MTG Aetherdrift review: Going ultra-fast while simultaneously slowing things down was a good idea

MTG Aetherdrift is Wizards of the Coast’s 103rd expansion, and it takes place in a fairly unique setting. What we’re looking at is a fantastic, no-holds-barred Death Race across a trio of different planes. It’s a wild ride, with fantastic designs, and useful keywords. It’s like Death Race 2000 combined with the Wacky Races, and I love that. While I do have some problems with the set, that’s always going to be the case. No set is perfect, except the Alara block.

A full, Standard-legal expansion, its the first major set of 2025, and I think it’s starting things off at the right pace, and in the right direction. With the return of familiar characters like Chandra, and a very interesting piece of Magic lore becoming a card, there’s a lot to talk about.

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The MTG Aetherdrift story feels like Mad Max and the Wacky Races with an incredible prize

The ultimate goal of MTG Aetherdrift is to win this multi-planar race — and there are many factions all vying for the main prize. The winner receives the Aetherspark, which is an artificial planeswalker’s spark. Whoever should claim and use it, will then gain the ability to planeswalk. Naturally, people on all parts of the alignment spectrum want this for a variety of reasons.

MTG Aetherdrift's Aetherspark is certainly a fascinating creation (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

However, while it’s quite exciting from a lore perspective, it’s also a choice that has upset some fans. Not because the Aetherspark is a reward for an in-universe event, but because it was turned into an actual card. The card, instead of turning something into a planeswalker — which would be unwieldy and entirely too complicated — is actually a planeswalker on its own. That’s such a cool concept, I think.

MTG Aetherdrift's Aetherspark has some very fascinating abilities including one that sort of emulates its ability to create a planeswalker. It can attach itself to a creature because it’s also a piece of equipment. This might upset you, or it might not — I think it’s perfectly fine.

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MTG Aetherdrift makes a bold, but smart choice to pull back on new mechanics

One of the things that I know frustrates new players, and players that want to get into MTG, is the sheer glut of keywords, mechanics, and new things that come with each expansion, but Aetherdrift helps fix that. Well, it’s going in the right direction, at the very least. While some mechanics from the Kaladesh/Amonkhet blocks do return, they aren’t new and fit the setting.

Who doesn't want an extra card draw? (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

As far as new mechanics go, Start Your Engines!/Speed, and Exhaust are new, and that’s it! They aren’t incredibly complicated either, and the Speed mechanic has a reasonable cap, so you can’t just max out your speed in one turn.

It’s certainly a neat mechanic, but I believe it won't return anytime soon. We also have Exhaust and a creature with this ability can only use it once. However, I imagine you could flicker/re-cast them and do it again. I like that there are just a few abilities, and it doesn’t feel especially bloated.

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MTG Aetherdrift features some remarkable new cards for all sorts of builds.

Here's a sample of some of our favorite cards in MTG Aetherdrift (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

MTG Aetherdrift does have some fantastic cards, and I want to highlight some of them below. This isn’t all of the amazing cards, either. For example, there’s finally a copy of Chandra I’d legit run in a deck and that’s Chandra, Spark Hunter. But I’ve also never really been a big fan of hers — I’m not saying previous versions are all bad, but I like fewer than I dislike.

Overall, I think MTG Aetherdrift is a solid set with plenty of great options for players of any decktype. In fact, I want to use more of Oviya, Automech Artisan when the Final Fantasy set drops, mostly for Jumbo Cactuar. Below is a list of great cards that I found while cracking packs.

Mythic Rare

• Mu Yanling, Wind Rider: All vehicles you control have flying, free card draw, and a free Vehicle artifact token? Oh yes, please.
• The Aetherspark: Get to that —10 nice and easy, and get a free 10 mana to wrap a game up.

Rare

• Basri, Tomorrow’s Champion: Cat decks have a great new character, and you can cycle them to make all cats you control hexproof/indestructible for a turn.
• Oviya, Automech Artisan: 1 mana and tap this to put a creature or vehicle into play? This is going to see play, even as a four drop.

Uncommon

• Gloryheath Lynx: A solid creature with lifelink, and a steady flow of basic Plains pulled out of your deck and into your hand.
• Spikeshell Harrier: Bounce an expensive creature/vehicle back to an opponent’s hand, and potentially drop their Speed to 1? Big fan of this.

Commons

• Run Over: A great “fight” card that can get cheaper if your creature is a vehicle/mount.
• Spin Out: Destroy a creature or Vehicle for three mana? Not bad.

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Final Thoughts - is Aetherdrift worth it?

It will be interesting to see if any of these cards make a splash outside of Standard (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

I think MTG Aetherdrift has cards not just for Standard, but potentially for more Eternal formats. For instance, I could see Stock Up being used in Legacy decks in the future. I’m a fan of the aesthetic and the story, and the cards are pretty fantastic too. We’ve got neat lands, solid artifact representation, and a good Vehicle-themed expansion.

However, I am confused about this set only having two Commander decks, though connected to the MTG Aetherdrift expansion. Typically, we see four, but this set only has two. Still, I think both Commander decks are phenomenal — though I prefer the Eternal Might deck to Living Energy — but that comes down to personal play preference. I think Aetherdrift is a good set and one that has the potential to bring pretty serious value to the Standard meta going forward.