The Best Commons and Uncommons By Color for Aetherdrift Draft

Shefet Archfiend | Illustration by Godmachine

Greetings planeswalkers! This is a short companion guide to our much larger Aetherdrift Limited Set Review. I’ll be giving my picks for the four best commons and uncommons in Aetherdrift’s main set for each color.

Not much else to say, so onwards to the ratings!

Commons

Hulldrifter | Illustration by Alexandre Honore

Commons are of course the lifeblood of any Limited set, and Aetherdrift is no exception to this rule. You’ll simply see more of them than other rarities, which means you can usually count on having specific commons in a given draft. I’ve taken my wager for the four best commons for each color in the set.

White

#1. Ride’s End

Aetherdrift notably lacks a Banishing Light or Pacifism effect at common, making Ride's End white’s only unconditional common removal spell. We’ve had this twice already (Luminous Rebuke and Seized from Slumber), and both times it was pretty good.

#2. Collision Course

Collision Course is easiest to use as a Shatter of sorts, answering all sorts of fat vehicles and artifacts at a good rate. The X mode is useful too, but best in decks that can field some tokens for it.

#3. Leonin Surveyor

There’s a lot of upside here for a common bear, as Leonin Surveyor starts picking up speed immediately and punches through other 2s safely (leading to laps). It even lets you exile it later to recoup the card you spent.

#4. Swiftwing Assailant

Phantom Monster baseline packaged with decent upside for speed, and fliers like this are already ideal at running laps too. Swiftwing Assailant seems preferable to Brightfield Mustang in most decks.

Blue

#1. Flood the Engine

A tapped permanent with no abilities may as well be dead, so Flood the Engine is surprisingly hard removal for blue. I’d go so far to say this is the blue Banishing Light, and it should be taken almost as highly. There are some bounce effects for this, but very little enchantment removal (mostly just Broken Wings).

#2. Hulldrifter

Value is value baby, even if Hulldrifter has a couple of nerfs from its predecessor. It’s probably best to trade this off when you can, but getting any sort of body and two cards is just massive in Limited.

#3. Bounce Off

You won’t want a ton of them due to card disadvantage, but the first copy of Bounce Off should be consistently good. This is a great way to win races, blow out combat tricks, or even reset something under a Flood the Engine.

#4. Howler’s Heavy

Combat tricks are a much safer bet when they cantrip, and that goes doubly so for combat tricks that are also filler creatures. Howler's Heavy is also actively great in UR, where cycling cards like this are highly desirable.

Black

#1. Spin Out

Murder is back, and a little better than ever thanks to the bonus vehicle upside. That means no playing around this for your opponent, as it’ll get its mark even if they decline to crew. It’s still a great rate so long as you can hit consistently (9+ Swamps).

#2. Pactdoll Terror

Pactdoll Terror is great in multiples, great with other artifacts, and great with speed. Pactdoll Terror is all around just great for a common, and it should overperform in several archetypes.

#3. Mutant Surveyor

A good speed common, as threat of activation on its pump ability may lead to a couple of laps or two. Mutant Surveyor also scales well throughout the game, since it’s inherently a mana sink and remains one after it dies.

#4. Streaking Oilgorger

Black’s other start your engines common is a great aggressive curve topper. Streaking Oilgorger’s 3/3 body with flying and haste for wouldn’t even be bad on its own, and it becomes particularly tough to race once you hit four out of four laps.

Red

#1. Lightning Strike

Bzzt. No surprise to see this as #1, though it’s not #1 by the same kind of leaps and bounds that Burst Lightning was. Either way, Lightning Strike is useful, cheap, and flexible, and it’s actively desirable for every deck.

#2. Crash and Burn

This wouldn’t have made the list at , but feels fairly generous for a card like this. It’s not a sexy rate, but Crash and Burn will reliably get rid of almost everything. The main exceptions are huge green idiots like Terrian, World Tyrant and Agonasaur Rex.

#3. Prowcatcher Specialist

Prowcatcher Specialist looks like the best of red’s three common 2s, as Nest Robber isn’t so bad when it scales into later parts of the game. You’ll be able to get some beats early on, then can trade it off with something larger.

