DEJA VU, I’VE JUST BEEN IN THIS PLACE BEFORE. I’M HIGHER ON THE STREET, AND I KNOW IT’S MY TIME TO GO.

Full disclosure, I’ve never seen an episode of Initial D but the theme song is an absolute banger and the chorus has been stuck in my head ever since spoiler season for Aetherdrift began.

I wish I could say I thought the theme of the set was a banger, but this one is a miss for me. I like seeing each of the three planes we see and a lot of the cards are pretty fun and whimsical but the whole inter-planar race just isn’t my vibe. The cards I like most personally are pretty much all ones that could have been from proper Amonkhet, Aviskhar, or Muraganda sets, and pretty much ignore the racing theme all together.

And while I think there is some power in the set, this is pretty much by far the lowest amount of commons and uncommons I’ve had to narrow down. I have zero honorable mentions, though I do actually talk about 13 cards on the list as I take some liberties of limping two cards into one spot because they’re made for the same deck. But I normally have to narrow down a list of about 20 cards and I just didn’t have to do that this time.

Reprints:

There is one big reprint for Standard in Aetherdrift, which is Spell Pierce. Spell Pierce is a really great card to have in Standard again and while it’s use rate will fluctuate with the meta over the next three years it’s legal, Pierce is a card that sees play in pretty much every format it’s legal in. I like it against Kaito and the Pixie deck currently but it has other uses and will be a good tool for blue creature/tempo decks

I do also want to give a shout to Lightning Strike, which was set to rotate this fall with the rest of Dominaria United, but it’s reprint here will keep it around for another three years.

10. Dune Drifter

Full stop, Dune Drifter is on this list because of how much I like it. It’s a really cool design for a card that I do think could have some practical applications somewhere.

I am actually slightly interested in it Affinity in Modern, as the re-buy effect will be pretty nice for the cheaper stuff of the deck, while also being an artifact itself.

This is also just interesting for any BW Aggro deck, as those are the decks where vehicles play the best and it can be a cheap reanimate plus an extra upside for 3-4 mana. This is the card on the list I certainly feel the least confident in seeing play but I am exercising a liberty to include a card i just really like design wise as my last spot. As I said, there aren’t any honorable mentions anyway, so if there’s one set I can get away with this, it’s this one.

9. Broadside Barrage

The (only?) obvious one is UR Phoenix, as Barrage gets an even bigger buff in combined with Artist’s Talent, as curving Talent into Barrage lets you remove something and Faithless Loot at the same time, which seems pretty good. The cost reduction of Artist’s Talent’s second level makes Barrage even better. Barrage is a bit clunky to cast on its own, so if Phoenix does adopt it, it probably won’t be in particularly high quantity. It is nice that it hits Planeswalkers as well, which is something Lightning Axe doesn’t do.

8. Lightwheel Enhancements

Lightwheel Enhancements is another card with exactly one home, and yet another very clear home. This is a card for Bogles, whether it be whatever is left of it in Pioneer or Modern. You probably only want one in your deck as the actual buff it provides isn’t amazing, although +1/+1 and Vigilance isn’t nothing.

The reason I like this card is, obviously, for the ability to re-cast it once you hit Max Speed. Hitting Max Speed shouldn’t be too hard in these kinds of decks and having a way to trigger Light-Paws or Sram from the bin if the game gets to the mid or late game is pretty good. It’s not a particularly exciting card, but an effective one. 

7. Skyserpent Seeker

This is another card that I generally just like, but unlike Dune Drifter, Skyserpent Seeker has better application. A two mana 1/1 flyer with death touch isn’t an incredible rate, but cards with that body have seen play before. It is notable that it can pretty much block and kill anything in a pinch.

The exhaust ability on it though seems really good. For four mana, you’re guaranteed to ramp two lands (and get a +1/+1 counter) and those lands aren’t restricted to just basics. It is also an instant speed ability, which is not nothing. If a UG ramp or tempo kind of deck pops up in Standard, I really like this card for it and I think it could have some applications in higher formats.

