in HBG, two of which would be nearly impossible to carry over to paper Magic.

Specialize

Specialize is a controversial mechanic that answers a question no one has ever asked: “What if instead of a double-sided card, we made a card with six sides?” Specialize is the elegant retort to that question, showcasing human folly and hubris in a way that only digital pieces of cardboard can.

Personal design critique aside, specialize is a mechanic that’s present on 19 different creatures in the set (three mythics, six rares, and 10 uncommons). The mechanic isn’t limited to any one particular color, showing up fairly evenly across the five.

Here’s a rules blurb on how it actually works:

A creature with specialize is cast normally, and the player can pay the mana cost and discard a card to activate the specialize ability at sorcery speed. The colors or mana symbols (for lands) on the discarded card opens determine which of the five specialized versions the card can flip into. Each of those versions adds a pip of that mana to the card’s new mana value.
Steve Vrooman

This is an intimidating mechanic to evaluate, but I can give you some useful tips for expediting that process:

First off, most of the cards with specialize are actually pretty strong! Their power level ranges from so-so (Gut, Fanatical Priestess) to good (Skanos, Dragon Vassal) to great (Rasaad, Monk of Selûne), and finally to busted (Lukamina, Moon Druid and Lae'zel, Githyanki Warrior).
Specialize is fundamentally a mana dump/late-game option that helps your creatures scale better into the late game. Some cards specialize earlier than others thanks to cheaper costs or high upsides, but you usually want to wait until most of your hand has been played out.
The best specialize creatures are decent before specializing and get some substantially upgraded, while the weakest ones (like Gut) have poor stat lines for their cost and clunky specialize abilities.
With the exception of Klement, Novice Acolyte, most specialize forms are fairly close to each other in terms of power level and functionality. Lulu, Forgetful Hollyphant has six different forms, but all of them reward you with various different things for attacking with fliers.
You can usually just use whatever form requires you to discard the least important game object (often a basic land in the late game) instead of putting much effort into getting a specific form.
Specialize can have some nice upside with Bag of Holding and Summon Undead as a convenient discard effect.

Double Team

Double team is a simple mechanic that rewards aggression with card advantage and was likely designed as a “fixed” myriad to make sense in 1v1 play. When a creature with double team attacks, you conjure a copy of that card into your hand and then both the original and the copy immediately lose double team.

This mechanic primarily appears in Boros () except for Lizardfolk Librarians and Thayan Evokers. It’s the core draft mechanic for Boros in this set.

The main tension that double team introduces gameplay wise is that it rewards you for a successful attack, but only once. So you might have some time to set up a safe attack with mana up for combat tricks (or a pre-combat removal spell to clear the way). Your opponent needs to preemptively hold back blockers or spend kill spells if they want to stop your creature from freely duplicating.

It’s hard to stop double team entirely because it’s just an attack trigger and not a combat damage one, but you should at least try to make your opponent work for it if you’re playing against this mechanic.

Boon

If you’ve ever ult’ed a planeswalker, you likely know what “emblems” are. Boons are basically just that, but weaker, more common, and specific to creatures. Each boon is this set is worded, “You get a boon with ‘When you cast your next creature spell, do something.’”

Boons appear primarily in Boros, but Arcane Archery is a common exception. They’re chiefly small bonuses that reward you for having solid creature density, which gives them decent synergy with double team.

Returning Mechanics

Adventures

Adventures are a powerful mechanic that haven’t been seen since Throne of Eldraine. An adventure is a creature that can also be cast as an instant or sorcery spell. If you do this, you put it into exile “on an adventure” where it can then be cast.

Adventures appear in each color in HBG and at all rarities, with each color having at least one common adventure (green and white each have two). Adventures can also function as a Draft build around with Gorion, Wise Mentor or Lozhan, Dragons' Legacy.

A lot of the best commons in the set happen to be adventures, and there are bomb rares like Horn of Valhalla, Illithid Harvester, and Altar of Bhaal with the mechanic. Don’t sleep on it!

Party

Party is a returning mechanic from Battle for Zendikar with a tiny presence in this set. It only appears on two cards: Stick Together and Nalia de'Arnise.

But both are pretty good rares so it’s worthwhile to remember how party works. You have a “full party” when you control a warrior, a rogue, a cleric, and a wizard. One creature with multiple types can only fill one role at a time.

There are seven warriors, 11 clerics, 13 rogues, and 7 wizards in this set, but none of those wizards are in Orzhov (). But there are playable commons for each other common in Orzhov, so try to focus on those. Priest of Ancient Lore plus Icewind Stalwart is an ideal pairing for Orzhov party since the cards are naturally good together and fill two of the four types.

