The Ultimate Aetherdrift Limited Set Review

Last updated on February 18, 2025

Spectacular Pileup | Illustration by Zezhou Chen

Greetings planeswalkers! Aetherdrift is upon us, and it’s time once again to go over the set’s goodies and busts for Limited players. The format for this review will be similar to past ones, with cards rated on a scale from 0-10 based on how good I predict them to be in Limited. I’ll also provide commentary to help indicate why I gave cards each rating.

I’m excited to review another set for you, so let’s begin!

Introduction to Aetherdrift

Kalakscion, Hunger Tyrant | Illustration by John Tedrick

Aetherdrift is Magic’s first “racing set,” and it incorporates a lot of tropes from that genre into its card design. As you’d expect from its theme, there’s a huge focus on vehicles, which show up in every single color.

Ratings Breakdown

Our set reviews use a comparative rating system, on a scale from 0-10. Here’s what each rating is trying to convey:

10: The absolute best cards in the set. 10s are uber bombs that crush when you’re ahead and can single-handedly catch you up if you’re behind.

Examples: Bloodthirsty Conqueror, Liliana, Dreadhorde General, Embercleave

8-9: Extremely good cards. These are bomb rares that you’d be thrilled to open in Sealed or P1P1 in Draft. The best 9s fall just a tiny bit short of true 10/10 power level.

Examples: Curator of Destinies, Twinflame Tyrant, Zimone, Paradox Sculptor

6-7: Strong cards. Typically a mix of good rares plus the set’s strongest uncommons, though occasionally its very best commons can make the cut here too. These cards are often major drivers towards playing a particular color or archetype.

Examples: Skyknight Squire, Vampire Nighthawk, Burst Lightning

4-5: Above-average cards. You should generally be happy to include these in any deck. This bracket is usually made up of solid uncommons plus the set’s best commons.

Examples: Dragon Trainer, Felling Blow, Banishing Light

2-3: Filler cards. Average playables that often make your deck but aren’t actively desirable. They certainly aren’t unplayable, but tend to lack the power, efficiency, or flexibility of higher rated cards.

Examples: Elementalist Adept, Pilfer, Cackling Prowler

1: Mostly unplayable cards. This rating is reserved for cards that aren’t technically useless, but they’re rarely worth playing. 1s tend to be either sideboard-only cards (i.e., Naturalize, Plummet) or heavy build-arounds with highly specific deckbuilding requirements.

Examples: Progenitus, Raise the Past, An Offer You Can't Refuse

0: Truly unplayable cards. These should never be played under any circumstances, and you’ll dread opening them in Sealed as they tend to eat your rare slot(s).

Examples: Omniscience, Painful Quandary, Brass's Bounty

Set Mechanics

I’ll analyze these in greater detail when the Sealed Guide is out, but for now let’s briefly recap all the set’s major mechanics.

Vehicles and Mounts

Vehicles and mounts are central to this set. Vehicles are artifacts that can become creatures when you crew them by tapping other creatures. To successfully crew a vehicle, you must tap creatures with power equal to or greater than the vehicle’s crew cost (i.e. tap a 2/2 to “crew 2”). On the other hand, mounts are already creatures, but you can saddle them (at sorcery only) in a manner similar to crew. Doing so usually grants powerful bonuses when the creature attacks.

Speed

Speed is a major new mechanic in Aetherdrift, and it basically acts as another resource to track. You’ll begin picking up speed after you play your first card with the “Start your engines!” ability. Your speed starts at 1 and increases by 1 the first time an opponent loses life on each of your turns. The maximum possible speed is 4, and many cards specifically reward “max speed.”

Exhaust

Exhaust is a new keyword on activated abilities. A given exhaust ability can only be activated once. Note that if said permanent leaves the battlefield and returns, this is reset.

Cycling

Cycling is a classic smoothing mechanic that makes a welcome return in Aetherdrift. Cards with cycling can be discarded to draw another card, once you pay their cycling cost. UR in this set benefits a bit more from cycling than other color pairs, as its theme revolves around discarding cards.

Cameo Mechanics

There are a couple of older mechanics that show up on a handful of cards in this set, such as:

• Exert (Basri, Tomorrow's Champion)
• Embalm (Cursecloth Wrappings)
• Affinity for artifacts (on three different cards)

Each card has parentheses that explain the mechanic in full though.

Draft Archetypes

These will be described in greater detail in later guides, but it’s always good to start with the 10 basic color pairs in mind. Here’s WotC’s official guide, which is perfect for now.

Source

White

Air Response Unit

Rating: 4/10

Flying, vigilance, good stats, and a low crew cost make Air Response Unit an above-average vehicle on rate. It’s nothing incredible, but it’ll play especially well in color pairs like RW and WU.

Alacrian Armory

Rating: 2.5/10

Alacrian Armory is a tricky card to evaluate, as it looks reminiscent of some terrible cards (i.e. Brave the Sands, Fortifying Provisions) but also automatically crews/saddles for you. Vigilance also lets you be much more aggressive with large vehicles without sacrificing board presence. I’d consider it in a deck with several of those, but I’m worried it might just end up being a trap.

Basri, Tomorrow’s Champion

Rating: 6/10

Basri is an excellent 1-drop that attacks well early, then retires to greener pastures later to raise some cats. It’s inconceivable to ask for more from a Savannah Lions than this, so I quite like Basri, Tomorrow's Champion. It also cycles, though you’re incredibly unlikely to get any value off that trigger in Limited (there are only four cats in the set).

Brightfield Glider

Rating: 2/10

Brightfield Glider looks pretty terrible to me. It won’t fly unless you tap a creature with more power than it'll have while saddled, and it does little else. Best case scenario is probably this plus some Pilot tokens, or maybe you play it in a deck that really wants more mounts, but keep your expectations low.

Brightfield Mustang

Rating: 2.5/10

Brightfield Mustang, on the other hand, is reasonable filler. Hill Giant base stats are below average these days, but saddling is easy and it even has pseudo-vigilance when you do so. Best in GW, but always playable if you need a 4-drop.

Broadcast Rambler

Rating: 2.5/10

The free Thopter works wonders towards making Broadcast Rambler playable, since this is well below the average rate for a 5-mana vehicle on its own. It still feels like a fairly average 5-drop, but it should make the cut a fair amount of the time. It’s also two artifacts in one card, which WU decks will appreciate.

Bulwark Ox

Rating: 6/10

Bulwark Ox is kind of like Brightfield Mustang for 2 mana instead of 4! There’s a lot of upside on this 2/2 for 2, so it’s well worth playing and saddling it as soon as you can.

Canyon Vaulter

Rating: 4.5/10

Canyon Vaulter is a dangerous creature to play against, as vehicles are usually oversized to begin with. It also works well with mounts, letting them safely pick up saddle bonuses in the air. One toughness also isn’t much of a drawback, as this set has few ping effects.

Cloudspire Captain

Rating: 5.5/10

Similar to Canyon Vaulter in concept, though generally more powerful. This set has so many vehicles and mounts that Cloudspire Captain can easily be 4/5 worth of stats for , which is a strong rate. The pilot bonus is also appreciated for larger, more expensive vehicles.

Collision Course

Rating: 3.5/10

This is more of a Shatter effect than a typical removal spell, as the rate on killing creatures with this is pretty poor for a sorcery. The set has enough artifacts though that a copy or two of Collision Course should be a welcome inclusion.

Daring Mechanic

Rating: 3/10

Good filler creature with average stats that offers a useful mana sink for any deck. You aren’t windmill slamming your Daring Mechanic, but you won’t usually cut it either.

Detention Chariot

Rating: 6/10

I love cycling here, as cycling for just 1 mana takes almost all the risk out of this card. Detention Chariot is expensive, powerful, and clunky, which makes it the perfect card to cycle when that isn’t what the situation calls for. A must-include in every white deck!

Gallant Strike

Rating: 5/10

Gallant Strike is an efficient answer to the kind of cards that often demand removal. It won’t always have targets, but cycling makes this pretty much a freeroll in every deck. You can even splash it and cycle it when you don’t have white mana!

Gloryheath Lynx

Rating: 5.5/10

Gloryheath Lynx is an awesome value creature for just 2 mana. Lifelink, free Plains on saddle, and efficient combat stats make for a 2-drop that actively makes me want to play white. It’s not quite a bomb or anything, but cards like this are glue for successful Limited decks.

Guardian Sunmare

Rating: 7/10

It’s clunky, but wow is this horse powerful! “Nonland permanent with mana value 3 or less” is an incredibly broad statement, as you can get everything from threats to removal (i.e., Flood the Engine, Outpace Oblivion) with this. There’s a significant risk to saddling this and having it die before it attacks, so try to be aware of which potential instants could kill this when you go for it.

Guidelight Synergist

Rating: 4/10

Rating build-around cards like Guidelight Synergist can be a bit tricky, as this is a massive threat in a WU artifacts deck, but if you aren’t all artifacts, this should be about a 2/4 or 3/4 on average, which is medium at best.

Interface Ace

Rating: 2.5/10

Interface Ace crews very well, and it can even block afterwards with pretty decent stats. You’ll want vehicles for it of course, but you could do worse for a cheap blocker.

Leonin Surveyor

Rating: 3/10

Leonin Surveyor looks like a slightly above-average 2-drop. This is a good way to pick up speed early, and it can even draw you a card later on in the game. First strike also lets it tangle with other 2s successfully, making you more likely to run a lap or two with it.

Lightshield Parry

Rating: 2.5/10

Slightly below-average combat trick that cycles at a medium rate. Yep, Lightshield Parry is filler alright, but if you want a trick, Parry is a fine way to get one.

