Aetherdrift is

[Malvastor]

On the one hand, some of it is good, but on the other hand some of it is bad. In conclusion, I conclude that it exists. This might be Magic. No two ways about it.

[Argstein]

Originally posted by Malvastor:

Aetherdrift is

"like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get"

[kingjames488]

what's good?

I've seen a few decks try to shoehorn in this speed mechanic and it just doesn't work...

you'd think it would in like red aggro decks, but it's too slow.

set is DOA.

[anaris]

speed is a Limited mechanic but it's almost always self-contained - there's several cards that are relevant for constructed when they have Start Your Engines, either Max Speed or "X where X is equal to your current speed", and a way to get damage through (or slot into a deck that already pings to the face like a goblin fling). Also it's a t3 mechanic so it's not THAT slow lol even standard lasts that long.

The real draw of the set for constructed is bits and pieces - some badass zombie support and cheap cycling in multiple colours. Red loves cycle for 1, it's basically bargain basement looting, and there's some sweet goblins in here, including a pivot card in Howlsquad Heavy - he turns a board full of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ goblin tokens (krenko has entered the chat) into enough mana to cast a dinosaur or a dragon, and that's always a hot ticket item in red. The big vanillas are neat too - 4/1 for 2 mana is legit in red, the 9/7 ooze dinosaur has some neat tribal possibilities and plays off all the stuff that cares about big guys.

Two card combo that's gonna ♥♥♥♥ up standard: howlsquad heavy into Full throttle. Full throttle is also SUPER relevant for brawl/commander, where spending six mana to convert a board that's strong or lethal to one person into one that wins the whole game is a brutal finisher.

There's a lot of neat commanders, which is always gonna be how the game is designed. Aetherspark is bad mostly but on a couple of creatures (evasion + power that you can run with good mana outlets) it'll be pretty good.

Max Speed is the signature mechanic of the set but there's plenty of cards where it's not parasitic and instead acts as a new way of powering up a creature that doesn't go infinite and so can be a lot more aggressive than things like "put a +1/+1 counter on a creature every time it does x"

plus the art is sweet so.

[kingjames488]

max speed just stinks... most of the cards are like "gain 4 hp" or some stupid thing.

like good thing I designed my deck around being able to gain 4 HP, eh? >.>

[Winter Wolf]

I'm not a huge fan of Aetherdrift and somewhat concur that the fact that it exists is just a thing. Not an exciting or upsetting thing. Were I still collecting paper magic I would not feel obliged to get cards from it.

That said, Speed is one of those parasitic mechanics that almost works. If you are hitting your opponent (in limited) you're probably winning. So it does not do much there except to cement your position. FIne, I am OK with that.

In constructed the one card with Start your engines on it that seems OK is the make a zombie/tutor. BUT it costs 3+2 most likely over multiple turns, in a deck that is trying to make it so you can hit your opponent unblocked, so it is merely OK not good.

A friend of mine who is a sealed expert thinks of it as a win-more mechanic and it is hard to argue against that.

Exhaust on the other hand has real potential in limited while being fairly meh (overcosted, overbalanced imho) for constructed. We might see these mechanics slotted into some weird combo deck but otherwise I imagine it will be as if Aetherdrift did very much nothing at all except add more art to the game.

[Kolarahidumgarabashtelarimdugarn]

I feel like many of the "Start your engines!" cards are meant to be a backup way of starting engines before dropping a useful card with the max speed. Ynwxt, Verbose Host pretty much doubles your card draw, Sick Imitator lets you copy any of your spells for 1. Endrider Spikespitter gives you an extra card every turn and has some body. Starting Column is a pretty good commander ramp with the option of replacing it with a card draw. There are also a few other cards with potentially broken effects. Many of the speed cards are decent even without triggering the speed effect - e.g. Momentum Breaker is a decent removal that isn't a dead card against opponents who don't play creatures/vehicles. So there are 3 categories here: good engine starters, good speed utilizers, and some junk designed to keep limited formats fun.

