It's already been a week since Alchemy: Aetherdrift hit MTG Arena, and after having had the chance to try them out a bit, let's see what seems to be the best cards in the set!
Of the 30 cards it is composed of, I selected the 8 most interesting for the Alchemy format, giving them a rating and classifying them, just as I did for the previous Alchemy sets: Bloomburrow and Duskmourn.
The following cards are already seeing play, maybe even only sporadically and partially, but this does not mean they are the only ones, given that I had to leave out some others of approximately the same level.
But let's find out right away what they are!
Alchemy Aetherdrift’s Top 8
#8 Tsagan, Raider Warlord
Grade: 6
Because of a lot of text, at first reading, Tsagan, Raider Warlord may seem too clunky or like Brawl material, but it's actually a good card!
In the worst-case scenario, for 3 mana it's a “4/4” attacker that gives other creatures +1/+0, but things can only get better if flanked by other creatures with first strike or double strike.
The best of the list is undoubtedly Tajic, Legion's Valor, who enters as a follow-up and can immediately attack together with Tsagan, Raider Warlord, benefiting from its buffs. Sure, he himself does not have any of the required abilities, but in the first 2 turns, he can conjure Boros Recruit first and Swiftblade Vindicator then, adding an additional +1/+0 to Tsagan's trigger.
To this you can then add several synergistic 2-drops such as, in addition to the real Swiftblade Vindicator itself, Fencing Ace, Brightblade Stoat, Knight of Grace, or Knight of Malice; to then enhance everything with Naktamun Shines Again, which gains even more value thanks to the static abilities of the creatures.
As if that wasn't enough, Tsagan, Raider Warlord, also has a Max Speed ability, which you can farm as early as turn 1 with Burnout Bashtronaut or Nesting Bot, and which gives first strike even to creatures that don't have it natively, making the attack boost huge and making Tsagan, Raider Warlord almost unbeatable in combat thanks to the combination of deathtouch and double strike, on the same vibes as Glissa Sunslayer!
#7 Mitotic Ultimus
Grade: 6.5
Mitotic Ultimus is a cheaper Ghalta, Primal Hunger that incorporates Mitotic Slime! In the right deck, it can come down very quickly, and when it does, your opponent will have a really hard time dealing with it!
You can curve out with Llanowar Elves on turn 1, Regal Imperiosaur or Pugnacious Hammerskull on turn 2, and Mitotic Ultimus already on turn 3 ready to rumble!
What can you possibly do? I can see a lot of players just scooping after this, leaving almost only white players with a few options, being able to exile the Ooze Giant with the most played Sheltered by Ghosts, Porcine Portent, or Ride's End, as well as Oblivion Ring effects like Perilous Snare, Reflection Net, or Werefox Bodyguard.
There is no more Sunfall in the format, and Mitotic Ultimus is an additional weapon against Wraths for green decks, who can also now discover a new dawn thanks to Chittering Illuminator's buff!
#6 Fuel Tank Feaster
Grade: 7
The recent nerfs to Impetuous Lootmonger and Golden Sidekick remind us that we need to pay special attention to the uncommons of these special Alchemy sets, and Fuel Tank Feaster is definitely the best one here!
For 2 mana, it's a 1/3 in line with modern mana dorks, but it has the incredible bonus of discounting our most expensive creature in hand each turn. This means that alone it can allow you to cast a cost 5 already on turn 3, while combined with Llanowar Elves or another copy of it, things can escalate very quickly.
It actually finds its best home in a shell with huge creatures, such as Mono Green (maybe including Mitotic Ultimus), Gruul Dinosaurs, or Gruul Surprise, and could even be paired with Fountainport Charmer for added redundancy.
Fuel Tank Feaster is a card that should not be forgotten and that we could continue to use in the future in Historic Artisan, or even in regular Historic, in case we wanted to put together a combo with Ominous Traveler or A-Acererak the Archlich.
#5 Routeway Moose
Grade: 7
Another green card and another 2-drop for a deck that this time wants to ramp with lands and not just with mana or by discounting creatures.
Routeway Moose isn't a bomb, but it's a solid card, which got such a high spot in the ranking also because of its ease of inclusion in decks. For only 2 mana, it has a very respectable body that is enough to be part of both Mono Green and Selesnya Mounts, taking advantage of Lagorin, Soul of Alacria, Miriam, Herd Whisperer, and Caradora, Heart of Alacria.
Its triggered ability then puts any land from the deck into play and therefore allows it to be taken into consideration even by Ramp decks that want to have as much mana as possible to cast incredible payoffs like Ornate Imitations or Doppelgang.
It's true that this type of deck does not have too many cheap creatures to consistently use Saddle, and the fact that it is specifically Saddle 2 is perhaps its only flaw, as it makes Llanowar Elves unsuitable, and often you will have no choice but to use a second copy of Routeway Moose or the 2/2 Manifested by Verdant Dread.