Lightwheel Enhancements

Rating: 2/10

Lightwheel Enhancements shouldn’t go in most decks, but it might be okay in an aggressive deck focused on the speed mechanic. Outsizing your opponent's blocker with this is a good way to hit 2-4 speed early, and you can even discard it for value with Kickoff Celebrations.

Lotusguard Disciple

Rating: 3/10

Wind Drake definitely needs something a little extra these days, so it’s nice to see worthwhile upside on Lotusguard Disciple. This is a solid card for races, which will probably be very common in Aetherdrift.

Nesting Bot

Rating: 2.5/10

Nesting Bot is somewhat efficient, but it’ll struggle to feel “worth a card” in many situations. It’s best in decks that can sacrifice it for value (usually WB), or if you really want a chance to start picking up speed on turn 1.

Perilous Snare

Rating: 8/10

This is some of the highest upside we’ve ever seen on a Banishing Light like this, so Perilous Snare seems quite good! You won’t always have max speed for it, but Banishing Light was already a great Limited card to begin with. Poor Loot….

Pride of the Road

Rating: 3.5/10

How good this card is will heavily depend on how good your deck is at getting max speed. Without it, Pride of the Road is an incredibly mediocre creature that mostly just blocks. With it, it’s a strong threat that makes whatever your best thing is deadly. I think the base stats are acceptable enough to be worth it, especially if you have other speed cards.

Ride’s End

Rating: 4.5/10

We’ve had this card a lot lately, between Seized from Slumber and Luminous Rebuke. It has overperformed in both sets it was in, and Ride's End is even better since it exiles and hits vehicles. Playing around this will be a frequent occurrence, as forcing your opponent to pay is good tempo.

Roadside Assistance

Rating: 3/10

We’ve learned from Sheltered by Ghosts recently that some auras are worth the risk. Roadside Assistance definitely isn’t at that level, though lifelink, +1/+1, and a free Pilot make this powerful in races. I’d consider playing it with large vehicles, but I’d definitely take it out against cards like Skycrash.

Salvation Engine

Rating: 7/10

Salvation Engine is a powerful card that’s tricky to size up. It’s one part Tempered Steel, one part Sun Titan, and one part “Crew 6!?” I still expect this to be incredibly good if you have artifact creatures though, as the +2/+2 makes crew 6 deceptively realistic. It’s also very splashable for UB, which has a notable artifact theme as well.

Skyseer’s Chariot

Rating: 5.5/10

The rate on Skyseer's Chariot is good, and you can name your opponent’s vehicles which makes the hate ability surprisingly useful in Limited. Exhaust creatures are also good to name. If your opponent doesn’t have anything in play worth naming, try to name a good common or uncommon vehicle in their colors. This will certainly be much easier to do after a week or two of this format!

Spectacular Pileup

Rating: 8.5/10

Cycling on a Wrath of God that hits vehicles too? And it even makes them lose indestructible!? This is a ridiculous Limited bomb, and it even dodges the usual Wrath of God problem (i.e. being dead in proactive draws) thanks to cycling.

Spotcycle Scouter

Rating: 2/10

Filler on wheels! The creature rate here is pretty unimpressive given that you have to crew it, so you should mostly play Spotcycle Scouter if you need extra artifacts, Vehicles, or 2-drops specifically.

Sundial, Dawn Tyrant

Rating: 4/10

Legendary vanillas, eh? Muraganda is certainly built differently, as is Sundial, Dawn Tyrant. 3/3 for is a good enough rate that this is an above-average card, but obviously it’s “nothing special” since it’s a vanilla creature!

Swiftwing Assailant

Rating: 3/10

Phantom Monster also comes with upside these days, though here you’re mostly playing this for the baseline. Swiftwing Assailant is a reasonable inclusion in any deck, and flying is a good way to pick up speed for itself too.

Tune Up

Rating: 2.5

Tune Up plays very well with a number of vehicles that have cycling like Detention Chariot, Thundering Broodwagon, and Valor's Flagship. That last one's the dream with this, as it can cycle itself for a potential turn-4 7/7 lifelink flier! I wouldn’t run this if you don’t have any of those cards though, as it’s quite narrow.

Unswerving Sloth

Rating: 5/10

Unswerving Sloth is a strong 5-drop that seems well worth the risk to saddle it. Successfully doing so nets you a 5/5 indestructible attacker and a fully untapped board to block with, and this is on a well-statted creature to boot. Just be careful for instant speed removal like Crash and Burn, Spin Out, and Syphon Fuel, which can kill the Sloth before it attacks.

Valor’s Flagship

Rating: 6/10

Tune Up shenanigans aside, Valor's Flagship is a pretty strong card on its own too. You’ll usually be settling for Pilots and Decree of Justice, but you also have the option of slamming it if the game goes long enough. Ironically, four Pilots plus draw a card might be a better late game play, especially if you think your opponent has spot removal left over.

Voyager Glidecar

Rating: 5.5/10

Voyager Glidecar is cheap, efficient, and capable of strong flying beats if you’re willing to tap three creatures for it. You can’t ask for much more than this for 1 mana .

Voyager Quickwelder

Rating: 3.5/10

Cost reduction doesn’t always come with such solid base stats, so I expect good things from Voyager Quickwelder. It’s obviously at its best in WU, but it should do well in any deck with a couple of expensive artifacts. Curving this into Broadcast Rambler is a great early game sequence.

Blue

Aether Syphon

Rating: 4/10

So let me get this straight… I hit my opponents three times to pick up max speed, then I start milling them? Bizarre play patterns aside, Aether Syphon is notable for being a reusable Mazemind Tome at a fair rate. Cards like this tend to overperform in Sealed, but even in Draft I could see this being good in control decks. The mill bonus also gives slow decks another win condition in drawn out games.

Bounce Off

Rating: 3.5/10

Most decks are only going to play 1-2 Bounce Offs, but it’s still a great card to have. This bounce spell is really good against combat tricks or clunky vehicles like Salvation Engine, and might end up keeping your opponent honest.

Caelorna, Coral Tyrant

Rating: 2/10

Caelorna, Coral Tyrant is good in decks that want a vanilla 0/8, which probably won’t be most of them. I’d be partial to starting this alongside cards like Aether Syphon, as there’s no better feeling in Magic than drawing cards while sitting behind a giant octopus.

Diversion Unit

Rating: 5/10

This is an aggressively costed flier with fair upside. Try to leave up when you can, but be prepared to go shields down occasionally (especially if it doesn’t seem like your opponent has anything). Less experienced players will often “give away the game” against a Diversion Unit, telegraphing that it's denying them their removal spell window. I also love how it plays versus Ride's End.

Flood the Engine

Rating: 4.5/10

Claustrophobia variants these days tend to be much better, as Flood the Engine clearly shows. A tapped permanent with no abilities may as well be a dead one, making this surprisingly hard removal for blue. There also aren’t too many ways to kill enchantments specifically (just Broken Wings and Webstrike Elite), as most effects that would do so in this set only hit artifacts.

Gearseeker Serpent

Rating: 3.5/10

Welcome back, old friend! Gearseeker Serpent is a strong build-around common that should play well in most WU and UB decks, as this becomes good as soon as you get 2+ artifacts. The unblockable ability is also a nice way to end a game on an otherwise congested board.

Glitch Ghost Surveyor

Rating: 2.5/10

I like this one a bit less than white’s, as Wind Drake stats don’t quite cut it these days. Blue also has fewer cards that care about speed than white. Glitch Ghost Surveyor isn’t unplayable or anything though, especially if you have other speed cards.

Guidelight Optimizer

Rating: 3/10

Creeping Peeper would be a 2.5/10, but the artifact subtype here may be worth a full 0.5. Guidelight Optimizer is a good way to start building a critical mass of artifacts while you ramp towards more exciting cards.

Howler’s Heavy

Rating: 3/10

The combat trick mode is the main draw here, and surprisingly solid on rate (Befuddle cost for comparison). You usually won’t want to play it for the body, but the option to do so is helpful. Howler's Heavy is also an ideal card for a Seal-ed deck, though you won’t be able to make that pun in Draft.

Hulldrifter

Rating: 4/10

Another good blue card, though this time it won’t fall to me to make the pun. Ideally, you’ll be crewing Hulldrifter and trading it off immediately, as crew 3 is awkward on a vehicle this small. Either way, value is value, so this should be one of blue’s better commons.

Keen Buccaneer

Rating: 3/10

The base stats here aren’t quite enough on their own, but Keen Buccaneer’s strong exhaust ability closes the gap nicely. This is better than Glitch Ghost Surveyor in the average blue deck, especially if you have any exhaust incentives (i.e. GU decks).

Memory Guardian

Rating: 5/10

It takes just one artifact for this to be above average, and WU/UB artifact decks should be able to pull off some sick two-spell turns with one. Memory Guardian is simple, but it’s quite a solid uncommon.

Midnight Mangler

Rating: 2.5/10

We’ve seen a lot of these in the past (i.e., Stalked Researcher, Backstreet Bruiser), with varying degrees of efficacy. Midnight Mangler is a unique twist on a familiar formula, and it’s one of the only vehicles in the set to play better on defense than offense.

Mindspring Merfolk

Rating: 4.5/10

How good is Braingeyser when you slap it to a 1/1 creature? Aetherdrift players are about to find out, myself included. My guess would be “slow, but above average,” as this is a great mana sink that can help to crew vehicles while you wait. Note that there are zero other merfolk in the set, so the +1/+1 counter upside may as well not be there.

Mu Yanling, Wind Rider

Rating: 9/10

Mu Yanling, Wind Rider is a bomb rare, plain and simple. It’ll always draw you at least a 3/2 Vehicle, and its evasion and Curiosity combo will often let you get more the same turn you play it. And if your opponent doesn’t answer Mu Yangling immediately, your deparked planeswalker will do it again and again each turn until your opponent is dead. Its base stats are also fairly decent, as this wizard pilot is resilient to common removal like Lightning Strike.