6. Locust Spray

Locust Spray has been sitting in my mind ever since I saw it and I’ve landed on thinking it’s good. While giving -1/-1 is quite literally almost the bare minimum a removal spell could do, it still does pick off relevant targets across various formats, such as Llanowar Elves, Heartfire Hero, or even Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. If you’re playing a black deck that cares about attacking too, Spray can be used as a fun little combat trick.

But Cycling for a single black mana is what makes the card good. It is a really nice floor to give a niche removal spell, as it lets you comfortably include it in your deck without having to worry about it being ineffective, especially if it’s just as a one of. I will likely play around with Spray in my Midrange builds and I will never expect it to be amazing but having a one mana black instant cantrip isn’t really a bad card either.

Darkblast is the card that comes to mind and it isn’t really anything like Darkblast… It’s actually the exact opposite. Darkblast can be any card you draw but Locust Spray lets you draw a card. And if you Cycle Locust Spray to pick up a Darkblast, you’ll open a wormhole in the universe which we will all be sucked into. You’ll still mill three though.

5. Voyage Home/Memory Guardian

I mentioned Affinity earlier with Dune Drifter but both Voyage Home and Memory Guardian have legitimate shots to make Affinity. Memory Guardian becomes a one mana 3/4 flyer, which actually might not be good enough for the deck but is definitely still worth mentioning.

Voyage Home is the much more interesting one. Modern Affinity is certainly not short on card draw effects but it could definitely be interested in another one that gains life.

I do wonder if this influx of Affinity cards, in conjunction with cards like Spyglass Siren, Novice Inspector, and some of the other cards from Aetherdrift will let UW Artifacts have a real shot in Standard. It’s a fringe strategy I’ve encountered a few times but it should be getting a pretty interesting power boost.

4. Grim Bauble/Momentum Breaker

Both of these cards are really good options for Esper Pixies in Standard, and in particular I think Momentum Breaker will completely take the place of Tithing Blade due to the fact that it can do something when your opponent has an empty board. Breaker is also an Enchantment, which also works much better with the Optimistic Scavenger builds. 

There is a lot of hype for Bauble in the deck too and I can definitely see it, but I do think the Pixies lists are only interested in so many effects and I don’t think they would dedicate all four spots to Bauble. I do like that one copy can effectively give something -4/-4 on turn three with the help of a Pixie and the surveil effect is very similar to Hopeless Nightmare.

Whether or not Bauble (or Breaker for that matter) take off is yet to be seen but they should both be contenders at the very least and I would be surprised if we don’t see both of them in lists right away.

3. Amonkhet Raceway

Amonkhet Raceway seems really good to me. Max speed is a mechanic that I think will lend itself well to creature-based Midrange lists as well as Aggro lists and Raceway giving Haste to anything for no mana cost once you hit Max Speed is nuts.

Raceway, once unlocked, also targets, which could play insanely well in RG Prowess in Standard and Pioneer, being able to get free Valiant triggers off Heartfire Hero and Manifold Mouse without even casting a spell. I don’t think any deck would play more than one, but it’s a one-of you’ll likely be happy to see.

2. Defend the Rider

Speaking of Prowess, Defend the Rider is everything RG Prowess could ever want and should be a home run for the deck.

While a card like Snakeskin Veil offers slightly more raw power in leaving the counter on a creature (relevant to help bring something out of Cut Down range), Defend the Rider trounces Veil, and really any of the other one drop protection spells, in terms of versatility.

For starters, Defend the Rider gives Hexproof and Indestructible, and while many of the sweepers in Standard get around Indestructible, Day of Judgement doesn’t, which means Defend the Rider can save a creature from Day of Judgement.

But where Defend the Rider really shines is in eliminating a main weakness of Prowess (and really Bogles decks too, everything I’m saying about Prowess here works for Bogles). That weakness is of course the “wrong half of the deck” problem.