#4 Trackhand Trainer
Grade: 7.5
We're halfway up the rankings, and things are starting to get interesting as Trackhand Trainer has real potential, and I think it's the card that opens up room for more brews!
It's a 3-in-1, as you get a 1/1 Merfolk for one mana, Training Grounds in play for another mana, and the ability to draw cards for 3 mana (since there's Training Grounds).
But that's not all, because even though technically the Exhaust ability can only be used once, the ways to cheat with it are limited only by your imagination, getting multiple Training Grounds with which you can go off and activate abilities with just a single mana!
The simplest is to return Trackhand Trainer to your hand, since its mana cost is so cheap, using cards like Paths of Tuinvale, Fear of Isolation, or Nurturing Pixie. Then there is Dedicated Dollmaker, which exiles it by creating a token copy of it in its place; Ace Flockbringer, which conjures a flying duplicate of it in your hand; Sala, Deck Boss, which copies the Exhaust ability and gives you double Training Grounds; Oko, the Ringleader, which can become a copy of Trackhand Trainer each turn; and Agatha's Soul Cauldron, which exiles it from the graveyard and transfers both of its abilities around.
In addition to the many brews possible with the cards mentioned, it is possible to recreate the Training Grounds archetype already present in Pioneer: with Spectral Sailor and Harrier Strix as evasive creatures that allow you to draw; The Enigma Jewel // Locus of Enlightenment which in addition to Training Grounds discounts the abilities, Marketback Walker as extra value, but above all Proft's Eidetic Memory as payoff and finisher!
#3 Hangarback Assembler
Grade: 8
Only a bronze medal for Hangarback Assembler, but if this had been a Historic ranking, it would probably have taken first place!
Basically, for the same mana cost, you get Hangarback Walker, but with the addition of an artifact that, with Max Speed, gains the effect of Steel Overseer! The fact that this ability is not tied to a creature is almost a plus, since it becomes much more difficult for the opponent to remove it, so that the +1/+1 counters become particularly functional to enhance both Hangarback Walker and the Thopters it creates.
Again, Hangarback Assembler can be returned to hand with Nurturing Pixie or replaced with Dedicated Dollmaker so as to replicate the trigger and conjure additional Hangarback Walker. You can then go broke, continuing to copy the token created by the Dwarf Artificer with Worldwalker Helm and Caretaker's Talent.
Finally, note that with Hangarback Assembler you get two artifacts for two mana, and while it's not as relevant in Alchemy as it is in Historic, it's still useful for cards like Mendicant Core, Guidelight, Memory Guardian, or Voyage Home.
#2 Ornate Imitations
Grade: 8
After the flop of Roalesk, Prime Specimen first and Fear of Change later, they finally managed to make a strong Simic card that conjures random creatures into play!
Ornate Imitations is better than it looks, allowing you to fill the entire board by itself and overwhelm your opponent with its incredible mass of creatures. Sure, these are random, and some may not be optimal, but when you look at the ratio between the mana spent and the total mana value gained, it goes without saying how devastating this effect can be!
For example, assuming we cast it with X=7, we get seven creatures with increasing mana costs, for a total mana value of 28... triple the 9 mana spent!
It's therefore the ideal finisher for any type of ramp deck, but Doppelgang was already used here, so which is better? The substantial difference lies in the versatility of the mana cost, given that while Doppelgang is usually cast with 8 or 11 mana and doesn't allow you to optimize it in case you have 7, 9, or 10 free mana, Ornate Imitations has a freer cost and fits better into the curve.
Doppelgang with X=3 is most of the time enough to win the game, but it's not as true for X=2, and for that amount of mana, Ornate Imitations is definitely more impactful, and it should be considered as the first choice!
#1 Naktamun Shines Again
Grade: 8.5
And the title of best card of the set goes to... Naktamun Shines Again!
This time too it's a white card's turn, after Mothlight Processionist turned out to be the best card in Alchemy: Duskmourn, and the funniest thing is that the two are also synergistic with each other!
You can convoke Naktamun Shines Again, which in turn boosts Mothlight Processionist and all conjured copies of it, and then seek another Mothlight Processionist directly into play.
The best synergies, however, come with Nurturing Pixie and Dedicated Dollmaker, which allow you to reset the enchantment so as to power up all your small creatures once again, and in addition, both can be randomly tutored by Naktamun Shines Again itself!
The last chapter of the Saga makes all our previously buffed creatures evasive (and even the tokens that had not received the buff), and if we have not yet won and if we are not yet satisfied, we can then use Mischievous Lookout to replay the enchantment from the graveyard and... repeat everything from the beginning!
That's all for today! This was my top 8 of the best cards from Alchemy: Aetherdrift! There's a lot going on and much more to explore, with these mini sets that, as usual, are able to shake up and create hype for the not-so-much-considered Alchemy format!
