27, Jan, 25

MTG Aetherdrift Spoilers Boast Fun Vehicles with Unlimited Potential

Aetherdrift’s release is coming up on us awfully fast, and the set looks quite intriguing. The new mechanics like Exhaust and Start Your Engines! are very unique and fit the racing theme of the set quite well.

Of course, no racing set would be complete without a plethora of vehicles to go around. Tons of vehicles have been spoiled, some of which look poised to make an impact on Constructed.

Today, we’re going to take a peek at some of these recently spoiled vehicles and discuss what they bring to the table. Wizards really pushed the envelope with some of these designs. To start, we need to look at one of the flashiest mythic rares of the set thus far.

Valor’s Flagship

Valor's Flagship

Valor’s Flagship is an exciting vehicle with some built-in versatility. Much like Parhelion II, Valor’s Flagship has a very high mana cost. But, in a similar manner, you’re not really looking to hard cast it if you’re playing the card.

What makes Valor’s Flagship appealing is that, thanks to Cycling, it’s easy to get the vehicle into the graveyard. Alongside Greasefang, Okiba Boss, this is a nice luxury to have. Greasefang can Crew Valor’s Flagship to enable a big attack. The Lifelink makes it tough for your opponent to race on the crackback.

From there, Valor’s Flagship goes right back to your hand, where you’re free to Cycle it again at will. It’s unlikely Valor’s Flagship will replace Parhelion II in any capacity in Pioneer Greasefang decks, as the Angel tokens that Parhelion II generates are worth a ton. However, Valor’s Flagship could easily show up in Pioneer in small numbers to add some extra redundancy.

Beyond Greasefang applications, Valor’s Flagship has some potential to make some noise in Standard tokens shells. Even with minimal vehicle synergies, Valor’s Flagship does a nice Decree of Justice impression.

Mono-white token decks in Standard are built to play long-drawn out games and generate lots of value from Caretaker’s Talent. Discarding Valor’s Flagship to make a bunch of tokens on the opponent’s end step can serve as a solid uncounterable win condition in the late game. Level 3 of Caretaker’s Talent buffs all of these tokens at once, enabling one large attack out of nowhere.

Voyager Glidecar

Voyager Glidecar

Next up, we have a vehicle that fills a very different part of the curve than Valor’s Flagship. Voyager Glidecar can come down turn one and is very easy to Crew. As a 2/3, Voyaging Glidecar isn’t overly impressive, but it does have some nice synergies.

Voyaging Glidecar is particularly strong alongside Gleeful Demolition. Gleeful Demolition provides three bodies that can immediately tap to activate Voyaging Glidecar’s first activated ability. This makes Voyaging Glidecar into a 3/4 flier right away, and Voyaging Glidecar can continue to grow on future turns.

This puts a lot of early pressure on the opponent. Go for the Throat can’t kill it, and it’s very tough to block down.

Having to tap three creatures to maximize Voyaging Glidecar is a steep cost when you don’t have Gleeful Demolition and another artifact to target already lined up, so it’s unclear if Voyaging Glidecar will make the cut in Standard Convoke shells. Regardless, it’s worth consideration at the very least.

Demonic Junker

Demonic Junker

Demonic Junker is another rare vehicle with some potent applications. It’s unlikely that Demonic Junker will make too much noise in Standard, since you really need a high density of artifacts to reduce Demonic Junker’s mana cost before you’d want to play it.

It’s possible that Demonic Junker shows up in Modern Affinity shells as a clean answer to big threats like Murktide Regent that Portable Hole won’t hit. Thanks to artifact lands and Mox Opal, casting Demonic Junker for one mana is realistic.

It’s also plausible that Metalwork Colossus decks in Pioneer could use this. Demonic Junker singlehandedly reduces Metalwork Colossus’ casting cost by seven while taking out the opponent’s best threat.

All that being said, where Demonic Junker seems to fit best is Commander. Getting to blow up the most problematic creature that EACH of your opponent’s control is a big deal in a multiplayer format. Then you get a vehicle left behind, which is the icing on the cake.

Thopter Fabricator

Thopter Fabricator

Lastly, we have a rare vehicle with a decent static ability that’s worth building around. If you can consistently make a Thopter every turn cycle, Thopter Fabricator undoubtedly pulls its weight.

Thopter Fabricator is interesting alongside Proft’s Eidetic Memory in Standard as a way to continuously spit out evasive creatures to pump. Once again, though, Thopter Fabricator seems strongest in an EDH setting.

This card looks like an immediate inclusion in Commander decks with Shorikai, Genesis Engine at the helm. Shorikai makes it trivial to trigger Thopter Fabricator’s ability, while simultaneously creating Pilot tokens that can Crew Thopter Fabricator when applicable.

For a set with so many vehicles in it, it’s nice to see such a wide range of designs. There are still more spoilers to come, so keep your eyes peeled for any other exciting vehicles that come out of the woodworks.

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