The MTG Aetherdrift spoiler season has finally begun! New mechanics have arrived, boasting some powerful abilities for players to try. Most importantly, however, we have a batch of new spoilers to digest! Two Planeswalkers have been revealed this time around, departing from the one-Planeswalker set rule that we’ve become so used to. One of these Planeswalkers, however, is quite a bit different from the others.
It’s no secret that MTG is getting its first Equipment Planeswalker in Aetherdrift. Since the entire MacGuffin of this set is the Aetherspark, there had to be some way to represent it in a way that depicts how important the card is. Having it be something we’ve never seen before is a great way to do this, so let’s start with the featured card of the set.
The Aetherspark
The Aetherspark wants to attach itself to a creature to charge its loyalty incredibly quickly. Having the card attached to a creature also prevents it from being attacked by opposing creatures. From this lens, The Aetherspark could be absolutely absurd.
Aside from growing your creature when becoming equipped to it, it’s incredibly easy to reach The Aetherspark’s Ultimate just a turn after casting it. The minus abilities on The Aetherspark are underwhelming compared to other Planeswalkers, but considering how easy it is for this card to get Loyalty, they’re a lot better than they look.
Drawing two cards or adding ten mana won’t win the game on its own, but adding ten mana the turn after casting The Aetherspark, or drawing two cards over and over, is a great way to pull ahead of the opponent. Notably, the creature equipped with The Aetherspark doesn’t need to deal combat damage to a specific target – it can be to anything.
Our prediction is that this card will show up in Standard Midrange creature decks. The Aetherspark is rather weak outside of being equipped to a decently sized creature, so if keeping creatures in play becomes a challenge, this card may not be good enough.
Otherwise, even though The Aetherspark cannot be attacked when equipped to a creature, it is still an artifact. Artifact removal does deal with it, in other words. Otherwise, removing the creature and attacking The Aetherspark is also a strong way to keep this off the board.
Chandra, Spark Hunter
Our second, and likely final, Planeswalker of the set is Chandra, Spark Hunter. This card certainly has some impressive synergies with Vehicles and should be a boon to many artifact-centric decks. In order to use this Chandra effectively, you’ll need to be able to get value out of her triggered ability. Chandra’s plus effect is rather underwhelming and, while her zero ability does allow her to create a hasty body, it’s best if Chandra can create value outside of just herself. That said, having this option will make Chandra, Spark Hunter a lot more flexible.
Chandra’s Ultimate may not look too powerful, but this is a backbreaking ability. Add on the fact that Chandra can Ultimate just a couple of turns after entering, and this Planeswalker can put a seriously strong clock into play. Of course, this Ultimate will only pay off in certain decks, but turning cheap artifacts into Lightning Bolts is a very scary way to close out the game.
Ultimately, we expect to see Chandra appear in any aggressive Vehicle strategies, but the card could also appear in aggressive mono red decks. The card certainly isn’t equipped to outdo the Mouse package from Bloomburrow, but Chandra does offer some promise.
The Last Ride
The Last Ride is a recreation of an incredibly iconic MTG card with some twists. Death’s Shadow is a more straightforward version of this card that doesn’t make you jump through hoops. Strangely, these hoops make The Last Ride a bit more viable in specific strategies.
Firstly, The Last Ride can be played at any time. Death’s Shadow specifically needs you to have 13 or less life to stay on the board, otherwise, it’ll kill itself. The Last Ride can stay in play even if your life total isn’t under 13 thanks to the card not being a creature by default. This means that you can always deploy the vehicle as early as turn one. Just make sure not to turn the Vehicle into a creature until your life total goes under that amount.
Otherwise, The Last Ride has an added value effect that can draw you cards. It’s definitely a bit expensive, but it makes running The Last Ride worthwhile in attrition strategies, potentially even in older MTG formats. This card is likely better than it looks.
Loot, the Pathfinder
This little guy is absolutely terrifying. Loot straight-up offers abilities of cards found in the Power Nine, the most powerful cards in all of Magic: The Gathering. Exhaust may seem like a big drawback, but it really isn’t. All Loot needs to do is leave and re-enter play, and the Exhaust abilities are reset. In Commander, for example, sending Loot back to the Command Zone will allow you to use his Exhaust abilities again. Similarly, Flickering Loot resets all of his abilities.
Add on the keywords that Loot boasts, and this card becomes an absolutely terrifying powerhouse. Dropping this with six mana available can immediately allow you to attack for four, and use one of Loot’s abilities. That certainly seems strong enough for Standard.
Muraganda Raceway
Muraganda Raceway is an Ancient Tomb with extra steps. That is an incredibly scary statement. Fast mana can completely warp formats. Just look at what Mox Opal’s unbanning did to Modern. Fortunately, or sadly, depending on your position, the restriction on Muraganda Raceway is very debilitating.
