Aetherdrift preview season is finally upon us, bringing with it everything we’ve come to expect from a new Magic: The Gathering set. I’m talking new cards, new mechanics, and new card treatments. Based on everything previewed in today’s debut, the set isn’t going to disappoint in that regard. Aetherdrift brings with it a number of interesting card treatments, all of which help to support the style and feel of the set.
Some of these call back to Magic’s distant past, while others feel like Secret Lair cards printed into Standard. In both cases, they feel appropriately full-on for a set with a theme as out there as Aetherdrift. While ‘Magic-as-fantasy’ purists may object, for my money this is the most fun Booster Fun has been yet.
Going For Gold
Perhaps the most exciting of the card treatments in the Aetherdrift lineup is Gold Foil, also known as First-Place Foil. This is one of the most interesting, and exclusive, card treatments we’ve seen in quite some time.
As the name suggests, these are foil cards with a special gold coloring, as opposed to the normal rainbow effect applied to Magic foils. They also come with gold borders, which is a pretty huge deal. We haven’t seen gold borders in Magic for 21 years, after all.
Don’t expect to get your hands on many Gold Foils, however. These cards are available exclusively in Aetherdrift Box Toppers. For reference, these are special two-card packs included in full Booster Boxes, Collector Booster Boxes, and Finish Line Bundles. You’ll need to be spending a fair bit on sealed product to get one, in other words.
Each Box Topper will contain two cards, a land and a nonland. The land will always be Gold Foil but has a 75% chance to be a regular Full-Art land and a 25% chance to be a Full-Art Panorama land. The nonland could be pretty much any rare or mythic in the set, special variants included, or even a Special Guest card. There’s a huge possibility pool here, with over 130 cards available in the treatment.
Since we’re on the subject of lands, I figured a quick glance at this set’s new Full-Art land lineup wouldn’t go amiss. The three above are part of the ‘Full-Art Driver’s Seat’ basic land cycle, which is available in Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, and Box Toppers. While not as flashy as the Panorama lands, these are still very much welcome.
Borderless Beauties
Gold Foils aside, Aetherdrift also hosts a number of other spicy card treatments. Before we get into the really out-there stuff, we should discuss the set’s standard Borderless cards. It’s not too surprising to see these return yet again. They’ve become firm fan favorites and got a very strong showing back in Foundations. Based on the examples we’ve seen so far, it looks like Aetherdrift will be carrying the torch with gusto.
The only regular Borderless cards we saw in the debut were Basri, Tomorrow’s Champion and Vnwxt, Verbose Host. By ‘regular Borderless’ I mean Borderless cards that use the standard Magic art style. These both look fantastic and are great choices for the treatment. There’s been no confirmation on where and how often these will show up in Aetherdrift yet. That said, based on past sets they’ll likely be available in both Play and Collector Boosters, just at a higher rate in the latter.
Regular Borderless cards are just the tip of the iceberg in Aetherdrift. The set also includes a number of variants on the style, each of which push the boundaries for what art in a regular Magic set can look like. For starters, each of the 10 ‘Team Leaders’ for the race teams in the set gets a special Borderless treatment. These are all in a distinct art style, intended to showcase the personality of the team in question.
The above examples illustrate this idea perfectly. You can see the detailed linework of the Guidelight Voyagers, the punk edge of the Endriders, and the soft, fantastical style of the Alacrian Quickbeasts. Giving the 10 faction leaders unique treatments like this is a great move, and should help draw more players into a specific team for the set.
Speed And Style
But wait, there’s more! Aetherdrift has two additional Borderless card treatments, each of which is even bolder than the team leader cards above. These two are so out there they actually have their own names. First up we have the Borderless Revved Up cards.
These Revved Up cards are all Vehicles, each representing one of the 10 racing teams in the set. The art here is meant to represent what a poster for each of the teams would look like if such a thing existed. There’s a lot of use of bold, block color, and even graffiti in the background. We’ve seen work like this in Secret Lair products before, but it’s new ground for a mainline Magic set.
It’s unclear just how many of these Borderless Revved Up cards we’ll be getting, but I’d expect at least one per race team. As a creative decision, they’re bold but logical, creating fan artifacts to really sell the idea of the Ghirapur Grand Prix as a huge spectator event.
Finally, we have Borderless Rude Riders: possibly the most Secret Lair-esque card treatment we’ve ever seen in Standard. The Bulwark Ox above is the only example provided so far, but it leaves a big impression. The block color background and the total lack of any kind of text box at the top of the card is very unusual. The art for the Ox itself, which draws from similar graffiti traditions to the Borderless Revved Up cards, is also striking.
This treatment will be used exclusively for Mount cards, which will play a significant role in the set alongside Vehicles. Some may balk at the idea of Standard getting such Secret Lair-esque cards, but I personally love seeing cards like these being made more accessible.