Nimble Thopterist

Rating: 3.5/10

Two bodies in one card at a decent rate, plus one of them is a flying artifact. You won’t cut Nimble Thopterist often, especially since blue’s other common 4-drop (Howler's Heavy) is more of a combat trick than anything else.

Possession Engine

Rating: 7/10

Possession Engine is a strange card that’s somewhere between a Fiend Hunter and Hostage Taker (on wheels). The creature you steal can’t attack or block, but it can crew vehicles and also retains its abilities. That makes this a removal spell with considerable upside on a 5/5 body for 5, so I expect Possession Engine to feel pretty bomby.

Rangers’ Refueler

Rating: 5.5/10

This is somewhere in between a build-around and a plain old great card. Rangers' Refueler gets much better when you have other exhaust abilities, but even on its own, it’s a decent vehicle that can turn into a creature permanently. Doing so will also draw you a card, so take this one highly!

Repurposing Bay

Rating: 1/10

Repurposing Bay is sweet, but probably unplayable in most decks. You’ll need to be consistently chaining artifacts into powerful cards for this to be worth playing, plus have a ton of artifacts in general. It works best if you have specific artifact bombs (i.e. Riverchurn Monument, Salvation Engine), plus plenty of other artifacts that cost 1 less.

Riverchurn Monument

Rating: 6.5/10

I hope Riverchurn Monument isn’t that good, but unfortunately this looks like a pretty busted Millstone variant. The exhaust mode in particular will just outright kill your opponent after 4-6 activations, and it’s cheap enough to build a control deck around. Artifact removal (or just killing your opponent) is a good answer to it though, so we’ll have to see how it plays out.

Roadside Blowout

Rating: 4/10

Costing 1 when this bounces 1s is interesting, although Roadside Blowout can’t bounce your own stuff (so no Mindspring Merfolk value dreams). This is mostly just a solid Drag Under variant, with the bonus of hitting vehicles.

Sabotage Strategist

Rating: 3.5/10

Sabotage Strategist slowly pecks away at your opponent, while nerfing their attacks and eventually becoming a legitimate wincon later on. It’s fragile and risky to go all in on, but the -1/-0 mode is powerful enough that it should be a solid playable (if you can hit reliably).

Scrounging Skyray

Rating: 5/10

Good build-around creature that aligns with UR’s cycling archetype. Scrounging Skyray grows large quickly when paired with other cyclers, has evasion, and can even cycle itself.

Skystreak Engineer

Rating: 2.5/10

Skystreak Engineer is a weak early game flier that can turn into a reasonable threat later on. Best if you have exhaust incentives, though I’ve played worse 2-drops for curve reasons in the past.

Slick Imitator

Rating: 2.5/10

The stats on this ooze are quite weak on its own, and unlike Glitch Ghost Surveyor, this will rarely pick up speed for itself. On the other hand, Slick Imitator has high upside, so it’s worth playing if you think you’ll be able to max out.

Spectral Interference

Rating: 3.5

Scatter Ray was pretty good in The Brothers’ War Limited, and I see no reason why it wouldn’t be here. Spectral Interference stops the vast majority of things your opponent will be casting, and is tough to play around too.

Spell Pierce

Rating: 2/10

Constructed implications aside, Spell Pierce is a fairly loose Limited card. Expensive vehicles give this a window to be good, so I wouldn’t be above sideboarding it in for the right matchup.

Spikeshell Harrier

Rating: 5.5/10

Dang those blue shells! Bigfin Bouncer was an excellent common, so scaling it to with +1/+2 and multiple other upsides seems like a great deal. Spikeshell Harrier offers you a solid chance to take back first place, bouncing your opponent’s heftiest thing and perhaps even slowing them down directly.

Stall Out

Rating: 3/10

Stall Out is yet another card that really benefits from cycling, as freezing/tapping effects like this tend to be situationally great. You can exchange this for something else in grindy games and use it to push advantages (or desperately stay alive) in others.

Stock Up

Rating: 4.5/10

Stock Up may be the best Divination effect we’ve ever seen, and it’s really closer to a 3-mana Ancestral Memories than a mere draw two! You can’t play a ton of air like this in modern Limited, but Stock Up is an incredibly good card draw spell.

Thopter Fabricator

Rating: 8/10

Thopter Fabricator is a highly efficient flier that also dumps out free Thopters whenever you draw your second card each turn. This is deceptively easy to do thanks to cycling, so this either a bomb rare or just short of one.

Trade the Helm

Rating: 4/10

I almost feel like a broken record saying this, but cycling removes much of the risk from a card like Trade the Helm. When it’s good, you can take your opponent’s Salvation Engine and give them a Thopter, and when it’s bad, it can simply be something else.

Transit Mage

Rating: 4/10

If you have 3+ targets for Transit Mage, then this is a great 2-for-1. It’s especially strong with rares like Possession Engine that can be tutored up. I probably wouldn’t bother if I had only 1-2 mediocre commons to grab with it though.

Trip Up

Rating: 3.5/10

Vanish from Sight and similar cards have overperformed recently, so Trip Up is in good company. This kind of effect also does very well against vehicles in general, and even cycles if needed.

Unstoppable Plan

Rating: 1/10

Busted in Commander or not, Unstoppable Plan is a pretty rancid Limited card. It doesn’t affect combat, draw a card, or really do much of anything.

Vnwxt, Verbose Host

Rating: 3/10

Vnwxt, Verbose Host is impossible to pronounce and a fairly mediocre card. As an 0/4, it can’t build up its own speed, so you’ll need other cards to do the racing for it. The payoff is pretty good, though it comes with a legitimate risk of decking, and it won’t be online until turn 6+ in most games.

Waxen Shapethief

Rating: 5/10

Flash clone effect that hits artifacts is nice, and Waxen Shapethief also cycles if needed. Flash in particular is great to have on a card like this, so I’m sure it’ll generate some blowouts throughout the format.

Black

Ancient Vendetta

Rating: 1/10

It’s nice to see this effect at uncommon, as they’re pretty sad rares to open for the most part. That doesn’t make Ancient Vendetta any better in Limited though, as this is a terrible card through and through in 40-card formats. You could maybe try to Cabal Therapy with this one after losing to some broken mythic, as unlike past variants, this won’t give them the card back if you get it right.

Back on Track

Rating: 4/10

Back on Track wants similar cards to Tune Up, as big cycling vehicles go quite well with this one. It’s usually going to be superior though, as it hits creatures too and comes with an extra Pilot token.

Bloodghast

Rating: 4/10

Bloodghast seems solid in this set, as it crews vehicles well and is really difficult to get rid of. It also pairs well with sacrifice cards like Hellish Sideswipe and Zahur, Glory's Past, and with discard effects like Kickoff Celebrations. Just make sure you can hit consistently (9+ Swamps).

Carrion Cruiser

Rating: 5.5/10

Stapling a Raise Dead onto a cheap vehicle like this makes for a pretty nice card. You’ll even have a chance to 2-for-1 with no graveyard, thanks to the mill trigger. Add everything up and you get a card I’m never cutting, especially in decks that care about the graveyard.

Chitin Gravestalker

Rating: 3/10

Speaking of graveyard effects, Chitin Gravestalker is the first of several incentives in Aetherdrift for filling up your graveyard with stuff. Cycling makes this potentially great in multiples, as the first copy can help set up later ones.

Cryptcaller Chariot

Rating: 7.5/10

Cryptcaller Chariot is a very strong vehicle for Limited. For just , you get a huge menacing Catmobile that can also make free zombies when you discard cards. Cycling is an obvious boon here, but this would be at its absolute best when splashed in UR.

Cursecloth Wrappings

Rating: 7/10

Cursecloth Wrappings requires a bit more effort in deckbuilding than Cryptcaller Chariot, but it’s also quite powerful. A good creature count with some self-mill would be ideal, and it also couldn’t hurt to have some zombie creatures like Deathless Pilot. Drag the game out though, and you’re looking at a sick Glorious Anthem and card advantage engine hybrid.

Deathless Pilot

Rating: 2.5/10

Speaking of Deathless Pilot, it’s a decent bear with two small forms of upside. Four crew power isn’t actually optimized for much (Lumbering Worldwagon is the set’s only crew 4), but it still might occasionally come up. The recursion ability is more likely to matter, but it’s clunky enough that it won’t move the needle all that much.

Demonic Junker

Rating: 8/10

Demonic Junker is Nekrataal on wheels, more or less. With just two artifacts out, this is a pretty great rate, and it’s not as though the set is light on artifacts or anything. Don’t forget that you can destroy your own creature with this if desired for two +1/+1 counters, which works well with something like Nesting Bot.

Engine Rat

Rating: 3.5/10

This set is light on x/1 hate (just Dynamite Diver and Locust Spray) and heavy on big artifact creatures, which bodes well for Engine Rat. It can even burn your opponent out in a board stall, and this rat is a zombie to boot.

Gas Guzzler

Rating: 4.5/10

Speed is a bigger deal in black than white or blue, so Gas Guzzler is likely better than it looks. This gets you started off on the right foot in the race and even has strong upside later in the game.

Gastal Raider

Rating: 3.5/10

Sin Collector for modern audiences is cool, but power creep has made this kind of body feel much worse than it used to. You really want to hit for this to be good, and I’d estimate that it does about half the time. Feel free to side it in or out based on your opponent’s deck.

Gonti, Night Minister

Rating: 7/10

Gonti, Night Minister is a black Enduring Curiosity of sorts, which should speak to its power in Limited if you’re familiar with that glimmer. The twist with Gonti is that it draws from your opponent’s deck and also happens to give you extra Treasures sometimes. Either way, if your creatures are hitting your opponent with this out, you’re getting quite a bit of advantage.

