[Update]: The balance patch has now arrived, and it brings with it a small extra change to Blood Artist that will make the card a lot less tedious to use!

In order to get as many deck archetypes into as playable of a state as possible, MTG Arena has been releasing numerous balance update aimed specifically at the most underpowered of cards. Last time around it was a whole bunch of Dungeon cards that got some much-needed buffs, and soon it will be time for Elves, Warriors and Equipment to get the same treatment as well.

The goal with the Warrior and Equipment based changes is to make them less vulnerable to removal with the addition of Ward effects, as well as to make them easier to play by reducing the mana cost of some of the key pieces. As for the Elves, it's mostly about giving the cards a little bit more flexibility and toughness so the deck can survive long enough to start a big chain reaction.

You can check out all of the specific tweaks, as well as a couple of bonus changes to often overlooked cards, over at the MTG website.

The only strange thing with this upcoming balance update is that none of the black cards have been nerfed. Right now black-based control is incredibly powerful due to a mixture of discard effects, cheap access to exile spells, as well as a myriad of board wipes, so to see the deck scoot on by untouched really does seem odd. Hopefully that will be sorted out in the near future, as otherwise I don't see Elves or Warriors being able to claw their way into the meta.

Whatever the case may be, I'll make sure to let you know once the Alchemy update goes live this April 7th, 2022. Until then, you might also want to check out the recent set announcement as it looks like a ton of Commander Legends cards will be making their way to Arena in July!