Historic Anthology IV Coming To MTG: Arena Later This Month

Another Historic Anthology set has been announced for MTG: Arena that is sure to get many players excited, especially when they see the less-flashy game-changer hanging out on the drop list.


Published: March 5, 2021 4:20 PM /

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MTG: Arean - Historic Anthology IV - Death's Shadow Key Art

Wizards of the Coast have announced Historic Anthology IV and it will soon be released for MTG: Arena. The new set was first teased in an email that was sent out to players who managed to qualify for the Kaldheim championship coming later this month. Since then the set has been fully revealed by WotC and is expected to drop on March 11th. 

MTG: Arena Loves A Good Historic Set

The new Historic Anthology IV will be an anthology (strange, isn't it?!?) set that will bring new cards to MTG: Arena that weren't previously available. Historic is an Arena-only format that uses any cards from the game that have been released since the game launched back in 2018, with older cards gradually added through Historic Anthology sets. So far, Wizards has released 3 other Historic sets that have added some pretty insane cards to the game that were not previously available in the digital version of the world's biggest card game. 

Previously, Historic Anthologies have proven to shake up the Historic format drastically with big drops like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and this latest drop seems like no exception. While a card like Blinkmoth Nexus is exciting enough, the real standout is Think Twice, a cheap draw that comes back when it's most useful for the player. Of course, it's nowhere near as flashy as the 1-drop Death's Shadow that is a 13/13 card that gets weaker the more life the player has. 

Back in 2015/2016, Death's Shadow was an archetype in the Modern format that managed to see some top-tier play, using various cards to quickly drop life totals and allow players to get the powerful creature onto the field faster, sometimes winning as soon as turn 2. Not only was Deaths' Shadow a cornerstone of one of the game's most interesting archetypes, but it also survived other key pieces of its build being banned, such as Pryexian Probe. Eventually, the archetype changed form as many as 3 times, but it still managed to see top-tier play all the way through till 2017. 

Who knows what sort of changes it'll have on MTG: Arena when it hits. Although some of the key components of the original decklist are missing, such as cards with Phyrexian Mana, shocklands are available. It seems likely that players will try to find new and scary ways to use Death's Shadow in Historic given its raw power. 

Coming Soon To A (Digital) Table Near You

You can check out this full list of cards included in the set. 


Abomination of Llanowar
Adorned Pouncer
Ammit Eternal
Blinkmoth Nexus
Bonesplitter
Coldsteel Heart
Collected Conjuring
Death's Shadow
Declaration in Stone
Faith of the Devoted
Flameblade Adept
Goblin Gaveleer
Hamza, Guardian of Arashin
Harmless Offering
Iceberg Cancrix
Inspiring Statuary
Lys Alana Huntmaster
Marit Lage's Slumber
Sawtusk Demolisher
Spider Spawning
Sword of Body and Mind
Think Twice
Thraben Inspector
Torment of Scarabs
Triumphant Reckoning

Historic Anthology IV should be dropping on March 11th and will come jam-packed with 25 new cards you can use in the MTG: Arena Historic Constructed formats. The set will set you back either 4,000 Gems or 25,000 gold so hopefully, you've been saving up your in-game Arena bucks. For more information, check out Wizards' own website


Are you excited for the new Historic Anthology set? Do you think the metagame will be changed drastically this time? Let us know in the comments below. 

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


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Will has been writing about video games professionally since 2016 and has covered everything from AAA game reviews to industry events and everything in… More about William