We're one month away from Aetherdrift, the first Standard-legal set of 2025, which will be released everywhere starting February 14.
Even though the spoiler season hasn’t started yet (we only know four cards at the moment), we can already take a first look at what awaits us: where the set is located, what the plot is, who the characters are, and what the ten color pairs are based on. So, let's dive right in!
Aetherdrift Storyline
Aetherdrift follows a "death race" theme, a racing competition called the Ghirapur Grand Prix, which, passing through the Omenpaths, takes place on three planes: Avishkar (the new name for Kaladesh), Amonkhet, and Muraganda.
Taking part are ten racing teams from different planes of the multiverse, ready to battle for interplanar glory, but above all for the Aetherspark, a mysterious artifact up for grabs from the archives of the now fallen Avishkar Consulate.
Since it has never been tested, there is still no certain information regarding its purpose and use, but, at first glance, it would seem to be able to preserve a Planeswalker spark and allow its owner to use it, thus allowing them to travel between the planes.
Chandra Nalaar is particularly interested in the latter, to the point that she chooses to take part in the race in the hope of winning it. After the Phyrexian invasion, in fact, Nissa Revane lost her spark, like many other planeswalkers, and Chandra therefore wants to help her recover it somehow.
Indeed, in order to maximize her chances of victory, Chandra chooses not to race with her home team, the one of Avishkar, where she was born, but sides with that of Kylem, the winners of the previous year's race and therefore the favorites! This current is the second official edition of the Ghirapur Grand Prix).
The Grand Prix Teams
But what are these ten teams? Well, let's go and see them one by one, also because they are what interests us the most since each of them is assigned a color pair!
Disclaimer: At this time, there is no information yet released regarding the color identity of each team, so the attribution that follows is just my speculation, as it's not yet certain (although seven/10 guilds are quite intuitive).
The Aether Rangers
Probable pair: Azorius (White-Blue)
The Aether Rangers are the home team of Avishkar, one of three host planes, and feature a crew made up of humans, elves, vedalken, and dwarves, spanning multiple generations.
They are skilled pilots and chief engineers who have been able to harness the aether, which their plane is rich in, into their vehicles, making them light and strong and able to fly above the fray at great speed.
The team is represented by Pia Nalaar, Chandra's mother, and Spitfire, a very popular masked pilot known in the various racing circles of the capital.
The Champions of Amonkhet
Probable pair: Orzhov (White-Black)
Like Avishkar, Amonkhet also features its home team as the host plane: the Champions of Amonkhet.
The latter have the task of bringing glory and prestige to their home plane, which is slowly recovering from the misery and suffering caused by the machinations of the God-Pharaoh, Nicol Bolas.
Now their people are no longer only devoted to war but also to sports, games, and various activities, as demonstrated by their participation in this race, which also involves Zahur, an undead leonin charioteer from a bygone era, who returned in the guise of a mummy to lead his team of living and undead to victory.
Along with him is Basri Ket, another co-captain, who is considered the people's champion of Amonkhet, as he dedicates himself to defending the plane with his sand magic.
Cloudspire Racing Team
Probable pair: Boros (White-Red)
Cloudspire Racing Team is the team from Kylem, made up of experienced, top-notch racers and engineers who moved to Avishkar following the opening of the Omenpaths.
They are the winners of the first edition of the Ghirapur Grand Prix and direct rivals of the Aether Rangers, who saw the victory snatched from them in the event they themselves organized. A rivalry that only intensified when Chandra signed to compete with the Cloudspire rather than with them, so as to guarantee herself a better chance of victory to get the desired Aetherspark for Nissa.
The Cloudspire Racing Team drivers are real superstars, as are their vehicles, which are admired for their aggressive, bright, and noisy lines that convey power and success.
In addition to Chandra, who has quickly established herself as one of the team’s two captains, Kolodin, who was last year’s sole captain, is also leading the way.
The Guidelight Voyagers
Probable pair: Simic (Blue-Green)
The Guidelight Voyagers are a team of automatons led by a machine called the Mendicant Core, who commands them as if they were a single mind.
They arrived on Avishkar with the opening of an Omenpath, shortly after the Phyrexian invasion, and at first found the plane suitable to their needs, so much so that they decided to settle there.
Once they learned about the Ghirapur Grand Prix, however, they thought they would take the opportunity to recreate the conditions necessary to obtain an Omenpath that would bring them home, and so they participated in the first edition. Their plan did not work out, but their performance was enough to ensure that they were confirmed for this year's race as well and therefore have the opportunity to try again. Will they be able to return home?
