It’s no secret that Aetherdrift cards have played a major role in the metagame developments in Standard and Modern. In Standard, new archetypes have arisen thanks to powerhouses like Afterburner Expert, and well-established strategies have gotten some elite upgrades. In Modern, Ketramose, the New Dawn is a force to be reckoned with.
The one format where Aetherdrift hasn’t had as big of an impact up to this point, though, is Pioneer. Pioneer isn’t exactly garnering a lot of attention at the moment, either.
However, this past weekend, an unusual Esper Greasefang deck managed to make top four of a Magic Online Pioneer Challenge, abusing a potent Aetherdrift artifact. This Aetherdrift card could help revitalize Greasefang decks, which have been in a downswing in recent weeks. So, if you’re a fan of vehicle synergies, it might be time to hop back on the bandwagon.
Traditional Greasefang Gameplan
- Mana Value: 1WB
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 4/3
- Card Type: Legendary Creature- Rat Pilot
- MTG Sets: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- Card Text: At the beginning of combat on your turn, return target Vehicle card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Return it to its owner’s hand at the beginning of your next end step.
While this deck does have some unique card choices, the main gameplan is still the same. Your goal is to get Parhelion II into the graveyard and follow up with a copy of Greasefang, Okiba Boss. Greasefang conveniently has four power, which is just enough to crew up Parhelion II by itself. A single attack with the eight-drop will typically shut the door, given that the opponent now has evasive Angels to contend with.
In order to support this gameplan, you need a decent number of ways to churn through your library and get cards into the graveyard. In Abzan Greasefang, you’ll find effects like Grisly Salvage and Cache Grab that fuel your graveyard and dig for Greasefang at the same time. Meanwhile, in Mardu Greasefang, Fear of Missing Out and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker double as discard outlets and efficient threats.
Esper takes a bit of a different approach. By adding blue, you get access to Tainted Indulgence and Faithful Mending. Both of these cards let you discard Parhelion II at instant speed, so even if you don’t have anything of relevance in your graveyard on turn two, the opponent always has to fear dying to the “combo” on your next turn.
By themselves, these cards aren’t enough to sway you into blue. Giving up on Fable or Esika’s Chariot means you would normally have a much weaker backup plan. Fortunately, a playset of an Aetherdrift powerhouse rewards you for these changes.
The Role of Monument to Endurance
- Mana Value: 3
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Artifact
- MTG Sets: Aetherdrift
- Card Text: Whenever you discard a card, choose one that hasn’t been chosen this turn-
- Draw a card.
- Create a Treasure token.
- Each opponent loses 3 life.
The main reason to play blue is to give you access to plenty of efficient ways to maximize Monument to Endurance. Monument to Endurance is an incredible card if you build around it. Some players have gone as far as to test out Boros cycling as an archetype that can easily abuse Monument to Endurance. Esper Greasefang isn’t quite as all-in on Monument, but there’s still tons of support.
Tainted Indulgence, Faithful Mending, Bitter Triumph, and Collective Brutality all act as two-mana ways to trigger Monument. In grindy games, you’ll mainly use Monument as a card advantage engine. Obviously, you’re limited to using this mode once each turn, but since Tainted Indulgence and Faithful Mending are both instants, you’ll often be able to trigger Monument during both your turn and your opponent’s turn.
This makes Monument a scary win condition, too. If you’re simply looking to race, Monument threatens to end the game in short order. 6 life per turn cycle is a lot. Faithful Mending even has flashback, making it more likely you won’t run out of ways to trigger Monument when going down this route.
Using Monument as an alternate win condition becomes extremely crucial when facing down graveyard hate in games two and three. Vanishing Verse can answer Rest in Peace in a pinch, but then you still have to go through the effort of getting Parhelion II into your graveyard afterwards. Sometimes, having a way to sidestep hate is your best avenue to victory.
Plus, the more your opponent is focused on fighting your graveyard, the less pressure they’re likely applying, making Monument even scarier. On the flip side, if the opponent comes prepared with sorcery speed answers to Monument, such as Skyclave Apparition, they may be forced to tap out and risk dying to Greasefang.
The Future of Greasefang?
- Mana Value: 3BB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 5/5
- Card Type: Enchantment Creature- Avatar Horror
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: Impending 5—1B (If you cast this spell for its impending cost, it enters with five time counters and isn’t a creature until the last is removed. At the beginning of your end step, remove a time counter from it.) Whenever Overlord of the Balemurk enters or attacks, mill four cards, then you may return a non-Avatar creature card or a planeswalker card from your graveyard to your hand.
As powerful is this build is, it still remains to be seen whether playing Esper and going all in on Monument is the best way to go. In order to have a high density of ways to discard cards, this deck eschews some pretty powerful cards.
For instance, you may notice a glaring omission from the maindeck in the form of Thoughtseize. Thoughtseize is excellent at protecting your combo, letting you know if the coast is clear to jam Greasefang, and messing with opposing combos all at the same time. Favoring Collective Brutality because it’s a discard outlet may not prove to be the best choice long term.
Fatal Push is in a similar boat. Missing out on super cheap interaction is costly, even if it means it would make your potent three-mana artifact less consistent.
Even Overlord of the Balemurk is a strong option that this deck simply can’t utilize the way its structured. All in all, though, this really goes to show just how incredible Monument to Endurance is. If it sticks around, it will run away with the game.
The interactive midrange cards that Mardu Greasefang uses, including Fatal Push and Bloodtithe Harvester, help a lot in the Gruul Prowess matchup. However, Monument excels against Rakdos Demons, which is incredibly popular right now. So, if you’re tired of losing to midrange shells, Esper Greasefang could be a great option to pick up.