Maro's Aetherdrift Teaser Confirms New Creature Type

Header Art by Julian Kok Joon Wen

As is tradition, Wizards of the Coast Head Designer Mark Rosewater unleashed his Duelist-style teasers onto fans on Tuesday, and one in particular stood out among the rest. 

Evidently, the team designing the upcoming Aetherdrift thought fit to expand Magic's wealth of creature types with a particular marine mammal:

"Here are some creature type lines from the set: Creature - Seal Pirate"

Yes, Magic will have Seals courtesy of Aetherdrift, and at least one will be a criminal. 

Outside of Seals, it appears Pirates across many creature types (most notably anthropomorphic sharks called "chordatans") will play a significant role in Aetherdrift, and will have their own "race team" called The Keelhaulers, accompanied by a pair of familiar faces in Kari Zev and Ragavan.

Here's the rest of Rosewater's spoiler:

First up, here are some things you can expect:

• 13/13 Vehicle with Crew 2 that costs one mana to cast
• Mechanic called Start your engines!
• Three planeswalker native to one of the worlds visited, and one non-native, gets a desparked legendary creature version
• Cycle of vanilla legendary creatures
• Cat and Dog Mounts
• An old God returns and new Gods are introduced
• New Lotus
• Cycle of multicolored Gearhulks
• Numerous mechanics from the worlds visited get cameos
• New Vehicle artifact token

Next, here are some rules text that will be showing up on cards:

• "This creature saddles Mounts and crews Vehicles using its toughness rather than its power."
• "Whenever you draw a card, each opponent mills two cards."
• "Other Dinosaurs you control get +1/+1."
• "Whenever a player casts a spell they don't own,"
• "{T}: Add {R} for each Goblin you control."
• "During turns other than yours, this Vehicle is an artifact creature."
• "Whenever you activate an exhaust ability, draw a card."
• "Put any number of permanent cards from your hand onto the battlefield."
• "Whenever you attack, if a Pirate and a Vehicle attacked this combat,"
• "Creatures you control have base power and toughness 6/6 and are Oozes in addition to their other types."

Here are some creature type lines from the set:

• Creature - Seal Pirate
• Creature - Lizard Berserker
• Creature - Insect Archer
• Creature - Kor Pilot
• Artifact Creature - Robot Turtle
• Creature - Ape Druid
• Creature - Zombie Cat Knight
• Creature - Vedalken Ranger
• Creature - Dinosaur Dragon Mount
• Legendary Creature - Aetherborn Rogue

Finally, here are some names in the set:

• Adrenaline Jockey
• Flood the Engine
• Gas Guzzler
• Maximum Overdrive
• Pedal to the Metal
• Road Rage
• Roadside Assistance
• The Speed Demon
• Spin Out
• Syphon Fuel

That's a lot to puzzle out, which is par for the course concerning Rosewater's pre-set teasers. 

Aetherdrift is slated for release on Feb. 14, 2025, while official reveals for the cards contained within will begin with an Aetherdrift Debut Stream on Twitch scheduled for next Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 9 a.m. PST. It's likely the set will prove to be divisive to players in much the same way Outlaws of Thunder Junction seemed to cause a range of reactions. We'll find out more next week, so be sure to check back at Commander's Herald for up-to-the-minute news. 

For a full breakdown of how the set will be released, and details related to the plane name change from Kaladesh to Avishkar, head over here.

As for the plot of Aetherdrift, here's a short description, courtesy of the official "Planeswalker's Guide to Aetherdrift":

"Magic is off to the races in Aetherdrift! Our first Standard-legal set of the year showcases ten racing teams from across the Multiverse as they compete in the most high-stakes competition that Magic has ever seen. The Ghirapur Grand Prix spans three different planes, and racers will do anything to win. Chandra is going to have to pull off some tricky maneuvers if she wants to win the Aetherspark, the race's grand prize."

But what is the Aetherspark? And what are the planes and racing teams of this cut-throat, breakneck competition? Perhaps the official Magic Story will fill you in, which are currently releasing every day up to next week's scheduled card reveals.

Any guesses as to what some of Maro's teasers might be hinting at? And more importantly, are you excited for Aetherdrift?