General [DFT] Aetherdrift
- Thread starter Nanonox
- Start date
I got very confused reading Basri's "Exert" and then a bunch of cards with "Exhaust". Took me a second to work out they were different words!
Saddle and Mount being the same but different is also confusing.
Although I do like legends with a related cycling ability, a neat way to handle drawing them in multiples.
Yeah this was my feeling as I looked at the spoilers too.
Saddle and Mount being the same but different is also confusing.
Although I do like legends with a related cycling ability, a neat way to handle drawing them in multiples.
Yeah this was my feeling as I looked at the spoilers too.
Same for me with exhaust. They could have used counters. One for each ability/card. It’s kind of clean but there can be memory issues. Let’s see if they give us some tools to keep track.
Yes they yellow treatment is more beautiful in real life. It’s golden foil.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
For real for real, I really like Loot’s design. For once it isn’t a 6/6 with a bunch of abilities, but actually a reasonable statted critter for the cost, given its powerful activated abilities. They could’ve kept Giant Growth as the green one, but that would have turned Loot into a 5/7 hasty double striker at six mana, which is a bit much, so I’m happy that they used “Dark” Ritual instead. I could see this replacing Sarkhan in my Temur section, especially because I don’t run that many dragons anyway. Rey happy with this card!
I think one of the tricks they used is that many exhaust creatures actually put one or more +1/+1 counters on themselves with the exhaust ability, or create some sort of tangible thing, like the Dragon token. It’s not perfect, but I imagine it isn’t a big step up from monstrosity either.
Honestly my first thought was exactly that this seems like an evolution from monstrosity
This set has been redeemed by one card.
If this is not my favorite card of the set, I will eat a shark.
I am shocked, delighted, and amazed that, in 2025, WotC is letting us put on a +1/+1 counter for each card discarded! It's not per instance, folks!
Inti, Seneschal of the Sun is one of Red's best dudes these days, and this shark pirate is his new best friend. And did I mention it's a SHARK?? PIRATE? With CYCLING?!?!
and it looks like a Magic card and not Hearthstone??! in this expansion? nice.
If this is not my favorite card of the set, I will eat a shark.
I am shocked, delighted, and amazed that, in 2025, WotC is letting us put on a +1/+1 counter for each card discarded! It's not per instance, folks!
Inti, Seneschal of the Sun is one of Red's best dudes these days, and this shark pirate is his new best friend. And did I mention it's a SHARK?? PIRATE? With CYCLING?!?!
and it looks like a Magic card and not Hearthstone??! in this expansion? nice.
I have to say I'm really happy that they put cycling on that little shark as well. Great to have matters-cards also be support cards.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Its actually the original plan for monstrosity, but the rules manager at the time wouldn't let them do it
This is fantastic and I share your enthusiasm. It's the Champion of the Parish that I've been looking for. It doesn't pigeonhole you into a specific creature type (in design and draft) and when drawn late where it's less impactful, the cycling lets you get rid of it and trigger your other discard matter cards.
I'm going to try and make this work in my cube. A card per counter is a good rate. You do need other ways to grow it for it to be abused though.
look it's hangarback walker and walking ballista
Huge add for my cube. This is so good
I'm not sure if this is actually good, but damn this is a pretty funny card
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I was going to post The Shark - it definitely feels like something you could slip into a cube without too much of an aesthetic clash.
Also, I'm kinda curious why Amonkhet's team is headlined by a zombie cat person, given that I'm pretty sure Amonkhet didn't have cat people the last time we saw it. And it's unlikely that we just didn't see them or something, because the plane's entire population was restricted to one city and we saw non-anthropomorphic cats everywhere.
Also, I'm kinda curious why Amonkhet's team is headlined by a zombie cat person, given that I'm pretty sure Amonkhet didn't have cat people the last time we saw it. And it's unlikely that we just didn't see them or something, because the plane's entire population was restricted to one city and we saw non-anthropomorphic cats everywhere.
I think the cats were likely all killed by Bolas when he took over the Plane (or possibly even before, I think Amonkhet may have already been in decline before Bolas arrived). This character is just from before the reign of the Dragon.
