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)
Aatchik, Emerald Radian
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
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.
Apocalypse Runner
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
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.
Boom Scholar
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
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.
Boosted Sloop
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is also best as a 1-of, and works especially well with cycle/discard synergies.
Brightglass Gearhulk
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
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.
Broadside Barrage
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Good removal that helps sculpt your hand and support cycling synergies.
Broodheart Engine
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
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.
Captain Howler, Sea Scourge
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
The stats on this guy are very solid for the casting cost, and the triggered ability is extremely threatening, even if you can’t trigger it.
Caradora, Heart of Alacria
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
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.
Cloudspire Coordinator
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a solid 2 drop by itself, if you can spit out some pilots along the way, that’s all upside.
Cloudspire Skycycle
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
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.
Coalstoke Gearhulk
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
The ETB trigger can be a bit underwhelming at times, especially if you’re on defence. It’s still a powerful creature for the mana cost.
Debris Beetle
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
The main power of this bad boy is the stats and crew 2. The ETB trigger can help you speed up before the beatings commence.
Dune Drifter
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Don’t ever play this for X=0. It’s a great late game card, but often works well around X=3 in the mid game.
Embalmed Ascendant
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
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.
Explosive Getaway
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
For the most part, this is an expensive, overcosted removal spell. I would try to avoid playing it in most decks.
Far Fortune, End Boss
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is one of the best creatures for helping your need for speed. It’s highly aggressive, with some solid stats as well.
Fearless Swashbuckler
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
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.
Gastal Thrillseeker
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is amongst the most powerful non-rare 2 drops. It’s good at cranking up speed, and can trade with any ground creature in the late game.
Guidelight Pathmaker
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
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.
Haunt the Network
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
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.
Haunted Hellride
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a great enabler for creatures that wouldn’t normally be able to attack.
Ketramose, the New Dawn
Rating: 0.0 // 5.0
There aren’t enough reliable ways to put things into exile this set to merit ever considering playing this guy.
Kolodin, Triumph Caster
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This really speeds up Boros decks, even though they still can be a bit too slow.
Lagorin, Soul of Alacria
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
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.
Loot, the Pathfinder
Rating: 4.0 // 5.0
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.
Mendicant Core, Guidelight
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
The card isn’t too bad on it’s own, but the max speed ability is pretty insane in Azorius if you’re able to get there.
Mimeoplasm, Revered One
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This is a bit difficult to cast, but it scales incredibly well. Once you get to X=3 or more, this is a gigantic threat.
Oildeep Gearhulk
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
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.
Pyrewood Gearhulk
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
This gearhulk isn’t too hard to cast on turn 6, and as long as you have a couple other creatures, it can help you to make a massive attack.
Rangers’ Aetherhive
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
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.
Redshift, Rocketeer Chief
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
The exhaust ability on this guy is irrelevant, but it’s ability to generate two mana is where the strength of the card resides.
Riptide Gearhulk
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
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.
Rocketeer Boostbuggy
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is one of the cheapest exhaust abilities, turning it into an attacking 4/3 treasure creator on turn 3.
Sab-Sunen, Luxa Embodied
Rating: 4.0 // 5.0
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.
Samut, the Driving Force
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
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.
Sita Varma, Masked Racer
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
Once you can afford X=3 or more, this can threaten to end games out of no where with just a couple other attackers.
Skyserpent Seeker
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
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.
Thundering Broodwagon
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
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.
Veteran Beastrider
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
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.
Voyage Home
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
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.
Winter, Cursed Rider
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
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.
Zahur, Glory’s Past
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This doesn’t do anything too impressively until you reach max speed. It can make games with big board states pretty easy to come out ahead on.
That’s it for the multicolored section! I’ll be doing artifacts/lands next, so stay tuned up!
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