Start Your Engines, despite being about reaching Max Speed, is a very slow mechanic. You can only increase Speed on your turns, which means it will take three turns to reach Max Speed at its fastest. At this rate, Muraganda Raceway may be relegated to Commander decks that can reliably trigger Max Speed on each turn. This doesn’t seem too impressive to us.
Insane Cat Typal Tool
Basri has been desparked! Even more shockingly, Basri is quite capable in Cat decks. As a result, this card could even see Modern play thanks to Boros Energy having a Cat engine.
As a creature, Basri is fine. It’s a decent curve-filler in typal decks, which could come up in Standard, and will come up in Commander. The Cycling effect is what makes Basri really interesting. This gives Cat decks a way out of most board wipe effects. Cycling Basri can also cover for single-target removal thanks to Hexproof.
The Cycling does double duty, allowing the Legend Rule to matter a lot less. This can let cat fans play multiple copies of Basri with more confidence. The Exert effect is an interesting callback to Amonkhet, but the effect itself is sadly somewhat lacking. This would probably be better if it weren’t an Exert effect, even if it costed 3 mana.
Regardless, Basri is definitely a card to watch during the early days of Aetherdrift.
Boommobile
The Boommobile is a really weird MTG card. The card offers a 5/5 vehicle for 4, which is already promising, but also refunds the mana cast on it. While this would be absolutely broken without any caveats, the catch is a somewhat fatal one: the four mana can only be spent on abilities.
Fortunately, Boommobile does grant an Exhaust ability for you to use if you cannot use that mana anywhere else. Using only the four mana makes this one-time ability deal one damage to any target while buffing the vehicle. While this is definitely underwhelming, it technically means you get a 6/6 vehicle for four mana.
Instead, this extra layer of versatility allows Boommobile to be a mana sink once you can cast it. While dealing one damage is rather unimpressive, dealing two, or three damage with leftover mana can do some lasting damage. Of course, Boommobile will synergize with decks that want to prioritize activated abilities since you can distribute the mana in other ways. This feels like a card that could give birth to a new Standard archetype. It could also be a decent tool in red midrange decks.
Bulwark Ox
Bulwark Ox announces the return of the Saddle mechanic to Aetherdrift. Considering that this mechanic was originally created for Aetherdrift, this isn’t too surprising. The creature itself is mildly impressive and will see some play in ‘counters matters’ Commander decks. While a scaling threat is certainly interesting, Saddling can occasionally be costly. That said Bulwark Ox does provide the perfect tools to fit into the Selesnya Cage deck. Not only can this distribute power for the deck’s namesake card Collector’s Cage, but since the cage also distributes counters, Bulwark Ox can give your deck staying power against boardwipes and targeted removal. In our opinion, this slots straight into an existing Standard archetype.
Captain Howler, Sea Scourge
Captain Howler pairs well with a few other Izzet cards that have been released in recent sets. Most notable of those, in my opinion, is Mary Read and Anne Bonny from the Assassin’s Creed set. Sadly, that card is not Standard legal, but it doesn’t stop you from including these two cards in a discard or Pirate-themed Commander deck. Both cards want to discard cards from your hand, and both cards can draw cards as rewards. Captain Howler could also be an interesting inclusion in a Flubs, the Fool Commander deck.
It’s difficult to tell how this card will perform in construction because no current archetypes want a card like this.
Coradora, Heart of Alacria
Coradora seems like an amazing build-around card. Capable of searching out a threat and offering a powerful replacement effect, Coradora has everything it needs to succeed. The card creates immediate value while threatening a lot more with a scaling effect.
Mounts and Vehicles are hardly the strongest MTG cards in the world, but considering the amount of support both of these cards are seeing in Aetherdrift, it’s safe to say that Coradora will have options. While this should be able to go the distance in any ‘counters matter’ Commander decks, it’s tough to tell for constructed formats.
Cryptcaller Chariot
If discard-based strategies find their way into Standard, it will almost certainly be because of Cryptcaller Chariot. Chandra, Spark Hunter notably synergizes with this vehicle in a really scary way. Not only can she allow the Chariot to become a hasty 5/5 creature, but Chandra can also use her plus ability to trigger Cryptcaller Chariot’s ability.
Creating an army of black zombies with this card can easily end the game. Esika’s Chariot is certainly a bit more powerful than this card, but the ceiling on Cryptcaller Chariot is higher.
Far Fortune, End Boss
If your goal is to reach Max Speed, Far Fortune, End Boss will get you there. Once you get to Max Speed, Far Fortune offers a replacement effect that threatens a ton of damage in any deck dealing constant damage.