Grim Bauble

Rating: 3/10

This is about as narrow as removal gets, though sitting around as an artifact plus surveil 2 later makes for nice upside. Grim Bauble won’t kill everything, but it will feel good to tag early game creatures with this.

Grim Javelineer

Rating: 2.5/10

Grim Javelineer helps push through damage and even gives you a bit of card selection when you trade creatures. It’s not the worst, but it doesn’t rise above filler status.

Hellish Sideswipe

Rating: 4.5/10

Hellish Sideswipe is a strong Eaten Alive variant that goes off with stuff like Bloodghast and Grim Bauble. The vehicle sac rider also makes this great with cheap disposable vehicles like Carrion Cruiser.

Hour of Victory

Rating: 3.5/10

Gray Ogre is hardly playable on its own, but getting a potential Demonic Tutor on top of your 2/2 for is a big deal. That means Hour of Victory is incredible if you can get max speed and quite bad when you can’t.

Intimidation Tactics

Rating: 4.5/10

Cycling is an incredible line on a targeted discard spell like this, as the primary drawback of those is being completely dead later on. Feel free to maindeck your Intimidation Tactics, as it’ll be good in the opener and still live later on (though cycling 3 is admittedly slow).

Kalakscion, Hunger Tyrant

Rating: 2/10

7/2 for 3, eh? Kalakscion, Hunger Tyrant hits like a truck, but it trades with everything and will have serious trouble connecting. It can also singlehandedly crew every vehicle in the set, which counts for something.

The Last Ride

Rating: 5/10

Death's Shadow type cards are tricky to evaluate and usually not the best in Limited. I’m going to go out on a limb and say The Last Ride might be good, as you can play this early since it’s only a creature when you crew it. Paying life for cards is also useful and lets you have some control over how large this is. Just note that you may want to draw during your turn, as doing so at your opponent’s end step will cause them to gain speed.

Locust Spray

Rating: 3.5/10

This snipes a couple of good x/1s and can win clutch combats, but more often than not Locust Spray is just going to cycle for . That’s perfectly fine though, and it makes for a card you’ll basically never cut from any black deck.

Maximum Overdrive

Rating: 2.5/10

Maximum Overdrive can win just about any combat, though it may put you at risk of being blown out by other instants like Bounce Off and Ride's End. All in all, if you want a trick, Maximum Overdrive is solid, but it’s wholly replaceable otherwise. 

Momentum Breaker

Rating: 2/10

You won’t be playing this with Nurturing Pixie or This Town Ain't Big Enough in Limited, so it should feel pretty weak in most matchups. Momentum Breaker is especially bad against Pilot and Thopter tokens. The added lifegain is a neat bonus, but not enough to save it from being an edict in Limited.

Mutant Surveyor

Rating: 3.5/10

Mutant Surveyor’s pump ability is deceptively good, as it makes it tricky to block profitably which can help you pick up speed. This is a great curve filler for any deck that cares about that and also just decent on rate.

Pactdoll Terror

Rating: 4/10

Pactdoll Terror is a powerful common that serves two themes very well (speed and artifacts). If you started your engines earlier, this speeds you up every time it or another artifact enters. It also has decent base stats and strong synergy with other artifact cards like Haunt the Network.

Quag Feast

Rating: 6/10

Strong removal spell that should be able to kill whatever you need dead at a great rate. The two mill bonus on Quag Feast is crucial, making it live at every stage of the game.

Ripclaw Wrangler

Rating: 3.5/10

2-for-1s are always nice, even if Ripclaw Wrangler is a fairly tame one. This brawls decently for its cost and puts you ahead in value, so you won’t cut it often.

Risen Necroregent

Rating: 4/10

Similar to Hour of Victory, this gets much better if you have max speed, though a 5/4 for is less embarrassing on its own. You can’t run too many 5s, but Risen Necroregent seems like a good one for a speed deck.

Risky Shortcut

Rating: 3/10

Risky Shortcut treads new ground by being the first Painful Lesson we’ve seen that pings both players. This makes it not only better in general, but also a convenient way to pick up speed after playing a start your engines 2-drop.

Shefet Archfiend

Rating: 5/10

Shefet Archfiend is expensive, but it’s tremendously powerful and also capable of cycling. You’ll probably cycle this 80% of games, but having a strong card like this to play to (or topdeck) is great. Note that it also combos well with Back on Track.

The Speed Demon

Rating: 6/10

You’ll be living dangerously with The Speed Demon, which is a huge 5/5 flampler that’ll feed you lots of cards. Ironically, having low speed may be for the best with this one, as it’s much easier to stomach losing 1-2 life a turn than 4. I think the risk will usually work out in The Speed Demon’s favor, but make no mistake, there will be risks.

Spin Out

Rating: 4.5/10

Murder is still a pretty good common to this day, so Spin Out being strictly better bodes well for it. The main catch here is , so ideally you’ll be base black with 9+ Swamps for it.

Streaking Oilgorger

Rating: 3.5/10

This is a good curve topper for aggressive decks, especially ones that care about the speed mechanic. Streaking Oilgorger is also great at getting you that last lap or two, as it’s evasive and hits out of nowhere.

Syphon Fuel

Rating: 3/10

Syphon Fuel is slow but nearly universal removal. Like most 5-mana kill spells in Limited, it’s not your first choice, but it tends to play fine in low numbers. One catch to this one is that it won’t be able to remove vehicles unless they’re crewed, and it’s expensive enough to make cat and mouse games untenable.

Wickerfolk Indomitable

Rating: 3/10

Wickerfolk Indomitable is a recursive creature with rather mediocre stats. It’s not free to get back, but you’ll feel ahead with this if you’re sacrificing things like Grim Bauble. I imagine most decks will actually play either of black’s common 4-drops (Pactdoll Terror and Ripclaw Wrangler) over this, though I could be wrong.

Wreckage Wickerfolk

Rating: 3/10

Surveil 2 goes a long way towards making Wreckage Wickerfolk feel like good filler rather than bad filler. It’s also an artifact and a cheap evasive flier, so it’s good at chipping in to pick up speed.

Wretched Doll

Rating: 4/10

Wretched Doll punches in for 3 once or twice then goes on surveil duty or trades off with something else. That’s more than you can ask for from most 2-drops, so it’s a pretty decent one.

Red

Adrenaline Jockey

Rating: 4/10

Good if you have other exhaust abilities, as Adrenaline Jockey is already a 3/3 for 3 to begin with. The instant speed hate hits any player so be careful to main phase your Lightning Strikes if you want to avoid taking 4.

Boommobile

Rating: 7.5/10

Boommobile is a strong rare vehicle, similar in power level to others like Cryptcaller Chariot and Thopter Fabricator. It’s different in functionality though, as it acts like a Fireball on wheels. The mana on entry gives you a window to use this immediately on a small creature, or even just go face (which will pick up speed).

Burner Rocket

Rating: 3/10

There’s a lot of play to Burner Rocket, even if it isn’t that great of a card. This is at once a combat trick, a vehicle, and a flash blocker to ambush ground creatures (if you have something to crew it). The flexibility and okay power level means you’ll probably play this more often than not.

Burnout Bashtronaut

Rating: 5/10

Similar to Gas Guzzler, this is a rare 1-drop speed creature with good upside. Burnout Bashtronaut can get you off to a great start turn 1 and scales into a real threat later on. Menace also makes it rather annoying to block, further increasing the odds of gaining a couple of laps from it.

Chandra, Spark Hunter

Rating: 6/10

Chandra, Spark Hunter is a very unique planeswalker with a vehicle centric skillset. It can automatically crew a vehicle for you each turn and also lets you rummage or make additional Vehicles. You’ll mostly be spamming 0 or trying to +2 your way into a powerful emblem. This Chandra isn’t the best Limited planeswalker ever, but it’s still a good source of card advantage and well worth protecting.

Clamorous Ironclad

Rating: 2.5/10

Cheap cycling helps a lot here, as Clamorous Ironclad isn’t a great card in most situations. It’s best in cycling decks, though the vehicle itself can be useful when you’re ahead on board.

Count on Luck

Rating: 2/10

This is a very efficient 2-for-1 engine, but it’s simply uncastable in most decks and there are very few other incentives to hit . I wouldn’t go mono-red for this, but if I already found myself playing 13+ Mountains for some reason, I’d definitely Count on Luck.

Crash and Burn

Rating: 4/10

This kind of card usually costs around 5 mana, so Crash and Burn at is a nice improvement. Six damage/destroy target vehicle is more or less Terminate in this format, as this only misses Agonasaur Rex, Pyrewood Gearhulk, and two of the vanilla legends (one of which is a 0/8).

Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer

Rating: 5.5/10

This Daretti has high potential with cycling artifacts like Detention Chariot, and it isn’t all that difficult to set up. Even if things don’t line up for Daretti, it’ll usually be at least a 3/5 for with upside, so I feel comfortable rating Daretti fairly highly.

Draconautics Engineer

Rating: 8.5/10

The best Grizzly Bears in the set, bar none really. All this has to do is survive a couple turns for you to get a 4/4 flier for 4 off of it, and that’s just one of two powerful exhaust abilities. Don’t be fooled by its humble appearance; this is a true bomb rare.

Dracosaur Auxiliary

Rating: 5/10

Dracosaur Auxiliary is a solid Volcanic Dragon variant with upside if you can saddle it. This won’t always be convenient, but when this works it will feel very powerful. The Shock ability goes face too, so this can even hit for 6 the turn you play it.

Dynamite Diver

Rating: 2.5/10

Goblin Arsonist is a decent defensive creature for its cost, and the Pilot bonus lets you crew well for a simple 1/1. I wouldn’t want a ton of these, but Dynamite Diver seems like a decent 1-drop.

