Aetherdrift has arrived with breakneck speed, and even if the theme isn't for you, it's hard to deny the power of this set! Yes, even though this feels like an Un-set (Magic's occasional dips into the wackier side of things), you would have to try very hard not to include some of these great spells in your decks.
This set is so jam-packed with amazing cards, I had to split these Bulk Ups into two articles! Today we take a look at the mono-colored spells and coming up next week we have the multi-color/colorless cards from the set! My name is Tyler 'Savesya' Bucks, and here are some of the best commons and uncommons you should look out for while you open packs of this set.
Transit Mage
Kicking things off is Transit Mage, the continuation of a pseudo-cycle. Trinket Mage, Tribute Mage, Trophy Mage, and Treasure Mage all have a similar effect, allowing you to search for an artifact of a specific mana value, and put it into your hand. This new Mage lets you search for two different mana values, 4 and 5! That flexibility shouldn't be understated, especially if you're building around a few specific cards.
Yes, I know Commander is a singleton format; however, some players do crave consistency, and Transit Mage is able to provide just that! If your deck has an artifact as its "secret commander", this can be just the effect you're looking for to get it into your hand. Of course, you can blink the Mage or even recur it to get the trigger again and again, but I believe resolving this one time could be enough!
Let's put ourselves in the mindset of a secret commander deck. Say you wanted to build around Door to Nothingness, which is a five-mana artifact that makes a player lose the game. You would spend a large portion of your game trying to find the Door, but that's where Transit Mage comes in! They pull up in a car when you need it the most and drop the Door to Nothingness off on your porch like an Amazon order; now that's service!
Diversion Unit
Look out Solemn Simulacrum, there's a new sad robot on the scene! Diversion Unit is a two-mana robot flyer that allows you to sacrifice it to counter an instant or sorcery, unless its controller pays three. That's a great rate for all of those abilities, plus it gives you the opportunity to play Miscast when the time is right. Just don't read that flavor text before you sacrifice it...
A lot of Magic players shy away from on-board interaction akin to Glen Elendra Archmage, since it can be a little telegraphed; however, I'm in the camp that enjoys that playstyle. Having something on board like a counterspell gives you political sway throughout a Commander game. You can direct your opponents to use their spells on each other, since your protection is known information.
Octavia, Living Thesis loves evasive little creatures, since they can gain base power and toughness 8/8 at a moment's notice! Yes, Octavia does require instants and sorceries to trigger that effect, but you aren't usually going to be casting counterspells during your combat. Stapling that effect to a flying creature means that you can further your gameplan with a little more protection!
Kickoff Celebrations
Next up, we take a look at a card with start your engines!, Kickoff Celebrations, is a two-mana enchantment that when it enters allows you to discard a card and then draw two cards. It also has an ability once you hit max speed, but let's cover that new mechanic first. As you see on the card, when you cast it, your speed starts at 1, and it increases once on your turn whenever an opponent loses life.
Max speed is 4 and allows you to unlock another part layer of a card. In the case of Kickoff Celebrations, you get the chance to sacrifice the enchantment to give all your creatures and Vehicles haste for a turn. Red is an aggro color, so getting to your max speed won't be as hard as it sounds, especially if your deck is centered around burn or attacking synergies. Getting that rummaging ability early game, and then the haste late game is an incredible one-two punch!
If you made a Lizard deck after the release of Bloomborrow, Gev, Scaled Scorch would be a great home for Kickoff Celebrations! Gev decks are filled with ways to deal damage directly to your opponents, which helps propel you to hit max speed. Having the enchantment give you that card advantage early in the game, then just sit on the battlefield as you continue your gameplan, would allow you to give your whole team haste when the moment is right!
Marauding Mako
Marauding Mako is a one-drop that could become an all time classic in specific decks. Whenever you discard cards, you put that many +1/+1 counters on this shark pirate. It also has cycling for two mana, in case you draw it in the late game and don't need it at that moment! Even though this is a little narrow, it is already fetching a higher price than most of the other uncommons in the set.
Obviously, this is best used in a wheel deck, or when it's paired with any commander that incidentally discards throughout the game. While this isn't as strong as a turn-one Sol Ring, it can still grow exponentially as the game goes on. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, if you happen to draw it in the late game, it easily replaces itself.
If you're like me, you got the precon helmed by Gavi, Nest Warden. That was a great deck, that might have been overshadowed just a bit by Fierce Guardianship... Gavi allowing you to cycle your first card for free, means that any time you keep up your discarding, you'll be making one big shark! Plus, the Mako will fit right into the deck, since Shabraz, the Skyshark is already swimming around in the list!
Tune Up
Getting cards back from your graveyard is an important effect that any deck needs, and our next card can make for some explosive moments in the right build. Tune Up is a four-mana sorcery that lets you put an artifact card from your graveyard onto the battlefield! If you returned a Vehicle, it becomes a creature, not until end of turn, it just doesn't need to be crewed anymore.
Sure, this is an auto-include for Vehicles, but I still think it fits in most white artifact decks. The fact that you put the card right onto the battlefield opens the door for cheating the mana cost on some huge threats. If you have a deck that can efficiently fill up your graveyard, the ability to recur a game warping artifact by turn four becomes all the more possible.
