MTG Arena Teases Commander With New Alchemy Card

thegamer.com:

MTG Arena is adding a brand-new card from the Karlov Manor set called Juggle the Performance next week, teasing the long-awaited Commander format.

Commander is played with four players as opposed to Arena's two. Wizards of the Coast has talked about implementing it in the past, and Juggle the Performance's flavour text all but confirms it, "Each player discards their hand, then conjures a duplicate of each of seven random cards from the library of the player to their right into their hand."

The key thing to note here is that it mentions players to your right, rather than a singular opponent. The layout for Commander in Arena would likely be players on the top, bottom, left, and right, meaning that you will always have someone besides you to make use of cards like this one.

Last year, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said that Magic Arena is looking into finally adding Commander. He didn't confirm when, if it all, it would arrive, but we've known for a while now that Wizards of the Coast is at least considering the format. With Juggle the Performance, it looks closer to being a reality.

It's worth noting that the flavour text may be kept the same in Arena for templating reasons or to future-proof the card, rather than for a yet-to-be-revealed Commander mode. A single opponent in a one-versus-one is technically to your right, so it doesn't necessarily mean four players.

Regardless, we know that WotC wants to expand MTG Arena into other formats, so it hasn't been completely ruled out.

"There are formats like Commander, which is a four-player version of the game that’s highly social," Cocks said. "I’m enthused as I know [Wizards of the Coast CEO and COO] Cynthia [Williams] and the team are figuring out how we can get a true multiplayer experience beyond two players, for Magic digitally.”

Perhaps it'll finally become a reality soon enough, or maybe the card is giving us false hope. Whatever the case, Karlov Manor comes to MTG Arena next month on March 5.

Magic: The Gathering Arena