Aetherdrift cards have now been tournament legal for a little while, and we’re starting to see just how impactful the set really is. From insane Gods (looking at you, Ketramose, the New Dawn) to neat common combo cards, Aetherdrift is making waves in a multitude of formats.
One group of cards that got a lot of hype during spoiler season were the new multicolor Gearhulks. These cards aren’t the easiest to cast, but they have powerful enters-the-battlefield effects that can make up for it.
So far, though, two Gearhulks in particular seem to be super far ahead of the pack. As it turns out, the two Gearhulks that cost four mana give you the most bang for your buck. What makes these two so strong? Is there any hope for the other Gearhulks? Today, we’re going to take a hard look at them and see what stands out.
Oildeep Gearhulk
The first Gearhulk to make a lot of noise in Constructed is Oildeep Gearhulk. Oildeep Gearhulk offers a lot for only four mana. First of all, a 4/4 with lifelink and ward 1 for four mana is already a well-costed threat as things currently stand. Part of what makes Oildeep Gearhulk so appealing is that it dodges a ton of the removal spells that see lots of Standard play.
Obviously as an artifact, it’s immune to Go for the Throat. As a four-drop, Anoint with Affliction can’t tough it. Four toughness means it’s out of range of Nowhere to Run and Torch the Tower. As such, it takes a rather specific removal spell to kill this card.
Of course, even if the opponent has something like Maelstrom Pulse lined up, Oildeep Gearhulk can strip the opponent’s answer away with its triggered ability. The combination of these factors make Oildeep Gearhulk a lot stronger than you might expect in Dimir midrange.
Many decklists are playing Oildeep Gearhulk as a four-of over other potent four-drops, such as Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. Given how much harder it is to answer Oildeep Gearhulk on the spot, it makes a lot of sense.
The body is still good enough to stabilize a lot of the time versus red aggro decks. Meanwhile, its enters-the-battlefield effect makes it much more likely you can disrupt Domain or mono-white tokens in a meaningful way. Nabbing Sunfall, for instance, can be the difference between winning and losing.
In a pinch, you can even use Oildeep Gearhulk as a looter. If you’re flooding, you can discard one of your excess lands to dig for some action. This creature does everything you want.
The only downside is the mana cost. You need to run more dual lands, including tapped lands like Restless Reef, and less copies of Soulstone Sanctuary if you want a realistic shot of casting this on curve. The upsides seem to outweigh the downsides by a big margin, though, so it’s well worth adjusting your manabase to accommodate this card.
Brightglass Gearhulk
Interestingly, the other Gearhulk to see a lot of play is the other four mana creature. Brightglass Gearhulk attacks from a very different angle than Oildeep Gearhulk, but the sheer value this card generates is enough to put it over the edge.
In Standard, Brightglass Gearhulk has become a popular inclusion in the Selesnya Cage decks, usually as a four-of. From there, it’s common to run a handful of potent tutor targets that can have a big impact on the game depending on the matchup.
Against decks with big creatures, grabbing Dusk Rose Reliquary can be super important. Haywire Mite is a nice tutor target versus Domain, while Basilisk Collar can take over against mono-red.
The Selesnya Cage deck is capable of ramping into Brightglass Gearhulk with Llanowar Elves, making it even scarier. As long as you give yourself a nice toolbox of options to search for, Brightglass Gearhulk delivers.
In fact, the card is strong enough to make a splash in Modern, too. In the Birthing Ritual decks, Brightglass Gearhulk serves as one of the premier four-mana cards to put into play. Guide of Souls and Ocelot Pride are great cards to search up in game one, as are removal spells like Static Prison. Once you get to the sideboard games, graveyard hate pieces and Deafening Silence wok they’re way into the mix. It’s hard to go wrong if you build your deck with Brightglass Gearhulk in mind.
Where the Other Fall Short
The awkward thing about the Gearhulk cycle is that the other three are in a much tougher position than Oildeep Gearhulk and Brightglass Gearhulk. Right away, the difference between four mana and five or six mana is huge in Constructed. In order for the more expensive Gearhulks to see play, they need to have a pretty enormous effect on the game.
Pyrewood Gearhulk and Coalstoke Gearhulk simply don’t meet the mark. Both require much higher set up costs to be at their best. Pyrewood Gearhulk is really only good if you already have a big board of creatures, while Coalstoke Gearhulk requires you to have a great reanimation target that only costs four or less mana to resurrect. It doesn’t even stick around, so unless you’re bringing back something enormous or with a fantastic triggered ability, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
Riptide Gearhulk is the final card in the cycle, and frankly, this card does have a very strong set of abilities. It hits really hard, removes anything problematic the opponent can play in Standard, and is an excellent card to blink. As things currently stand, the only thing really keeping this card back is that it doesn’t have a home.
There isn’t really an Azorius midrange deck out there. The closest thing we have are the white token strategies built around Caretaker’s Talent. These decks offer so much inevitability as is, so there isn’t a ton of incentive for you to go heavier into blue.
Nonetheless, Riptide Gearhulk is still a great Commander card in blink decks, and it’s possible Riptide Gearhulk finds a home in a future Standard environment if things line up. For now, though, it’s Oildeep Gearhulk’s and Brightglass Gearhulk’s time to shine.