Gates

Gates are another minor fixture in this set, appearing on one cycle of uncommons: Baldur's Gate and Follow the Tracks (which conjures one of the uncommon gates). The uncommon cycle of Gates are a great addition to any deck since trading a bit of potential tempo for long term card advantage is usually worth it. Baldur's Gate, on the other hand, is usually just a legendary Wastes since there are too few Gates to build around.

Barring an exceptionally lucky Draft, of course.

Digital Mechanics

Conjure

For those unfamiliar with any previous Alchemyreleases, conjure is one of WotC’s frequently-used digital-only mechanics. When you “conjure” a card you just create whatever the card says and put it wherever it’s stated.

That card now exists and can go to the battlefield, graveyard, exile, deck, etc. as though it were a real game object, because well, it is one.

Perpetually

Perpetually is another Alchemy mechanic that seems to show up in every digital release. An effect that’s “perpetual” modifies a card in some way, and this modification follows the card to every zone it goes. Think Skullbriar, the Walking Grave, but for a variety of different effects like losing abilities, permanent stat increases, etc.

Seek

Seek takes advantage of digital card selection by letting you draw cards directly out of your deck without needing to shuffle. When you seek for a specific card, you draw the first card in your deck that fits the criteria without changing the order of your deck.

This can play well with scry effects and is also good for finding specific kinds of cards.

Intensity

Intensity is a new mechanic that only appears on one card, Minthara of the Absolute. This is a way to do emblem technology without actually making an emblem since it ties the “intensity” increases to Minthara itself rather than you, the player. This has Minthara play out similarly to its Battle for Baldur’s Gate counterpart, Minthara, Merciless Soul.

Both cards want to see permanents repeatedly leaving your battlefield and reward you with scaling +X/+0 bonuses to all your creatures. The differences between the two are that the Absolute has +0/+2 and gains intensity in a different manner, while Merciless Soul has ward X based on experience counters.

Spellbook

Spellbook is another digital mechanic that appears in most Alchemyreleases. A card with spellbook lets you pick from three cards from a predetermined pool unique to the spellbook card. The card you choose is then conjured into your hand or onto the battlefield, depending on what the card says to do.

Three cards in HBG have spellbooks: Follow the Tracks, Oyaminartok, Polar Werebear, and The Hourglass Coven. Here are the spellbooks for each:

Follow the Tracks

Oyaminartok, Polar Werebear

The Hourglass Coven

Top Commons

Alchemy Horizons: Baldur’s Gate is a slow and grindy set with a metric ton of mana fixing and ramp available. There are 10 official 2-color archetypes, but it’s possible to ignore these archetypes and draft 4- to 5-color control decks every time if you’d like. I’ll get to that later, but first I want to touch on some important things.

I’d wager that the three most important things for you to familiarize yourself with when evaluating a new set are the top commons, top uncommons, and the basics of each archetype.

Let’s start with the top three commons for each color.

White

Honorable Mentions

Most of the other white cards are curve filler or have a bit of added value in certain archetypes, some of which I’ll mention later. Avoid Mace of Disruption like the plague because the card is nearly useless.

#3. Patriar’s Humiliation

Patriar's Humiliation is pretty good removal, especially when compared to clunkier options in the set like Minimus Containment. It scales nicely throughout the course of the game and has the emergency use to sap abilities on creatures it can’t quite kill. A higher creature density is recommended to maximize damage output.

#2. Blessed Hippogriff

Blessed Hippogriff is a passable combat trick with a free Snapping Drake which is a great deal, particularly given how cheap the combat trick is. You might occasionally want to just cast this as a creature if you can’t line up the trick, but either way the rate and functionality here is very good. Playing around this is important thanks to its ubiquity.

#1. Priest of Ancient Lore

The best common from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms returns for another bout. Priest of Ancient Lore is a very strong card on rate that particularly excels in Azorius () and Selesnya () thanks to flicker and lifegain synergy. You want to play or draft every copy of this you can!

Blue

Honorable Mentions

Soulknife Spy, Lizardfolk Librarians, and Water Weird are better quality creatures than blue usually gets. The rest of blue’s cards are fairly average Cancel variants, card draw, and curve filler. Charmed Sleep is useful against vanilla fatties like Hill Giant Herdgorger but can be embarrassing against cards like Blur, Deadly Dispute, and Icewind Stalwart.

#3. Undersimplify

WotC has been on a roll lately with good Quench variants, first with Make Disappear and now with Undersimplify. It’s a strong card for the first couple of turns and later puts your opponent in the awkward spot of having to pay a tax for a nerfed creature. This is decent general-purpose interaction that most blue decks are happy to play.