Endrider Catalyzer

Rating: 2.5/10

Starting your engines on turn 2 is useful, and it’s the main reason to play this otherwise underwhelming filler creature. The mana ability on Endrider Catalyzer seems like one of the lesser max speed payoffs, too.

Endrider Spikespitter

Rating: 3.5/10

Passable base stats, reach, and strong speed upside make Endrider Spikespitter a slightly above-average 4-drop. It also helps that red is one of the best colors at maxing out, making this a more practical goal.

Fuel the Flames

Rating: 4/10

Instant speed Pyroclasm can bring some blowouts, and (once again) cycling means you need not be stuck with it in poor situations. You can also appreciate the single red pip mana cost, as you could even splash Fuel the Flames out of the sideboard.

Full Throttle

Rating: 3/10

What separates Full Throttle from other win-more cards is that it, well, it “wins more” more than they do. With not one but two full extra combats, this would definitely murder someone in a race, but it also might not do much of anything. My gut says it isn’t good, but feel free to try it in stompy decks and see how it plays.

Gastal Blockbuster

Rating: 3.5/10

Gastal Blockbuster is a pretty awesome common, and it provides an out to a number of terrifying artifacts. Best case scenario of course is to sacrifice Grim Bauble or Dynamite Diver to this. Even without setups, it can sac itself or your 2-drop for an emergency Shatter. Blockbuster also helps fill your curve, though ideally you’ll be able to save it for the ability.

Gastal Thrillroller

Rating: 5.5/10

Gastal Thrillroller is a bumpy ride that your opponent is sure to experience again. While you do have to discard for recursion (meaning it’s not technically a 2-for-1), another run with a 4/2 trample haste combo is almost certainly better than whatever you discarded.

Gilded Ghoda

Rating: 3/10

Treasure-making is strong upside on a 2-drop, so Gilded Ghoda seems better than most other common ones. You aren’t going to get to ride it much, but even one attack plus a Treasure puts you ahead of other 2s.

Goblin Surveyor

Rating: 3/10

This cycle continues with Goblin Surveyor, a very average creature that start your engines and can replace itself later on. I’m rating this higher than blue’s because red makes better use of a creature like this.

Greasewrench Goblin

Rating: 4.5/10

Greasewrench Goblin is an excellent Savannah Lions. You get a familiar 2/1 for base here, then later on get a +1/+1 counter and a valuable double rummage. Don’t forget that this kind of discard effect plays perfectly with UR incentives as well.

Hazoret, Godseeker

Rating: 6/10

Hazoret, Godseeker is a build-around card, but only asks you to do something that you were likely already doing in red anyway. If you can pick up speed consistently, you’re rewarded with a massive haste beater that’s hard to kill. The unblockable ability also lets Hazoret assist you in picking up speed directly.

Do note that I didn’t say it’s “impossible” to kill though: Ride's End, Flood the Engine, and Syphon Fuel are all commons that do the trick.

Howlsquad Heavy

Rating: 8/10

Howlsquad Heavy isn’t quite as busted as Goblin Rabblemaster in Limited, but it still seems like a very strong Limited card. It’s an army in a can that’s perfect for picking up speed, and it can even add a ton of mana in long games. Note that you can save its 1/1 Goblins from marching to their death by having them crew vehicles before they attack.

Kickoff Celebrations

Rating: 3/10

I’ve mentioned Kickoff Celebrations already, as Aetherdrift has some good incentives for a Tormenting Voice effect. This also starts your engines and has decent upside later, so I expect to play this cantrip a fair bit.

Lightning Strike

Rating: 5/10

Three damage for 2 mana is a classic, excellent rate, so Lightning Strike should be a great Limited card. It snipes almost all 3-cost or less creatures and some smaller vehicles, and it even goes face. You could even try using it to get max speed before combat, if the situation called for that.

Magmakin Artillerist

Rating: 3.5/10

This is a deceptively flexible card with a decent rate. The body is best in UR cycling decks as a blocker and recurring source of damage. In decks more focused on speed though, Magmakin Artillerist can simply be cycled for a guaranteed lap due to its ping ability.

Marauding Mako

Rating: 5.5/10

Marauding Mako is another strong build-around card that overlaps with UR’s cycle theme. You won’t play this without cycling and cards like Kickoff Celebrations, but in those decks this does a great Flourishing Fox impression.

Outpace Oblivion

Rating: 6/10

Outpace Oblivion is a good removal spell on rate, with 5 damage being enough to kill every common creature besides Gearseeker Serpent and Migrating Ketradon. What makes it even better is that it picks up speed and you can sacrifice it for another lap on demand.

Pacesetter Paragon

Rating: 4/10

That’s a very threatening exhaust ability, so you’re going to have a lot of “threat of activation” equity with Pacesetter Paragon. Try not to blow your load early, as safely slapping for 2 over and over is a perfect way to pick up speed!

Pedal to the Metal

Rating: 2.5/10

Red’s common combat trick this time around is… weird? Pedal to the Metal has a worse rate than Kindled Fury at 1, but it makes up for this by being a Fireball of sorts. I like having a way to steal games that can also win early combats, though it’s clunky enough that I wouldn’t want more than a copy or two.

Prowcatcher Specialist

Rating: 3/10

Prowcatcher Specialist looks like a solid all-purpose 2-drop. It comes with its own mana sink and is also a bit more dangerous than your average 2 due to having haste. It even acts as a “4RR 4/3 haste” in topdeck mode, since you can exhaust it immediately.

Push the Limit

Rating: 2/10

This is a strange build-around card that wants as many cycling vehicles as you can get. The gameplan is to fill your yard with Clamorous Ironclad and Detention Chariot, turn on a soundtrack (may I suggest this banger from Scarface), play this, and watch your opponent die instantly. Push the Limit doesn’t really do anything else though, so it’s not a card you can just throw into any random deck.

Reckless Velocitaur

Rating: 4.5/10

Reckless Velocitaur will have your cars hitting like trucks, and it’s a Hill Giant if all else goes wrong. It’s similar to something like Canyon Vaulter in function, and a great inclusion in RW Vehicles.

Road Rage

Rating: 7/10

Road Rage looks to be one of the best removal spells in the entire set. Shock base that can easily hit 3+ damage is an incredible rate, so be sure to treat this card with the respect it deserves.

Skycrash

Rating: 5.5/10

Shatter is already a card you could justify playing in Aetherdrift, so 1-mana cycling is an egregious bonus. This will always be good, and is especially brutal against Salvation Engine, Roadside Assistance, etc.

Spire Mechcycle

Rating: 5/10

Spire Mechcycle hits hard out of nowhere and even offers you a good way to make use of excess vehicles. It looks like one of the most exciting curve toppers for a RW deck in the set.

Thunderhead Gunner

Rating: 3/10

Fives are inherently replaceable, but Thunderhead Gunner is a pretty respectable one. Solid base stats, reach, and a reusable rummage ability are all good qualities. I wouldn’t mind playing a copy or two of this, especially in UR.

Tyrox, Saurid Tyrant

Rating: 2/10

Our fourth vanilla legend is similar to black’s, as it also hits hard but dies to a stiff breeze. Tyrox does crew well, but for the most part seems worse than common 2s like Gilded Ghoda and Prowcatcher Specialist.

Green

Afterburner Expert

Rating: 7/10

Afterburner Expert is good on its own, but it really shines alongside other exhaust creatures. You could even try discarding it to Kickoff Celebrations for value.

Agonasaur Rex

Rating: 9/10

Agonasaur Rex is a ridiculously powerful split card. The base mode is a huge fattie with trample for with so much toughness that it lives through Crash and Burn and Syphon Fuel. But the combat trick mode is somehow even better; it's a cantripping Feral Invocation that gives indestructible and trample for just ! You can’t go wrong with this absurd rare, really.

Alacrian Jaguar

Rating: 3/10

Alacrian Jaguar is a solid 5-drop that can safely bash in as a 6/6, for the low cost of saddle 1. GW will clearly enjoy it, but you might even play it in other decks as green has no other common 5s anyways.

Autarch Mammoth

Rating: 6.5/10

Autarch Mammoth is a really strong uncommon that does a decent Titan impression. The base rate here is 8/8 worth of stats spread across two bodies, and the saddle ability makes it capable of snowballing too. My only gripe is the terrible flavor of elephants riding other elephants.

Beastrider Vanguard

Rating: 3/10

Grizzly Bears with a nice mana sink for when you flood out. As with Daring Mechanic, you probably aren’t cutting Beastrider Vanguard too often, though it’s pretty expensive to use.

Bestow Greatness

Rating: 2.5/10

Bestow Greatness is a really clunky combat trick, but it hits hard, which gives it a place in aggressive decks. If you’re looking for ways to push damage, you could do worse than this trick.

Broken Wings

Rating: 3.5/10

Broken Wings seems much more maindeckable than in most formats. There are plenty of artifacts in every color, plus each color pair has an uncommon signpost vehicle to boot. My instinct is to start 1-2 of these in every deck, whereas in most formats that number is 0-1.

Defend the Rider

Rating: 4/10

Defend the Rider is a good protection spell that can also be a Pilot in a pinch. You could even try using this to ambush attackers by leaving an untapped vehicle ready for it.

District Mascot

Rating: 5.5/10

This adorable corgi is stronger than it looks. District Mascot snowballs nicely if you can play it on turn 1 and curve out, but even if you draw it late, it’s still a Shatter on legs. Simply saddle it up, attack, then remove both its counters to send a corgi torpedo to destroy your opponent’s Salvation Engine. The flavor makes absolutely no sense, but hey, it’s still a good card.

Dredger’s Insight

Rating: 4/10

Dredger's Insight is a good cantrip that digs deep and even picks up some free life over the course of the game (including 1 immediately). Definitely worth playing if you have graveyard synergy and/or powerful cards worth digging for.

