Aetherdrift Mechanics Explained - Call a Judge!

Hello, everyone!

In today's article we will learn about the mechanics arriving on the next set, Aetherdrift! We have both new mechanics and old mechanics, so let's not waste time, cause this set is in need for speed - pun intended. Let's go!

Cycling

Cycling is an old mechanic - almost an ancient one at this point, having first appeared waaaay back in the Urza's Saga block! The fact that it is still in use almost 30 years later shows how it's a very well-received mechanic among players and that it still has a lot of functionality for the game.

Basically, when a card has Cycling, it has an activated ability while in the hand, that says: pay the cycling cost, discard this card: draw a card. It's a simple way to replace a card in your hand with a new one, which helps with several aspects of consistency, use of silver bullets, and the like. Furthermore, some cards - like the one showed above, Agonasaur Rex - can have a bonus triggered ability when cycling is used, which increases their value even further.

Crew e Saddle

Aetherdrift is a race-themed set, so vehicles and mounts couldn't be left out! This means that we have two very similar mechanics that return in this new set: Crew and Saddle.

Crew X is an activated ability of cards with the Vehicle subtype. It consists of tapping a certain number of creatures so that, after the ability resolves, the vehicle acquires the power/resistance indicated on the card, and thus transforms into a creature - being able to do things that only creatures do, such as attack /block! The number next to the ability indicates how much combined power is needed between the creatures you will tap to activate the ability. It is not possible to tap creatures whose power adds up to less than the number indicated for the ability - for example, if for some reason you just want to tap your creatures, like an Acrobatic Cheerleader - but it is possible to tap creatures whose sum of power exceeds the number indicated in the Crew. Also remember that Crew can be activated at any time, even on the opponent's turn.

Saddle X, in a very similar way, is an activated ability of cards with the “Mount” subtype. Cards with Mount are already creatures, so the idea is that when using Saddle you add some type of bonus to it, as indicated in the card above, Bulwark Ox. The mechanics of the ability itself is exactly the same as the Crew ability, with one important difference: Saddle can only be activated at sorcery speed - that is, only on your turn, during a main phase and with an empty stack. Be careful with this!

Exhaust

Now let's check out one of the new mechanics! Exhaust is an ability word that will appear on some activated abilities. Basically, an ability that has the Exhaust keyword means that ability can only be activated once for that object. Although the concept is simple, let's make sure we clear up a few things:

Exhaust is linked to the activation of the ability, not its resolution. If you activate an exhaust ability and your opponent responds with some spell or effect, you cannot activate the same exhaust ability in response, even if the first one still hasn't resolved.

It's also important to remember that Exhaust will remember the activation information while that same permanent is still on the field. So, for example, if you've already used all three abilities of Loot, the Pathfinder above, but it somehow leaves the field and comes back - say, with a Splash Portal -, you can use all of the abilities again. card abilities.

Speed and Start Your Engines!

Speed is the most innovative mechanic of the set, and considering how much of a central theme it is for a race, we already know that it will appear in countless cards, and will most likely be an archetype for any Limited gameplay of the set.

Similar to mechanics that bring an external component - such as Day/Night, Dungeons, Monarch, and others -, Speed is an indicator of a certain status that a player can acquire. There are 4 levels, numbered exactly from 1 to 4, with 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest - some cards will even refer to this as Max Speed.

To help players mark what Speed level they are at, there will be a helpful card/token:

But how exactly do you gain Speed? First of all, the player must use a card with the ability Start Your Engines!, like Hazoret, Godseeker above.

Until you play something with Start Your Engines!, your Speed ​​is zero. From the moment you first play a card with the ability, then your Speed ​​becomes one, and you can then start increasing your Speed ​​level. The condition for the increase is an opponent loses life during your turn, and this only triggers once per turn.

It is important to say that after you obtain the first level of Speed, it is not necessary to still have a card with Start Your Engines! on the field to continue to increase your Speed! You only need one card that initiates the status - similar to how Day/Night only occurs when a card with the ability is used, but even when that card leaves the field, the Day/Night checks continue to happen throughout the game.

Let's give an example with Hazoret, Godseeker:

You start the game, play a mountain, cast a Monastery Swiftspear and attack. Your opponent plays a Surveil Land and passes. You play mountain, cast Hazoret, Godseeker, and after it resolves you now have Speed ​​1. You attack with the Swiftspear, and after damage, trigger the ability and increase your Speed ​​to 2. The opponent plays another land and passes. On your third turn, you attack with the Swiftspear, but the opponent kills it with a Go For The Throat. After combat, you cast a Viashino Pyromancer, deal 2 to the opponent, and with that your Speed ​​increases to 3. The opponent on their third turn cast a Sentinel of the Nameless City and passes. On your fourth turn, you cast Burst Lightning targeting the opponent, and with the damage it triggers once again increasing the Speed ​​to 4 - Max Speed! - and now your Hazoret is free to attack!

Conclusion

Aetherdrift seems to demonstrate well with its mechanics the entire theme surrounding the exciting race that serves as background to the story! It's always interesting when we see the combination between the mechanical part of the game and the flavor of the story, and what results from this usually brings a lot of fun to players!

I hope this set continues to show lots of cool cards and development of new mechanics!

Until next time, and remember: when in doubt, call a judge!