28, Jan, 25

New MTG Aetherdrift Gearhulk is an Incredible Blinkable EDH Staple

The original cycle of Gearhulks from Kaladesh block were quite iconic, and Aetherdrift has brought a whole new cycle to the table. These ally-colored mythic rares have brutal enters-the-battlefield triggers that can easily swing games in your favor.

Before today, the Selesyna, Dimir, and Gruul had all been revealed. Now, it looks as though the Azorius Gearhulk has joined the party.

For EDH enthusiasts, Riptide Gearhulk is perhaps the most appealing of the cycle thus far. This card sure packs a punch, especially if you can abuse its abilities.

Commander Synergies

Riptide Gearhulk

For five mana, you get a 2/5 with a wealth of upside. Double Strike and Prowess work very well together. So long as you have access to some spells, Riptide Gearhulk becomes nearly impossible to effectively block down in combat.

This alone makes the card somewhat appealing, but its final ability is where things get really intriguing. Riptide Gearhulk has a similar effect to Teferi, Hero of Dominaria‘s -3 ability when it enters, letting you tuck away your opponent’s scariest threat to provide some reprieve.

However, unlike Teferi, Riptide Gearhulk does this FOR EACH OPPONENT. This makes it an easy auto-include in any Commander deck that can maximize the enters-the-battlefield trigger. Fortunately, there are tons of effective ways to blink Riptide Gearhulk in EDH.

Some of the best legends to pair with this card include Brago, King Eternal or Aminatou, the Fateshifter. Because Riptide Gearhulk is such a beefy body and isn’t legendary, it’s also a fantastic card to pair with Niko, Light of Hope. Niko can blink Riptide Gearhulk and enable a big attack with your Shard tokens in the process.

From there, filling your deck with the usual Ghostly Flicker-style cards is a great approach to take. Riptide Gearhulk effectively deals with any non-land permanent your opponent plays, so there’s no fear of a dangerous enchantment or Planeswalker sticking around.

A Beefy Finisher?

Parting Gust

Beyond Riptide Gearhulk’s impact on Commander, the card may be powerful enough to find a home in Standard. The mana cost is a bit restrictive, and unfortunately, there isn’t exactly a strong home for it at the moment.

Nonetheless, riptide Gearhulk has a lot going in its favor. First of all, it’s immune to Go for the Throat. With five toughness, most red removal spells don’t hit this card, either.

Second, it has some nice synergy with Parting Gust. White token shells make great use of Parting Gust as a removal spell that can also blink out Beza, the Bounding Spring, and blinking out Riptide Gearhulk sounds awesome.

There’s already some appeal to splashing blue in these decks for sideboard Counterspells. If the manabase can support Riptide Gearhulk, the card does a good job helping these decks actually turn the corner, all while answering problematic permanents like Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.

Perhaps there’s enough support for an Azorius value deck to pop up in post-Aetherdrift Standard. Being able to search for Riptide Gearhulk with Transit Mage is also a nice interaction to keep in mind. Riptide Gearhulk should be a Commander all-star for blink decks at minimum, but the card is powerful enough that it could lead to some sweet brews moving forward.

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