General [DFT] Aetherdrift

MilesOfficial

MilesOfficial

LadyMapi said:
kalakscionhungertyrant.jpg
tyroxsauridtyrant.jpg
terrianworldtyrant.jpg


Hmm...

I have to say, I'm a little bummed that our first proper visit to Muraganda is during the silly Wacky Races set.
Click to expand...

Two of the five legendary creatures with MV=2 and power>=4 have been printed in this set, and this is the first one without a downside/is able to actually attack and block without conditions.

I do like Tyrox. It's not good enough, for sure, but I jammed the aforementioned Frost Walker for years and this is basically the same card but in a color that can enjoy it more. If they print more power doubling effects, I can see it being fun in a lower-powered environment, and I may end up running it anyways one day just because I aesthetically like a vanilla legendary that beats to the face for a lot.

I also ran Bloodrage Brawler for a few good years! I love having 4 power on a two-drop, it's a real clock. I think I'd be much better off with a synergy card like that or Chained Brute in 2025 than Tyrox. I mean heck, even Slumbering Cerberus is likely a more practical card than Tyrox in most environments because it actually dodges getting foiled by a soldier token.

When Maro said this was a cycle, this could be complete as is, even if "cycle" is rarely used in that way. I really wanted a 3/1 for R or something and I think that'd be OK nowadays. I'll cope and pretend we'll get a white one, which is honestly a lot less important to me, emotionally.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
TrainmasterGT said:
Thundering Spineback suffers from the classic Ixalan "everything costs 1-2 more mana than it needs to and when in doubt, make it cost 7" treatment.
Click to expand...
I'm not one for negativity, but I think the overstattification of MtG creatures is a sickness. Now that there is a 5/4 for 1GG, how will people react when they see a cute 3/3 with a relevant upside? Those won't cut it anymore. We have multiple 2/1's for 1 with (multiple) upsides in the set, and people are actively calling (some of) them stone cold unplayable. What's wrong with an honest Savannah Lions? What's next? 3/1's with upside for one mana? This trend is leaving people jaded. WotC used to say spells were to strong compared to the creatures, but I wonder if we haven't swung too hard into the other direction. And at least spells being stronger than creatures led to compelling gameplay. I can't say the same for the reverse.
 
Last edited:
Schafkurai

Schafkurai

What do you all (that have some kind of discard matter theme) think about this card?

Screenshot_20250129-110608.jpg

Is this just a commander card hiding in the main set? The most interesting mode is probably "draw a card" which makes it similar to Containment Construct, as you rarely attack or block with that one. The other modes are relevant too though. A three mana do nothing is not what I want in an aggressive deck, but if I can loot/discard once on my and on my opponents turn, the last mode makes every card in your hand a Lava Spike.

I will definitely try it (this set has been great for discard synergies) and see how it performs.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Schafkurai said:
What do you all (that have some kind of discard matter theme) think about this card?

Is this just a commander card hiding in the main set? The most interesting mode is probably "draw a card" which makes it similar to Containment Construct, as you rarely attack or block with that one. The other modes are relevant too though. A three mana do nothing is not what I want in an aggressive deck, but if I can loot/discard once on my and on my opponents turn, the last mode makes every card in your hand a Lava Spike.

I will definitely try it (this set has been great for discard synergies) and see how it performs.
Click to expand...
I mean, I run Drake Haven and Faith of the Devoted, so three mana do nothings are fine with me. That said, the downside is that this can't be fetched with Zur the Enchanter :)
 
inscho

inscho

Schafkurai said:
What do you all (that have some kind of discard matter theme) think about this card?

View attachment 10284

Is this just a commander card hiding in the main set? The most interesting mode is probably "draw a card" which makes it similar to Containment Construct, as you rarely attack or block with that one. The other modes are relevant too though. A three mana do nothing is not what I want in an aggressive deck, but if I can loot/discard once on my and on my opponents turn, the last mode makes every card in your hand a Lava Spike.

I will definitely try it (this set has been great for discard synergies) and see how it performs.
Click to expand...

The third mode is the one I’m most interested in. Hitting your opponent on your turn and theirs is 6 life per turn cycle. If it ETB’d one of the effects I think it would make it interesting in faster environments as you could weld and blink it. As it stands, I believe this will be best in medium speed formats. It might be a bit much for low speed formats
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
1738158420754.png
Nice modality! We've had GG 3/3s for ages but this is a nice carrot

1738158513265.png
Crew 4 is just so much but hey that's a fine kicker on an otherwise medium sorcery. I could see it

1738158542481.png
This is a lot of investment, so I'd imagine if this is finding anything you're either desperate or assembling an infinite. YMMV
 
StrionicAdventurer

StrionicAdventurer



Right now, this is probably my most anticipated card in the set. Sure, there's a ton of cool new artifact/token/graveyard toys for Welder's Workshop, but I think this Marshals' Pathcruiser is the card that will finally give me critical mass to add a 5-color rewards package to my peasant cube, Multivalent.

First of all, this will let me run two of my favorite cards ever:


Plus some more support for the theme:


That will get me up to 5 cards in the cube with the very explicit WUBRG activation cost. I may even find space for Fleshformer, just to really drive the point home.

Pushing this theme gives added weight to cards that have been hanging out in my Maybeboard for a long time, like Glinting Creeper and Prismatic Ending. Kaleidoscorch is already in the main list.

And furthermore, I'll be taking steps to push some Domain cards, with Evasive Action, Tribal Flames, Meria's Outrider, Nishoba Brawler, and Shadow Prophecy. Pushing this theme will probably even cause some changes to the land section so I can include typed taplands like Wooded Ridgeline!

