Aetherdrift: Top 3 Coolest Cards Of Each Day Of Preview Season

Josh Nelson • January 30, 2025

As one well-known Magic personality might say, "As the sun sets on Innistrad Remastered...", we are now in Aetherdrift previews. As such, we want to highlight some of the coolest cards revealed this past week! In this article, we go over the top three most interesting reveals of each day of reveals thus far.

Because Aetherdrift preview season officially kicked off on Tuesday, January 21st, for the sake of this article, we will omit anything officially revealed before then. Also, as "coolest" and "most interesting" are extremely subjective terms, bear in mind that this is just one author's take. If you have other opinions, feel free to speak your case in the comments!

Tuesday, January 21st - Aetherdrift Reveals Begin

Tuesday, January 21st was a pretty special day; on that day, WeeklyMTG debuted the preview season for the set. Because we covered the brunt of the cards revealed on-stream that day, we won't be looking at those. You can still feel free to check out our recap article. In the meantime, here are three cards from outside of WeeklyMTG that we thought were pretty darn cool!

1. Valor's Flagship

Valor's Flagship

is a card that should serve a similar role to the classic way Decree of Justice
was played during Onslaught/Mirrodin Standard season. If Aetherdrift provides players with anything like Astral Slide
, Valor's Flagship is going to bring a similar element to a deck. We couldn't say if that deck will be popular or even viable in Standard, but with Astral Drift
and Decree coexisting in Modern, there could be a case for a Slide-adjacent deck in Modern. Look out for this card to have a presence. Oh, and Greasefang
likes this card too.

2. Amonkhet Raceway

Sometimes, you have to accelerate kind of slowly if you want to safely reach maximum velocity. Amonkhet Raceway

is a fantastic example of this; the card provides haste in a way that isn't useless at all. Since the Raceway still provides mana before you reach max speed, this card appears to be a sleeper chase-uncommon for Aetherdrift. Commander players should take note!

3. Sab-Sunen, Luxa Embodied

Sab-Sunen, Luxa Embodied

will doubtless be a strong card in Commander. People online seem to really appreciate the aesthetic of this amphibian goddess. Furthermore, the use of a haste enabler (like the aforementioned Amonkhet Raceway) will allow Sab-Sunen to be a serious beast of a creature. But even without haste, Sab-Sunen is swinging for 8-plus trampling damage per swing, which is nothing to sniff at. The additional draw she provides also makes a difference. Turning half of your beginning phase draws into what effectively amounts to Ancestral Recall
is nothing short of amazing.

Those were cards debuted in just day one of Aetherdrift previews. Let's see what else this set granted us!

Wednesday, January 22nd - Previews Continue

The cards keep coming as of day two of Aetherdrift previews. Here, we see some amazing commanders and aggro support cards for the 99 come into the public eye. Let's dive right in!

1. Ketramose, the New Dawn

Like Sab-Sunen previewed just the day before, Ketramose, the New Dawn

is an absurdly strong Commander contender. Ketramose is a legendary God that just begs to have a deck built around him. There aren't a lot of cards that care about cards staying in exile, let alone legendary creatures. Prosper, Tome-Bound
comes close, but it's no cigar here. But where Ketramose shines is most assuredly in a deck that cares about self-discard. There are plenty
cards that pay
for discarding cards, and plenty that exile
discarded
cards
from the graveyard. Ketramose likes all of these. That also applies to cards with cycling. With so many cards that exile cards from the battlefield as well, the options are a flourishing wellspring!

2. Marauding Mako

Speaking of cycling, Marauding Mako

is an unassuming 1-drop creature that is absolutely going to be bonkers in Limited and may even see considerable Constructed play. It has cycling and itself pays off for discarding cards. It's a simple creature, but sometimes simplicity in design is warranted. Here is no exception, as Marauding Mako appears extremely effective. And while it lacks evasion, the card is still apt to grow immensely in the right decks, providing a threat at almost every turn.

3. Full Throttle

Storm, Force of Nature

fans, rejoice! Full Throttle
is here, and it isn't slowing down. Any deck that wants extra combat steps will like this deck. But giving this card storm will mean you can attack with a mana dork like Llanowar Elves
or Birds of Paradise
and soon untap multiple times for more mana than you can shake a stick at. Attacking may not even matter after the first instance of that action, especially if you have something that Upwelling
.

