Now that the set has spent a year in the rear-view mirror, it’s safe to say that Aetherdrift wasn’t the most well-received MTG expansion. This was largely down to its low overall power level, with mechanics like Start Your Engines falling at the first hurdle in terms of competitive impact.
While many wrote off the set for this reason, Aetherdrift actually has plenty of goodness on offer for those willing to give it a chance. Redshift, Rocketeer Chief, for example, is a fantastic MTG Commander option that debuted in the set. In addition to being a scalable mana dork in the command zone, this plucky Goblin also enables a solid range of infinite combo lines.
Redshift, Rocketeer Chief MTG
Goblins in MTG have a bit of a reputation for creative destruction, and Redshift Rocketeer Chief turns that up to 11. Right out of the gate, this is a two-mana dork that taps for two mana, with the drawback that you can only spend it on abilities.While this might seem like a damning downside, it’s fantastic alongside creatures with double pip cost abilities, like Tyvar, the Pummeler.
It’s worth noting that these abilities don’t need to be just on creatures, either, or even on the board at all. You can spend Redshift mana to Cycle cards, for instance, or to Channel cards like Boseiju, Who Endures. You can also use it on abilities that work from the graveyard, like Unearth or Eternalize.
While two mana is a decent start, you can get a lot more than that if you scale Redshift’s power up. A simple Rancor will net you an extra two mana, for example, while Blackblade Reforged will more than double your mana output. Equipment are especially good here, since you can use Redshift mana to pay their Equip costs.
Once you’ve built Redshift up into a real threat, you can tap it to pay for most of its Exhaust ability to dump out your entire hand at once. When deployed at instant speed, this can easily set up a lethal board of big threats, or even just a ton of value engines to swing the game in your favor.
Greased Lightning
Even when played fairly, Redshift, Rocketeer Chief is a terrifying MTG Commander to face. With the right support, however, you can remove the safety rails entirely and unleash some wild infinite combos. All of these revolve around Redshift’s scaling mana production and abusing that to generate infinite mana for a quick win.
The easiest way to achieve this is with Umbral Mantle, which lets Redshift untap while also buffing its stats. As long as you can pay for the initial untap, which will let Redshift tap for four, you can then tap and untap it constantly to generate infinite ability mana.
With a Walking Ballista or Flamewave Invoker in play, you can sink this mana into an instant win. It will also net you an infinitely large Redshift, which can swing in for lethal damage. A similar combo is also available with Sword of the Paruns, though you’ll lose the infinite stat scaling there.
If you can up Redshift’s power through Auras or Equipment, you can unlock a few other spicy infinite combo lines. Buff it up to five, for example, and you can take infinite combat steps by paying for Aggravated Assault over and over. You can also untap Redshift repeatedly with Staff of Domination to generate infinite mana, then sink that mana into Staff’s damage ability for the win.
As players in Standard have recently discovered, Redshift also goes infinite with TMNT duo Chrome Dome and Guac & Marshmallow Pizza. Pizza buffs Redshift’s power and untaps it, letting you tap it to copy Pizza with Chrome Dome’s ability and repeat the process. By itself, this loop gets you infinite ability mana and a huge Redshift. Throw in an artifact creature to copy with Chrome Dome, however, and you can make an infinite Hasty board to boot.
Off The Scrapheap
While you do need to be running a critical mass of abilities to make the most of Redshift, Rocketeer Chief, it still has a wide range of good homes in MTG Commander. It’s a fantastic option for a Gruul Voltron brew, for instance, with all the Equipment synergy it offers. It’s also surprisingly good in straight aggro decks, where it can help pay for abilities on cards like Bristly Bill, Spiny Sower.
Despite all of its applications and its clear power level, Redshift actually isn’t very popular at all in Commander. EDHREC notes that just 2,153 decks run the card at the helm, which feels criminally low. Even in the 99 Redshift doesn’t see much play, with just 7.81k decks running it.
Whether this is down to players underrating the card or a general distaste for Aetherdrift is hard to say. In any case, Redshift’s lack of popularity makes it an incredibly cheap card to pick up. Near-mint copies of the card can be had for just $0.15 on TCGplayer right now, for the regular version. You can upgrade to a fancier version for just a little extra, too, with the Borderless printing at $0.25, and the First-Place foil at a very reasonable $2.45.
At these prices, Redshift is one of the biggest MTG bargains of the last year, from Aetherdrift or otherwise. If you’re looking for a new Commander with an explosive edge, you could do far worse than this gleeful Gruul Goblin.
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