Last November, Wizards of the Coast released Historic Anthology 1, which added 20 cards to Magic: The Gathering Arena's Historic format. The cards included in Historic Anthology 1 were pulled from across Magic's long history, and now the developer is set to increase the Historic card pool even further, revealing details on Historic Anthology 2.
Magic: The Gathering Arena's Historic Anthology 2 will release on March 12, 2020, and it features 25 cards in total. For players that wish to obtain full playsets of all of the cards contained in Historic Anthology 2, that can be done at a cost of 4,000 gems or 25,000 gold. Alternatively, players will be able to craft the cards from the anthology individually by cashing in wildcards of the appropriate rarity.
With respect to the specifics of the cards included in MTGA Historic Anthology 2, they are as follows:
As with MTGA's Historic Anthology 1, this new anthology features cards from a variety of sets, some of which are not legal in either Pioneer or Modern. While Wizards indicates that more will be revealed about these new additions to Historic in the March 5 State of the Game, some of the strategies that these cards could help facilitate are immediately apparent.
For instance, Wizards of the Coast has put a very clear emphasis on getting Magic's lands into the graveyard in Historic Anthology 2, with five cycle lands and Ghost Quarter all making an appearance. The anthology also contains two payoffs for such a strategy in Knight of the Reliquary and Terravore, with the former also serving as yet another way for players to get lands into their yards.
Additionally, Magic Arena's Historic Anthology 2 has an Enchantment theme as well, and there is even a Merfolk lord that might just be enough to make fish a viable strategy in the format. There are also several cards in the anthology that are not particularly interested in synergies, but remain quite powerful on their own. The token-producing Dragonmaster Outcast and the premium removal spell Maelstrom Pulse are good examples of that.
It is also worth noting that MTG Arena's Historic Anthology 2 has a tie-in with a forthcoming Secret Lair Drop Series that celebrates an iconic white creature. Indeed, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is getting her very own Secret Lair, and it will be available on March 12, the same day as Historic Anthology 2's release.
Magic: The Gathering Arena is available on PC.
Source: Wizards of the Coast