Spoiler season for Aetherdrift is finally here, and this set looks quite interesting. There’s obviously a huge emphasis on Vehicles, but there’s a ton more going on as well.
In addition to the slew of spoilers that have been revealed within the main set, we also finally get a glimpse at what the Commanders for the Aetherdrift Commander Precons look like. We were able to gather some clues for the decks’ themes back when the box art for each deck was revealed, but now we have a lot more to go off of.
Both face Commanders are quite synergistic, rewarding you heavily for staying on theme. If you’re a fan of Energy or Zombie decks, these legends deliver. Let’s see what each face Commander and secondary Commander has to offer.
Temmet, Naktamun’s Will
Kicking things off, we have the primary Commander for the Eternal Might Precon. The goal of this deck is to burn through cards and grow your Mummy army. Temmet is strong on both accounts.
With no other support, you’re guaranteed to give your Zombies +1/+1 when you attack, thanks to Temmet’s looting ability. However, the more cards you can draw, the bigger you can make your team.
As such, effects like Timetwister can enable absolutely massive swings. Temmet is the ultimate Lord in this regard, so ideally, you want a high density of Zombies to get buffed when you cast your card draw engine.
Therefore, Zombie token producers are a top priority, too. Cards like Ghoulcaller Gisa and Diregraf Colossus come to mind as support cards, as does the extreme Army of the Damned.
As a three-color legend, Temmet opens the door for you to play top-tier Zombie cards from across the spectrum. This includes our secondary Commander, which works quite well in conjunction with Temmet.
Hashaton, Scarab’s Fist
Hashaton is the secondary Commander for the Eternal Might deck, and it rewards you for discarding creature cards. Temmet provides you with an easy method of discarding cards whenever you attack, so maximizing Hashaton in that context isn’t difficult.
What’s nice, though, is that Hashaton is a powerful Commander in its own right with a slightly different build-around. With Hashaton at the helm, you’ll want ways to discard cards that don’t require much mana. Looting effects like Kitsa, Otterball Elite and so forth are simple inclusions that go a long way.
From there, you’ll also want huge haymakers with prominent enters-the-battlefield triggers to discard. Creating token copies of cards like Atraxa, Grand Unifier makes it trivial to pull ahead on resources, even if the token you generate is only a 4/4.
The fact that Hashaton only costs two mana and doesn’t require immense Zombie support to maximize means it’s probably a more powerful Commander in a vacuum. Nonetheless, the Eternal Might deck looks like a blast, and both Commanders should work well there.
Saheeli, Radiant Creator
Next in line, we have the face Commander for the Living Energy Precon. This deck is focused on stockpiling energy and charging up artifact creatures. With Saheeli, Radiant Creator as your general, you’re sure to be able to generate a ton of energy.
All you have to do is have a high quantity of artifacts and/or artificers in your deck, which isn’t asking much. Every time you play a cheap artifact, you’ll get an energy. Of course, you’re free to supplement these cards with other energy producers that aren’t artifacts or artificers, as they work to enable Saheeli all the same.
Saheeli does a great job letting you convert your energy counters into valuable resources, assuming you have good permanents to copy. The tokens go away at the end of the turn, but if you copy something with a strong triggered ability, this isn’t too big of a deal. You just need to land something impactful, like Portal to Phyrexia, and all of a sudden Saheeli becomes a must-answer threat.
Pia Nalaar, Chief Mechanic
Finally, we have Pia Nalaar, Chief Mechanic. Pia Nalaar is the backup Commander for the Living Energy deck. In order to get good usage out of Pia Nalaar, you need to have artifact creatures you can reliably connect in combat with.
fortunately, Pia Nalaar is self-fueling. On your end step, you get to expend some of your energy to make a flying vehicle token. Even just spending one energy to make a 1/1 flier gives you an evasive attacker to help Pia Nalaar start racking up energy.
The fact that each Vehicle you create needs to be crewed does make it a bit tougher to fully abuse them. Your best bet is to either pair them with cards like Start Your Engines to enable large attacks, or play them alongside cards like Urza, Lord High Artificer or Daretti, Scrap Savant that become stronger just from having extra trinkets lying around.
Neither Saheeli nor Pia Nalaar seem all that strong, especially compared to Temmet and Hashaton. Frankly, there are better energy Commanders and artifact Commanders out there. It is nice to have more options nonetheless, and both cards do a nice job blending the energy and artifact themes.
Aetherdrift is just around the corner, so if you’re interested in one or both of these Precons, make sure to mark your calendars.