[Update #2]: MTG Arena will be getting Shadows over Innistrad Remastered in 2023 and a second Explorer Anthology in 2022.

[Update]: Both anthologies are now live.

In order to give players a true-to-paper eternal format, the MTG Arena team recently launched Explorer with the aim to eventually transform it into Pioneer proper. While this process is likely going to take quite a while, the good news is that the first batch of Pioneer-legal cards will be coming to MTG Arena later today as a part of Explorer Anthology 1. The Historic format won't be going home emptyhanded either, as the update will also add the long-awaited Historic Anthology 6.

Each anthologies will set you back 25,000 gold or 4,000 gems and will contain twenty cards. Much like before, buying the anthology will give you four copies of each card, though you can also craft your favorites using wildcards if the whole bundle doesn't interest you.

As for what exactly the anthologies will bring to the table, that you can find out over at the Explorer and Historic card galleries. It's a bit of an odd selection of cards, especially on the Historic side of things, but there are definitely some solid new additions here as well.

If you're wondering whether either anthology is worth the price of admission, I'd say the answer depends purely on the amount of cards you want. If you only need a single playset, or a couple of individual cards for Historic Brawl, you're better off crafting those with wildcards. On the other hand, if you need multiple playsets of rare and mythic cards, then the anthology becomes a lot more valuable.

Have fun messing around with the new cards, and make sure to save a bit of in-game currency for August 4th as that's when some sort of big sale will be happening.