Let’s say you open a hand with Swiftspear, two Monstrous Rages, and a Veil. If you play your Swiftspear T1 and it dies, you are stuck hoping to draw another creature. Drawing more pump spells for a couple more turns might just result in a loss. Even though you opened a great hand, it was a glass cannon due to one creature.

If that Veil was Defend the Rider, you now have the flexibility of having a one mana 1/1 with flash at your disposal.  Is an (effectively) vanilla 1/1 what you are striving for? Absolutely not. But do you know what’s worse than a vanilla 1/1? Having no creature at all. That 1/1 can still where Monstrous Rages or Ancestral Angers, which is an option that Snakeskin Veil does not provide you at all. Having the option to do that at all is a huge boon, and while I do think Rider and Veil will be played in tandem, Rider’s flexibility should give it an edge.

Rider also has another upside in that it can save any permanent, similar to Tamiyo’s Safekeeping. This has upside in Prowess as well, because those decks often play Urabrask’s Forge in the sideboard, and Rider can save that from a removal spell.

While not as versatile, Rider reminds me a bit of Slip Out the Back, in that you will find some interesting niche uses for it as you play it. This should be a fun card for Prowess players to test.

1. Marauding Mako (and Scrounging Skyray I guess)

(This slot is really just meant for Marauding Mako but Scrounging Skyray has the exact same abilities so I want to lunp it in here. Skyray is in a worse color for this and obviously costs one more mana so I don’t think it’s as good as Mako but I think the card is good and you could see them in tandem a bit. But I’m going to focus on Mako here.)

Marauding Mako is a really cool card that you should see in a lot of different places, because of the way it is worded. It feels like a lot of cards like this would say “whenever you discard one or more cards, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.” But that is not what this says, Mako (and Skyray) both are very much in your favor. You get a +1/+1 counter for each card that is discarded.

Where I am most interested in it is in Modern Hollow One, as a threat that’ll become a 3/3 beater the second you play one Faithless Looting, and can even Cycle itself to fuel Hollow One even more.

It might not even be limited to Hollow One though. Any Modern deck playing Faithless Looting could reasonably include Mako and it wouldn’t be bad. The problem with a lot of one drops like this is that they’re bad late game but playing it with Faithless Looting gives it two separate ways to cover that weakness, in that Mako can both cycle itself and Looting can Flashback to make Mako a 3/3 right away even if you draw it late.

But it’s not just limited to Modern even. The old Ikoria Cycling deck that is now in Pioneer gets a huge boost with Mako and I suspect there will be other people trying out some self discard style cards with Mako and Skyray even.

Not for nothing, it is also a bit of a fun “soft counter” to Esper Pixies in Standard, as they likely won’t want to make you discard cards if you play this on T1.

There are honestly probably more homes for Mako than I even mentioned. It is a card with a ton of potential and should lead to some pretty fun brews (I haven’t even mentioned Burning Inquiry yet). I’m excited to brew with this card myself and see the direction other people take it.

My favorite card in the set:

My favorite card in the set is Ketramose but everyone is hyped on Ketramose so it’s a bit of a boring pick. So I’ll talk about my second favorite card in the set, Webstrike Elite.

As is a theme, Elite is really versatile, both being a reasonable body with a keyword while also serving as a bit of artifact and enchantment removal thanks to its Cycling ability. I really want to blow up an Urza’s Saga for GG then draw a card with it. I think it could potentially have a home in a deck like Titan in Modern of Mono G in Pioneer. I might just try it out in generic midrange though. It’s also got cool art and I like when creatures with bows have reach so it checks that box as well.

—–

Despite the fact that the amount of cards I considered for this list is significantly lower than I normally choose from, there is a lot of power here still and I like all of the cards on the list. While the theme of the set still isn’t to my liking, I do like more of the cards as a whole than I thought I would, and as always, I’m excited to see the impacts the set will have across formats.