The first of the six standard legal sets arrives at the starting line on February 14th. Aetherdrift is a multi-planar racing-inspired set that will have players exploring Aviskar, Amonkhet, and Muraganda. Aetherdrift is sure to have plenty of high-octane artifacts for everyone.
Aetherdrift will feature several returning mechanics such as crew and mount, but we all expected that from a racing set. Two new mechanics join alongside many existing ones with the first one being “Start your engines!”
Start your engines!
Three Start your engines! cards.
This is a unique game object that begins at a speed of one once a card has introduced it. Then, once each turn when an opponent has lost life your speed increases up to a max of four. Cards care about being above specific speeds with many wanting “Max speed” for additional effects.
Exhaust
The other new mechanism is Exhaust. Exhaust abilities can only activated once per game for a powerful effect. It is possible to get around this limitation through blink, bounce, or reanimate effects.
Three Exhaust cards.
Exhaust seems very powerful and I wonder how tracking it in paper games will work out. As the ability can only be activated once per game will tracking Exhaust abilities be difficult as games run longer.
Theme and Art
Aetherdrift will feature 10 different racing teams each tied to a color-pair. These teams are vastly different from each other hailing from different parts of the Magic universe. These range from familiar faces such as Chandra Naalar and Winter to brand-new characters we’ve never met before.
Why did they even let Valgavoth enter a racing team?
Chandra joins the race in hopes of winning the Aetherspark.
Don’t tell the shark pirates I bet against them.
Maybe we should close the Omen Path to the apocalypse plane.
Art and Art Treatments
Aetherdrift features a wide variety of art and art treatments from Rude Rider and Revved Up borderless treatments.
The alternate art borderless cards feature a wide variety of styles.
Commander Decks
Aetherdrift will feature two Commander decks. One is a white/blue/black deck called Eternal Might and the other is a blue/green/red deck called Living Energy.
The pure visual spectacle across the set has me ready to see more. I didn’t know what to expect from a racing-themed set, but so far I like what I am seeing.
Chris began tabletop gaming in college and quickly fell into the addictive world of cardboard. Beginning with D&D and Catan he became an enthusiast of all things gaming; analog or digital. Chris, now a relapsed MtG player, loves connecting with people via gaming through RPGs, board games, and video games. A particular favorite is testing friendships through social deduction games.
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