If you’re looking for a Tune Up, look no further! I’ll be breaking down every Aetherdrift card to get you a head start with the new set! For those interested, J2SJosh is still in my basement, and he has been rewarded for good behavior! Keep up the good work, basement buddy!
5.0: Disgustingly powerful and basically unbeatable. Either answer it the turn it comes down or just pack up your cards. (Gruff Triplets, Virtue of Persistence, The Eternal Wanderer)
4.5: Incredible bomb that still gives your opponent a slim chance. (Virtue of Loyalty, Imodane's Recruiter, Realm-Scorcher Hellkite)
4.0: Great rare or the absolute best uncommons and removal. (Faunsbane Troll, Gumdrop Poisoner, Talion’s Messenger)
3.5: Great role filler or removal that you never cut. (Candy Grapple, Hearth Elemental, Torch the Tower)
3.0: Good playable that I’m basically never cutting. (Shrouded Shepherd, Spellscorn Coven, Sharae of Numbing Depths)
2.5: Decent playable and the bar I hope nearly every card in my deck to reach. (Evolving Wilds, Archon's Glory, Flick a Coin)
2.0: Mediocre filler that normally is your 20-23rd card(s). (Mintstrosity, Ice Out, Grabby Giant)
1.5: Replaceable, overall bad filler. Could also be decent sideboard cards. (Titanic Growth, Scarecrow Guide, Territorial Witchstalker)
1.0: Bad filler. Gets cut most of the time. (Dark Tutelage, Kindled Heroism, Impact Tremors)
0.5: Very unhappy to main deck this, but maybe it has fringe sideboard applications. Cards that “could” be situationally decent, but bad in most situations. (Smothering Tithe, Rhystic Study, Mana Flare)
0.0: Unplayable in every possible situation. They rarely print cards this bad these days. (Hew the Entwood, One with Nothing)
Ancient Vendetta
Rating: SB // 5.0
This is only playable until you know your opponents deck. If they happen to have a bomb you can’t deal with, or 3+ copies of a problematic card, this does the job, especially if you rip them from hand.
Back on Track
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This card is pretty narrow. You want to pair it with both, self-mill cards, and big enough threats to reanimate. Outside of those parameters, I’d try to avoid this card due to the inconsistency.
Bloodghast
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is a nice reprint of the previously constructed playable creature introduced in ZEN. In modern limited, this is a small creature with a difficult casting cost. It’s a decent card in very aggressive Rakdos decks, but I wouldn’t be excited to play it in most others.
Carrion Cruiser
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a decent Raise Dead effect that can also return vehicles and mill 2 along the ride.
Chitin Gravestalker
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
I’m not all that excited about this card. The earliest this will get cast in your average game is about turn 4, which isn’t all that exciting. By the time this costs <4 I don’t think the mana saved is all that exciting, as you’re likely low on cards in hand by that point (making the saved mana trivial).
Cryptcaller Chariot
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
There are 5 black cards with cycling, that can activate the trigger, and a handful of other sources from red and blue. The creature itself is a pretty decent beater with menace, and fairly easy to crew. I think this card is fine in most decks, even if you can’t pick up free zombies for your chariot.
Cursecloth Wrappings
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
Not only do you get to reanimate your best creature every turn, it comes back bigger! You do need to be mindful about not including too many vehicles while playing this card. Black has 3 native zombies this set, and white contributes a few more that can benefit from the anthem effect.
Deathless Pilot
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is a fine filler card if you need two drops.
Demonic Junker
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
The closest comparison this brings to mind, is Ravenous Chupacabre. However, it doesn’t have the ability to kill vehicl. As long as it regularly costs 6 or less, this card is still solid. The option to make it a 6/5 if you have some fodder is just a cherry on top.
Engine Rat
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
In an “attacking matters” set, a one drop that trades up with any meaningful attacker, is always nice. Don’t write off the activated ability either, if this creates a board stall, you can start killing your opponent directly.
Gas Guzzler
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a solid engine starter for more aggressive builds. The max speed payoff may not come up too often, but it’s great for dodging removal spells and combat tricks in the mid game.
Gastal Raider
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
If this comes down on turn 3, I feel like it has a pretty good shot of hitting a card in your opponents hand, as the first three turns normally consist of deploying creatures/vehicles. This gets a bit worse the longer the game goes, but I still
Gonti, Night Minister
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
The wording is tricky, but it’s essentially worded for multiplayer games. As long as you are able to connect a creature to your opponent, you start steamrolling value from your opponents library. The ability does trigger per creature, so it can get out of control very quickly.