4. Magmakin Artillerist

Artillerist is great in two of red’s archetypes: RB speed and UR cycling. RB mostly just wants this as Playful Shove, while UR players will want every copy of Magmakin Artillerist they can get.

Green

#1. Run Over

Bite Down is already a pretty good rate for green removal, so the discount on Run Over feels quite generous. It’s particularly good at blowing out combat tricks, as 1 mana is just dirt cheap for Limited removal.

#2. Pothole Mole

We’ve seen this one before (i.e., Patient Naturalist, Eccentric Farmer) and it was always good. Pothole Mole is a valuable 2-for-1 in general that picks up extra value in BG decks.

3. Hazard of the Dunes

Hazard of the Dunes has reach and enough butt to wall every single common flier in the set (besides Skybox Ferry). It also attacks fairly well and can even upgrade to a 7/7 when you run out of things to do.

#4. Venomsac Lagac

Really solid 2-drop creature that can trade with large vehicles or green fatties. Venomsac Lagac attacks well if you’re willing to saddle it, making for a card that's good early and later on. Aetherdrift also lacks many ping effects to take advantage of its low initial toughness.

Colorless

#1. Aetherjacket

Colorless artifacts at common tend to be filler playables, with Aetherjacket being the best of the bunch. It pecks for some flying damage, then sacrifices itself to get rid of your opponent’s best artifact.

#2. Guidelight Matrix

If you want some extra help with vehicles, you could do far worse than Guidelight Matrix, which provides a useful mana sink. It’s also a cantripping artifact for Voyage Home decks.

#3. Skybox Ferry

It’s hardly the best 5-drop, but Skybox Ferry a competent flier that can even cycle if you don’t want it. Considering some of the other cards I could be listing here, that’s pretty good!

#4. Scrap Compactor

Removal is removal, even if Scrap Compactor is among the worst options in the set. This also bins itself for cards like Winter, Cursed Rider, which counts for something.

Uncommons

Stock Up | Illustration by Izzy

White

#1. Cloudspire Captain

Incredibly efficient 3-drop in any deck that has vehicles or mounts, which should be just about every white deck in this format. Cloudspire Captain also crews vehicles very well.

#2. Detention Chariot

Cycling makes Detention Chariot rather excellent, as it’s very clunky but powerful. This is also an elite card to use with Tune Up and Back on Track.

#3. Gloryheath Lynx

Gloryheath Lynx is a strong 2-drop that’s far above the curve for 2 mana. This can draw multiple Plains and gain back some life, and it brawls well in the early game.

#4. Gallant Strike

Great way to kill fatties on the cheap. Gallant Strike is narrow, but cycling gives you plenty of options with it, meaning you should always run it.

Blue

#1. Spikeshell Harrier

Bigfin Bouncer with much better stats and a neat speed reduction gimmick. Spikeshell Harrier is powerful to the point where you should heavily consider splashing it!

#2. Rangers’ Refueler

Rangers' Refueler is a great exhaust build-around that’s good on its own and excellent in the right deck. Getting to draw multiple cards on an already decent vehicle is incredible.

#3. Memory Guardian

With just one artifact, this is already above Phantom Monster rate. It’s not hard to get those in Aetherdrift either, so expect great things from Memory Guardian.

4. Stock Up

Stock Up is much better than your average Divination, as you should consistently get what you want from the top five cards. It’s slow, but well worth playing.

Black

#1. Carrion Cruiser

Carrion Cruiser is an easy 2-for-1 that plays well with other disposable black cards. The extra self-mill gives this a chance of drawing a card even if you have to run it out on turn 3.

#2. Hellish Sideswipe

Strong Final Vengeance variant that plays well in this set. Hellish Sideswipe plays best with Grim Bauble or disposable Vehicles like Carrion Cruiser.

#3. Shefet Archfiend

Powerful late game haymaker that goes off with cards like Back on Track. Shefet Archfiend is very expensive, but cycling takes away much of the risk of playing it.