If we're talking Aetherdrift, you know that Shorikai, Genesis Engine was going to make an appearance! Not only is it one of the most played Vehicle commanders, but it also helps with graveyard synergies, since you discard cards as often as possible with this deck, so have fun throwing that Portal to Phyrexia away in the early game, because Tune Up will just bring it right back.
Voyager Quickwelder
Voyager Quickwelder is here to bring a little bit of ramp to the list! For three mana, you get a white artifact creature that reduces the cost of your artifact spells by one. We've seen this sort of effect before with cards like Foundry Inspector, and in some decks, having a critical mass of this type of card is exactly what you're looking for.
I am a big fan of mana rocks, but sometimes if you are looking to further your gameplan, getting a body on the board is what you need. Also, cost-reducers, like the Quickwelder, assist you with casting more spells than a single mana rock would, since it will help lower the cost of multiple artifacts a turn. So, keep an eye out for this one when you are opening packs, especially if you're drafting the set!
Alibou, Ancient Witness and Voyager Quickwelder are a great pair. Alibou gives your artifact creatures haste and deals damage when they attack. So, the Quickwelder can assist you with casting your spells in the early game, and then in the late game it can swing in to help deal a whole lot of damage. Any time you can find a card that benefits you at all points of a Commander game, you got a winner on your hands!
Point the Way
Starting things off for green is another spell with start your engines! Point the Way is a one-mana enchantment that you can sacrifice for four mana, then you search for a number of basic lands equal to your speed. Even though the lands will come onto the battlefield tapped, you can still activate that second ability at instant speed so that you untap and move to your turn with a lot more mana at your disposal.
Point the Way is a long-term ramp plan, but it can still be effective at propelling you into the late game. It will serve you best in aggressive decks, or even in decks that utilize life-draining effects since you'll be building that speed up passively. You can also sacrifice this enchantment at any time, so even though you might want to wait until you hit max speed to do that, the option is still there to ramp when you need it!
As I mentioned before, adding Point the Way into a deck that drains your opponents like Dina, Soul Steeper might help you build up a lot of speed as the game goes on. Also, since this enchantment is a single mana to cast, that means you can deploy it on turn one and then cast your commander on turn two. Getting your engines running and ready to sacrifice to search for those lands at the right time!
Molt Tender
Next up, we have another one-drop with Molt Tender! This little Insect can tap to mill you a card or tap to exile a card from your graveyard to make mana. Now, that might not seem too flashy at first glance, however there are a lot of Commander decks that can utilize both modes of this relatively well, and since its casting cost is so low, it won't throw a wrench in your plans.
Molt Tender's ability to tap and mill you a card assists with a lot of strategies we've been seeing come out in recent sets. Threshold and Delirium are helped by this little bug, but so are many other graveyard-centric decks. Plus, it can still tap for mana at the cost of losing an unneeded card in your graveyard. Most of the time, if you already have a fuller bin than the other players, exiling something random you don't need to get back isn't too high of a cost.
With Delirium on the mind, let's add this to a Winter, Cynical Opportunist deck! If you picked up this precon, I'm sure you could use some more cheap creatures that assist you with milling your own library. Then once you have all the types you need in your graveyard, you can easily turn the unneeded cards in there into mana. All while fueling Winter's ability to recur a permanent once you have Delirium!
Hour of Victory
First up for black, we have the three-mana enchantment Hour of Victory. This card makes you a Zombie when it enters, as well as start your engines! and once you hit max speed, you can pay two mana to tutor for any card in your deck. While it might take a little longer to get the payoff for this card, the fact that it comes with a creature token when it enters to give yourself some protection isn't nothing!
As I mentioned before, black works very well with start your engines! So many effects in this color incidentally drains life from your opponents, which means you could sneeze and tick your speed up. Also, since it's more than likely that you'll be achieving max speed later in the match, you can spend that two mana to find the one spell you need to close out the game!
A commander that can benefit the most from Hour of Victory is The Scarab God. At the beginning of your upkeep you're going to drain your opponents for the number of Zombies you control, and would you look at that: you get a Zombie token when you cast this enchantment! Also, you'll be increasing your speed when your foes lose that life on your upkeep, which means you're going to be tutoring for that Gray Merchant of Asphodel in no time!
Pactdoll Terror
Closing out the list, we have Pactdoll Terror. A four-mana artifact creature that drains your opponents and gains you a life anytime it or an artifact enters under your control. I don't think I need to explain to you how this ability can be abused, but I'm going to try! The main thing to look at, is the fact that this triggers off of any artifact, including tokens!
Adding this card to any list that consistently creates artifact tokens means that you can slowly tick down your opponents' life totals! Pactdoll Terror is very similar to the card Mirkwood Bats and would most likely fit in a lot of the same decks. The ability to turn all your value plays into life gain/drain means that you will be getting yourself closer to a win, and the other players at the table closer to death!
If you have a Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff deck, you need to put Pactdoll Terror in that deck! The synergy between these two cards are perfect for each other. When any player casts their second spell each turn, you're going to lose one life and create a Treasure token. Which means that the Pactdoll is going to gain you that life right back and then turn around and drain the rest of the table: that's just too good!
The Wrap Up!
Well, there you go, a quick list of great commons and uncommons from Aetherdrift! As I mentioned before, I will be back next week to cover the multi-color and colorless spells from the set. So, I will see you next time for more great bulk finds, and maybe a few racing specific puns along the way... Goodbye!
