Aetherdrift Set Review - Minotaurs

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Too Furious Too Fast

Hello, Racers! Have we got the fastest, deadliest, craziest race since the Implicit Maze Run. On top of that, we return to my beloved plane of Amonkhet, the plane that made me fall in love with Minotaurs as a creature type. But that's not all, as we make our way through Murganda, and Avishcar (formerly Kaladesh) in race unlike anything else. All to earn The Aetherspark.

I think this is a great way to showcase many planes in a single set without being bogged down by the scope, like we saw in March of the Machine. That said, I am a tad disappointed this wasn't a full return to Amonkhet, as I think the plane has a lot of intrigue to offer. But regardless, Aetherdrift has many interesting facets to explore, so let see what these racers have cooked up.

As always, this review is targeted toward the formats of Pioneer and EDH, but, by all means, you're welcome to apply my thoughts to other formats. So, rev your engines, engage your thrusters, because all we need is speed!

Black

Cryptcaller Chariot

The Chariot gave me a solid double take the first time I read it. At first glance I thought that it said whenever you discard, make a tapped Zombie token, which is usually what we get for effects like this. It was only on closer inspection I realized that its making a token for each card we discard. This means if you cast a wheel effect and discard five cards, we just made five tapped Zombie tokens.

Given that the Minotaur decks want to be discarding a lot and often, I see this as a great method of creating value in EDH. On top of that, it's cheaper than Bone Miser and more aggressive. While Bone Miser is looking to make pure value, it's unfocused. The Chariot is all about making a board of Zombies, regardless of what is pitched, which I think is stronger for Minotaur decks over all.

And if we have a Maskwood Nexus in play, then all of those Zombies created will also be Minotaurs, allowing them to be buffed by our lords.

The Speed Demon

I like The Speed Demon a lot, maybe more than it deserves.

When I look at it, I see a decent-sized creature with really good card draw. We need to speed up in order to get the most out of the draw, but that shouldn't be hard in EDH.

As Minotaurs, we're already aggressive, so we should be able to get to speed 2 the turn this enters, but our speed will also increase if our opponents deal damage to each other, something I think is more than likely. That said, it might not hurt to play some goad cards to ensure it, so our first end step we should be drawing two cards, and on out next we should be drawing four. This is amazing card advantage pure and simple.

Now obviously Necropotence is a better card, but people know Necropotence is a threat, and I'm not sure people will look at The Speed Demon the same way at first. Which is to say, the Demon is subtler.

Red

Adrenaline Jockey

I'll be frank, I wasn't certain what kind of Minotaurs we would get in this set, but I for one am pretty pleased with this Jockey.

This is some really interesting tech in EDH, particularly against decks that use a lot of flash or instant spell, and it's especially punishing for people that wait for an opponent's end step to cast spells.

Now four damage doesn't seem like a lot, but being someone with a Kambal EDH desk, incidental damage can add up quick if you aren't paying attention. Think of it like this: every trigger from the Jockey is 10% of your starting life, so if ever a counterspell war goes off, or people start playing spells in response to a board wipe, the Jockey is going to be blasting people.

I also see this card being interesting sideboard tech for Pioneer. While three mana is a competitive slot in Minotaur decks, it would serve as a valuable tool when combating Phoenix decks or when control becomes popular in the format. As in 1v1 you it only takes five triggers to kill someone.

Count on Luck

Well, it's taken a while, but I think we found a clear replacement for Outpost Siege. Some may say that Outpost is too slow these days, in the same way that Phyrexian Arena seems to be getting left behind. However, I think getting consistent impulse draw is really important for EDH.

However, while this costs one less than Outpost,Count on Luck costs three red mana, which can be harder to cast depending on the early mana source you get. Yet still, costing triple red mana is better for Fanatic of Mogis' devotion.

Unfortunately we can't discard these cards drawn, but this actually works well for discard commanders like Neheb, the Worthy that need as few cards in hand to function. Since the cards provided by Count on Luck never touch our hand, they don't shut of Neheb. Making our Minotaurs more powerful.

Over all, I'm interested in trying it out to see how often the triple red casting cost gets in the way, but I imagine it shouldn't be an issue in the long run.

Full Throttle

This card makes me very giddy. In more a typical Minotaur EDH deck it pairs well with Moraug as he gives a power boost for each combat step. Then, if you also trigger his Landfall ability, you can get four combat phases in a turn, which should guarantee you a victory after all that damage being inflicted.

I also think this very good for Magar of the Magic Strings, as his tokens need to deal combat damage to players to cast copies of  the spells under them. Unfortunately, the way Full Throttle is worded will not allow for infinite combat loops, but just being able to get two extra combat phases will be massive for the deck to pop off.