#2. Air Elemental

Air Elemental is an expensive but passably stated flier with a free bounce ability on it. It plays well with flicker effects and also enjoys that HBG isn’t the fastest set out there. Most blue decks would love a copy or two of this to top their curve.

#1. Young Blue Dragon

In a word, value! While neither a 2-mana sorcery-speed Opt or Nimbus of the Isles would be good on their own, getting both is quite a different story. Young Blue Dragon is one of the stronger commons in the format for midrange and control, and it being a dragon is also relevant for several archetypes.

Black

Honorable Mentions

Black is a bit flatter as a color than others since it has good removal, Deadly Dispute, and a lot of filler. The self-mill/graveyard cards excel in Golgari () (more on them later) but are poor otherwise, while Shambling Ghast and Guildsworn Prowler are among the better filler cards.

Avoid Hook Horror unless you really need some fat because its poor stats hold it back.

#3. Deadly Dispute

Deadly Dispute is a key value and synergy card that makes a lot of other black commons like Shambling Ghast and Guildsworn Prowler better. It plays well in multiples as long as you can get the first copy going without trouble.

#2. Sewer Plague

Sewer Plague is decent removal that kills small creatures now, and big creatures eventually. It’s fairly costed but somewhat inferior to Grim Bounty on rate, but I’d run a couple copies of both if possible.

#1. Grim Bounty

Grim Bounty and Priest of Ancient Lore were both top commons in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, so it’s no surprise to see them at the top of both of their colors. Bounty is fairly-costed removal with a nice bonus. It plays well on its own, and even better with Treasure synergies when you have them.

Red

Honorable Mentions

Hobgoblin Captain is another great Forgotten Realms card that you want in all of your aggro decks. The rest of red is a bit less impressive, but I like Improvised Weaponry and Unexpected Windfall for greedy Treasure-based control decks.

#3. Genasi Rabble-Rouser

Genasi Rabble-Rouser stands a good chance of duplicating itself early, and it scales well into the late game. Drafting multiples of this is rewarding but not entirely necessary thanks to double team.

#2. Young Red Dragon

Young Red Dragon is a fairly stated flier that comes with a free Treasure token and a nice creature type. Not blocking is a bummer, but your opponent can’t ignore three power in the air.

#1. Dragon’s Fire

Hey, look, another Forgotten Realms top common! Dragon's Fire may be even better than it was last time since there are some extra dragons this time around. You still run every copy of this you can, but dragons or no dragons, a 2-mana 3-damage instant is just a good rate.

Green

Honorable Mentions

Hill Giant Herdgorger is back and better than it was last set since there are stronger options for ramping to six. Band Together is pretty solid removal for green but a little bit too clunky for it to be a top common. Scaled Nurturer and Follow the Tracks are more solid ramp options in case you can’t get enough Undercellar Myconids.

The redundancy here is welcome, not to mention that it makes fatties and ramp very consistent to draft around.

#3. Owlbear

Yet another Forgotten Realms all-star returns for a second outing. Owlbear is exactly what good fat should be as it provides a solid body and doesn’t cost you a card. A turn 3 Undercellar Myconid into a turn 4 Owlbear is both realistic and good!

#2. Undercellar Myconid

Undercellar Myconid is a great mana dork that lets you splash bombs, cast more Dread Linnorms/Owlbears, and even do some chumping or early defense. This is substantially better than something like Lifespring Druid thanks to the free extra bodies.

#1. Dread Linnorm

I expected Dread Linnorm to be good, but it’s been great. Both parts of this card have just been so powerful. The creature is one of the largest in the format and the trick is good permanent sizing that even counters removal spells. Being a dragon is yet another bonus.

Colorless

I’m not doing a “top three” list here since most of these cards are only good if you’re splashing, and mediocre at best otherwise.

Pilgrim's Eye is a decent value creature that should see play in all but the most aggressive decks. It particularly shines when you’re splashing bombs and removal, and it’s a decent target for flicker effects.

Prophetic Prism is similarly useful for fixing mana without too much opportunity cost, but there aren’t many artifact synergies or ways to flicker it in HBG. Displacer Kitten is a powerful exception, but the other flicker cards all say “creature.”

Lantern of Revealing is the most sluggish colorless fixer available, but it does offer a mana dump and can be quite playable in greedy 4- to 5-color decks.

Avoid Iron Golem, Spiked Pit Trap, and Cloak of the Bat unless you desperately need other playables.