Earthrumbler

Rating: 5/10

Earthrumbler is big and also has a nice convenience mode, giving you some flexibility in how you approach crewing it. Since it has vigilance too, you can bash in for 7 each turn, with threat of activation for this as a blocker from your graveyard.

Elvish Refueler

Rating: 5.5/10

Elvish Refueler could get out of control with stronger exhaust cards like Draconautics Engineer, and it’s a pretty solid creature on its own, too. This may be one of the best uncommons for RG and UG decks, while being playable elsewhere.

Fang Guardian

Rating: 4/10

Stapling your combat trick onto a creature is always great, though Fang Guardian isn’t quite Briarpack Alpha level or anything. Still, it’s a good rate that lets you be pretty reckless with attacks.

Fang-Druid Summoner

Rating: 4/10

Fang-Druid Summoner is a good incentive to care about the legendary vanilla cycle and Jibbirik Omnivore, as having a couple of those makes this into a solid 2-for-1. This goes best in GW as those have the best vanilla legendaries.

Greenbelt Guardian

Rating: 5.5/10

Excellent 2-drop that scales well into the late game. The trample ability on Greenbelt Guardian is good on its own and even better with stuff like Terrian, World Tyrant.

Hazard of the Dunes

Rating: 3.5/10

Quality beef that seems better than most commons in the set. The late game upside is nice, but the main draw is good stats and two keywords. No other common 4-drop can match this one in combat, and Hazard of the Dunes even blocks flying to boot.

Jibbirik Omnivore

Rating: 2.5/10

There are a couple of vanilla incentives for this, and its stats are also perfectly acceptable to just play. Jibbirik Omnivore isn’t sexy or anything, but curving out is important!

Loxodon Surveyor

Rating: 2.5/10

This has a better rate than Goblin Surveyor, but it gets a worse rating on account of being green. Speed isn’t a good mechanic to dabble in, and Loxodon Surveyor is one of only two green speed cards in the set.

Lumbering Worldwagon

Rating: 6/10

2-for-1s are always nice, especially when they come on the back of a giant, Lumbering Worldwagon. This is unfortunately quite expensive to crew, but it does hit hard and immediately ramps you. I like it in general, but I’ll try to include 4/x creatures for it like Hazard of the Dunes. Don’t forget that you can also crew vehicles to crew other vehicles (i.e. use Beastrider Vanguard to crew Veloheart Bike, then crew this with Veloheart Bike).

March of the World Ooze

Rating: 7/10

This is a tough card to evaluate. It’s clearly very strong, but it costs and doesn’t play well with naturally large creatures. If you have lots of creatures (especially tokens) and can hit those three green pips, definitely play March of the World Ooze. The instant speed hate is also useful, though the main draw is being a huge anthem for all your guys. Watch out for Broken Wings if you can as it’s brutal when an opponent removes it during combat.

Migrating Ketradon

Rating: 3.5/10

Green brings the beef once again, as Migrating Ketradon is quality beef. This is a great card to ramp to and even has cycling for land-light draws.

Molt Tender

Rating: 3/10

Without graveyard synergies, this is a mana dork every other turn, which seems decisively mediocre. Once you have those though, Molt Tender is a pretty great 1-drop, so it should play well in most BG decks.

Ooze Patrol

Rating: 4/10

Speaking of graveyard synergies, Ooze Patrol can be quite large in the right deck. If you just cast this empty though, it’s Hill Giant on average. As such, try to do some trading or self-milling early before playing it.

Oviya, Automech Artisan

Rating: 4.5/10

Oviya, Automech Artisan looks deceptively strong in Limited, especially for an Elvish Piper. It’s very threatening to attack into, especially with a vehicle waiting in hand. The trample bonus also lets your huge threats turn the corner nicely. Oviya’s main weakness is being a more or less dead card when you don’t have any fatties for it to drop in.

Plow Through

Rating: 5.5/10

Plow Through is an excellent removal spell that’s basically Prey Upon plus Shatter. That means this can efficiently get rid of many problems, and the Shatter mode carries zero risk as well.

Point the Way

Rating: 2/10

As I’ve said, speed is a poor space to dabble in with green. Explosive Vegetation is also an awkward effect to try to power up by dealing damage repeatedly. Point the Way goes best in a 5-color deck that really needs the extra ramp/fixing, and hopefully one with other speed cards (and evasive creatures). If that doesn’t apply to yours, don’t bother with Point the Way.

Pothole Mole

Rating: 4/10

We’ve seen this card before in Eccentric Farmer and Patient Naturalist. Easy 2-for-1s like Pothole Mole are always great, and it even powers up cards like Ooze Patrol.

Regal Imperiosaur

Rating: 6/10

5/4 for is a crunchy rate, though the dinosaur anthem text will feel pretty irrelevant in most games. There are a handful of other ones, but they’re mostly already huge (i.e. Migrating Ketradon). Still, if you’re base green, Regal Imperiosaur is incredibly large for its cost.

Rise from the Wreck

Rating: 4/10

Potential 4-for-1s are always sweet, though I’d expect 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 to be more realistic. Rise from the Wreck is a great card to refuel with after trading off some creatures early on, and it even provides another incentive to care about vanillas like Terrian, World Tyrant.

Run Over

Rating: 4/10

Bite Down that costs when you target a vehicle or mount is great removal, especially in green. This should be one of green’s best commons, and it’s green’s sole common kill spell besides Broken Wings.

Silken Strength

Rating: 3/10

Silken Strength distinguishes itself from other common combat tricks by sticking around as an aura. This makes it more rewarding to win combats with, and the untap plus reach bonuses could definitely catch someone off guard.

Stampeding Scurryfoot

Rating: 3/10

It’s no Draconautics Engineer, but this humble little mouse is a surprisingly solid value creature. It’s 5/5 worth of stats for across two bodies, and you can even pay the first up front. You may also have additional incentives to play it like Elvish Refueler.

Terrian, World Tyrant

Rating: 4/10

Definitely the most powerful vanilla, though means you’ll occasionally stumble to cast Terrian, World Tyrant on time. Cards that care about vanillas do quite well with it, so I like it so long as you can swing those triple green pips (10+ Forests?).

Thunderous Velocipede

Rating: 8/10

Thunderous Velocipede is a nimble navigator with huge stats and free sizing for all other creatures. It tends to make the rich get richer in terms of sizing (do you really need a 12/10 Terrian, World Tyrant?), but almost everything about this card is pure upside.

Veloheart Bike

Rating: 3.5/10

Veloheart Bike is a strange card that’s best evaluated as Manalith with upside. If your deck is colorful and full of 5+ cost cards, then Veloheart Bike seems like an excellent inclusion. You can also trade it off with other vehicles or even attack with it in a pinch (though it trades down often).

Venomsac Lagac

Rating: 3/10

Venomsac Lagac is a decent 2-drop that trades up with many fat vehicles. Saddling it also lets it push in for damage safely, as very few creatures can successfully block a 2/4 deathtouch body (and those that can are probably trading down).

Webstrike Elite

Rating: 6.5/10

Elite isn’t just in the name for this one, as Webstrike Elite is quite the card. It has great stats for a 2-drop, but the cycling mode is likely even better as a cantripping answer to all sorts of problems. Just make sure you’re base green, and you should be good to go (i.e. no splashing this one).

Multicolor

Aatchik, Emerald Radian

Rating: 7/10

Aatchik, Emerald Radian is a massive bomb if you can set it up, as it can dump a huge army of Insects onto the field that way. It’s in the perfect colors for this too, so prioritize cards like Dredger's Insight highly with it.

Apocalypse Runner

Rating: 4.5/10

Apocalypse Runner is huge and clunky as a creature, but it also offers a great way to get the last few laps in with its unblockable/lifelink ability. As you’d expect from a signpost, this fits perfectly into BR speed decks.

Boom Scholar

Rating: 5.5/10

Boom Scholar has solid base stats and cost reduction for other exhaust creatures, and it can even threaten a powerful attack later on. All this combines into a pretty good signpost card that’s obviously quite on theme.

Boosted Sloop

Rating: 5/10

Note that this is “whenever you attack,” so Boosted Sloop will be providing you quite a bit of card selection. The mass looting from this will also be vital for UR’s discard theme.

Brightglass Gearhulk

Rating: 7/10

Tricky mana cost aside, Brightglass Gearhulk is one heck of a creature. A 4/4 with first strike and trample would already be good enough, but you get a (narrow) double tutor on top of that! There are very few good tutor targets though, so take as many copies of Stampeding Scurryfoot as you can.

Broadside Barrage

Rating: 5.5/10

Broadside Barrage is premium removal with looting upside. UR cycling decks will obviously love it, but you will also splash it in Gx good stuff piles.

Broodheart Engine

Rating: 4.5/10

Strong card for a BG graveyard deck, particularly if you have cycling fatties to reanimate with it. Broodheart Engine does a nice Search for Azcanta impression as well, improving your draw quality while fueling other cards.

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

Rating: 7/10

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge is a great discard incentive that makes all your creatures much more threatening in combat. Attacking with this and mana up makes blocking a nightmare; small creatures will trade up, and unblocked creatures can hit for a ton of damage and draw multiple cards. It’s also somewhat resilient to removal with ward and 4 toughness.

Caradora, Heart of Alacria

Rating: 6/10

It’s not hard to have a target or two for this, and Caradora, Heart of Alacria can be extremely powerful with other tutorable rares. It’s a great 2-for-1, though the body is fragile enough that it won’t usually stick around for long.

Cloudspire Coordinator

Rating: 6/10

Cloudspire Coordinator is certainly among the best signpost uncommons in the set. This smooths out your early game and can provide a pilot for every single vehicle you play. That’s incredible for just 2 mana, so try to go into RW if you see this late.