As a gesture of good faith from Hater Nation these are the cards I think are pretty cool:
been looking for ways to get white spells stuff over the line at low power and this seems like a cool way to help that. i love when things cost one (1) mana.
gaaaaaaaaas
kinda wish this didn't have cycling I think it'd be a cool design without it. fucking sick though.
maybe prefer this to hangarback? i think the play patterns might be better, and it reduces token spam which im interested in. SICK art.
just a really nice design knob to have. evolving wilds tier land with no shuffling! and a little cooler than the thriving lands I think.
probably a little busted but would love to see this in some bullshit combo cubes
been looking for ways to get white spells stuff over the line at low power and this seems like a cool way to help that. i love when things cost one (1) mana.
gaaaaaaaaas
kinda wish this didn't have cycling I think it'd be a cool design without it. fucking sick though.
maybe prefer this to hangarback? i think the play patterns might be better, and it reduces token spam which im interested in. SICK art.
just a really nice design knob to have. evolving wilds tier land with no shuffling! and a little cooler than the thriving lands I think.
probably a little busted but would love to see this in some bullshit combo cubes
kinda wish this didn't have cycling I think it'd be a cool design without it. fucking sick though.
maybe prefer this to hangarback? i think the play patterns might be better, and it reduces token spam which im interested in. SICK art.
The shark pirate is the only card so far that I plan to include, and I like that it is both a payoff and enabler for the discard deck, with a little bit of +1/+1 counter bleed for good measure.
I agree that the art for Marketback is rather lovely. It reminds me of some of Mark Tedin’s classic work, in particular
.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Interesting flexibility on this trigger, kind of in the middle of you attack and this attacks!
You need to attack with a vehicle sure, and probably him, but you get the bailout clause of other pirates if you have them.
I hope we see more stuff that rewards things other than max speed, given how slow that looks to achieve. Also I'd called my shot correctly in that Samut was just running this whole ass race on foot
Personally I think this could have been RR1, I don't think it's better than phyrexian arena and I don't think modern magic is in a great spot for phyrexian arena in the first place, and it's not because of the life loss.
Still though, happy for the option
More draw 2 triggers!
So my particular cube is probably in a place where you'd want duress over this, but I can 100% see this being straight gas for someone
Cycling 3 is a gigantic number but you'll use it occasionally.
Also does this look like it was just on the cutting room floor from Kaladesh or Aether revolt or is it just me?
This is my kind of card!
So my particular cube is probably in a place where you'd want duress over this, but I can 100% see this being straight gas for someone
Cycling 3 is a gigantic number but you'll use it occasionally.
Also does this look like it was just on the cutting room floor from Kaladesh or Aether revolt or is it just me?
I feel like they were way too conservative with a lot of the cycling costs in this set, though. There's a lot of cycling for 3 and 2C, and a lot less cycling for 2 or C. It doesn't make these cards unplayable or anything, but it definitely makes the cycling abilities a lot less relevant than they could or should be.
I'm sad Intimidation Tactics is yet another "exile instead of discard" situation like Dreams of Steel and Oil because it really hampers my whole Tinybones, Bauble Burglar/Hostile Investigator/The Raven Man vibe.
!!!!!!!!!
Deathrite shaman at home
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I think cycling 3 is very justified here in that this card is so early game, and cheap cycling would make it SO free. The triomes deffinitly don't deserve cycling 2 for eg, and I feel similarly here.
So this is from the commander set, but I'm kinda into it?
Chatterfang was legitimately great in my cube, and this makes 2/2 fliers instead of 1/1 squirrels.
I can see you playing this in a random tokens deck if the token spells you happen to be making end up being clues/treasures/thopters etc, even if it misses on your garruks or whatever.
Faithless Looter over here is sick. Love me a good Savannah lion, delayed looting is great.
Also another option for modulating up/down your cranial platings
This card in particular is justifiable at cycling for 3. I've just noticed a lot of the cards in this set have expensive cycling costs, which usually means the cycling mode is less relevant. As a cycling enjoyer, I want to activate my cycling abilities!
Chris Taylor
Contributor
So I also noticed it on the new Basri, who justifies cycling 3 on the same merits as here, and the 5 mana 8/8, where that cycling cost is less about cycling and more about snakeskin veil
Edit: full list of cyclers at time of writing:
All the cycling 3 cards shown are justified in being very early game cards or for having real good reasons for cycling them (or both)
Cycling 2 is about as low as I want cycling costs to go, TBH. All the Ikoria cards with cycling 1 caused problems honestly.
Cycling R or whatever is fine, but it's still very free, so if it's on something niche like a combat trick or a disenchant it just becomes thought terminating IMO