This seems like a great card in a Lord of Pain Commander deck. That Commander should have no problem getting you up to Max Speed as soon as possible. The Lord of Pain also goes the distance with a replacement effect like this.
As an added note, Far Fortune doesn’t have to attack herself to deal damage to an opponent. This allows you to start picking up Speed as soon as Far Fortune enters play, disregarding summoning sickness completely – as long as you have another creature to attack with.
Kolodin, Triumph Caster
Kolodin, Triumph Caster is the card that Saddle and Crew fans have been waiting for. The creature bypasses the debilitating effect that Mounts and Vehicles provide, creating an opportunity for maximum value upon entry of either of these card types. This makes Kolodin an absolutely terrifying creature to face on-curve, and likely merits immediate removal. If a Vehicle deck makes its way into Standard, there is a very good chance that Kolodin will be a part of it.
Mendicant Core, the Guidelight
Mendicant Core is deceptively powerful, but it may not be a constructed card. In Commander, however, this card is perfectly set up to shine. In an artifact-matters deck, Mendicant should be able to deal massive damage. Once you reach Max Speed, you can start copying your artifact spells, which is an absurd amount of value.
Unfortunately, Max Speed is really poor in Commander. Because you can only increase your Speed on your turns, it will take a long time to pick up Speed. Our hope is that there will be some Commander cards from Aetherdrift that aid players in picking up Speed in that format.
Redshift, Rocketeer Chief
Redshift, Rocketeer Chief is the captain of the Gruul Goblin-based race team in Aetherdrift. Similar to Boommobile, the race cart for this team, Redshift cares about creating mana that can only be used to activate abilities. Frankly, constructed formats are not a place where Redshift is going to shine. This card, instead, seems ridiculous in Commander.
Redshift creates a bizarre combination of possibilities. You want to buff Redshift to generate mana and use that mana to dump your hand onto the battlefield. So, you need ways to buff Redshift, but you also need ways to maximize his activated ability. It certainly offers the possibility to create something wonderous, but what that is going to be is difficult to ascertain. This is a mad genius’s dream to brew around.
Sita Varma, Masked Racer
Sita Varma offers a one-time win condition on a creature that comes down on curve. The idea would be to play this card in a wide deck and use it as a Craterhoof Behemoth-esque effect to turn everything gigantic temporarily. Cards like this are rather versatile, as long as their base stats are relevant enough to compete. Sita Varma seems to fit that requirement. While the card’s constructed viability is questionable, it does seem like an interesting finisher in Commander.
Thunderous Velocipede
Thunderous Velocipede is going to see play in Commander and could see play in constructed formats too. This card scales the size of your creatures to a dangerous capacity. The card buffs any creature or Vehicle entering play but becomes really scary once you start dropping things with mana value four or more. Frankly, if you see this card enter play, you’ll need to remove it before it starts generating too much value.
Vnwxt, Verbose Host
Our friend from Battlebond has returned! While Vnwxt offers a very flashy effect, it’s sadly a Max Speed one. Getting to Max Speed is incredibly difficult, but Vnwxt does offer an ability that makes it worthwhile. Drawing an extra card whenever you draw a card will bury your opponent in card advantage. As long as you can pick up Speed and turn the corner, Vnwxt will allow you to leave your opponent in the dust.
Winter, Cursed Rider
Winter, Cursed Rider offers an incredibly powerful and aggressive ability. Any deck that focuses on artifacts, or artifact creatures, will want to consider including Winter.
Not only will Winter punish opponents for trying to deal with your board state, but Winter can turn your fallen artificial comrades into a board wipe. This can give your artifact creature strategy the edge against other creature decks while punishing midrange opponents for excessive amounts of spot removal. All in all, this seems like a solid card that could see Standard play as long as Winter has a home. The absence of abundant artifact creatures, however, suggests that Winter may be relegated to Commander.
Zahur, Glory’s Past
Zahur is Basri’s partner-in-crime on the Amonkhet team, represented in Aetherdrift as the Orzhov color combination. As is the case for all creatures with Start Your Engines, Zahur offers a game-ending effect if you reach Max Speed, but reaching Max Speed is a challenge. Zahur could be worthwhile in an aristocrats deck, regardless. A once-per-turn sacrifice effect can create a decent amount of value with that strategy, and the Max Speed effect functions as a win condition, even if it’s very difficult to acquire.
Lots of Flashy Effects to Try!
While Max Speed is a very difficult mechanic to get going, it does allow Wizards of the Coast the design space to create some really interesting payoffs. If you can find ways to increase your Max Speed quickly, you’ll likely find some serious success in Aetherdrift.