Cloudspire Skycycle

Rating: 4.5/10

Cloudspire Skycycle, on the other hand, is strong but not quite as efficient as Cloudspire Coordinator. 4/5 worth of stats for is a good deal though, and this puts the pressure on nicely.

Coalstoke Gearhulk

Rating: 7/10

Unearthing with menace and deathtouch almost guarantees damage, which could mean another lap. But Coalstoke Gearhulk’s best qualities are its stats and keywords, which means it will usually demand a removal spell.

Debris Beetle

Rating: 9/10

Siege Rhino on wheels is a pretty ridiculous bomb. Debris Beetle provides guaranteed value in a race, and it bashes for a ridiculous amount of damage for a 4-drop. BG drafters will unfortunately not see this one too often, as other drafters will likely take it and splash it.

Dune Drifter

Rating: 5/10

This is a solid value card that probably works best as a 5-drop of sorts, ideally bringing back something like Carrion Cruiser. Try not to run this out without a target unless you really need board presence.

Embalmed Ascendant

Rating: 4/10

Embalmed Ascendant would be my pick for the set’s weakest signpost uncommon. You don’t get the Blood Artist ability until max speed, so this is basically just a 1/2 and a 2/2 for . That’s not bad, but not quite at the level of other multicolor cards in this set.

Explosive Getaway

Rating: 7/10

Not picking up vehicles means this won’t always clean sweep, but 4 damage should do a number on most boards. You’ll also be able to save your best creature (or repeat an “enters” trigger), so Explosive Getaway seems like a pretty great rare.

Far Fortune, End Boss

Rating: 8/10

Far Fortune, End Boss picks up speed quickly and pays you off very well for doing so. It also has excellent base stats for a 4-drop, as it’s already oversized without factoring in any of its upsides. This is among the best incentives to build a speed deck in Aetherdrift.

Fearless Swashbuckler

Rating: 8.5/10

Draw three cards!? And all I have to do is attack with a pirate and vehicle? Fearless Swashbuckler is incredible in a vacuum and downright ridiculous when paired with cards like Marauding Mako and Scrounging Skyray and whatever vehicle you can send into combat.

Gastal Thrillseeker

Rating: 6/10

Gastal Thrillseeker is another busted signpost, as it’s hard to imagine a more perfect speed card than this. It’s one of the only cards that will immediately run a lap upon entry, thanks to its ping ability. Just playing this on turn 2 already puts you 2/4 of the way towards deathtouch and powering up your other cards!

Guidelight Pathmaker

Rating: 4.5/10

Six is a lot, but you’re definitely getting what you pay for with this one. Guidelight Pathmaker can tutor up its own pilot if needed or grab a more powerful artifact if there’s less pressure on you.

Haunt the Network

Rating: 6/10

Haunt the Network is a beating in the right deck, which won’t be hard to pull off as Aetherdrift is full of artifacts. Think of it like Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and you’ll see how much potential it has. Draining for 4+ and making two bodies will be a common occurrence.

Haunted Hellride

Rating: 5/10

Haunted Hellride is another “whenever you attack” card, so it’s great for pushing damage fast and often. Early damage perfectly sets your opponent up to be burned out from cards like Pactdoll Terror and Haunt the Network, too.

Ketramose, the New Dawn

Rating: 1/10

Ketramose, the New Dawn is a sweet commander and Constructed card, but it seems almost unplayable in Limited. Wreck Remover, Ride's End, Leonin Surveyor, and Mutant Surveyor are must-haves if you want to try it, as you’ll need a ton of exile effects for Ketramose, the New Dawn to do anything.

Kolodin, Triumph Caster

Rating: 6/10

Quite the threatening vehicle payoff, as every single one you play is not only hasty but also automatically crewed for a turn. Nut draws with Kolodin, Triumph Caster will be pretty much unbeatable, and your opponent will have to slow down to respect it either way.

Lagorin, Soul of Alacria

Rating: 5/10

Lagorin, Soul of Alacria snowballs nicely and also works well with GW’s +1/+1 counter subtheme. Flying is crucial to this card’s viability, as otherwise it would just be suicide attacking due to its poor base stats.

Loot, the Pathfinder

Rating: 9/10

Loot, the Pathfinder is easily the best Loot we’ve ever seen. Don’t let the cute appearance fool you; you’re looking at a disgusting bomb that’s basically Lightning Bolt and Concentrate stapled onto a solid body.

Mendicant Core, Guidelight

Rating: 6/10

Mendicant Core, Guidelight is a build-around that mixes two themes (artifacts and speed). Maxing out carries an incredible reward here, so this is the kind of card that would have me reaching for my Glitch Ghost Surveyors. Even if you can’t, it shouldn’t be too hard for this to be a 3/3 or better for just .

Mimeoplasm, Revered One

Rating: 4/10

Mimeoplasm, Revered One is a build-around card that gels nicely with BG’s graveyard theme, and it seems best as a splash in that kind of deck. The sweet spot for it is probably exiling three creatures, as 9/9 outsizes Syphon Fuel and Crash and Burn. Ideally you’ll exile something with flying or trample to this, too.

Oildeep Gearhulk

Rating: 7/10

Oildeep Gearhulk is a very efficient creature with a useful ability. You can downgrade your opponent’s hand a bit, or even just use it as a loot for yourself if the situation calls for that. Lifelink also lets this brawl well, especially in a race.

Pyrewood Gearhulk

Rating: 9/10

Pyrewood Gearhulk seems like the worst Gearhulk for Constructed, though its fortunes turn in 40-card formats. It’s an absolutely massive beater that casts a free Overrun of sorts when you play it, utterly crushing races and demanding a removal spell if your opponent survives.

Rangers’ Aetherhive

Rating: 6/10

Free Thopters for doing what you were going to do anyways, plus great combat stats and vigilance. You can even use those Thopters to crew it too, letting Rangers' Aetherhive peck in early without compromising defense.

Redshift, Rocketeer Chief

Rating: 5.5/10

Redshift, Rocketeer Chief can make a whole lot of mana for exhausting purposes, especially if you can buff it somehow. Its own exhaust ability probably won’t do much, but it’s still quite powerful for a 2-drop.

Riptide Gearhulk

Rating: 8.5/10

This competes with Pyrewood Gearhulk for “best Gearhulk” title in Limited. I’d probably give it to Pyrewood, but only slightly as Riptide is an absolute house. Think of it as a WU Nekrataal (that hits any nonland, not just creatures) with excellent combat stats and prowess, and you’ll pretty much understand why it’s so good!

Rocketeer Boostbuggy

Rating: 6.5/10

Rocketeer Boostbuggy is a really efficient 2-drop, and it can even turn itself into a permanent creature the very next turn. You can’t go wrong with this one, and the extra Treasures are excellent for other exhaust abilities.

Sab-Sunen, Luxa Embodied

Rating: 9/10

Sab-Sunen, Luxa Embodied is a top-notch Limited bomb that alternates between Divination and safely bashing for ever-increasing damage. Indestructible means it only dies to Ride's End, Flood the Engine, and Syphon Essence. It can also block the turn you play it, making it rather safe to tap out for, too.

Samut, the Driving Force

Rating: 4/10

Samut, the Driving Force is powerful in combat, but it’s in an awkward color combination for start your engines and speed. It’s also a 6-drop that doesn’t get any guaranteed value when it enters, so I wouldn’t take it too highly. If you’re already Gx ramp though, Samut, the Driving Force seems like a good inclusion.

Sita Varma, Masked Racer

Rating: 6.5/10

Sita Varma, Masked Racer sits around as a 2/3 for , waiting patiently to explode with a giant exhaust turn. Fair vanilla stats and a powerful scaling ability makes for a really good rare that you won’t want to miss.

Skyserpent Seeker

Rating: 7.5/10

Now this is an Explosive Vegetation I can get behind! Unlike Point the Way, this lets you get your vegetables without compromising on board presence. Ideally, you’ll play Skyserpent Seeker early, pop it for lands, then trade it off at your convenience. And don’t forget that doing so means a 3-for-1 has been pulled off!

Thundering Broodwagon

Rating: 6/10

Nekrataal on wheels, though this time it’s a little more expensive than some others. Still, it’s huge, beefy, and gets rid of most other cards, so I quite like Thundering Broodwagon. Note that you can also play it alongside cards like Tune Up and Back on Track, thanks to cycling. You could even try doing so in a deck that isn’t BG!

Veteran Beastrider

Rating: 7/10

This is another busted signpost, and it almost feels like a bomb rare. Veteran Beastrider has excellent base stats, pumps on demand, and lets you saddle and attack aggressively with its auto-untap ability.

Voyage Home

Rating: 6/10

One of the strongest build-around uncommons in the set, as getting Voyage Home to 2 mana will just feel unfair. It starts to get good at 4 or less, which should be quite doable in the average WU deck.

Winter, Cursed Rider

Rating: 6/10

If you can get a couple of artifacts into your graveyard (try Grim Bauble or trading vehicles in combat), Winter, Cursed Rider can sweep away other small creatures. It’s also a solid 3/2 for that shocks your opponent for trying to remove your artifacts (or it). Note that it says “nonartifact,” so don’t try to clean up Thopters with this one.

Zahur, Glory’s Past

Rating: 5/10

Zahur, Glory's Past is a decent sacrifice outlet and 2-drop, and it’s a solid speed payoff. WB has enough cards like this to be worth building a deck around, though I’m worried that BR will do it better most of the time.

Colorless

Aetherjacket

Rating: 3/10

There are a lot of filler artifact creatures in Aetherdrift, but Aetherjacket is one of the best ones. This pecks in for decent damage early, then sacrifices itself later to trade up with better cards. Cheap fliers like this are also good for picking up speed, and it’s also an artifact (for WU) that bins itself (for UB/BG).