#4. Intimidation Tactics

Targeted discard spells are great for the first few turns, then they become dead and are often terrible topdecks. Intimidation Tactics doesn’t have this problem thanks to cycling, so I’d happily play it in Limited. Cycling 3 is slow, but far better than nothing.

Red

#1. Road Rage

It’s not hard to make this deal 4+ damage, which is beyond obscene for just . Road Rage even has a solid Shock baseline.

#2. Outpace Oblivion

More great red removal, though not quite at the absurd rate of Road Rage. Outpace Oblivion also starts your engines and can even pick up a lap safely when you sacrifice it.

#3. Dracosaur Auxiliary

Powerful haymaker card that could swing a game if your opponent taps out. Ideally you’ll have a Pilot token ready to saddle your Dracosaur Auxiliary, as doing so makes a huge difference.

#4. Skycrash

Dirt cheap cycling on a Shatter is amazing in a set like this. You’ll often have good targets for your Skycrash, but pay virtually zero cost when you don’t!

Green

#1. Autarch Mammoth

Autarch Mammoth is Grave Titan in retirement, more or less. It's 8/8 in stats for just spread across two bodies, and it can even get you more beef if you can saddle it.

#2. Elvish Refueler

Really powerful uncommon for exhaust decks, as getting to use exhaust abilities again means winning board stalls easily. Elvish Refueler is also playable anywhere since it’s a 2/3 for that can grow once a turn on its own.

#3. Plow Through

Prey Upon plus Shatter split card. Plow Through is similar to Collision Course, but cheaper and easier to use.

#4. Greenbelt Guardian

Greenbelt Guardian is a strong 2-drop that scales well later into the game. The extra trample text is quite nice with both itself and other green beaters.

Multicolor

There are a lot of strong multicolor cards in this set, so picking just four was tough. I’d highly recommend prioritizing all the unlisted ones besides Embalmed Ascendant, which is pretty mediocre.

#1. Skyserpent Seeker

Skyserpent Seeker is an incredible value creature. Just play it, get your free Explosive Vegetation, then trade it off for whatever you want.

#2. Veteran Beastrider

Huge stats for its cost, auto-vigilance, and free mass pump make this a ridiculous rate for 3 mana. Veteran Beastrider is also too tough for Lightning Strike to take care of.

#3. Cloudspire Coordinator

Cloudspire Coordinator goes off in a RW Vehicles deck, making sure you have a wide board and constantly running cars. Scry 2 is also incredibly valuable in Limited, as this helps prevent flood and gets you to your massively important third land drop.

#4. Thundering Broodwagon

Thundering Broodwagon is an elite fattie, killing any smaller threat and sticking around to bash in for future damage later. You can also cycle it and bring it back with cards like Tune Up and Back on Track.

Colorless

There are only four colorless commons total, but to rank them:

#1. Marshals’ Pathcruiser

Great in big green decks or decks with vehicle synergy. Marshals' Pathcruiser is hard to crew consistently, but it’s a guaranteed 2-for-1.

#2. Pit Automaton

Strong for GU/RG exhaust decks, where Pit Automaton acts as a mana dork/output increaser. Not useful elsewhere, but it still has its niche.

#3. Rover Blades

Cool card, but it’s a mediocre vehicle and a very pricey equipment. There’s a big gap between Rover Blades and Pit Automaton in terms of quality.

#4. Racers’ Scoreboard

The cost reduction here is tied to hitting your opponent three times, which contrasts with Racers' Scoreboard’s durdly nature. It also doesn’t draw cards at a good rate, as it’s a full card short of something like Ancestral Reminiscence.

Victory Lap

Elvish Refueler | Illustration by Carly Milligan

And with that, you’ve now gotten some predictions for the best cards in Aetherdrift! There’s no substitute for experience though, so I expect to be wrong on at least some cards.

We’ll have more Limited content coming soon with our Prerelease Sealed Guide, so stay tuned!

Which cards are you looking forward to drafting or cracking in your Prerelease kits? Which cards are you going to avoid? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, may your LGS always be full of players!