Aetherdrift previews debut in just one week, and there’s a lot to be excited about. This set should provide a great opportunity to see design throwbacks and references to planes like Avishkar (formally known as Kaladesh) and Amonkhet.
Typically, before preview season for a major set kicks off, MTG head designer Mark Rosewater will release a series of teasers to get players hyped for the set. Well, just recently he showed off the teaser list for Aetherdrift on his Blogatog page.
Now, it’s only right for us to highlight some of the most intriguing teasers and do our best to predict what these new designs might look like. Obviously, there are a lot of missing details, but there’s still a ton of information to gather from these brief hints.
Vanilla Legend Cycle???
Right off the bat, one particular hint from the teaser list jumps out as being incredibly unusual. According to Mark Rosewater, there will be a full cycle of vanilla legendary creatures. Vanilla legends aren’t exactly new to Magic, but there are very few in existence (14 to be exact).
Of these 14, 11 of them were printed way back in the set Legends. The other three are Isamaru, Yargle, Glutton of Urborg, and Yargle and Multani. At this point, none of these cards see much play at all.
This makes the decision to print a whole extra cycle of vanilla legends rather weird. With no abilities, it’s hard to imagine these cards having much Commander appeal. As for Limited and Constructed, the stats of these cards would have to be boosted rather significantly to make them worth considering at all.
A red one-drop with the same stats as Isamaru could be cool, since there are few 2/2s for one-mana in red that don’t come with downsides. Even still, it’s hard to imagine a card like this seeing Standard play over Kellan, Planar Trailblazer, and Kellan doesn’t see much play to begin with.
We’ll have to wait and see just how buffed these creatures’ stats end up being. Perhaps there are some other cards in the set that interact with these legends positively in some way. For example, if another creature lets you tutor for one of these legends when it enters, it could make including both of the cards in your deck worthwhile. If anything, these legends could reveal a lot about modern-day power creep.
Throwbacks
Moving on, the hints given in the teaser also showcase some unique potential ways to call back to previous designs and mechanics from Amonkhet and Kaladesh blocks. For instance, one of the examples of rules texts we now know states “Whenever you activate an exhaust ability, draw a card.”
I have a strong hunch that Exhaust is a direct throwback to Exert from Amonkhet. Based on the name, it would make sense that Exhaust would be a mechanic featured on vehicles.
Reddit user SoupAngel44 mentioned in the comments of an associated Reddit post that Exhaust could end up functioning like Exert but give the attacker stun counters as a means of keeping it tapped on future turns. This seems like a great mix of old and new mechanics.
As for references to Kaladesh block, we know that one card is a 13/13 vehicle for one mana with Crew 2. This could easily be a unique variant on Phyrexian Dreadnought. Obviously, Phyrexian Dreadnought was not part of Kaladesh block, but Consulate Dreadnought was. So, featuring a new vehicle that borrows ideas from the original Dreadnought would not be far-fetched.
We even have a new cycle of multi-color Gearhulks coming our way. Brightglass Gearhulk has already been spoiled, but now we know the card is not alone.
Character Predictions
This discussion segues nicely into some hints that pertain to specific characters we’ve seen before. Take the rules text “Whenever a player casts a spell they don’t own,” for instance. Combine that with the fact that there is a confirmed legendary Aetherborn Rogue in the set. Together, these hints point directly to the return of Gonti.
Gonti, Lord of Luxury was printed in Kaladesh as a legendary Aetherborn Rogue and steals cards from the opponent’s library for you to cast. A new Gonti that provides an extra reward for casting your opponent’s spells seems highly plausible.
One other hint pertaining to old characters states that three planeswalkers native to one of the worlds visited and one non-native will receive legendary desparked creature variants. Our guesses include Daretti, Basri Ket, and Garruk.
A legendary Daretti variant has already been spoiled. Meanwhile, Basri Ket seems well positioned for a new printing (Basri has only appeared as a planeswalker in one iteration). Garruk is a native to Muraganda, though it’s entirely possible that Samut or Saheeli get legendary creature versions instead. After all, they have been confirmed desparked.
Wacky Names
Lastly, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the sheer number of punny card names and mechanics in the set. Gas Guzzler, Maximum Overdrive, Road Rage, the Start your engines mechanic, and the list goes on. While I personally enjoy these humorous jabs, some players definitely find them a bit excessive.
One player stated that they wish the flavor of each new set didn’t seem “1 joke away from Unfinity and Unstable.” Another player is worried Aetherdrift will take a similar direction as Murders at Karlov Manor and Outlaws of Thunder Junction, showcasing “a parade of disconnected genres.”
All fans of maximum silliness should be hyped for the set, but that is not for everyone. Regardless, Aetherdrift sounds like it could be a blast to play with mechanically. Make sure to mark your calendars and be on the lookout for tons of previews starting next week!
