Daring Mechanic | Aetherdrift | Art by Elizabeth Peiró
28, Jan, 25

MTG Pays Tribute To Mario Kart With New Aetherdrift Spoilers

It's a-me, Magic!

Aetherdrift is a Magic: The Gathering set that wears its influences on its neon-hued sleeve. There are clear callbacks to classic films like Mad Max and even the whimsical antics of Wacky Races. Film and TV allusions are par for the MTG course by this point, but Aetherdrift actually takes things a step further. Tucked away in the common and uncommon slots are direct references to Nintendo’s venerable Mario Kart series.

Even considering how far along the Universes Beyond track we are in Magic now, such cards still feel pretty out there. It’s hard to deny that they fit the theme, however, given all the zany energy elsewhere in the set. If you have fond memories of powersliding along Rainbow Road on slow summer afternoons, then these cards will make you very happy indeed.

Spikeshell Harrier

Mario Kart MTG Aetherdrift Spikeshell Harrier
  • Mana Value: 4U
  • Rarity: Uncommon
  • Type: Artifact Creature – Robot Turtle
  • Stats: 4/4
  • Card Text: When this creature enters, return target creature or Vehicle an opponent controls to its owner’s hand. If that opponent’s speed is greater than each other player’s speed, reduce that opponent’s speed by 1. This effect can’t reduce their speed below 1.

Both of the MTG Aetherdrift cards that reference Mario Kart were revealed together, in an article by Polygon. Given the site’s primary focus on video games, this makes a ton of sense. These aren’t the most exciting cards in terms of gameplay, honestly, as they feel more like Limited playables than anything. Their aesthetic elements, however, more than make up for this.

First up we have Spikeshell Harrier, by far the more interesting of the two cards. A cursory glance at the artwork here is all it takes to confirm that this Robot Turtle is based on Mario Kart’s legendary blue shell. For those who are somehow unfamiliar, this is an item that specifically targets the first place player in a race, acting as a catchup mechanism for those behind.

Harrier does something similar in Aetherdrift. If your opponent’s speed is greater than yours when it enters, their speed is reduced by one. In the Aetherdrift debut stream, it was confirmed that one card in the set would be capable of reducing speed, and this is it. As a tech card, Harrier is extremely lacking. Even if speed is good in constructed, which players aren’t convinced of yet, then a five mana creature isn’t a very efficient answer.

Harrier does have applications outside of being a speed bump, however. It’s also just a slightly chunkier Man-o’-War, which has often been a playable card in Limited. Getting to bounce Vehicles is a nice minor upgrade, too, especially in a set like Aetherdrift. Overall, I expect Harrier to be solid in Limited but not really playable anywhere else. Even if speed turns out to be viable in Standard, this is too slow to answer it effectively.

Daring Mechanic

Mario Kart MTG Aetherdrift Daring Mechanic
  • Mana Value: 2W
  • Rarity: Common
  • Type: Creature – Human Artificer
  • Stats: 3/3
  • Card Text: 3W: Put a +1/+1 counter on target Mount or Vehicle.

From the blue shell to Mario himself, we come to Daring Mechanic. This one is a bit more subtle as a reference, but revealing it alongside Harrier makes the intention clear. While Harrier emulated the mechanics of its source material, this one is really more of an aesthetic tribute. With the cap, overalls, and mustache, this is clearly a homage to Nintendo’s portly plumber. The two even share the trait of working blue-collar jobs.

As a card, Daring Mechanic absolutely screams Limited. A three mana 3/3 is fine in the format, and a mana sink is always welcome in longer games. With how many Mounts and Vehicles are packed into Aetherdrift, this could actually be a sneaky bomb against slower decks. Land this and an evasive Vehicle, build it up slowly over time, and then crash in for the win. Three power means Mechanic can crew the Vehicles it buffs quite well, so there’s extra synergy there too.

Beyond Aetherdrift Limited, I don’t anticipate Daring Mechanic will see play outside of MTG Commander decks built around a Mario Kart theme. Even then, the only other card that springs to mind for such a deck is Inga and Esika for Rainbow Road, so it’s likely not that viable.

It’s worth noting that this is a common creature with an activated ability that can make use of infinite mana. We’ve seen cards like this see play in formats like Pauper before, so there’s potential here too. Buffing a Mount or Vehicle is a lot worse than just killing your opponent with Flamewave Invoker, however, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high.

MTG And Video Games

Video Game References MTG

As surprising as seeing Mario Kart referenced so forthrightly in Aetherdrift may be for newer players, this isn’t the first time MTG has drawn inspiration from video games. Over the years we’ve seen many similar examples, some more obvious than others.

Original Innistrad brought us Grave Bramble, for example, way back in 2011. This was a Plant creature with protection from Zombies: a clear homage to PopCap’s 2009 hit Plants Vs. Zombies. The card even has Defender, as a reference to the game’s tower defense elements. This was a pretty clear reference for those in the know, but it also blended seamlessly into Innistrad as a set for those out of it.

Fast forward to Magic 2015 and we saw a huge influx of video game-inspired cards. This set included 15 guest designed cards, many of which were contributions from notable video game developers. Markus Persson, AKA Notch, submitted the Minecraft-inspired Aggressive Mining, for example. This set also gave us the likes of Shield of the Avatar from Richard Garriott, an Ultima homage, and Cruel Sadist, a nod to the violent worlds of Meat Boy co-creator Edmund McMillen.

These were the most explicit video game references Magic has seen, but there have been more since. Last year’s Murders at Karlov Manor gave us A Killer Among Us. Outside of literally name-checking the popular social deduction game in its title, this card also emulated its mechanics. You could argue this was as much an homage to the murder mystery genre as it is to Among Us specifically, but I think the title cinches it.

While references like this in Magic can feel ham-fisted sometimes, I think they’re a great fit when done well. The Mario Kart nods in Aetherdrift will age quite nicely, I’d predict.

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