The Speed Demons
Probable pair: Dimir (Blue-Black)
The Speed Demons are the team from Duskmourn, formed by Winter, Misanthropic Guide, and composed of possessed racers and their tormentors who drive spectral cars, as well as the eponymous Speed Demon itself, who races with them.
Winter is one of the survivors of Duskmourn, and he participates in this event because Valgavoth, Terror Eater “promised” him freedom if he managed to bring him the Aetherspark.
It's a sort of last chance for Winter, who is definitely in a tight spot and who will have to suffer the full wrath of Valgavoth if he fails. However, there is still something that gives him hope: Loot, the Key to Everything. This little beast has the power to navigate between planes, and this could give the Speed Demons the edge that other racers don't have!
The Goblin Rocketeers
Probable pair: Gruul (Red-Green)
The Goblin Rocketeers are a pure manifestation of chaos, explosion, power, and speed!
They are a team of enthusiasts, experts, and scientists of rockets and speed in general, who found themselves by chance on Avishkar after crossing an Omenpath and breaking “the velocity limit,” a speed barrier that isolates their plane.
In fact, they believe in a deity called BOOSTGOD (all caps in Goblin style!) who wants to free them from this barrier, created by its enemy.
Redshift, the current co-captain of the Rocketeers, and his crew managed to overcome it, and once on Avishkar they approached the capital's racing and motoring community, deciding to take part in the Grand Prix.
Here they also meet Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer, who agrees to act as co-captain of the team and financier of the project.
The Goblin Rocketeers want to run and win, so they can then return to their plane as heroes and strengthen the cult of the BOOSTGOD!
The Alacrian Quickbeasts
Probable pair: Selesnya (Green-White)
Quickbeasts are a team from Alacria, a plane connected to Avishkar by a perennial Omenpath.
Alacria is also a large city composed of at least a dozen districts, each of which has a mascot, a huge, one-of-a-kind beast that is believed to be the soul of the district.
These creatures feed on aether, are intelligent, and are extremely fast and strong, capable of becoming the perfect means of transportation for anyone who has the honor of riding them.
Each of these creatures, in fact, creates a special bond with a knight that they accept into their life and by whom they let themselves be ridden, creating together a strong understanding and collaboration.
The Quickbeasts team represents the best of Alacria's districts and is led by Caradora and Lagorin, who are rider and beast, respectively, but who have only recently bonded.
The Speedbrood
Probable pair: Golgari (Green-Black)
The Speedbrood are a team of humanoid insects from an unknown plane who chose to participate in the Grand Prix for equally unknown reasons.
Like the Alacrian Quickbeasts, they have developed a symbiotic relationship with their vehicles, even to the point where, through a ritual, one of them is able to shed its exoskeleton and undergo a metamorphosis that will then transform it into the vehicle itself! This treatment is not reserved for everyone, but only for the best pilots at the end of their lives, and it’s a great honor for them, as they consider it to be the passage from an entity that chases speed to speed itself!
The leader of the team is Aatchik, one of the boldest and most courageous members of their brood, who hopes to win the Grand Prix in order to one day earn the privilege of metamorphosis.
The Keelhaulers
Probable pair: Izzet (Red-Blue)
The Keelhaulers are a mixed crew of fishfolk and humans, but mostly Chordatans, humanoid sharks, who, having arrived on Avishkar via Omenpath, have settled permanently in its coastal regions.
They are particularly drawn to aether, finding it an invigorating substance that gives well-being and that pushes them to action, adventure, and racing.
Liquid aether is even used as fuel for their vehicles, which are bare, light, and minimal so as to favor speed, thus aiming more for substance than form.
Captain Howler is their leader, but for the occasion they have also enlisted the pirate Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, accompanied by her faithful Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, hoping that her knowledge of Avishkar can bring them advantages.
The Endriders
Probable pair: Rakdos (Red-Black)
The Endriders are a team from Gastal, the same homeland as Akul the Unrepentant, who we already met with Outlaws of Thunder Junction.
Gastal is a dying plane: arid, with little water and food, and continually plundered by its inhabitants. What is not lacking, however, is gas and oil, which are in abundance and allow everyone to travel great distances aboard their roaring machines along the almost deserted roads of the plane.
After the Phyrexian invasion, however, with the overtures of the Omenpaths, many of Gastal's bands left the plane, soon running out of fuel and becoming stranded somewhere in the multiverse.
This is what happened to the Endriders and their leader, Far Forune, who, having arrived on Avishkar, decided to combine their passion for racing and engines with the Ghirapur Grand Prix competition.
That's all for today! This was the introduction to and the presentation of the 10 participating teams. Which team is your favorite? Which one do you think will win the race? The spoilers will start soon, and I'm sure this set will give us a lot of surprises and twists!