Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Aetherdrift
Feature
Get your motor running
After a bit of a hiatus during the holiday period, Magic: The Gathering has returned with the latest set, Aetherdrift. The Aetherdrift set has players competing in the Ghirapur Grand Prix. Ten teams will compete in a high-octane death race, speeding across three different Planes and overcoming extraordinary challenges to win the grand prize: the coveted Aetherspark.
We at Hooked Gamers were lucky enough to be invited to one of the pre-release events, this one being hosted by the good folks at Plenty of Games. And so we cleaned and polished the car, put on our finest racing gloves, and sped to the starting grid in anticipation for the starting lights to flash green.
Set mechanics
Being set in a race of such importance, it makes sense that Aetherdrift sees the return of Vehicles and Mounts. Vehicles definitely add to the strategy in Aetherdrift. Do you attack with creatures, or do you use them to Crew your vehicles or Saddle your mounts for their triggered abilities and bonus effects?
Vehicles and Crew
Vehicles can't do much unless they have a driver (or two). Each Vehicle begins as simply an artifact. Most Vehicles have the crew ability, which turns it into an artifact creature until end of turn. To activate a crew ability, you tap a number of other untapped creatures you control with total power greater than or equal to the number of crew indicated. The crew ability doesn't use the Tap symbol, so you can tap an untapped creature you control that just came under your control to crew a Vehicle. While a Vehicle can't be used to crew itself, a Vehicle that's a creature can be tapped to crew another Vehicle.
Sometimes Vehicles have non-crew abilities that turn them into creatures as well. In all cases, if an ability turns a Vehicle into a creature and doesn't specify a power and toughness, use the power and toughness printed on the Vehicle. If the animating effect specifies a different power and toughness, use that one. It'll overwrite whatever's printed on the Vehicle.
Start your Engines and Max Speed
The first time in a game you control a permanent with Start your engines!, your speed becomes 1. This happens immediately, so no one can respond and try to remove the permanent before you pick up speed. Once your speed is 1 or greater, you can trigger an ability to increase your speed. That ability is "Whenever one or more opponents lose life during your turn, if your speed is less than 4, increase your speed by 1.
Once your speed is 4, you've achieved "max speed,", which will then activate additional abilities. However, you don't always need max speed to benefit from cards that care about speed. Plenty of cards will reference your current speed and reward you based on that number as well. If you haven't started your engines and don't have speed yet, that number is 0.
Exhaust
Exhaust abilities can have all sorts of effects. Exhaust cards will require players to spend additional mana (not necessarily on the turn that the card enters the battlefield). The Exhausted cards mostly (but not always) involve adding +1/+1 counters to the creature. This can only be activated once, unless it leaves and then returns to the battlefield.
Mounts and Saddle
Mounts are a returning creature type. Creature types don't have any specific rules associated with them, but Mounts are where you're most likely to find the returning ability Saddle. Unlike Vehicles that need to be crewed, the creature can be played like normal. But adding a saddle (by tapping another creature to the Saddle value) grants the creature a triggered ability for the turn
Cycling
If a card with cycling is in your hand, you can pay that card's cycling cost and discard it to draw a card. Some Cycling cards have situationally useful effects, but if the right situation doesn't come up—say you need a creature and not a combat trick—you can dig for the card you need. Additionally, some cards have abilities that trigger when you cycle them, or when you discard other cards, so keep those cards flowing! No one wins a race when they're out of gas.
The Cards
Planeswalkers
Chandra, Spark Hunter (Red)
The Aetherspark (Legendary Artifact Planeswalker)
Lands
Set during the Ghirapur Grand Prix, the Aetherdrift set takes place across multiple Planes. But of course, the various tracks and roads that the race takes place, feature heavily within the Land cards.
Product Types
● Commander Decks (100 cards) - two variations
- Living Energy (green/blue/red)
- Eternal Might (blue/black/white)
● Play Boosters (14 cards)
● Collector Boosters (15 cards)
● Bundle
● Finish Line Bundle
If players are feeling the need for speed, they can head on into their local WPN store and compete for a number of awesome prizes. For information about the prizes on offer during the Aetherdrfit Play Season head to your local WPN store or visit online. For more info about the Aetherdrift set, visit the official site. And, as always, follow us on Instagram for news updates, reviews, competitions and more.