The release of MTG Aetherdrift is just around the corner, and there’s a lot to look forward to. This set has plenty of impactful cards for a variety of formats that players can soon get their hands on. Recently, we covered the top five best Aetherdrift cards, largely looking at them mostly through the lens of Constructed. Today, we’re going to focus on the strongest Commanders from Aetherdrift.
Notably, we will only be looking at legends from the main set. Given that the Commander Precons are specifically designed for EDH, we thought it would be more interesting to look at potentially less obvious Commander options. Now, without further ado, here are the top five best MTG Aetherdrift Commanders.
5 | Redshift, Rocketeer Chief
Kicking off the list, we have Redshift, Rocketeer Chief. Redshift is quite the card. Naturally, the eyes of many players will turn towards the brutal 12-mana Exhaust ability. Redshift, however, gets a lot of mileage out of being a super-efficient Commander that generates mana.
The goal is to construct a deck with a lot of activated abilities to sink Redshift’s mana into. Cards like Magus of the Candelabra work perfectly with Redshift since you can sink Redshift’s mana into Magus’ ability and gain extra mana to cast on all your potent spells.
Redshift also rewards you if you’re able to pump the legend in any way. Even simple effects like Invigorate will net you a bunch of mana in conjunction with Redshift’s mana producing ability.
What really sets Redshift apart, though, is the range of infinite combos available with it at the helm. For instance, equipping Redshift with Umbral Mantle is an easy way to generate infinite mana to spend on abilities and create an infinitely large Redshift.
All you have to do is equip and tap Redshift for two mana, then use that two mana plus another mana to untap it via Umbral Mantle. From there, Redshift will tap for four mana, three of which will untap Redshift thanks to Umbral Mantle. Repeat this process, and you’ll have infinite mana, which can at minimum be used to dump your whole hand on the table with Redshift’s final ability. Redshift is awesome, and we’re just getting started.
4 | Samut, the Driving Force
Samut, the Driving Force is much more expensive to cast than Redshift, but the card also packs a huge punch if you can keep it around. As a burly, hasty threat, Samut makes it trivial to increase your speed. The more you do, the better all your other cards get.
Given that your creatures all get a power boost from Samut, Samut incentivizes you to flood the board with small creatures. At the same time, because your noncreature spells cost less to cast, any noncreature spells that produce tokens become quite appealing.
Spells like Secure the Wastes and March of the Multitudes can completely take over the game. The wider your board presence, the easier it is to keep increasing your speed. Currently, there’s only one card in MTG that can reduce your speed. Thanks to this, there’s a good chance that even if Samut dies, you’ll be able to replay them and attack with a massively buffed board right away.
3 | Loot, the Pathfinder
Loot, the Pathfinder is an intriguing legend that doesn’t exactly pull you in a particular direction. Loot is just a good and versatile MTG card.
All you need to do is make sure you have ways to reliably blink Loot. This way, you can get around the “Activate each exhaust ability only once” clause. Each time you blink Loot, it reenters and can activate any ability at will.
Cards like Displacer Kitten and Deadeye Navigator let you blink out Loot multiple times in a turn. With enough mana, you can draw a ton of cards in a single turn.
Given how easy it is to draw extra cards with Loot, you ideally also want a lot of mana to work with. Mana rocks and other ramp elements go a long way. Beyond blink effects and ramp, Loot leaves a lot of room for unique deck construction. The world is your oyster, so craft your deck to your heart’s content.
2 | Mendicant Core, Guidelight
Mendicant Core, Guidelight is incredibly strong for only two mana, so long as you put in the work. Right away, if you have a high density of artifacts, Mendicant Core will quickly become an enormous attacker. This makes the card scary by itself.
Once you factor in the speed aspect of the creature, though, you realize how insane Mendicant core truly is. Copying artifacts is amazing is always an amazing ability, no matter what you’re targeting. Whether you’re doubling up on mana rocks or win conditions like Portal to Phyrexia, you’re in for a good time.
You just need ways to deal damage to your opponents. Evasive bodies, such as those produced by Sai, Master Thopterist, make increasing your speed trivial.
Adding some equipment that can make it easier for Mendicant Core to get into the red zone also helps the cause. At the end of the day, though, as long as you fill your deck with artifacts and ways to increase your speed, it’s hard to go wrong.
1 | Ketramose, the New Dawn
Ketramose, the New Dawn was given the top spot on our best Aetherdrift cards in general, and to no surprise, this God makes for an incredible Commander. It’s cheap, it has Indestructible, and its card drawing ability can take over games.
The fact that Ketramose’s final ability includes exiling cards from graveyards makes the card elite. Effects like Ghost Vacuum ensure you’ll get to draw cards every turn cycle, assuming there’s enough stock in graveyards.
On top of that, blink effects like Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd that temporarily exile permanents will draw you cards as well. There’s no shortage of ways to gain an advantage with Ketramose out. Just keep in mind you are losing life in the process, so supplementing Ketramose with minor life gain effects is reasonable.
In a 40-life format like Commander, though, this is only a small concern. Ketramose is the ultimate value engine and rightfully earns its title of best Aetherdrift Commander.