These previews were amazing, but they pale in comparison to the next two days of previews because that's when we got Aetherdrift's Commander decks.

Thursday, January 23rd - Aetherdrift  Commander Previews Start

On Thursday, January 23rd, we got the full previews for the "Living Energy" Aetherdrift Commander deck. For the sake of brevity, we will discuss each of the decks as a single point, but that shouldn't diminish the impact of these decks. Let's go!

1. "Living Energy" Commander Deck

You can see the Command Zone YouTube channel's reveal of this deck above! In terms of gameplay, they hit the nail on the head. This deck thrives on making one of Magic's most historically unbalanced mechanics grow immensely. The goal is to accrue a ton of energy counters for a sizable blowout of energy expenditures. There are a few issues with this game plan, as hosts Josh Lee Kwai and Jimmy Wong both point out, but the plan is not bad by any means. Saheeli, Radiant Creator

pulls this deck together really nicely by doubling up on cards that further the energy-accrual plan.

2. Possession Engine

The previews from Thursday's main set options were less frequent than Wednesday or Tuesday. However, they were no less powerful when compared to the previews of the previous two days. Possession Engine

is a card that will disrupt many plans in Limited by stealing an opponent's best creature to crew any other Vehicle. Unless you can get a confirmed safe shot at your opponent's face, you will never want to make Possession Engine a creature. Still, the creature theft is too good to pass up in many cases.

3. Momentum Breaker

Like Tithing Blade

in Lost Caverns of Ixalan, Momentum Breaker
is a card that will by no means be evaluated nearly high enough in Limited. During Lost Caverns of Ixalan prerelease, I had three copies of Tithing Blade in Two-Headed Giant Sealed. The deck went undefeated alongside my partner's that day, thanks to the card. If these cards are anything alike, expect Momentum Breaker to win many games during the Prerelease and beyond.

Finally, let's examine Friday's previews, sure to be some of the best for Commander especially.

Friday, January 24th - Commander Previews Complete

On Friday, January 24th, we got full previews for one of the most consistent Commander precons to grace the game. We also got a good Oblivion Ring

variant and another "goodest of boys". Let's discuss each of these upcoming things!

1. "Eternal Might" Commander Deck

You can watch Commander At Home's reveal of the "Eternal Might" Aetherdrift Commander deck above! If you thought "Living Energy" was bonkers, "Eternal Might" may surprise you as it seems even better. While some of the new cards, including Temmet, Naktamun's Will

or Hashaton, Scarab's Fist
, are very powerful, the reprinted Zombies in this deck are what truly make it shine. Therein, we have reprints of Gravecrawler
, Rot Hulk
, and even Bontu's Monument
for good measure. This deck even has a Swarmyard
or Elephant Graveyard
-style variant for
. Truly, we are living in the greatest timeline for the dead.

2. Perilous Snare

While it is unclear how a trap like Perilous Snare

could push racers to start their engines, the card is no slouch in theoretical gameplay. As an Oblivion Ring effect, it's already wonderful, but at max speed, it can boost creatures and Vehicles to your heart's content. This card will see play in Commander and elsewhere even without Vehicles to back it up.

3. District Mascot

This is the goodest boy to grace the dogs of Magic: The Gathering. District Mascot

is even cuter than Mowu, Loyal Companion
or Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful
, in this author's humble opinion. Plus, District Mascot has a ton of utility as a creature in the game, destroying artifacts as an afterthought to attacking enough. My only question about the card is, what exactly saddles this best doggo ever?

Closing Thoughts

The cards in Aetherdrift are all remarkably strong for the most part. I greatly look forward to using many of them in my decks. These are just a few of the top cards, though, so let's open the floor. What are your picks for the coolest cards in this set? Sound off below!



Josh Nelson wears many hats. They are a music journalist when not writing gaming news. Beyond this, they're a scholar of the Sweeney Todd urban legend, a fan of monster-taming RPGs, and a filthy Aristocrats player. Josh has been playing Magic since 2001 and attributes their tenure to nostalgia, effort, and "aesthetic".