In a bit of a preview season switcheroo, both of the Aetherdrift Commander decks were revealed last week. Typically these are revealed at the tail end of preview season, but this time they arrived around the middle. Interestingly, however, that’s not the only change at play here. This time around, both Aetherdrift Commander decks also contain extra MTG story content.
This is an interesting move on Wizards’ part, for a number of reasons. It also coincides with a reduction from four Commander decks per set down to just two. Taken together, these changes seem to signal a new trajectory for Commander products going forward. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen. In any case, it’s an exciting time to be either a big Commander player or a card-carrying Vorthos.
Extra MTG Story Content In Aetherdrift Commander
How do the new Aetherdrift Commander decks supplement the set’s MTG story elements? In a couple of ways, actually. Both the Eternal Might deck and the Living Energy deck feature new art and flavor text that reveals new story information beyond that given out in the main set.
Take Eternal Might, for example. This is a Zombie Typal deck mechanically, and lore-wise pretty much all of its cards are set on Amonkhet. This includes a lot of reprints, which received new art that places them on the plane. Rather than simply following the events of the Ghirapur Grand Prix, like the main set, this deck instead focuses on the actions of the Chitin Court, an undead faction working in the shadows on Amonkhet.
The new printing of Cryptbreaker talks about how the court plans to “reclaim Amonkhet from the living,” for example. Meanwhile, Corpse Augur reveals two new insectile Gods, the Fly and the Wasp. For players who haven’t read the story articles for the set, this is brand-new information. Similar lore bits can be seen on the likes of Grave Titan and Midnight Reaper, too.
Similarly, Living Energy focuses on non-race events on Avishkar. The return of the Energy mechanic is a core element here, of course, but lore-wise it’s all about how the plane has changed since the Phyrexian Invasion. Cards like Lightning Greaves and Reality Shift speak to the street art culture that has emerged there. We also see a desparked Nissa in her new Worldsoul Speaker incarnation. Many expected this version of Nissa to come in the main set due to her importance to the overall plot. Seeing it in a Commander deck instead is a clear deviation from the norm.
A New Outlook
To back things up slightly, we should probably address the Greenbelt Rampager in the room. As those who follow the game intently will know, the Aetherdrift Commander decks are not the first time such products have included extra MTG story information. The past few Commander sets, Duskmourn in particular, have featured new art and flavor text as well.
The difference here is really one of scale. While the likes of Duskmourn and Thunder Junction Commander added small details to flesh out the world, they didn’t throw in major plot points that weren’t explored in the main set. Reprints were given new flavor to match the plane in question, but lore-wise they didn’t reveal anything interesting.
This is not the case in Aetherdrift. The plans of the Chitin Court are a major part of the story, and you really only see them in the Eternal Might Commander deck. There are other big revelations too, like the fact that Varina, Lich Queen is originally from Amonkhet, revealed via new flavor text on Sol Ring. Only seeing desparked Nissa here too is a fairly big deal.
In an episode of Good Morning Magic released on Saturday, Principal Designer Gavin Verhey talked about the Commander decks for Aetherdrift. Specifically, he mentioned how they provided room for Wizards to properly explore Zombie and Energy themes without bloating the main set. Since both themes are quite card-intensive, it just made sense to offload them to a separate product. It appears that a similar logic has been applied to the story of Aetherdrift, spreading it out across products in order to fit it all in.
Things To Come
Are big MTG story elements like these something we should expect in Commander decks post-Aetherdrift as well? Not necessarily. In Verhey’s video, he addressed the fact that Aetherdrift only had two Commander decks as opposed to the four we’ve grown accustomed to. He noted that this was an experimental change, in response to players complaining of too much Commander product of late.
This means we could see a reversion back to four decks per set in the future if player sentiment swings that way. In that world, I think big story elements like those we’re seeing in Aetherdrift Commander are much less likely. More decks mean less art/flavor budget for each, which makes such things more difficult. Coming down to two for Aetherdrift let Wizards really focus on two particular story angles, which seems to have worked quite well.
In Verhey’s video, he notes that a lot of players have been questioning the move to two decks. Some have even expressed disappointment. Given that, based on current precedents, more Commander decks means more new cards, this isn’t surprising. More players care about that side of the game than the art or the lore, to be sure. It’s very possible that we switch back to four decks per set before long as a result.
That said, I hope Wizards manages to maintain some of this increased story focus even if that does happen. Putting more narrative into Commander decks makes them feel less like supplemental afterthoughts and more like a real part of the set. It’s true that most players would be satisfied with just a few new cards and some good reprints, but I think the Aetherdrift Commander decks are proof that they can offer something more than that.
