Aetherdrift Set Review - Allied and Shards

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist
by Wisnu Tan

White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Artifacts & Lands | Allied & Shards | Enemy & Wedges | cEDH | Reprints | Pauper/Budget

ZOOM ZOOM!

Errrrrrrrrr, errrrrrrrrrr, tchk, ppbt, errrrrrrrrrr, vrroooooooom vroomroooooooom screeeeeeeeeeeeech.

THIS SET IS ALL ABOUT GOING FAST I WON'T WASTE YOUR TIME HERE, LET'S JUST GET TO IT!

Mythics

Brightglass Gearhulk

That's right, Mikey gets to talk about all the Gearhulks this set!

What's fun about the Gearhulks this time around is that their casting cost always starts with two pips of each of their colors. Some are more geared toward Standard play, but some of them are really messed up.

Brightglass Gearhulk

is great for folks who love their Esper Sentinel

s and their Mishra's Bauble

s. Maybe an Aura deck doesn't mind having a four-mana beater with first strike and trample that goes to get their Flickering Ward

and Ethereal Armor

for a big slam.

There are plenty of really solid reasons to run this card, but if you ask me - and I realize you haven't yet somehow I'm here to comment on these cards - I don't care for it! Tutoring in Commander to me ain't it. Unless you're running a strange theme or a deck with secret commanders or something, I have a hard time getting behind tutors. A way more specific tutor is palatable, but still not for me.

That said, if you find yourself packing many one-or-less-mana creatures, artifacts, and/or enchantments, pop this Gearhulk in and now you've got a toolbox going.

Coalstoke Gearhulk

This is way more my speed. I love playing reanimator strategies, I love getting to mess with the graveyard, I love love love Rakdos.

Coalstoke Gearhulk

was a miss for me at first before I realized it can go fishing in any graveyard. While the Gearhulk takes away any hope at a death trigger from whatever you get out of your opponent's graveyard, you still get a creature with mana value four or less that gets menace, deathtouch, and haste. That means you're either getting in somewhere or taking something with it. Damage or removal? Sign me up. And you know that if I'm playing with someone else's graveyard, mine is dancing in and out of play, too. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

brings this back when it dies.

I can't wait to play this in my Rakdos, the Muscle

deck! Play the Gearhulk, get a creature from an opponent, likely a four-mana creature, sacrifice the Gearhulk, exile four cards to play this turn, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

says get back over here, Gearhulk trigger, other four-mana creature plundered, attack with both stolen creatures, play the exiled cards, head to end step, exile trigger on the stack, sacrifice both stolen creatures, exile cards to play until the end of your next end step... yeah, this is going to be nasty.

Also, as a red AND black creature, Lyzolda, the Blood Witch

might give this a test: playing the Gearhulk and then sacrificing it for a card and Shock

so I can play it again. Not to mention, I can be selective about grabbing red or black creatures from my opponents' graveyards. I'm sold!

You can also pop this in a Grixis or Mardu shell to use artifact recursion. Could this be an odd inclusion in a wheels deck? Is there a Rakdos-based mill plan somewhere? Marchesa, Dealer of Death

is a solid pick for a mill-meets-reanimator deck. I'll be right back, gotta go brew something.

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist

You know when a card is previewed and the cEDH community spikes a bunch of cards that it's going to be powerful. Gone are the many guardrails we've come to expect from a card like this, such as "exile the card" or "do this once a turn". Instead, Hash is TANK. A two-mana Esper commander that turns a discarded creature into a three-mana 4/4?

That's a hell of a discount for a better Agent of Treachery

. Then you can use Tortured Existence

to do it all over again. Peregrine Drake

also notably a great card for this deck, especially if you've got lands that tap for a little extra like a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

or a Three Tree City

(that's right, they're all Zombies!).

There are plenty of cards that'll enable this one, like Skirge Familiar

, or looters, like Likeness Looter

. Is it possible to make this deck a "casual" deck? Sure, but be aware that if this is in the command zone, it'll attract so lots of heat. This card has been talked about all over the internet with plenty of takes, but this is the most important one.

If you build a Hashaton, Scarab's Fist

deck, build with the knowledge that you will be signalling to the table that your deck is strong and doing things that are very powerful. I mean, unless you're doing all vanilla creatures, I guess? But even then... a three-mana Yargle, Glutton of Urborg

is still a bargain.

Oildeep Gearhulk

does not strike me as a Commander card. For four mana, you get a 4/4 lifelinker with ward 1 that at the very least allows you to rummage. Ultimately, I think this is best used in a blink deck to get information from all your opponents and dump their best stuff in the yard. Oh boy, I think I'm beginning to understand where this goes: reanimation.

