Metagame: The First Week of Aetherdrift in Challenges!

Aetherdrift is here! Magic: The Gathering's expansion promised changes to the competitive Metagame and delivered, with cards from it present in practically every format in tournaments last weekend, especially in Magic Online Challenges, where players tested several options while evaluating which are the best cards of the set.

In this article, we present a compilation of the news that Aetherdrift brought to the Metagame, highlighting which new cards and decks appeared in each format and which additions from the set entered already established strategies!

As expected, most of the cards from Aetherdrift mainly affected Standard this week. While the expansion did not bring any major archetypes, several pieces entered existing strategies and emerging decks.

Since last week's Japan Standard Cup, Oildeep Gearhulk has stood out in Dimir Midrange lists and will potentially remain a staple in the coming weeks as it is a very well-positioned creature in the current Metagame: it dodges Nowhere to Run and Go for the Throat, punishes This Town Ain't Big Enough, generates a lot of information while taking the most important piece from the opponent's hand, and a 4/4 body with Lifelink needs to be respected by Aggro as well.

I'm genuinely curious about what we can do with this card in the future in both Standard and Pioneer, and it's possible that we'll see Dimir Bounce lines with more Control-oriented variants using it in the coming weeks as well.

Debris Beetle was the highlight for Golgari Midrange this week, with some lists running two copies of the vehicle as a complementary threat. We don't know yet if this will be the new standard for the archetype, but the hype should continue until the Pro Tour results show which variant is most effective against the Metagame.

The same will happen with Esper Bounce. Some lists ran Grim Bauble and Momentum Breaker in the maindeck, others went with these cards in the Sideboard, and it's not clear if the archetype really needs these cards in the lists today. Another common card to see in the Sideboards this weekend was Spell Pierce as a cheap answer to removal, sweepers, or greedy mana bases.

It's possible that the rise of Oildeep Gearhulk and other creatures from this cycle will make Momentum Breaker more necessary in Midrange matches.

Speaking of giant robots, Riptide Gearhulk found space in the Sideboard of one of the Omniscience Reanimator lists this weekend and as a one-of in some lists in Leagues, but still without enough results.

In the other scope of Reanimator, Ketramose, the New Dawn and Quag Feast appeared alongside Abhorrent Oculus in an Esper Tempo variant. However, the best results of this archetype still concentrate on the versions, where Bounce Off and Spell Pierce are here to stay.

Agatha’s Soul Cauldron gained more attention this weekend for the way it interacts with the Exhaust ability.

The list above takes advantage of the already known Gruul Delirium, which gained Dredger’s Insight as support, to make Cauldron an efficient value engine alongside creatures like Voldaren Thrillseeker and Draconautics Engineer, which also has an efficient combo with Afterburner Expert.

Another version runs Agatha’s Soul Cauldron as a combo piece with the famous interaction between Sleep-Cursed Faerie and Kami of Whispered Hopes for infinite mana, while taking advantage of cards like Molt Tender to trigger Insidious Roots.

Loot, the Pathfinder stands out on this list, as when exiled with Cauldron, it gives every creature with +1/+1 counters the abilities of two of Magic's most powerful cards: Lightning Bolt and Ancestral Recall.

Another surprise from the first week was how Rundvelt Hordemaster, Burnout Bashtronaut and Draconautics Engineer provided the tools for a functional Goblin deck in Standard.

A highlight is the variant with Amonkhet Raceway, which allows casting Krenko, Mob Boss and activate its ability on the same turn it enters the battlefield. The list also uses Agatha’s Soul Cauldron as another way to take advantage of Krenko and the other creatures’ abilities, as well as Chandra, Spark Hunter as a complementary threat in attrition games.

The main addition to Domain decks was Ride’s End as another cheap removal against aggressive archetypes and versatile enough to deal with bigger threats. Other cards like Riptide Gearhulk made occasional appearances, usually as one-ofs.

Brightglass Gearhulk earned some slots in Selesnya Cage, where it complements the archetype with a toolbox that includes Haywire Mite against enchantments or other Gearhulks, Basilisk Collar against Aggro and Dusk Rose Reliquary as complementary removal, in addition to enabling Collector’s Cage on its own by searching for Pawpatch Recruit and casting it the next turn with Offspring to have three creatures with different powers.

Repurposing Bay also made an appearance this weekend with an Izzet list focused on a “combo” between Radiant Lotus and Boommobile to deal a considerable amount of damage to the opponent, while complementing this strategy with attrition cards like Legion Extruder, Mazemind Tome, and Simulacrum Synthesizer.