I think speed mechanics is pretty fun in limited formats.

When it comes to other cards, I think there are some notable cards like:
- Spectacular Pileup
- The Last Ride
- Cursecloth Wrapping
- Lumbering Worldwagon
- Oviya, Automech Artisan
- March of the World Ooze
- Voyage Home

[anaris]

Originally posted by kingjames488:

max speed just stinks... most of the cards are like "gain 4 hp" or some stupid thing.

like good thing I designed my deck around being able to gain 4 HP, eh? >.>

ye max speed has a lot of "workable in limited but not in constructed" like a lot of set mechanics but there's some stars and it tends to be cheap and on a start ur engines card, so u can run it as a vanilla + creature

[Zlehtnoba]

Problem with max speed in constructed is that you need to run both enablers to start your engines, and payoffs. And a good amount of the first, to get your payoffs to work reliably. And as this mechanic is unlikely to return, it probably won't be relevant in the near future.

In Limited, it adds a wrinkle to decision whether to block or not. It makes you want to block, so you need to run more expendable blockers. You can probably build a nice deck around some early payoff in draft, but I agree about Sealed, that format is slow and all about getting to the late game to use your bombs. I found it mostly impossible to get enough playables in two colors, and the pools where I did did well.

[DontEatSmurfs]

i like the expansion for now, imo i would describe it as "pratical", it has plenty of untapped rare lands that are good for new players, even tho max speed is kinda slow mechanic it feels good to play with it
im also a sucker for mounts and vehicles, this makes me love chandra in this expansion, its really cool to play with her, i as able to draft one and i felt extremely strong the moment she hit the table
i was expecting so little of this expansion that by the end of the day my expectations were so low that im actually liking what i have right now, aetherdrift is solid

[kingjames488]

Originally posted by anaris:

Originally posted by kingjames488:

max speed just stinks... most of the cards are like "gain 4 hp" or some stupid thing.

like good thing I designed my deck around being able to gain 4 HP, eh? >.>

ye max speed has a lot of "workable in limited but not in constructed" like a lot of set mechanics but there's some stars and it tends to be cheap and on a start ur engines card, so u can run it as a vanilla + creature

I think the best one I've seen so far is the land that gives double the energy at max speed.
but it's colorless, so it's still kinda limited.

[nul]

I can also confirm that Aetherdrift is in fact one of the sets that was released for Magic the Gathering. It's even currently standard legal.

Originally posted by anaris:

Originally posted by kingjames488:

max speed just stinks... most of the cards are like "gain 4 hp" or some stupid thing.

like good thing I designed my deck around being able to gain 4 HP, eh? >.>

ye max speed has a lot of "workable in limited but not in constructed" like a lot of set mechanics but there's some stars and it tends to be cheap and on a start ur engines card, so u can run it as a vanilla + creature

Yeah, I don't think it's really possible to build your deck around the mechanic. But some of the cards are good enough that you don't really have to pay attention to the mechanic on it. Like Howlsquad Heavy and Momentum Breaker both have speed effects, but are still good without them. So the max speed just happens to be a bonus if you get to it, but not required for the respective decks to function. Healing 4 life isn't a buildaround. It's flavor text until it can let you live another turn. You still got an edict/discard out of it.

[Doctor Zalgo]

Originally posted by Malvastor:

On the one hand, some of it is good, but on the other hand some of it is bad. In conclusion, I conclude that it exists. This might be Magic. No two ways about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJMi8sxqvIE

[Malvastor]

Originally posted by Doctor Zalgo:

Originally posted by Malvastor:

On the one hand, some of it is good, but on the other hand some of it is bad. In conclusion, I conclude that it exists. This might be Magic. No two ways about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJMi8sxqvIE

Despicable

[Kolarahidumgarabashtelarimdugarn]

Btw, it's easier to speed up if you use units that are difficult to block (e.g. flying, menace, unblockable, landwalking, trample) or you use some damage to ping the enemy (black color has many vampires and bats that do this).

[The_Dybbuk_King]

Chandra's bike go vrrooom