You don't say! Getting multiple triggers on this or even just one that allows you to snag a great creature to reanimate from an opponent's graveyard is pretty sweet. A deck that wants a Memory Plunder

is probably going to be pretty stoked to see Oildeep Gearhulk

. This Marchesa, Dealer of Death

deck is putting itself together pretty well. Get this in a loop with Eldrazi Displacer

and Peregrine Drake

and you've got yourself an infinite that draws your opponents out and takes away anything else they can use to get out of the loop. Nasty stuff!

Pyrewood Gearhulk

This one requires you to have a board, whereas the rest of the Gearhulks do their own thing. If you don't have any other creatures, you're plopping down a six-mana 7/7 with vigilance and menace. The stats are nice, but eh? The "damage can't be prevented" rider is also pretty specific. Is Sevinne, the Chronoclasm

really blocking down your board? And at six mana, damage can't be prevented... eh?

This is Craterhoof Behemoth

and End-Raze Forerunners

territory, but those are eight-drops. Would I run this over those? I don't know. I don't think so, honestly. Does this work for a Meria, Scholar of Antiquity

deck? Play the Gearhulk and tap it down for mana so it's only like five mana to play?

I'm not into this one.

Riptide Gearhulk

This is one of the most messed up blink/reanimation targets I've seen in a minute. As a beater, it's pretty solid with double strike and prowess, but that ETB is everything! For each opponent, you get to get rid of something great and disrupt a later draw? Ugh, that's HUGE!

Aminatou, the Fateshifter

and Brago, King Eternal

decks get something bonkers to slam in the 99. Urza, Prince of Kroog

will be happy to pay six for another copy of this Gearhulk, pumping each one by +2/+2. That'd end the game pretty quick.

Temmet, Naktamun's Will

I've had my Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver

deck on the chopping block for a while, but then I wonder "what am I going to do with all these Zombie cards?" so I keep it together. Long ago, I put Varina, Lich Queen

in the deckbox behind Wilhelt as a kind of nudge to say someday I'll move toward Esper Zombies.

Then in comes Temmet, Naktamun's Will

. The precon helmed by Temmet is incredibly well-made with little room for adjustments beyond preference. The deck ZOOMS out of the box, honestly. I've playtested the list online, and it's really cool. I'll be making changes and bringing Temmet to the helm of my Wilhelt deck. As someone who used to run a Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun

deck, it's checking a lot of boxes for me.

While he's quite expensive, he makes combat a nightmare for your opponents. Zombies gaining +1/+1 whenever you draw a card and a loot on attack means when you swing with Zombies and Tem's in play, you're buffing your slow boys by +2/+2. Factor in cards like Kindred Discovery

or the aforementioned Varina, Lich Queen

and you're often going to be swinging with a +5/+5 buff on the low end, frankly. With so much card draw and looting in a theme that often plays with the graveyard, Temmet's quite scary. His five mana cost is definitely fair but he'll be a lightning rod so you'll want to pack some ramp.

In the 99, I think Temmet can exist in Varina decks likes she exists in his. Personally, though, I can't wait to slot Temmy into the command zone and finally play Ratadrabik of Urborg

in a Zombie shell.

Rares

Caradora, Heart of Alacria

Look. If you're excited about this one, power to you. A Vehicle and Mount tutor in the command zone is fun if that's what you're into and frankly, I think it's so you can essentially "partner" Caradora with Lagorin, Soul of Alacria

for the full experience.

Caradora is a Hardened Scales

for creatures and Vehicles. Cool design space. Just very much not for me. Pop this in a Hamza, Guardian of Arashin

for Hardened Scales

redundancy, but we're already at cap with those, if I'm being honest. Ozolith, the Shattered Spire

and Kami of Whispered Hopes

already being great and less mana, I'd only expect to see Caradora and by extension Lagorin in decks dedicated to Mounts and Vehicles.

Far Fortune, End Boss

Far Fortune looks cool as hell and would feel right at home in a Rakdos, Lord of Riots

deck. That said, if we're going to hope for the max speed rider here, we'd have to likely hope they're in the command zone. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this is the first time an unconditional damage augmentation creature is available in the command zone in Rakdos. While Obosh, the Preypiercer

, Tor Wauki the Younger

, and Rankle and Torbran

do add or even double damage output in the colors, they have limitations. However, Far Fortune, End Boss

just requires you to hit your opponents for a couple of turns and then rewards you for it. You mean I get to stick to my gameplan and it gets better? Okay, that's sick.