Finally, Orzhov Sacrifice gained two new tools with Aetherdrift: Nesting Bot as another creature that puts another body on the board when sacrificed, and Zahur, Glory’s Past as an additional sac outlet whose Max Speed ​​ability is achievable with Vengeful Bloodwitch.

Pioneer has seen some significant updates with Aetherdrift, though most of them are more experimental. Cards like Grim Bauble and Momentum Breaker have already become potential Dimir Bounce staples, but other pieces like Count on Luck have yet to prove their potential in the Metagame.

Grim Bauble and Momentum Breaker have had no trouble making it into Pioneer's Dimir Bounce lists, possibly because the archetype has wider, more comprehensive maindeck slots in 80-card lists with Yorion, Sky Nomad as Companion. Oildeep Gearhulk has also made appearances in a few lists, mostly in the Sideboard.

This week was especially busy for Boros decks, starting with a new version of an Equipment list with Leyline Axe and Bladehold War-Whip to create your own permanent threat with Fervent Champion or Patchwork Automaton, with Kellan, the Fae-Blooded doubling as a tutor for specific cards like Shadowspear.

Basri, Tomorrow’s Champion delivered another efficient one-drop that feeds Mox Amber from turn one, motivating Boros Legends lists in the format, where jumping from one mana to three makes a huge difference with Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon.

Greasewrench Goblin has also found a place in the archetype within Pioneer, where lists with splash have been appearing in Leagues since the release of Raise the Past in Foundations. A highlight is the Sideboard plan that includes the combo of Nahiri, the Harbinger with Moonshaker Cavalry to win longer games.

Count on Luck appears in the Sideboard of a few Prowess lists this weekend as a play for longer, removal-heavy games. There doesn't seem to be a consensus yet on whether this is an effective technology for the format, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

The big highlight of Aetherdrift for Modern this week was Ketramose, the New Dawn, which found space mainly in the many Orzhov Midrange variants, some using the Blink theme with Aether Vial and Flickerwisp while others bet on Relic of Progenitus in the maindeck, a card that is well-positioned in a Metagame where Underworld Breach is one of the best decks.

Ketramose also appeared in an Esper Frog list, but its addition is far from being a consensus for the archetype. Today, the main drivers for the splash continue to be Pest Control and Stony Silence.

A relevant highlight in this list is Intimidation Tactics, which is also well positioned in the current Metagame, but may be a bit too conditional for Modern.

Hollow One has ostensibly adopted Marauding Mako in all of its lists due to the interaction that the new one-drop has with cards like Faithless Looting and Burning Inquiry. In the above list, we see a more aggressive proposal, with the archetype betting on eight one-drops and Ox of Agonas instead of more cards to enable Delirium with Fear of Missing Out.

Brightglass Gearhulk has appeared in a Birthing Ritual list, where it complements the archetype's strategy by finding both Guide of Souls and Ocelot Pride, as well as occasional one-ofs like Mockingbird and Portable Hole.

Stock Up was a card tested in a few blue lists this weekend as a mini-Dig Through Time that can help find combo pieces more easily, but it hasn't yet gained enough prominence to be considered a card that is here to stay in Modern.

Aetherdrift in Legacy is currently summarized in two cards: Ketramose, the New Dawn and Stock Up.

Ketramose has been present on Midrange versions of the Orzhov decks in the format. One of them runs the traditional Stoneforge Mystic package, while the other bets on a more traditional style. Both include the interaction of the new god with cards like Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd and Emperor of Bones, in addition to one of them adding maindeck Relic of Progenitus.

Stock Up has been present in Show and Tell variants, and none of them had impressive results this weekend, but the fact that it is being tested in Legacy decks opens up a signal that, perhaps, it was poorly evaluated in other formats.

Aetherdrift's Pauper results were extremely average to poor, with only two decks trying new cards and both of them finishing in the lower ranks of the Top 32.

PFP member Alexandre Weber tried to use the Magmakin Artillerist combo with Tandem Lookout and Putrid Imp in one of the Challenges, and his list paves the way for potential variants in the coming weeks with Unearth and Faithless Looting. However, this deck will need to prove itself more effective than Goblins before it can even compete with Basking Broodscale.

Another combo list this week involves mixing Steelfin Whale with Retraction Helix to bounce Frogmite and recast it, triggering the new Pactdoll Terror for infinite damage.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!