Alchemy: Aetherdrift Set Review and Rebalance Reaction

Hey everyone. Alchemy: Aetherdrift came out a few days ago, and I’ve had a chance to play a few games and have a lot of fun with the new cards. Instead of going over every card in the set, I am going to go over what I see as the highlights, and go over a few decks that I’ve crafted using these new cards.

We also had some cards get rebalanced, so I want to talk about those as well, and kind of put it into the context of this new set of cards, and take a look at the directions the format could move in.

So without further delay, let’s dive on in.

Hangarback Assembler

Hangarback Assembler is a fun call back, conjuring a Hangarback Walker onto the battlefield, and starting your engines. This card seems to fit right into an aggressive artifact deck, because not only goes it generate two artifacts for affinity purposes, but at max speed you get to pump up all of your artifact creatures every end step.

That max speed ability works great with Hangarback Walker, because it will either pump up the walker itself, giving you more tokens when it dies, or pump up all of the tokens that it made when it died.

I haven’t had a chance to try an aggressive artifact deck with this yet, but it is on my to-brew-list and I hope to get to it soon!

Naktamun Shines Again

Naktamun Shines Again is the real deal. I’ve played a couple of different decks built around this card and it just feels unfair. Curving a one and two drop into this permanent buff for your whole deck, and then seeking a creature, and then giving them all flying to swing for lethal? Wow, what a card.

And that doesn’t even get into the fact that you can bounce it with a card like Nurturing Pixie, or hit it with Dedicated Dollmaker to reset it, or even exile it with an Unyielding Gatekeeper to reset it, giving you more buffs, and seeking you another creature.

(You’ll have to add the copies of Naktamun Shines Again on Arena since they don’t seem to be in the deck builder yet)

Here is a deck I’ve been having a lot of fun with, just trying to make the use of the enchantment over and over again. And this is really just scratching the surface of what the card is capable of. I expect it to be a staple moving forward, so pick it up or get ready to fight it.

Trackhand Trainer

Trackhand Trainer is another one I haven’t had a chance to play with yet, but this seems like a great card in an Exhaust deck or any deck trying to make use of activated abilities on creatures. I would say this is probably a two drop, because you are going to want to play it and activate it immediately to get your Training Grounds, without giving your opponent a chance to kill it.

Terrors of the Track

Terrors of the Track has a lot going for it. A 2/1 flyer for two is fine on curve, you can get in a good amount of damage with it, but the fact that the first time you attack with it you get another 2/1 flyer into your hand? Four power in the air is going to end any game fairly quickly.

On top of that you do get some life drain out of it. While it is limited to once a turn, if you have both copies in play that is still plus two for you and minus two for your opponent. I’m not sure if there is a dedicated sacrifice type shell in Alchemy, but it is something I want to explore.

Kari Zev, Crew of Two

Kari Zev, Crew of Two has a lot of potential. For four mana you get 5 power of haste. Thanks to menace there is a good chance that your Kari Zev can live to attack again the next turn, and if you are connecting with Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer then you are getting some great value.

I’m not sure there is a good deck for this pirate and her monkey, but I think it is one to keep an eye on each new set to try to find a home for it.

Fuel Tank Feaster

Fuel Tank Feaster is a sweet little mana dork. While normally two mana mana creatures can be a bit awkward, this one can cast a five drop on turn three if that five drop has the greatest mana value in your hand. Even when you don’t have that dream scenario, it is still going to be netting you mana every turn it is in play, making it a great mana creature for a variety of creature based decks.

Mitotic Ultimus

Mitotic Ultimus is a sweet top end for any green stompy deck. In a dream scenario you can land this on turn three, if you go turn one Llanowar Elves, turn two Regal Imperiosaur or Pugnacious Hammerskull, and then turn three Mitotic Ultimus costs three or four mana and you slam it down.

Even when it isn’t coming down that quickly, it will still be a threat that has to be exiled or your opponent will never be rid of it. While Porcine Portent is still a player in the format, it hasn’t been as popular lately, meaning that maybe now is the time to slime. I mean ooze.

Routeway Moose

Routeway Moose is a solid threat. A 3/3 for two will play nicely on curve, and if you can follow it up and crew it you can get the ramp started. I think that this is best in midrange decks, and I would leave it out of any dedicated ramp decks.

I had it played against me in a ramp deck and they just never were able to crew it and get value since they were spending their mana on other ramp spells. I’m looking forward to giving this moose a try in some sort of midrange creature deck.

Highway Reaver

Highway Reaver is a card that I’ve played a lot with already, and it leads to some explosive turns. A 4/4 flying for four is a good attacker, and even if you don’t have max speed you are getting value by giving creatures in your graveyard unearth.

Once you do get max speed you really get to start having fun, getting to unearth the first creature for free each turn, leading to some huge swings.

(Once again, make sure to add four Highway Reaver on Arena)

This deck is a start your engines midrange-aggro deck, but it has nice mid to late game, as we discard our copies of Trumpeting Carnosaur or Perforator Crocodile in the early game, and then unearth them for free thanks to Highway Reaver later on.