I'm not huge on Far Fortune, but the card's really easy to build around, embracing more red than black in its identity.

Mendicant Core, Guidelight

Okay, this one is cool as hell. Mendicant Core, Guidelight

is deceptively powerful. Being a max speed commander for two mana means you'll probably be able to get to two speed pretty easily and then the more artifacts you have, the harder it becomes to want to block Mendicant Core. Your opponents will likely be trying to keep you off of max speed and unfortunately Azorius isn't quite known for direct damage or life loss. You'll either need to hit or play something to get life totals down early on. I'm not saying play Razortip Whip

but I'm also not not saying it.

If you've got a high density of colorless creatures in your deck, I'd suggest Glaring Fleshraker

. Looter il-Kor

takes advantage of people not playing much shadow. Esper Sentinel

's probably already going in the deck, so if you can play it turn one, you're probably looking at hitting speed two or three shortly.

As much as I like a Memnite

, I think having the evasion of a Swooping Lookout

or Network Disruptor

in the early game is better here. Plus, later on, the Disruptor you can tap down some pesky blockers or troublesome permanents. Bontu's Monument

might not give you a discount here, but it'll definitely get that speed up and Scrawling Crawler

does the same while also being an artifact you don't mind copying in the late game.

A real all-star for this deck is K-9, Mark I

: gets down early to help with maxing your speed, but it also threatens a commander damage win by making your big Robot unblockable.

Having a deck built around this Robot means packing a ton of artifacts that you think would be better in pairs. Why yes, I'd love to make two Sol Ring

s. How about two Talisman of Progress

for the price of a Manalith

. I'll take two Psychosis Crawler

s for six mana any day. Time to add a Curiosity

effect!

Mendicant Core, Guidelight

seems pretty cool and powerful to me with enough flexibility to be interesting. I don't think this will get brewed the same way often and I think that's refreshing. One thing to remember though is that Anointed Procession

-type effects don't work. When you copy the spell, you're not creating a token even if the permanent spell enters as a token. Saved ya 50 bucks!

In the 99, it's tough to say because it's kinda sorta barely a Master of Etherium

if you aren't at max speed. If your deck can't reliably gain some speed, it's tough to evaluate. Could this be a Breya, Etherium Shaper

card? Is it an inclusion to consider in Urza, Prince of Kroog

? I'm not sure. MC Guidelight feels like a star to me. Pop it in the zone!

Redshift, Rocketeer Chief

Redshift is so cool. On its own, it comes down as a two-mana dork that taps for two (spendable only on activated abilities) and can swing with vigilance. Not bad! But add some pump spells or some anthems and you've got yourself a dork that'll be hitting hard and making tons of mana.

So what does Redshift want? Big power and a full grip to dump permanents into play. With the exhaust ability allowing you to run out permanents instead of just creatures, Redshift, Rocketeer Chief

is a bit more open-ended that I expected at first blush. Wildsear, Scouring Maw

and Bello, Bard of the Brambles

might want to take a look at Redshift for their Gruul enchantress decks, maybe even switching up the helm to the little racer for a big enchantment dumping.

Redshift notably only makes mana you can use on activated abilities so unless you've got a Gemstone Array

or a Magus of the Candelabra

to filter through, that mana isn't going to good to cast anything. It does make this an excellent Captivating Crew

deck. Oh, wow! Is Redshift THE Bobblehead

commander?

The thing about the exhaust ability is that it's splashy and could attract the wrong type of attention, but that isn't the part they should be scared of. That mana ability can get real out of hand in the right deck. I can see many folks popping Redshift into their big mana RGx(x) decks. I can especially see Redshift pulling its weight in a Naya counters deck. Marath, Will of the Wild

is a fun old-school commander to tap into for a Redshift 99 slot.

Samut, the Driving Force

Now this is some fun card design, and the art is incredible.

Six-mana commanders get written off pretty quickly these days, but may I interest you in playing Smart and immediately buffing your board for +1/+0 and discounting noncreature spells by one? How about sending your vigilant first striker with haste in the red zone and getting +2/+0 instead and a two mana discount to noncreatures. A late-game Arcane Signet

or Sol Ring

becomes free real estate baby!

The way I see this deck is to be built around noncreature spells that bring in creatures, like Dragon Fodder

for example. But what other card type isn't a creature but becomes one?

