Aetherdrift has finally been fully spoiled, and with the upcoming prerelease starting February 7th, let's take a look at what's up in the new set!
As usual, I will show you each of its color pairs for Limited, but not in this article, because here I will focus on the mechanics and keywords you will encounter.
Aetherdrift is a racing competition between 10 teams and takes place across three planes. This is beautifully reflected not only in the design of the cards but also in their abilities and keywords, which we can divide into three groups, perfectly in line with the key elements of the set:
- Vehicles and steeds (Crew and Saddle).
- Race (Speed and Start Your Engines!).
- Technology: engines and turbo (Cycling and Exhaust).
But let's see each of them in detail!
Speed and Start Your Engines!
Where is it? On permanents of all colors.
The best thing you can do to win a race is to go fast, so most of the time it's all about speed!
Speed is the new mechanic introduced with this set and is related to the new keyword: Start Your Engines!, since it starts to exist when a permanent with this ability hits the battlefield (otherwise your speed is 0).
When this happens, your speed becomes 1, and this is immediate as a state-based action, so there is no trigger, and no player can respond before you get your speed.
At this point, once your speed is 1 or greater, you can trigger an ability to increase your speed. This ability says, "Whenever your opponent loses life during your turn, increase your speed by 1. It triggers once each turn."
The speed limit achievable is 4, so when you reach it, you can stop tracking it (and it stops triggering).
It's important to note that this ability, even though it is created with the entry of a permanent, is not tied to any of them, and it can be triggered for the rest of the game regardless of what you control.
Basically, once you get your first Start Your Engines!, you can then think of it as an emblem that includes a triggered ability, as it appears on the dedicated tracker card, which makes everything easier and more intuitive!
Start your engines! (If you have no speed, it starts at 1. It increases once on each of your turns when an opponent loses life. Max speed is 4.)
Max speed —[ability]
Once your speed is 4, you've achieved Max Speed, which means that permanents with this keyword now have access to the text pertaining to this ability.
All cards with Max Speed also have Start Your Engines!, because you have to start picking up speed somewhere, while the opposite is not true, as there are also cards that simply refer to the players' current speed.
Exhaust
Where is it? On creatures and Vehicles almost exclusively in Temur colors (blue-red-green).
While Start Your Engines! perfectly designates the ignition of the machines, and the Speed mechanic their gradual acquisition of speed; Exhaust instead represents the turbo, the special propulsion that you can use only once, similar to the NOS made famous by the movie Fast & Furious.
Like the previous ones, Exhaust is a new keyword ability introduced in this set, and it indicates a special activated ability. Special because it can be used only once during the game.
Exhaust — [Cost]: [Effect]. Activate this ability only once.
Note that the usage limit is the only peculiarity of this ability, which is otherwise structured like a normal activated ability and which can be used at any time.
However, even though its effect doesn't end at the end of the turn, it shouldn't be confused with the Alchemy perpetually mechanic, because if the affected permanent changes game zones, it becomes a new object, and its exhaust ability can be activated again.
For example, an exhausted Stampeding Scurryfoot can reactivate its ability if it is returned to hand with Bounce Off, revived with Dune Drifter, or blinked with Explosive Getaway!
Crew and Saddle
Where is Crew? On Vehicles in all colors.
Where is Saddle? On creatures almost exclusively in Naya colors (white-red-green).
There can be no race if there are no vehicles to compete in, and with it we must not only think of mechanical means but also organic ones, or real steeds.
Crew is a keyword ability first seen in Kaladesh and is tied to the Vehicle artifact subtype. It allows Vehicles to become artifact creatures until the end of turn.
Saddle is a keyword ability introduced in Outlaws of Thunder Junction and is tied to the Mount creature subtype. It allows Mounts to get an ability trigger or extra effects online.
Crew and Saddle are two different abilities that I have grouped together because they are very similar to each other, not only in terms of flavor but also for text and rules.
Saddle N (Tap any number of other creatures you control with total power N or more: This Mount becomes saddled until end of turn. Saddle only as a sorcery.)
Crew N (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power N or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
As you can see, the main difference between the two abilities is that Saddle can only be activated as a sorcery, unlike Crew, which requires instant speed to make the Vehicle blocking.
For the rest, both can be activated by multiple creatures, and for both it's not necessary that these are already under your control from the beginning of the turn to be used, since they don’t have a tap symbol in their cost.
Cycling
Where is it? On cards of all colors, but especially in Izzet colors (blue-red).
Cycling is another returning ability, and it's by far the oldest of them all, having first appeared in Urza's Saga, 27 years ago!
But why is it in Aetherdrift? Well, here are a couple of reasons:
- The first is that, just as for Kaladesh/Avishkar, the vehicles that were the novelty and characteristic of that set were brought back; for Amonketh, Cycling was brought back, which was one of its main mechanics (moreover, just as it was for Ikoria, which was considered the third host plane, instead of Muraganda).
- The second reason is its name that matches very well with the theme. Cycling in fact evokes words like bicycling and motorcycling, as well as the engine cycle itself.
In addition to these flavor reasons, cycling in Aetherdrift also serves a practical purpose, which is to get rid of excess Vehicles in exchange for a new, fresh card. Since Vehicles require creatures, you might end up drawing a lot of them without having enough creatures, and cycling helps by eliminating possible dead cards!
Cycling [cost] ([Cost], Discard this card: Draw a card.)
Cycling is an activated ability that, by paying a mana cost, allows you to discard the card it is attached to and draw a new one.
However, in some cases, alongside cycling, we will also find a triggered ability added that will take effect when we cycle that particular card (for example, Howler's Heavy).
It’s a second ability (it's triggered while cycling is activated), which is separate from the first (for example, even if it loses the target, you still draw a card) and which, going on the stack later, resolves first.
That's all for today! These were all the main keyword abilities that you will encounter in Aetherdrift, and by mastering them, you will be able to get the better of your opponents! All that remains is to take a look at the cards, but we'll talk about those in the next episode!
