Top 9 Most Game-Breaking Aetherdrift Cards for MTG Arena Brawl Mode

Summary

Aetherdrift introduces new mechanics: Exhaust allows repeated use of abilities.
Chandra, Spark Hunter excels with vehicles, card draw, and non-combat damage.
Oviya, Automech Artisan facilitates easy cheating of powerful creatures onto the board.

Have you ever pondered which planeswalkers possess the ability to glide? Ever speculated about the planets that breed the finest drivers? With Aetherdrift’s debut, Wizards of the Coast has supplied answers to these questions and numerous others, as they set iconic characters against one another in a grand race filled with worlds, locomotives, and automobiles. Characters both veteran and novice can be observed commandeering and harnessing a diverse range of new vehicles and mounts, each equipped with fresh mechanics that create an exhilarating sense of speed and, undoubtedly, excitement.

Here are nine (plus a few more) cards that perfectly complement Magic: The Gathering Arena’s Brawl format, either as commanders for new decks or valuable additions to existing ones in the main 99 cards. Each card on this list brings something unique to the table, with their impact on a game ranked according to their potential effectiveness.

9. Elvish Refueler

Exhaust Without Limits

3 Mana Green
Creature

The Elvish Refueler presents a novel mechanism for Aetherdrift called Exhaust: Abilities tagged as Exhaust can be utilized only once per game. However, if these abilities are used, they cannot be activated again unless the card is re-summoned later in the game. Yet, the Elvish Refueler circumvents this rule, allowing players to activate exhaust abilities more than once during a turn, provided it’s the first exhaust ability they use in that specific turn.

Essentially, this change means that exhaust abilities can now be used multiple times within a game, transforming them from being usable just once per game into situations where they can be activated turn by turn. This makes numerous strong abilities tagged with the keyword “exhaust” reusable. However, Elvish Refueler presents an issue due to its susceptibility to being removed, making it a high-priority target for opposing spells.

8. Chandra, Spark Hunter

Crew Vehicles With Ease

4 Mana Red
Legendary Planeswalker

Chandra, the beloved planeswalker, has made her comeback, featuring artwork inspired by the iconic anime Akira. The latest version of Chandra specializes in vehicles; she can manufacture vehicles at no cost with her unique ability and transform them into combat creatures for free, thanks to her inherent skill. Her plus two talent offers continuous card-drawing, while her minus seven ability generates persistent damage outside of combat, which is guaranteed to infuriate any adversary.

Chandra is skilled at navigating decks, given her status as Legendary. Yet, she may thrive more in a multi-colored artifact deck due to limited vehicle options in mono red. Placing her within the 99 cards of a Captain Howler, Sea Scourge deck could result in a potent combination, considering her capacity to effortlessly discard cards each turn.

7. Radiant Lotus

Another Lotus Has Appeared

6 Mana Colorless
Artifact

Many Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts might recoil at the mention of the term “Lotus,” given the notoriety surrounding cards like Black Lotus or Jeweled Lotus. However, Radiant Lotus is a newcomer to this group that seems less intimidating and more in sync with the fast-mana artifacts commonly found in most decks.

Radiant Lotus empowers players to discard as many artifacts as they wish, providing three mana for each one discarded. However, its strong potential is tempered by its high cost in mana and the need to sacrifice permanent items. Nevertheless, Radiant Lotus can be an excellent asset in decks rich with artifacts, but it may not always be essential.

6. Oviya, Automech Artisan

Like Kona, Rescue Beastie But A Little Different

4 Mana Green
Legendary Creature

In the realm of Duskmourn, a unique entity named Kona, Rescue Beastie, was presented. This character enabled players to place any permanent on the battlefield from their hand during their second main phase, provided Kona was tapped at that time. Similarly, Oviya functions in a similar manner, enabling players to put down a creature or artifact from their hand for just one green mana. Moreover, any artifacts deployed through this method receive two +1/+1 counters.

From a fan’s perspective, constructing a mono-green deck centered around this commander provides an enticing opportunity to sneak gigantic beasts onto the battlefield. Creatures like Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant add extra bang for their buck. The main drawback of this hypothetical deck is the color constraint. However, green boasts a multitude of potent creatures that can be illegally summoned into play. If a player manages to keep these commanders alive long enough, Oviya has the potential to become an incredibly formidable force on the battlefield.

