23, Jan, 25

MTG Aetherdrift Shark Pirate is the Ultimate Discard Payoff

There’s still a lot that has yet to be revealed, but so far, Aetherdrift looks like a blast. The designs of some of the individual cards look top notch, such as the new Loot and a new Walking Ballista variant. Beyond that, we’re also getting some sweet cycles, including five new ally-colored Gearhulks.

Amidst all these neat ideas, though, one card in particular stood out as being a really sweet build-around option. This legend offers a lot for four mana, especially in a Commander setting. We’re talking about none other than Captain Howler, Sea Scourge.

Captain Howler is a cool-looking Shark Pirate that packs a big punch. Its abilities may not seem too spectacular at first glance, but there’s a lot you can do to maximize it.

Forcing Big Attacks

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

For four mana, you get a 5/4 that’s a bit tough to kill. The Ward ability makes Captain Howler a bit more interesting in Constructed, but where the card looks poised to shine brightest is in Commander as a payoff for discarding cards.

The fact that Captain Howler provides a buff to one of your creatures FOR EACH card you discard means that pumping one of your threats up to have massive power is not that hard. Cards like Windfall or Wheel of Fortune, for instance, are fully capable of giving a creature +14/+0 out of nowhere.

From there, you want access to creatures that can easily connect in combat or creatures that provide a bunch of value depending on how much damage they deal. Take a card like Prosperous Bandit, for instance. By its lonesome, dealing damage will generate two tapped Treasure tokens. Following a huge Captain Howler buff, though, you can end up with a ton of Treasures in play from a single hit.

Fear of Failed Tests accomplishes a similar task, letting you draw a ton of cards if you connect in combat. Imagine getting to hit with an enormous copy of Cephalid Constable. If the opponent can’t effectively block it, you can send them back to The Stones Age by potentially bouncing their whole board.

Of course, you can always target your Captain Howler post-Wheel to push Commander damage. The only tricky part here is that none of these cards have evasion. Regardless, that’s easily fixed by running some equipment.

The Reaver Cleaver in particular is pretty obnoxious with Captain Howler if you can get your discard engine going. The Reaver Cleaver gifts Trample to the creature it’s equipping, then has the potential to gift you a huge sum of Treasures. All you need to keep things rolling is a reliable discard outlet, of which there are tons of options.

Weird Wording

Ghostly Pilferer

We haven’t even mentioned the fact that when you can deal combat damage with the creature you buff thanks to Captain Howler, you also get to draw a card in the process. This is great, but it gets even better when you can discard cards one at a time.

See, Captain Howler is worded in a bit of a weird way. Whenever you discard a card, the creature you pump lets you draw a card when you connect. So, with a free discard outlet in the mix such as Ghostly Pilferer, you can keep discarding cards at will, pumping Ghostly Pilferer and racking up delayed card draw triggers.

Assuming Ghostly Pilferer gets through (it’s unblockable, so it should), you get to draw cards equal to the amount you discarded. This means that next turn, your hand is still stocked to enable a huge attack all over again.

There are lots of free discard outlets you can take advantage of beyond just Ghostly Pilferer. Even a weird design like Land’s Edge can become a legitimate win condition with Captain Howler as your Commander.

The downside, of course, is that this process is vulnerable to removal. If you go all in and the creature you pump dies, you’re in trouble. Whispersilk Cloak is a nice tool to help ensure you don’t get blown out.

You can also choose to utilize effects that rummage or loot to trigger Captain Howler. These effects don’t put you down on cards in the case where you don’t connect in combat. If you can deal damage, though, you’re up resources in the exchange.

Take Artist’s Talent, for example. Pre-combat, each noncreature spell you cast lets you rummage, triggering Captain Howler in the process. If you can cast a flurry of noncreature spells on the same turn and then deal combat damage with the creature you make gigantic, you get the benefit of drawing a bunch of extra cards.

Any Hope for Standard?

Brass's Tunnel-Grinder

Overall, Captain Howler looks like an awesome EDH legend to build around. That being said, there is some hope for Captain Howler to show up in Constructed.

Wheel of Fortune is obviously not legal in Standard, but there are similar one-sided effects that still work with Captain Howler. Brass’s Tunnel-Grinder and The Elder Dragon War come to mind. All it takes is one enormous attack and you’re in the driver’s seat.

Captain Howler is also being printed in a set with presumably a lot of Cycling cards. Perhaps a shell built around Marauding Mako is a decent place to start with Captain Howler (a Cycling-based EDH deck would also welcome Captain Howler as a new addition). We’ll just have to see if there’s enough support in Standard, especially with a lack of cards that cycle for one mana thus far.

Four mana is undoubtedly a lot to pay for a creature in Standard with no enters-the-battlefield trigger. The good news is that Captain Howler’s Ward ability means your opponent can’t kill it on the cheap. We’re excited to see how players work to maximize this card, both in a Constructed and Commander setting.

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