Magmakin Artillerist

This Elemental I'm very interested in due to it seemingly add redundancy to Glint-Horn Buccaneer, where every card we discard will deal one damage to every opponent.

I think this will be a great asset to the discard Minotaur decks, as a way to speed up the burn inflicted by churning through the deck. As if both are in play, the number of cards needed to discard goes from 40 to 20. that is a huge a increase in damage for doing what the deck wants to do.

Marauding Mako

Dude. My People. My Guys. Mako would have been the greatest Minotaur in the history of this game, if he actually was a Minotaur and not a Shark.

Let me explain for those unaware. The single biggest thing holding back Minotaur kindred is its lack of one-mana Minotaurs. We have Gnarled Scarhide (a creature that can't block) and in EDH we have Wee Champion, which cares about stickers. And so, unlike:

...our early game is just bad in any format.

Mako here is everything that Minotaurs need, but he's a Shark unfortunately. Mako gets a +1/+1 counter for every card that we discard. Meaning that in Pioneer and EDH it can quickly scale its stats to become a power house. And then if you draw it in the later part of the game you can cycle it to dig for better answers of a board state. This is just insane for Minotaur decks, full stop. And I am beyond excited to add it all my decks.

Reckless Velocitaur

When I first saw this card I was of two minds. The first was that the art is incredible, and the other was worried that this would be the only Minotaur of the set. Thankfully, Adrenaline Jockey saved us on that front.

The Velocitaur is such an underwhelming card to me, because primarily he cares about Vehicles, but as far as I understand Minotaurs don't care about Vehicles. I suppose it wouldn't be totally out of line to build around them though. As the Minotaurs we don't want to die in combat can crew, but I just don't know if the deck restrictions is worth the pay off.

Additionally, Velocitaur is over costed for its stats and ability, so from where I'm standing there really isn't any Minotaur deck for Pioneer or EDH that would want this.

Colorless

The Aetherspark

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've really started to come around The Aetherspark as a card. At first it looked like a bit of dud gimmick card, but as I've thought on it I can see the massive value it provides.

This seems very good in EDH as a way to keep up momentum as the game transitions to the middle or late game. Minotaur decks have a problem of running out of gas quick if a we're hit with a board wipe. But The Aetherspark can potentially draw us three cards every turns, which is just massive any way you look at it.

 All we need to do is attach it to the biggest Minotaur we have and attack without our creature dying, and given that Minotaur kindred runs lords to buff our cows, it should not be hard to deal enough damage each turn to activate the -5 ability.

In Pioneer I think it has a chance with Minotaurs, given that it costs four mana. The problem is that it doesn't do enough the turn we play it, and it needs a creature on board to get itself going. So it might honestly be too slow and a bit of a distraction from the typical Minotaur kindred game plan.

Lifecraft Engine

Man, they really want me playing Vehicles in this set.

I think if ever there was a case to run a sufficient quantity of Vehicles in a Minotaur EDH deck, it starts and stops here. This becomes a chosen creature type and also makes each other Vehicle we control into that type. And then it also buffs the non-Vehicle creatures of the chosen type. Meaning with this, Smuggler's Copter, Skysovereign or Reckoner Bankbuster would be Minotaurs.

This creates some interesting board state decisions, as it allows for the Minotaurs we don't want attacking to still contribute to combat. Namely our lord cards or Minotaurs that are too small to survive. In addition to this, Minotaurs are positioned well  to take advantage of the crew cost, as all our lord cards make it very easy to have sufficient power, even on the larger Vehicles.

That said, without Lifecraft Engine on board, Vehicles become a lot less enticing for the opportunity cost necessary make use of the Engine's ability.

Monument to Endurance

We're Minotaur Guys. Of course we love Monument to Endurance. You discard a card and then draw, or make a Treasure, or our opponents lose 3 life. In other words, each option brings the BOOM!

To be a bit more serious, this is just everything a Minotaur discard deck needs. It turns our discards from card disadvantage to card neutrality (and card advantage if you play a cycling card). This is massive to keep up momentum and remove the downside posed by self discard decks. Running out of steam.

But it also allows you to still gain value should you need to discard more than one card a turn, like ramping with a Treasure or squeezing out a little extra burn. Things that any Minotaur deck wants during a game.

Now This is Podracing!

And Team Amonkhet crosses the line! While that does excite me that Amonkhet might get attention sooner than later, I am disappointed that none of the native Minotaurs showed up, instead giving us a Zombie cat theme for the plane's cards. But even with that, I think I am over all satisfied with Aetherdrift as a set and hope that the game continues this trajectory in its design.

But we can't rest on our well earned laurels. There is a Dragonstorm on the horizon, and it leads back to Tarkir.

Until then, be sure to check out the other set reviews found on the Commander's Herald news sheets for other perspectives on this new set.