Grim Bauble
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
You don’t want to run too many of these, there aren’t a ton of targets this takes out. It’s still a good card to include 1-2 of in most black decks.
Grim Javelineer
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
I like this guy as a filler 3 drop. It helps enable attackers, and rewards you with a surveil when they trade.
Hellish Sideswipe
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
A cheeky version of Bone Splinters, this can trade in your old whip for a card along the way.
Hour of Victory
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
3 mana for a 2/2 is pretty underwhelming, but if your gameplan is aggressive, this can help tutor out your finishers to close out games.
Intimidation Tactics
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
I really like this card, a lot. Once your opponent gets low on cards, this can be cycled away if you’re worried about missing.
Kalakscion, Hunger Tyrant
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This thing is gigantic, and it’s not too difficult to connect once with him, especially on the play. Sure, it will trade with another 2 or 3 drop most of the time, but it can trade up with most anything, and threaten big damage if you can remove a blocker before attacks.
The Last Ride
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
A vehicle take on Death's Shadow, is a bit too inconsistent for my tastes. If you are ahead, this likely is a blank card. If the game is grindy, this can draw you cards and manipulate its stats/your life total. It does have the ability to “pump” itself, once you get below 13 life, but how often will that happen? I’m not going to take this highly, but will play it in decks if I end up with it to try it out.
Locust Spray
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
I look at this as a cheap combat trick, but there are a handful of creatures with 1 toughness that you can randomly encounter. The cheap cycle cost makes it easy to put into any black deck.
Maximum Overdrive
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
I don’t mind this trick at all, and you can draw a similar comparison to Feat of Resistance. This will help you either dodge removal or win combat via deathtouch/indestructible. Leaving behind a +1/+1 counter is the big difference between this and previous iterations of this black trick.
Momentum Breaker
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This gets a bit worse the later the game goes, and the more choices your opponent has. It works well in combination with more removal spells, so you can hit the targets you want with it. I like to think of it creating a food token with the activated ability, to help contextualize the card a bit better.
Mutant Surveyor
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a solid attacker on turn 4, threatening to become a 4/5 makes it easy to get your engines rolling, which pays off after it dies.
Pactdoll Terror
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
I would avoid this card altogether, outside of pure artifact decks. It pairs well with cards like .
Quag Feast
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a solid removal spell, that scales through the game. Sure, it’s sorcery speed, but you can’t beat the mana cost/self mill!
Ripclaw Wrangler
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is a pretty clunky car. On curve, it’s not very threatening, and your opponent likely has a land/irrelevant card to let it run over.
Risen Necroregent
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This guy is incredibly threatening. It’s a great top end card in aggressive speed decks, that threatens to flood the board. It also triggers on your first end step, so if you’re at max speed, you will get a token the turn you play it. It’s also a zombie-cat-knight riding a chariot, so take that into consideration as well.
Risky Shortcut
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This looks a bit slow in this format. It is one of the few ways to increase your speed outside of creatures though.
Shefet Archfiend
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is best either a sideboard card, or a reanimate card. You can play it in your average deck, and cycle it away if you can’t cast it, but I’m not very excited to include it in most.
The Speed Demon
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
The cheeky part of this demon is that the end step trigger increases your speed, so you go from 0 to 2 the turn it is played. It doesn’t even need to get involved in combat for it to win you the game.
Spin Out
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Murder that also hits vehicles. This is premium common black removal.
Streaking Oilgorger
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This does a good job of increasing your speed, but it is a little small for a 5 drop.
Syphon Fuel
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
A serviceable removal spell if you need it. There are much more efficient options available.
Wickerfolk Indomitable
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This card can range from bad to great, dependent on the game. If this is able to trade with an opposing creature multiple times, it’s great. But if it gets outsized right away, it feels a bit useless.
Wreckage Wickerfolk
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Blue decks don’t seem to mind having an 0/4 two drop, so it’s not too big of a sacrifice to put it in your deck. Once you start deploying some flyers, your one sided Howling Mine starts to look very threatening.
Wretched Doll
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
I might be crazy giving this such a high rating, but I think this card has a lot more utility than you would guess. Surveil 2 shouldn’t be written off, it can feel pretty close to “draw a card” at times. It’s great at helping for early speed, and works well in evasive artifact builds as well.
Top 3 Black Commons:
Spin Out Wreckage Wickerfolk Engine Rat
Black has some solid interaction and removal, but definitely lacking on the creature front. You will likely get more creatures from the color you pair it with, utilizing the utility creatures/spells from black. Stay buckled-up, we’re checking out Red next!
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
