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)
Golgari has some great cards for filling up your graveyard, so it’s likely this will come with at least 3 insects, scaling up the later you can cast it. The insects can either serve as infinite chump blockers, or swarm your opponent down. If your opponent is <5 life, you will likely win on the spot, due to the drain on death effect.
This is alright as a 1 of in Rakdos. It’s good for helping achieve max speed, and can also turn into a big beater. It’s a bit slow, and terrible on defence, but can be good in the right situations.
The main strength of this guy is the passive ability. If paired with 4+ other exhaust creatures in the deck, it’s closer to a 2.5. His exhaust ability is a bit weak, so it’s definitely more of a utility player.
You want to make sure you have 2+ targets to grab with this to get the full value. The mana cost can be a bit difficult, but shouldn’t be too awkward in your average Selesnya deck.
This is great in Golgari, helping fuel your graveyard, fix your draws, and reanimate your best threat when you see it. The longer this stays on the battlefield, the bigger advantage you gain throughout the game.
The majority of +1/+1 counters in the set, come via exhaust. That aside, this is still creatures/vehicles for the price of one, which is crazy for the the current economy.
This seems like it should be better based on historical iterations, like Basri's Acolyte. For whatever reason, this card hasn’t seemed to be super impressive, which is likely just because Boros is one of the weakest archetypes.
Normally cards like Blood Artist come with the downside of not having any stats. This bad boy is 3/4 of stats on a 3 drop, with a great late game Orzhov ability.
The triggered ability isn’t all that hard to activate, but things typically need to line up pretty well to have a good attack with a pirate and a vehicle. It’s a fine card, but the ability is a bit harder to activate than you may initially expect.
Even though it’s a bit expensive, you still get 2 cards for 1. It also has a low crew cost, so it should be able to turn into a creature most every game it comes down.
The floor of this card is still serviceable for this card, but it rarely drains for only two. This has been compared to Zenith Flare, as it can often just kill your opponent out of no where.
This thing can generate tons of value throughout the game. It can feel a bit slow at times, but if the board is stable, it will buff your stable of creatures.
This is amongst the best bombs in the set. It’s a 4/4 worth of stats that also has Lightning Bolt, and Ancestral Recall attatched. The green ability doesn’t get used very often, but it’s there if you need to cast some extra spells after you draw 3.
The actual body of this card isn’t all that exciting, and the ability isn’t either. It’s still a card I’m happy to play, but it’s not something I’d first pick.
Simic exhaust is a very mana intensive deck, and this likely won’t spit out thopters until much later in the game. Having said that, it is still a solid vehicle. It’s easy to crew, and attacks and blocks well via vigilance.
The ETB trigger is very strong on it’s own. The combination of high toughness, prowess, and double strike, makes this thing a nightmare to deal with in combat.
This is another one of the best cards in the set, and it’s very difficult to deal with. It can block the turn it comes down, then draws you two so you can stabilize. The third turn it normally starts attacking, being an 8/8 indestructible trampler, which is quite problematic.
This is a bit expensive for the creature, and requires you to have a healthy sized board to make a big impact. It’s most likely not worth splashing for in one of the two-color decks that could support it.
Not only is this guy a solid 2 drop body, the exhaust ability is insanely powerful. Grabbing two extra lands into the battlefield is huge for simic, as it’s likely the most mana intensive color combination.
Not only does this thing have insane value for the mana cost, it also has cycling, making for a nice reanimate target for cards like Broodheart Engine.
This is a solid stat line for a 3 drop that enables safer crewing/saddling. The activated ability is quite powerful, and makes combat difficult for opponents.
This can be incredibly powerful if you can play it for 3 or less. If your deck doesn’t have crazy artifact density, it goes from insane to alright pretty quick.
It can be a bit difficult to get the desired amount of artifacts in your graveyard, but the exhaust ability scales throughout the game, and being able to activate it at instant speed is extremely powerful.
Andy "Icky" Ferguson is a long time limited grinder, with his first draft in 1999 at the age of 11. 22 years later, you can still find him streaming drafts, achieving the top ranks, including rank #1 5 months of 2021. Seasoned member of the Draft Lab squad and appointed "zen master", Andy lives by the motto; "lose and learn, learn and win".
