New cards are being added to the Historic format
- 20 new cards entering the format on November 21
- New card drops planned every quarter
- Ranked Historic Best-of-Three queue November 21–January 15
- A Historic Best-of-Three tournament at the end of the Ranked season
- Competitive, evergreen Historic events starting in January
All of these Historic cards have been added to the AetherHub legality engine so you can start brewing today, we will make sure the deck importer works with MTG Arena on day 1.
Wizards article: MTG Arena Historic Rollout
List of new cards
Historic decks to try out
Wizards also provided some new decks utilizing the new cards and here they are. Text is taken from the original article with author Ian Duke and Zac Elsik as a deck designer.
Based on the Dance of the Manse
/Doom Foretold
decks that were popular early this Standard season, this deck gets new powerful additions in Mind Stone and Phyrexian Arena. Mind Stone is a card sure to make waves as a colorless two-mana accelerant that any deck can play. In this deck, it can help power out an early Doom Foretold, or, in the late game, power up a Dance of the Manse either from the battlefield or from the graveyard. Plus, in a deck that features a lot of "air" (cards that do little else but cycle into another card), being able to cash in a mana source for a chance at more action is always handy.
Phyrexian Arena is just a plain powerful card in any black deck, but here it does great work keeping a steady flow of fodder going for Doom Foretold. If all else fails, or if you're low on life, you can even sacrifice Phyrexian Arena to keep your Doom Foretold around an extra turn. Plus, it adds to your artifact and enchantment count for Dance of the Manse.
Esper Doom Stax
Main 60 cards (20 distinct)
Lands - 25
Main 60 cards (20 distinct)
Lands - 25
Hidetsugu's Second Rite is perhaps the card Zac and I were most excited about. Not only does it create a satisfying "achievement unlocked" moment when you nail your opponent with it at the perfect time, but it may actually be a strong angle for a Historic mono-red aggro deck to embrace.
Compared to Modern, Historic has fewer incidental ways for a player to change their own life total—there are no fetch lands or pain lands, for example. With a high number of otherwise reasonable aggressive cards that deal damage in increments of 1, this deck should have little trouble getting an opponent to exactly 10. And, if your draw happens to not include Hidetsugu's Second Rite, it's all the more likely you'll be able to deal the full 20 naturally.
Hidetsugu Aggro
Main 60 cards (12 distinct)
Lands - 22
Main 60 cards (12 distinct)
Lands - 22
Main 60 cards (12 distinct)
| Planeswalker (4) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.27€0.140.03 | |||
| Creature (22) | |||
| $0.25€0.290.03 | |||
| $0.20€0.140.03 | |||
| $0.16€0.110.03 | |||
| $0.19€0.070.03 | |||
| $0.25€0.130.03 | |||
| $0.20€0.080.03 | |||
| Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (12) | |||
| $0.25€0.160.03 | |||
| $0.20€0.110.03 | |||
| $0.69€0.520.02 | |||
| Land (22) | |||
|
19
Mountain
|
|||
Zac made sure to explore some more offbeat strategies enabled by the new additions. Here's a midrange value deck centered around Captain Sisay. As any Commander player can tell you, Captain Sisay, while fragile, is capable of generating tremendous advantage when she goes unanswered. Not only is there a wealth of powerful and specialized legendary creatures and planeswalkers for her to tutor up, but thanks to Dominaria's cycle of legendary sorceries, you can also use her to tear down your opponent's side of the battlefield. The best part of brewing around a shell like this is that you can mix and match whatever toolbox of legendary cards you enjoy.
Sisay Legends
Main 60 cards (26 distinct)
Lands - 25
Main 60 cards (26 distinct)
Lands - 25
Main 60 cards (26 distinct)
| Creature (23) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| $1.71 | |||
| $21.91€15.040.74 | |||
| $8.86€8.94 | |||
| $9.96 | |||
| $11.69€7.00 | |||
| Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (6) | |||
| $58.95€50.67 | |||
| $2.95€0.63 | |||
| $7.41€2.00 | |||
| Planeswalker (6) | |||
| $7.20€4.50 | |||
| $1.06€1.020.02 | |||
| Land (25) | |||
| $5.05€3.90 | |||
| $4.00€3.210.02 | |||
| $11.99€9.900.18 | |||
| $12.41€9.590.27 | |||
| $4.89€3.39 | |||
|
2
Forest
|
|||
As a personal fan of resource-denial decks like Legacy Pox and Modern 8-Rack, building around Hypnotic Specter and Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage really piqued my interest. While this particular list goes all in on the discard plan, I can also see a lighter package of Kitesail Freebooter into Hypnotic Specter working well in a midrange shell.
Another good use for Hypnotic Specter is out of the sideboard in an otherwise creature-light control deck. If your opponent isn't packing mana-efficient answers like Shock or Disfigure, or is tricked into siding them out, Hypnotic Specter can really take over a game. Also consider cheap protection tricks like Dive Down to protect Hypnotic Specter and other disruptive creatures.
Hypnotic Discard
Main 60 cards (12 distinct)
Lands - 25
Main 60 cards (12 distinct)
Lands - 25
Main 60 cards (12 distinct)
| Planeswalker (4) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.36€0.250.03 | |||
| Creature (26) | |||
| $0.25€0.140.03 | |||
| $0.25€0.220.03 | |||
| $0.25€0.140.03 | |||
| $27.75€28.67 | |||
| $0.55€0.470.04 | |||
| Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (5) | |||
| $0.30€0.360.34 | |||
| $0.47€0.350.04 | |||
| Land (25) | |||
|
21
Swamp
|
|||
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