Aetherdrift is right around the corner and spoiler season is in full swing! So let's do a rundown of the cards that have caught my eye so far and discuss the impact they might have on Standard. As always, this set is full of high-cost bombs that will likely only see play in Commander, so I don't plan to discuss those. As much as I love casual jank, the purpose of this discussion is cards that could be used to boost existing archetypes or ones that could introduce new archetypes to the format that can compete with the likes of Dimir Midrange and Esper Pixie.
The Spoilers
Okay, hear me out, merfolk aren't a deck in Standard at the moment and have not been for some time. Cards like Deeproot Pilgrimage and Vodalian Hexcatcher are amazing merfolk payoffs we've been sitting with for some time and even newcomers like Floodpits Drowner are seeing play. The curve-out for merfolk decks has been lacking, and trying to play an aggressive/tempo strategy without strong one-drops is challenging to say the least. While Mindspring Merfolk isn't playable outside of merfolk, it drops on turn one and represents a late-game threat that can close a game. If nothing else, this is a huge upgrade over Mistway Spy.
We don't currently have an aristocrats deck in Standard, despite having key role players like Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim, Vengeful Bloodwitch, and Bartolome del Presidio, and I think Zahur can help change that. Start your engines! is a great mechanic in aggressive decks and this archetype being able to ping to accelerate means you'll have max speed in no time. Once you're there, though, you'll need good payoffs, and replacing your sacrificial fodder each turn with zombies sounds great to me. Not to mention, Zahur's stats are in line with what you want to see from a two drop in two colors.
A 4/4 for four isn't exactly amazing these days, but a strong enter the battlefield effect can go a long way. I think that giving the current Dimir deck a big lifelinker at this point in the curve can help it stabilize against aggro, win races against other midrange decks, and, most importantly, protect itself twice over. The ward 1 is relevant, but being able to strip the opponent's best removal spell out of their hand means they likely won't have the tool needed to combat this thing. Granted, they draw a card immediately, so luck could be on their side, but that's what this takes. I think this card doesn't read very powerfully, but it will exceed expectations.
I love The Last Ride. It's a goofy fanfiction mashup of Death's Shadow and Consulate Dreadnought. At only one mana, the risk for running it is low even if you just end up sacrificing it to a Beseech the Mirror or Torch the Tower, and it gives you a mana sink that lets you draw cards. This could be a build -around card like Death's Shadow, or you could simply run it as a one-of in a black-based midrange deck as a way to draw a few cards and possibly hit your opponent from nowhere when they've forgotten about that thing you did on turn one. The floor on this card is super low and the upside is pretty significant.
There are no current meta decks that can make use of this card, but like Birthing Pod before it, this card could be powerful enough to forge its own archetype. While Repurposing Bay isn't as strong as Birthing Pod by any means since it costs two to activate and is limited to blue decks, I do think it has the support in Standard to be excellent. Enigma Jewel can provide mana to activate it the turn it drops and you can use it to fetch such beauties as The Mightstone and Weakstone, Nexus of Becoming, and (my favorite) Simulacrum Synthesizer.
Simulacrum Synthesizer has been a powder keg in the Standard card pool just waiting for a spark to set it off and catapult it into the meta. I think Repurposing Bay might be that spark given how strong our high-cost artifacts are right now. After Brothers' War rotates in the fall, that might change, but for now, we're pod racing.
With Arahbo, the First Fang showing up in Foundations, Wizards has clearly telegraphed they want cats to be a creature type people are playing moving forward. While we have some powerful cats in Standard (like Skyknight Squire or Enduring Curiosity), we don't really have a cats deck beyond the kind of white weenie aggro list you might give a starting player. While Aetherdrift might not change that in the immediate, Basri, Tomorrow's Champion presents the possibility that they could be more heavily supported moving forward. He's an aggressive one-drop and future copies of the card in hand are cat-specific Heroic Interventions that draw and can't be countered. If cats get as supported as I expect in the future, Basri is likely to be a two- or three-of in that deck.
Cards like Patchwork Banner or Heraldic Banner rarely see meaningful Standard play because they just don't impact the board enough. Lifecraft Engine may go down in history as just another one of these effects, but I'm intrigued by its ability to give vehicles types in addition to your core team. Cards like Subterranean Schooner counting as a merfolk, or Unidentified Hovership counting as a cat could play out interestingly in practice. The possibilities with this card seem interesting and I suspect someone is going to break it. I'll be on the lookout for a green vehicle that would work well with elves because that package needs some help, and this might get them there. Fingers crossed.
Conclusion
Aetherdrift looks like a powerful, flavorful, and fun set. I'm eager to get my hands on it and see how these cards actually play. I'll be sure to brew plenty of goofy decks with them, so check back in once the set is on Arena for articles about those. I know we're going to find some bangers.
As always, thank you for reading, and happy brewing!