22, Jan, 25

MTG Aetherdrift Spoilers Showcase New Gearhulks and Rare Lands

Earlier in the day, a big chunk of Aetherdrift previews were revealed during a Magic livestream. From an equippable Planeswalker to a handful of new Vehicles and Mounts, Aetherdrift is jam-packed all sorts of goodies.

One of the cooler aspects of the set is the emphasis on new cycles that borrow designs from past sets. First of all, Aetherdrift is going to feature five new ally-colored Gearhulks. Brightglass Gearhulk was revealed a while back, but now we have two more Gearhulks to share.

On top of that, an unfinished rare land cycle is being completed, and a new group of five uncommon lands are being introduced. There’s a lot to look forward to, so let’s start by showing off the exciting new Gearhulks.

Oildeep Gearhulk

Oildeep Gearhulk

The first Gearhulk we have is the Dimir one, and it’s a doozy. The mana cost is obviously a bit restrictive, but if you’re able to play it on curve, the reward is there.

A 4/4 with Lifelink naturally lines up quite well against assertive red decks in Standard. Even if the opponent has one of their copies of Obliterating Bolt or Witshstalker Frenzy in hand, Oildeep Gearhulk can take it away when it enters the battlefield.

Interestingly, Oildeep Gearhulk can also be used as a discard outlet for Reanimator decks. It’s great at buying you time to set up a big Zombify turn.

Obviously, there’s a lot of competition for four-drops in most Dimir decks. Enduring Curiosity is one of the best cards in Standard, and we can’t forget about Sheoldred, the Apocalypse either. With this in mind, it’s possible the card just doesn’t have a home in Constructed. Nonetheless, it’s a powerful and versatile card that’s worth keeping an eye on.

Pyrewood Gearhulk

Pyrewood Gearhulk

Our second Gearhulk is the Gruul one. As a 7/7 with Vigilance and Menace, Pyrewood Gearhulk alone adds a lot of power and toughness to the board. Where things get interesting, though, is when you have a wide board of creature to take advantage of its enters-the-battlefield ability.

Pyrewood Gearhulk provides a mini-Craterhoof Behemoth effect, making your whole squad larger and more difficult to block. The effect is definitely weaker than Craterhoof’s, but at six mana, Pyrewood Gearhulk is easier to hard cast.

On the surface, it looks like this Gearhulk is a bit more heavily aimed for Commander. Outside of ramp decks with Smuggler’s Surprise, Gruul shells in Standard aren’t looking to get to six mana. It’s a bit hard to a Gruul ramp shell in Standard wanting this card over the likes of Trumpeting Carnosaur or Overlord of the Boilerbilges as well.

Any go-wide token deck in Commander can still make good of use of Pyrewood Gearhulk, though. Even a fixed Craterhoof can be worthwhile for redundancy purposes.

Enemy-Colored Verges

One collection of cards that should make an immediate impact on constructed, however, are the new enemy-colored Verge lands. Following Duskmourn, every two-color combination will now have access to one of these lands.

The Verges are quite interesting designs. They only tap for one color of mana if you play them turn one. So, they’re at their best in decks that are more slanted to the land’s primary color.

For example, Gruul Prowess decks in Standard make excellent use of a playset of Thornspire Verge, because these decks are red-based and Thornspire Verge always taps for red. If Thornspire Verge was reversed, casting Heartfire Hero on curve would become harder.

Wastewood Verge is well-suited for Golgari midrange as it can still cast Llanowar Elves turn one reliably. Similarly, Willowrush Verge looks perfect for Simic spells decks looking to cast Stormchaser’s Talent on the first turn. Of course, the Standard metagame could be in for a major shift following Aetherdrift’s release. Either way, these Verges are a welcome inclusion.

New Road Cycle

Finally, we have a new cycle of “Road” lands. These lands are all very simple, as they all do the same thing. They enter tapped unless you control a Mount or Vehicle, tap for one color of mana, and have the utility of letting you convert them into 1/1 Pilot creatures.

Frankly, these lands are quite mediocre. Even in a dedicated Mount and Vehicles deck, having to pay two mana and sacrifice a land to get your token is just such a high cost. These lands seem at their best in Limited to prevent flooding, but even in that circumstance, they will likely enter tapped on the first couple turns rather frequently.

Ultimately, it’s nice to see this design space explored even if these don’t end up playing out well. Besides, they’re just uncommons, and there are plenty of rares in the set that are strong (like the Verge lands). Make sure to keep your eyes peeled in the coming days for when the final two Gearhulks get revealed.

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