5. Gonti, Night Minister

Steal Cards And Make Treasure

4 Mana Black
Legendary Creature

Once again gracing the scene is the recurring figure, Gonti, also known as the Night Minister. Known for causing chaos in libraries, he serves both as a leader and an integral part of decks that employ card-theft mechanisms. With Gonti on your side, you have the ability to swipe the top card from your opponents’ library whenever you deal them combat damage. What’s more, you can then cast the pilfered spell using mana of any color at your disposal. To add salt to the wound, every time a player casts a spell that isn’t their own, they generate a treasure token, making it even more rewarding to steal cards from others.

In their role as a commander, Gonti can effectively leverage creatures such as Tinybones, whose different versions let them snatch cards from opponents, creating endless annoyance for the opponent. Yet, Gonti also thrives within decks that employ these mechanisms. The significant boost in power, should Gonti be included in a deck like Laughing Jasper Flint, offers an appealing prospect for any player who’s already utilizing such a deck setup.

4. Loot, The Pathfinder

A Versatile Little Beast

5 Mana Green Blue Red
Legendary Creature

This soft, tiny character goes by the name of Loot, initially appearing in Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Beyond being endearingly cute, Loot plays a crucial role in navigating various magical realms due to the Omenpath maps stored within his consciousness. Transitioning from backstory to the card itself, Loot, The Pathfinder, is a commander brimming with keywords such as Double Strike, Vigilance, and Haste, and boasts three distinct exhaust abilities at its disposal.

Loot offers a variety of useful abilities for just one mana and tapping it: from additional mana, card drawing, or dealing damage without cost. However, these are exhaustive abilities, which means they can only be used once unless you can move Loot off the battlefield and then bring him back. Alternatively, due to its green color identity, a player could pair Loot with an Elvish Refueler, enabling them to repeatedly activate an exhaust ability each turn to maximize its value. The trade-off is that these abilities are limited to one use unless specific actions are taken.

3. Samut, The Driving Force

Fast And Furious

6 Mana Red Green White
Legendary Creature

In Samut, The Propeller, a fresh mechanic named Speed makes its debut for the collection. This works such that whenever a player uses a spell with the phrase “Rev up Your Engines” inscribed on it, they commence tracking their speed, starting at one and peaking at 4. They may then boost their speed once per turn by inflicting damage upon an adversary. Samut maximizes this feature, empowering other creatures under the player’s control with +X/+0 strength, where X represents their current speed, while also reducing the cost of non-creature spells to cast by X, again with X being their current speed.

Apart from being brimming with keywords, Samut is also loaded with First Strike, Vigilance, and Haste, which make it incredibly simple to initiate and sustain rapid attacks. Samut embodies the quintessential commander designed for this collection, skillfully utilizing the novel mechanic and crafting decks around it that are a headache to play against.

2. Gearhulks

They’re Back And Now They’re Multicolored!

Various Color Combinations and Mana Values
Artifact Creatures

In contrast to when they were last spotted in the set of Kaladesh, which was launched two years prior to the release of Magic: The Gathering Arena, many players who solely engage on Arena might be unaware of Gearhulks as they are a type of creature. However, unlike their depiction in Kaladesh, the Aetherdrift Gearhulks are no longer limited to a single color, making it more challenging to incorporate them into decks, yet they remain highly valuable.

Each Gearhulk represents a substantial yet significant gameplay move, each possessing its unique set of keywords and capabilities. From compelling opponents to discard cards to enhancing the player’s own creatures, every Gearhulk poses a formidable challenge for an opponent to handle and is definitely a valuable addition to any deck that matches the appropriate color scheme.

1. The Aetherspark

Truly One Of A Kind

4 Mana Colorless
Legendary Artifact Planeswalker Equipment

The last card on our list is the promotional poster for Aetherdrift, named The Aetherspark. It’s unique as the first Artifact Planeswalker Equipment, functioning in the following ways:

a) It can be added to a creature using its +1 ability.
b) It allows you to draw cards when it’s used with -5.
c) It enables generating 10 mana of any single color when utilized with -10.
d) Its passive trait rewards it with additional loyalty counters whenever the attached creature inflicts combat damage.

Building a monochrome (colorless) deck with The Aetherspark as the commander can be enjoyable, but it aligns more effectively with decks that feature large creatures and costly spells. This configuration also enhances the deck’s mana base without limiting it to strictly colorless cards. The Aetherspark is a delightful, distinctive card that, due to its potential to generate significant amounts of mana and draw numerous cards, can pose serious challenges for opponents.

2025-02-18 15:07