Aetherdrift’s Special Guests Wow Players with BIZARRE Card Art

Last updated on January 29, 2025

Cavalier of Dawn | Illustration by Femke Hiemstra

We’ve been getting Special Guests in boosters since The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, which, to recap, are unique reprints with art and flavor text matched to the plane/set they’re in. Thus far, previous sets of Special Guests have mostly played it close to the chest, so to speak. But have you ever wondered what it’d be like to just open a card and not know what the heck you were even looking at? Aetherdrift has you covered!

Ten Guests to Rule Them All

What makes the Special Guests so interesting this time around is a definitive lack of cohesion. Most of these look like they could be straight out of different Secret Lair releases, and in fact, that’s the entire premise Wizards is experimenting with. According to Mark Rosewater on Blogatog: “Aetherdrift is trying out ‘Secret Lair’-style Special Guests. These are not necessarily set on the world(s) of the set.” In response to one user’s question, he simply says: “We’re trying something new. What do people think?”

Yet there are three cards (Chandra's Ignition, Galvanic Blast, and Chrome Mox) that seem perfectly in line with previous Special Guest aesthetics. Let’s dig into each one:

Cavalier of Dawn

This is the most likely Special Guest to Befuddle whoever openers it. It’s not that the art is bad; it’s as perfect a depiction of an angry sun with a bloody spear, knife, and clown clothes as you could imagine. It’s more that, without prompting, very few people are going to imagine an angry sun with those objects! So suffice to say, this Cavalier of Dawn is a trip, and a really neat take on an old card. You also have to appreciate the horse in the background, who’s just chilling out while the cavalier angrily menaces players.

Reaction has been fairly mixed, with many commenters in r/magicTCG both praising and criticizing the art direction. “This is cool as hell, 10/10 unsettling weirdo energy,” writes u/Milskidasith, while most negative comments were met with others defending the piece.

In terms of gameplay, Cavalier of Dawn should be a fairly strong Limited card. The main obstacle is its cost, but if you can handle that, Cavalier has great combat stats and two useful abilities.

Thoughtcast

This rendition of Thoughtcast feels like it would’ve fit perfectly in a Secret Lair with an uncanny aesthetic. It’s not quite as out there as Cavalier of Dawn, but taking the poses, third eye, and flavor text in all at once is unnerving. Note the Masonic checkers on their vest, too!

In terms of gameplay, Thoughtcast will be decent in certain archetypes, particularly WU Artifacts. Voyage Home is a notable sequel to it that’s in the main set, so try to get both if you can!

Whir of Invention

Invention is definitely whirring in this art, as the figure depicted looks Totally Lost in thought! It’s the kind of “out there” piece that will likely divide fans on its art style (remember the Mystical Archive Faithless Looting?).

In terms of gameplay, Whir of Invention is a pretty loose Limited card. It’s not necessarily unplayable, but you’ll need a ton of artifacts, 10+ Islands, and a couple of targets worth tutoring for it to be good.

Bone Miser

You might recognize this art style from Bob’s Burgers! That’s no coincidence, as the artist Jay Howell is an original character designer for the show. His take on Bone Miser manages to be gross yet strangely relaxed; all this zombie wizard is out to do is sell some (disgusting) ice cream.

In terms of gameplay, Bone Miser seems fairly underwhelming for this set. Five mana for a 4/4 is below rate these days, so you’ll need to consistently get value from it for it be worth playing. Cycling can help accomplish this, and is also a flavorful thing for a zombie ice cream salesman to do!

Lord of the Undead

This art gives slight vending machine vibes, as Lord of the Undead may as well be reaching in for some plushies here. That’s just a side effect of the chosen perspective though; they are of course lording over an army of the dead. It’s an odd aesthetic for Aetherdrift that would’ve fit well in a number of other sets.

In terms of gameplay, Lord of the Undead might be playable in WB, which has a fair number of zombies. Its Gray Ogre base stats are quite poor, so you’ll definitely need it to be boost/return things to pull its weight.

Chandra’s Ignition

Chandra’s definitely doing some igniting here! This is a nice action movie piece, though it’s hard to top the original art’s dramatic searing of Baral, Chief of Compliance.

In terms of gameplay, Chandra's Ignition is a clunky but powerful card. It plays well with vehicles, but is also less likely to full clear boards thanks to their ubiquity.

Galvanic Blast

This art style is completely in line with a “normie” Special Guest, as it depicts a digital full-art rendition of what you’d expect from Galvanic Blast. The attention to detail is great though; particular care has been paid to the chains on this shark’s boat vehicle.

In terms of gameplay, Galvanic Blast is an excellent Limited card. It’s uber rarity will only make it even more brutal, since it will be almost impossible to play around until you’ve already seen it! The same thing happened with Unholy Heat and Swords to Plowshares in Duskmourn and Bloomburrow, respectively.

Pathbreaker Ibex

This old goat is angry, which Rocodrilo’s art makes quite clear. It’s smashing some vases, some rocks, and maybe you next? But its eyes and those little circles under them give the impression it was just a kind old goat moments ago…

In terms of gameplay, Pathbreaker Ibex is very powerful, but expensive and fragile. It feels bomby without being an actual bomb, as the risks for fielding this are substantial. Maybe try combining it with Amonkhet Raceway or Draconautics Engineer if you can, as haste + this = gg.

Chrome Mox

Of all 10 Special Guests, this is arguably the most basic one despite having great art. It’s a wonderful-looking Chrome Mox, but if it were alongside nine other Special Guests like it, then this article wouldn’t have been written!

In terms of gameplay, Chrome Mox should be pretty much unplayable in Aetherdrift Limited. You could conceivably nut draw someone with it, but the card disadvantage is brutal if your draw isn’t perfect. It’s also a totally dead after a couple of turns.

Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Our final Special Guest is weird, but not too weird. Skysovereign was previously a sleek authoritarian air boat, and is now depicted as a mako flagship. This is great worldbuilding as you can clearly see the shark vehicles below, leaving no questions as to who built this one.

In terms of gameplay, Skysovereign, Consul Flagship is a disgusting Limited card. Of all 10 Special Guests, this is the one to open, as it’s a busted bomb rare that goes in every single deck. It can pick off multiple creatures while smashing for 6 in the air each turn!

So, what’s the verdict on these new Special Guest cards? Too weird, or perfectly innovative? Do you want to see more experimentation like this in the future?