The Aetherspark

Rating: 8/10

The Aetherspark is a tricky card to evaluate, but it seems quite powerful. It notably says “deals combat damage” rather than “deals combat damage to a player,” so trading off creatures is still a great way to pick up loyalty counters. I’d mostly want to alternate +1/-5 to bury my opponent if possible. As a colorless card, it can also go in just about every deck, though you’ll want to try to have a healthy creature count for it.

Note that it’s quite vulnerable to removal as it’s both an artifact and a planeswalker; this means your opponent can hit The Aetherspark with every Shatter effect, plus cards like Outpace Oblivion and Road Rage.

Camera Launcher

Rating: 2/10

Camera Launcher is a below rate creature that lets you get some more artifacts or exhaust into your deck if needed. You’ll mostly hope not to play it, though you can do so for either of those reasons.

Guidelight Matrix

Rating: 3/10

Guidelight Matrix is a decent cantrip that gives you a mana sink for crewing if needed. You won’t always have to use this, but having the option is certainly helpful.

Lifecraft Engine

Rating: 7/10

This can put a ton of stats on the board for just 3 mana, and it goes in just about any deck. You’ll always be upsizing other vehicles with it, and you can just freely name whatever you have the most of. While it’s nice to be mostly one type to max out this artifact’s typal support, think of that as a bonus rather than something you must build around.

Marketback Walker

Rating: 7.5/10

Marketback Walker is a solid scalable value creature that can go in any deck. Playing this on turn 2 basically gets you a better Novice Occultist, and you can even scale the sizing later.

Marshals’ Pathcruiser

Rating: 5/10

Marshals' Pathcruiser is a solid 2-for-1 that’s playable in any deck, but best in base green value piles. I wouldn’t always worry about hitting for this one, though it’s a great bonus to have access to.

Monument to Endurance

Rating: 8/10

Monument to Endurance is a really strong build-around card for discard decks. Its main mode will be turning all your cyclers into Divinations, but you can also just burn your opponent out 3 damage at a time.

Pit Automaton

Rating: 4/10

Pit Automaton is a strong support card for RG and GU exhaust decks. This is a decent early blocker that is also a source of mana/card advantage when combined with exhaust creatures, which is impressive for a simple colorless 2- drop.

Racers’ Scoreboard

Rating: 1.5/10

Racers' Scoreboard is a 4-mana cantrip of sorts that offers cost reduction if you can get max speed. I might play this if it were always online, but it doesn’t match start your engines decks well and offers little to other decks.

Radiant Lotus

Rating: 0/10

Cool card, but 100% unplayable in Limited. There’s no way to untap an artifact in Aetherdrift, and thus no real shenanigans to be had with Radiant Lotus.

Rover Blades

Rating: 2.5/10

Unicycle is now in a Standard-legal set! Rover Blades is a neat equipment and Vehicle hybrid card, but it’s clunky enough to equip that you should view it as a vehicle first and foremost. Equipment doesn’t play well with other vehicles though, so I expect this to be more cute than great.

Scrap Compactor

Rating: 2.5/10

Scrap Compactor kills small creatures at an okay rate, and it can also answer just about anything if you’re willing to pay . This plays best with cards like Winter, Cursed Rider, since it’s an artifact that bins itself. I’m guessing it’ll be a little better than Bear Trap was, but definitely not great.

Skybox Ferry

Rating: 2/10

If you need a mediocre 5-drop to punch in the air with, Skybox Ferry has you covered. This is also another cycling vehicle for cards like Tune Up, Back on Track, and Push the Limit.

Starting Column

Rating: 2/10

Manalith and speed are an odd fit together. I’d definitely play Starting Column if I were playing Samut, the Driving Force, but I likely won’t in most decks.

Ticket Tortoise

Rating: 2/10

This won’t trigger on turn 2 unfortunately, even on the draw. You’ll have to play this turtle off curve to get the bonus, and it’s not like the body itself is any good either. Ticket Tortoise is mostly just defensive filler that you can play in decks that care about artifacts. One saving grace is that defender won’t stop it from crewing vehicles, so it’s not unplayable, just weak.

Walking Sarcophagus

Rating: 2/10

More artifact filler for players that didn’t get enough 2s. Walking Sarcophagus is aimed more at speed decks than artifact ones, as at least it’ll start your engines on turn 2. You’ll hope not to play these, but you shouldn’t be embarrassed if you have to occasionally.

Wreck Remover

Rating: 2.5/10

Wreck Remover seems outclassed by most other common 4s in a vacuum. The graveyard hate aspect gives it a bit of play against BG though, and it also cycles unlike the other filler artifacts.

Lands

Amonkhet Raceway

Rating: 2.5/10

This is one of three colorless lands that start your engines, all of which also come with some form of upside. You can’t play too many colorless lands like this in Limited, but I’d happily play a copy in WB or BR speed decks. Amonkhet Raceway seems slightly better than the other two, as haste on demand late game is a powerful bonus.

Avishkar Raceway

Rating: 2/10

Avishkar Raceway is another of those colorless lands, and it has expensive rummaging as its upside rather than haste. I’m still partial to playing one of these in BR/WB decks, but you’ll never need to prioritize it.

Gain Lands

Rating: 2.5/10

These classic gain-1 duals ETB tapped and are perfectly solid fixing. You’ll want 1-3 of them in most 2-color decks and will happily play several copies in anything more than that. I tend to take them over low end playables, but rarely over anything great.

Muraganda Raceway

Rating: 2.5/10

Muraganda Raceway is the final colorless start your engines land. Adding a full extra colorless is a powerful bonus, but that’ll only come after turn 5+ in most games. You can only play 1-2 of these at most, so don’t prioritize this despite it being a rare.

Night Market

Rating: 3/10

Night Market is a great upgrade to Uncharted Haven, as cycling 3 makes this a better topdeck than most lands. I’d happily play a couple in most decks, and expect it to be somewhat contested as a result.

Roads Lands

Rating: 3.5/10

This is a neat cycle of value lands that play well with mounts and vehicles. They all have the same text, entering untapped if you have a mount/vehicle and letting you sacrifice them later for a Pilot (as a sorcery). You should be happy to play a couple of these in most decks, as they’ll often enter untapped and provide some extra value later on. Red and white’s may be slightly more desirable than other colors', due to RW’s vehicle focus.

Verge Lands

Rating: 3.5/10

Verges are solid fixing in Limited, entering untapped and conveniently adding both colors so long as you have one of two potential basics. They’re certainly better than the common gainlands, but not dramatically so despite their rarity.

Special Guests

You won’t see these Special Guests very often, as they're basically “super mythics” that are rarer than rare. Still, it’s good to have a plan for when you do open one!

Cavalier of Dawn

Rating: 7/10

If you can hit , Cavalier of Dawn is a strong creature that can downgrade your opponent’s best threat. You can also use it on your own disposable cards like Grim Bauble and Nesting Bot. Throw in the fact that this draws a card when it dies, and you have an excellent (if hard to cast) rare.

Thoughtcast

Rating: 4/10

You’ll have to get beyond Divination rates for Thoughtcast to impress. That’s not unrealistic in Aetherdrift, so definitely take this if you can for WU/UB artifacts. It’s not quite as strong as Voyage Home, but you could always play both!

Whir of Invention

Rating: 2/10

Whir of Invention is a very loose Limited card. You can’t tap artifacts for with improvise (even blue ones), so you’ll need , lots of mana and artifacts, and something worth tutoring. That’s not impossible to imagine, but it seems difficult to pull off for most decks.

Bone Miser

Rating: 4/10

Bone Miser is a cool card that goes well with cycling and other discard matters effects, similar to Cryptcaller Chariot. It’s a little undersized for its cost, but worth playing if you have ways to trigger it.

Lord of the Undead

Rating: 3/10

In a WB deck, Lord of the Undead should be boosting a fair number of creatures, and can even Raise Dead on demand. It’s wholly dependent on zombies though, so it’ll only be playable in specific decks. Bare in mind it also pumps opposing zombies.

Chandra’s Ignition

Rating: 4/10

Chandra's Ignition is powerful, but clunky and risky. It works well with large vehicles, but it also does poorly against them. I’d probably run it in most red decks with big creatures, as your opponent definitely won’t be playing around it! Just try to wait for them to be tapped out regardless.

Galvanic Blast

Rating: 6/10

Metalcraft doesn’t seem too hard to get in Aetherdrift, and it’s not like your opponent will exactly see Galvanic Blast coming either. This is efficient removal that can also suddenly go face for a ton of damage, and it's well worth splashing in artifacts decks.

Pathbreaker Ibex

Rating: 5/10

Pathbreaker Ibex is slow and fragile, but can outright win the game if it gets to attack once. Compared to something like Migrating Ketradon, it’s a much riskier but more powerful card. Note that it has excellent synergy with cards that give haste like Draconautics Engineer, Kickoff Celebrations, and Amonkhet Raceway. 

Chrome Mox

Rating: 0.5/10

Aetherdrift is not Vintage Cube, so don’t fool yourself into playing this one. While theoretically capable of enabling nut draws, Chrome Mox won’t be worth the card disadvantage in the vast majority of games.

Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Rating: 9.5/10

Skysovereign, Consul Flagship is one of the most broken cards you can open, especially since it’s so rare to do so. This goes in every deck, kills something when it enters or attacks, and wins the game in a couple of swings too.

Victory Lap

Haunted Hellride | Illustration by Olivier Bernard

And with that, you've come to the end of your first lap of our Aetherdrift guides. Be sure to check out our companion guide out for Best Commons and Uncommons in Aetherdrift Limited, and stay tuned for the Aetherdrift Sealed Guide (aimed at Prerelease players).

Which cards are you hoping to find in your Draft and Sealed pools? Which archetypes are you hoping to play, and which ones do you want to avoid? Let me know in the comments below or over at the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, may you always open great pools!