This deck plays really well, and I’ve had a lot of fun so give it a try!

Ornate Imitations

Ornate Imitations is the new top end to any ramp deck. The benchmark before for Doppelgang was eight mana, because then you could hit X=2, which was giving you four permanents. With Ornate Imitations, eight mana is giving you six permanents.

Now granted, with the former you have control over what you are getting, and you could get a bunch of fluff with the latter, but in most cases your opponent is going to need a sweeper to answer what you’ve assembled.

Even with a removal spell or two they are still going to have a ton of creature to deal with. The best part is you can cast it at lower mana values in a pinch to get three or four creatures, and if you area really late game you can get a ton of creatures on the board.

If you are a ramp enjoyer, make sure to give this one a try!

Tsagan, Raider Warlord

Tsagan, Raider Warlord is explosive. Even with just a couple of other creatures with first strike or double strike you are buffing your whole team by two or three, and once you do get max speed you are going to be loving life.

I tried one deck with Tsagan, Raider Warlord that was more of an all in aggro deck trying to give Tsagan haste with Cunning Coyote, and it was just a bit too akward.

That said I feel like there has to be a deck out there for Tsagan, and I am determined to keep playing around until I find one.

Wish Good Luck

Three permanents for two mana? Ramp? Threat? Life gain? Three artifacts? This card is sweet. Not sure what to do with it outside of Overcooked, but its sweet.

Rebalances

Golden Sidekick

Golden Sidekick got a bit of a side-grade (pun intended). While having one power means that it itself is going to be doing a lot less buffing, three toughness makes it better on defense and easier to survive certain removal spells. I expect that any Orzhov Bats deck will keep playing Golden Sidekick, but will just be less explosive.

Impetuous Lootmonger

Impetuous Lootmonger somehow made it this long without a nerf. There were two directions they could have gone with this nerf, what they did in making the treasures tapped to prevent explosive heist turns, or two remove first strike so it was worse at slowing down aggro decks.

I think that I like this change, but after the changes to the chorus cards heist has been a lot better against aggro and I wouldn’t have minded that matchup getting worse for them. At the same time, preventing massive turns of changing together spells with a Triumphant Getaway in play to gain six or eight life is also going to give aggro decks a shot to close out some games.

Time will tell if this is enough of a nerf, but whatever way you fall on that debate, at least they tapped it down a little bit.

Buxton, Decorated Host

Buxton, Decorated Host goes from five mana to six mana, meaning that is is less likely to come down on turn three, giving players time to prepare for the onslaught of rabbits. I think that Buxton is still the best top end for Rabbits since it can come down for cheap with very few lands in play, so I wouldn’t write it off just because of this cost adjustment.

Ethrimik, Imagined Fiend

Ethrimik, Imagined Fiend got changed to always manifest dread when it enters, but I don’t think that changes the fact that I would never put him into a deck, so…yeah.

There are just so many other anthem effects, and while four mana for a 3/3 and an anthem can be okay, I would rather just keep my curve low and jam Naktamun Shines Again.

Wingbright Thief

Wingbright Thief losses a mana and a point of toughness, and I think this is a huge upgrade. Not only does it actually have wings to see some play now, it also fits into a deck making use of Naktamun Shines Again, to get buffed or even seeked out.

I also think that an Azorius Birds deck could be on the table now that it has another good two drop, so I look forward to giving it a try.

Chittering Illuminator

Chittering Illuminator also lost a mana and a point of toughness, but I still think this little guy doesn’t have a great home. I think the best spot is in the sideboard of green based creature decks, as a card you bring in against grindy decks to help you gain card advantage as you play off the top of your deck.

It being two mana doesn’t really change its role, because regardless the turn you play it you likely aren’t going to get value, but I still like it as a sideboard option in the right deck.

Dazzling Flameweaver

Dazzling Flameweaver was changed so the cards you exile can be played until the end of your next turn. This is a nice change because it gives you more time to use this creature as a source of card advantage.

That said it doesn’t currently have a deck, but maybe lizards could come back since they also got Gastal Thrillseeker from Aetherdrift.

Wrapping Up

So far Alchemy: Aetherdrift has felt like a powerful and fun addition to the format. There are a lot of sweet things to try and strong cards that I expect to get tired of facing against in the coming weeks.

The nerfs tap down some of the more popular decks without taking them out, and only time will tell if those nerfs make a meaningful impact on the format moving forward.

I think the biggest winner of this drop are white aggro decks thanks to Naktamun Shines Again, and I would say be prepared for those decks as you build your decks.

I am also excited by some of the buffs, and many of the cards I haven’t had a chance to build around yet from this set, so I think it is a great time to do some brewing and hit the ladder.

I hope this article was helpful as you evaluate the set and what cards you want to build around yourself. There are several other cards in the set that I didn’t get to talk about, so check them out and happy brewing! As always, best of luck in all of your matches.