Samut, the Driving Force

tells you in her name: she's a driving force. Maybe this is the Naya Vehicle deck we didn't know we wanted or needed. As of writing, there are 69 colorless Vehicles in Magic. While you're getting at most a four-mana discount at max speed, a free Smuggler's Copter

or a one-mana Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

are pretty sweet.

A theme with the legends this set so far is that they point in a direction, but they don't close themselves off to other strategies. You could totally run Samut for the big anthem and be a beatdown deck. How about Naya planeswalker deck? Or Naya Battles? Or Naya Enchantress? You don't even need to be dedicated to a card type in particular!

The discount is great on its own, and red has no problem dealing damage to an opponent per turn. With the amount of cards that start your engines in this set, you can get ahead of the curve and have a big turn when Samut drops at max speed. I'm pretty impressed with this card, and I usually tend to avoid Naya decks. Maybe the time has come!

As always, with three-color cards, your options for the 99 are more limited. I don't know where I'd consider popping Samut other than the command zone, and yet it's almost like wherever she goes is gravy. You've got a Rocco, Street Chef

deck? Discounting those exile draw effects is pretty sweet. Maybe Dogmeat, Ever Loyal

needs another creature to wear Equipment and Auras well!

Solid card! I like it!

Winter, Cursed Rider

Lots of two-mana legends this set, eh? The art for Winter's lates card is really sick!

That said, if you'd asked me to predict Winter's colors this set, I'd have for sure said base green-black with potential for red or switching up the third color. I did not in any way anticipate the removal of green or this artifact lean.

I guess I'm more confused than anything.

A 3/2 for two with "Ward - Pay 2 life" and giving that same text to all artifacts you control is pretty sweet, but it doesn't quite guide me in a direction in particular. It does tell me that Breya, Etherium Shaper

players have a protection and removal piece to consider with Winter's release (ouh, a double meaning!).

So Winter, Cursed Rider

wants artifacts in your graveyard but also on your board given the protection.

I hate to say it, but Winter's got real "in-the-99" energy. I mentioned Breya, but Urza, Chief Artificer

, Mishra, Eminent One

, Ashad, the Lone Cyberman

, Sydri, Galvanic Genius

, Missy

, and not to mention Partner decks with Silas Renn, Seeker Adept

, could all use the protection and potentially the threat of activation on the board wipe.

As a commander, I think Winter doesn't quite get there for me in the inspiration department. Self-mill, using stuff like Emry, Lurker of the Loch

to have your artifact deck's hand extend into the graveyard is the only place I went. I'm not stoked at it, but I think it'll pop up in interesting places.

Uncommons & Commons

Apocalypse Runner

This one is a little sneaky in decks that want their little guys to get through or in decks where creatures tend to get buffed in combat. Precombat main phase, tap this to make a little guy unblockable and give it lifelink. Combat, swing with a Shared Animosity

or Hatred

. Oops!

Gastal Thrillseeker

A card that gets your speed up to two immediately. In a deck that has creatures blink or dance their way in and out of the graveyard, this lil Lizard becomes a Zulaport Cutthroat

-esque trigger. It's not amazing, but it's of interest to those decks running start your engines cards.

Guidelight Pathmaker

Sure, it's a six-mana tutor for artifacts only, but it can cheat the cost on two-mana-or-less tutor targets so it's like paying four for the Pathmaker. It's not amazing, but I think this is the kind of tutor I can get behind. It's interesting space!

Haunted Hellride

This doesn't need to attack or be crewed for that first ability. An ability with a tap cost is definitely worth looking at here like The Master, Transcendent

. That said, just having essentially vigilance and deathtouch on an attacking creature is pretty great. You're daring your opponent not to block and if they do, then you remove something. Pretty sweet!

Haunt the Network

Zevlor, Elturel Exile

decks, this one is for you! Artifact decks don't tend to have many slots for sorceries, but when this one can drain a player for upwards of ten life with little effort in some decks, I think it'd be quite worth finding a way to play this. That said, Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge

is just one more mana.

Lagorin, Soul of Alacria

I will let you partner this with Caradora, Heart of Alacria

. They're in each others' art, like Battlebond style, how could I not!

Veteran Beastrider

Drumbellower

at home for the Rienne, Angel of Rebirth

decks out there.

Voyage Home

Achievement unlocked won't be difficult, but getting to cast this for is going to feel so good.

IT'S ABOUT FAMILY

I'm surprised to not pick up on a bunch of Fast and Furious references, but what can you do? No set is perfect! Lots of really cool designs in this set and plenty to include in the 99. I know we'll see lots of Hashaton, but what legend's caught your eye to pop in the command zone?

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist by Wisnu Tan