Gonti, Night Minister | Aetherdrift | Art by Scott M. Fischer
29, Jan, 25

Fan-Favorite MTG Legends Make Welcome Return In Aetherdrift

The boys are back in town!

We’re nearing the finish line for MTG Aetherdrift preview season now, and things aren’t slowing down one bit. Yesterday, we saw a huge influx of new card reveals, including the full Special Guest lineup and a potentially busted new Lotus card. On top of that, it also brought us new Aetherdrift versions of two very popular MTG legends. That’s right: both the Mimeoplasm and Gonti are back in this set.

These are beloved characters with a lot of history in the game. They’re also stone-cold Commander classics, with a ton of play to them in Magic’s multiplayer format. While these new versions run on similar lines to the originals, they’re distinct enough that they may even push these characters into contention for constructed. Fans of niche Sultai strategies, start your engines!

Mimeoplasm, Revered One

MTG Legends Aetherdrift Mimeoplasm, Revered One
  • Mana Value: XBGU
  • Rarity: Mythic Rare
  • Type: Legendary Creature – Ooze
  • Stats: 0/0
  • Card Text: As Mimeoplasm enters, exile up to X creature cards from your graveyard. It enters with three +1/+1 counters on it for each creature card exiled this way.
    2: Mimeoplasm becomes a copy of target creature card exiled with it, except it’s 0/0 and has this ability.

We’ll start with what is undoubtedly the more surprising of today’s returning legends in MTG Aetherdrift: Mimeoplasm, Revered One. The original Mimeoplasm was printed way back in the 2011 Commander decks, and this is the first retread we’ve seen of it since. This makes sense because, unbeknownst to many, The Mimeoplasm is actually a resident of Muraganda, one of the three planes on which Aetherdrift is set.

As a card, this new version is certainly interesting. The original Mimeoplasm let you build a kind of Frankenstein’s Monster out of two creatures in graveyards. It did this by combining the stats of one with the abilities of another. This version is quite a bit different. Its stats come not from the creatures it exiles but from the number of creatures it exiles. Exile one for a 3/3, two for a 6/6, etc. This means that Mimeoplasm isn’t really a good deal unless you’re spending five or more mana on it. Before that point, it’s just a four mana 3/3.

Of course, you will likely need to spend more mana on it regardless. Before this Mimeoplasm can inherit any abilities from the creatures it has exiled, you need to pay two mana. Right away this makes the card significantly slower. While you can get a good vanilla body for the cost upfront, it won’t be doing anything interesting until you sink two more mana into it.

Throw in the fact that this can only hit your own graveyard, and you have a very clunky card indeed. Sure there are some great potential targets like Valgavoth, but for the most part Standard Reanimator decks are all about enters effects, which this doesn’t trigger. The three color requirement really stings for constructed, too.

Gonti, Night Minister

MTG Legends Aetherdrift Gonti, Night Minister
  • Mana Value: 2BB
  • Rarity: Rare
  • Type: Legendary Creature – Aetherborn Rogue
  • Stats: 3/4
  • Card Text: Whenever a player casts a spell they don’t own, that player creates a Treasure token.
    Whenever a creature deals combat damage to one of your opponents, its controller looks at the top card of that opponent’s library and exiles it face down. They may play that card for as long as it remains exiled. Mana of any type can be spent to cast a spell this way.

Thankfully the second of our returning MTG legends from Aetherdrift looks a bit more playable. Gonti is a beloved character from back in Kaladesh block, so it makes sense to see them here as we visit the plane as Avishkar. The original was all about stealing cards from your opponent, and Night Minister carries on that tradition with pride.

Stealing cards from the top of your opponent’s deck when your creatures get through for damage is a fairly standard ability by this point. What makes new Gonti exciting are the specifics. It counts each creature that gets through, which means you can steal multiple cards a turn, much like the excellent Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor. It also lets you play the stolen cards, including lands, even if Gonti itself is removed. Getting a Treasure each time you cast a stolen spell also helps you chain spells effectively in the late game.

It’s clear from the way these abilities are worded that Wizards designed it mainly with Commander in mind. Both abilities apply to the other players at the table too, encouraging them to attack each other while you sit back and work on your diabolical schemes. That said, I think there are Standard possibilities here too.

Dimir Midrange is a hugely popular deck right now and it already runs Enduring Curiosity, which is a very similar effect to this. Granted Curiosity draws your own cards and comes down with Flash, but both are four mana card advantage engines that benefit from evasive creatures. I could see Dimir Midrange players testing this out, perhaps as a sideboard choice in the mirror. The body is more resilient to removal than Curiosity’s, which is a not-inconsiderable upside.

Back With A Vengeance

Past Versions

While I’ve discussed possibilities for both above, MTG Standard prospects are slim for both of these Aetherdrift legends. Instead, where they’ll really shine is in Commander. Looking back at the past incarnations of these two characters, this has really always been the case. In fact, all three of these previous appearances were printed in the same Commander precon for Outlaws of Thunder Junction.

That deck was mostly themed around stealing cards with Gonti, Canny Acquisitor, then generating value via support effects like Savvy Trader. The Mimeoplasm was featured as a value piece that matched the deck’s colors. Given how much mechanical overlap there is with the old and new versions of these legends, you could easily add both to this existing precon and they’d do great work.

If you want to push the boat out a bit further, however, then both could also make great standalone Commanders. Mimeoplasm, Revered One is definitely more interesting in this regard since it does function differently enough to original Mimeoplasm to warrant a distinct build. You’ll want to run a kind of self-mill/ramp list here, stacking up quality targets like Goldvein Hydra in the ‘yard. For the most part, I think a Combo game plan will work best. Stack up enough counters on Mimeoplasm, then swing in and gain Infect from an exiled creature at instant speed for an easy kill.

New Gonti is less exciting as a Commander since it largely does what Canny Acquisitor does but with access to two less colors. I see this more as an addition to the 99 of existing Gonti decks, but a very solid addition. Between this and Rev, Tithe Extractor, it’s a great time to don the mantle of a thief in Commander.

*MTG Rocks is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
BROWSE
[the_ad id="117659"]