Basically, Marshals' Pathcruiser is the final push I've been looking for, something that's both an enabler and a payoff, that you could pick up in your second pack and decide you're going for it (since it has no colored pips in its actual mana cost). The domain and converge cards will work in any deck in the cube (which is already pushing you to go three-color), so they won't clog up packs, and the hardcore 5c stuff like Dragonsoul Knight will wheel easily, giving the enterprising WUBRG enthusiast some easy prizes as a reward for a risky deckbuilding decision.

The only thing I really want for this theme is a really kick-ass WUBRG creature. Something like Chromanticore or Two-Headed Hellkite, but tuned at the appropriate power level. Like Fusion Elemental, but actually good.
 
LadyMapi

LadyMapi

Onderzeeboot said:
I'm not one for negativity, but I think the overstattification of MtG creatures is a sickness.
Click to expand...

It honestly is?

The real annoyance to me is that it forces powercreep into cube, of all formats. And I'm not just talking powermax cubes here - I've lost track of the number of times people on these very forums have said something to the effect of "oh, [classic fan-favorite card] isn't good enough anymore" in this, the format where you have complete control over the card pool. Why? Because people are understandably interested in trying out new cards, and a lot of new creatures are simply bigger and tougher than older creatures.
 
TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

Onderzeeboot said:
I'm not one for negativity, but I think the overstattification of MtG creatures is a sickness. Now that there is a 5/4 for 1GG, how will people react when they see a cute 3/3 with a relevant upside? Those won't cut it anymore. We have multiple 2/1's for 1 with (multiple) upsides in the set, and people are actively calling (some of) them stone cold unplayable. What's wrong with an honest Savannah Lions? What's next? 3/1's with upside for one mana? This trend is leaving people jaded. WotC used to say spells were to strong compared to the creatures, but I wonder if we haven't swung too hard into the other direction. And at least spells being stronger than creatures led to compelling gameplay. I can't say the same for the reverse.
Click to expand...
While I understand the fear here, that's not really what's happening with this card. The simple act of having a 5/4 for 1GG doesn't invalidate the existence of 3/3s. We can actually see that happening right now in Standard! The last overstatted, easy-to-cast beater we saw is still legal: Bloated Contaminator! Despite having good stats and a relevant ability, contaminator sees no play. By contrast, the two most popular three drops in Standard are a 3/3 Screaming Nemesis and a 3/2 Tishana's Tidebinder, sitting at ranks 3 and 6 among most played creatures. Tranquil Frillback is also seeing play sitting at rank 18. The only other 3 drop which sees this level of play is Preacher of the Schism, which is the only card in this group that I think could reasonably be considered overstatted (although, that's more thanks to the card's abilities than anything else, we've had Courser of Kruphix sized creatures for years now). Bloated Contaminator, by contrast, sees so little play that it doesn't even register in the top 50 creatures!

As for Savannah Lions... those are a bit unplayable right now. People are too busy playing 1/1s to play a 2/1!

At this point, most cards are seeing play due to the synergies they have with other cards as opposed to their raw stats. I think Regal Imperiosaur might see some play if Dinosaurs end up being a thing in Standard, but I don't think she's ever going to outpace the other cards I mentioned today in play rate. The existence of beefslabs doesn't outclass the existence of other things: cool abilities and cool synergies do.
 
inscho

inscho

I’ve always pushed my cube to have the strongest balanced synergistic environment possible with available printings. I prefer fast intricate play so I don't really mind the power creep so much as I hate complexity creep, one-off keywords, and anything else that adds unnecessary cognitive load
 
LadyMapi

LadyMapi

TrainmasterGT said:
As for Savannah Lions... those are a bit unplayable right now. People are too busy playing 1/1s to play a 2/1!
Click to expand...

Calling Heartfire Hero a 1/1 is true... but comparing a vanilla 2/1 for W with a 1/1 that permanently grows by one each turn as long as you checks notes target it with something (in a format with a one-mana instant that gives something +3/+1 and trample with a lingering benefit) that flings itself on death is burying the lede a little bit.
 
TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

LadyMapi said:
Calling Heartfire Hero a 1/1 is true... but comparing a vanilla 2/1 for W with a 1/1 that permanently grows by one each turn as long as you checks notes target it with something (in a format with a one-mana instant that gives something +3/+1 and trample with a lingering benefit) that flings itself on death is burying the lede a little bit.
Click to expand...
To be fair, the "Savannah Lions" that people are calling unplayable in Standard are Kellan, Planar Trailblazer and an old cat lady in training, not just your average vanilla 2/1. These cards are better than Heartfire Hero on average. Heck, I think Favored Hoplite is probably better than the Heartfire Hero a lot of the time. But, the Hero has the big advantage of her little friend Manifold Mouse handing out Double-Strike to mice like it's free candy, something which most of the other one-drops in the format can't benefit from.

There are several interacting layers of synergy here that are causing traditionally "pushed cards" to fall out of favor for other things, which I think is really cool.
 
TrainmasterGT

TrainmasterGT

Onderzeeboot said:
See, I agree that the part about synergy pushing out pushed cards is cool, but that doesn't mean pushing cards is cool.
Click to expand...
I'm more trying to articulate that most of these Timmy cards that do very little except have stats aren't going to invalidate "cooler" cards with cooler abilities just because their stats are above the normal rate. A lot of cute 3/3s with a relevant upside tend to outperform stuff like Regal Imperiosaur because of those relevant upsides. They very much do cut it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top