Pauper: 5 Decks with Aetherdrift to try out!

Aetherdrift is already knocking on our door. The new Magic: The Gathering expansion returns to themes around artifacts, vehicles and also brought some cards that care about discard effects and even the number of exiled cards in the game.

With so many different mechanics, it's natural that the new set will become a deckbuilding paradise as we approach its official release, with a dozen new strategies emerging in competitive formats.

In this article, we present five decklists with Aetherdrift cards and mechanics for Pauper, with the first sketches of what we can do with the Magmakin Artillerist combo, as well as ways to extract value from Grim Bauble with Glint Hawk and a Rakdos Affinity list with Chitin Gravestalker.

Orzhov Grimblade

The Orzhov Glintblade is a well-known deck in the Pauper Metagame and has gained a new tool with Grim Bauble, a Dead Weight in artifact form that can be reused by Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher, guaranteeing a timely removal against small creatures and ensuring a more efficient turn one against Kuldotha Red and other archetypes with small creatures that we need to deal with quickly, and even against lists like Gruul Ramp, dealing with an Arbor Elf on the first turn makes a huge difference.

Rakdos Affinity

Chitin Gravestalker has a few potential homes in Pauper, but the traditional Affinity version is not one of them. However, a version with more mechanics focused on sacrificing artifacts could be a good starting point for playing a 5/4 for in an archetype already known for its imposing board position.

In this list, we tried to extract the most from the effects of Deadly Dispute and Krark-Clan Shaman alongside Clockwork Percussionist and even Nihil Spellbomb, two artifacts that generate more value when played in the graveyard. This way, we can reduce the cost of Chitin Gravestalker more quickly, but at the expense of, in some cases, being counterintuitive with Myr Enforcer if we go all-in too early.

Magmakin Storm

Magmakin Artillerist is probably the hottest card in Aetherdrift for Pauper. In addition to its applications in supposed infinite combos, it can enter the already known Cycling Storm as another wincondition and damage output along with Drannith Stinger.

Yes, its cost is higher and Cycling for is counterintuitive with a deck that uses all rituals that generate and none that generate , but the increase in consistency can make a difference, not to mention that we have Lotus Petal and Blood Celebrant to generate when needed.

Magmakin Umbra

And speaking of combos with Magmakin Artillerist, the new Elemental can deal infinite damage (or, more specifically, damage equal to the number of cards in your library) if accompanied by Snake Umbra or Ophidian Eye and some recurring discard effect - popular options include Putrid Imp, Wild Mongrel, Aquamoeba or, as we used here, Oblivion Crown.

The combo works like this: whenever you discard a card, Magmakin Artillerist deals one damage to the opponent. If enchanted with Snake Umbra or Ophidian Eye, the Aura's ability triggers and its controller draws a card. Therefore, simply discarding a card to deal damage and draw another card, establishing a loop.

The advantage of Oblivion Crown is that our list naturally wants a splash for extra protection with Duress since cards like Snakeskin Veil aren't as effective as Tamiyo's Safekeeping, and this splash allows us to use the Deadly Dispute engine with Ichor Wellspring and Shambling Ghast to generate card advantage, but versions are possible with Wild Mongrel and maybe Benefaction of Rhonas, and versions can exploit protection spells like Counterspell and take advantage of Ophidian Eye's Flash and sources of card advantage to force the discard phase to combo.

Jund 8-Combo

One of my problems with this new combo is that it seems worse and slower than Basking Broodscale with Sadistic Glee, but would it be possible to add both in the same list to terrify the opponent on two different fronts? Yes. Magmakin Artillerist's Cycling gives it the advantage of never being a dead card, and Snake Umbra can be used as additional protection.

Unfortunately, cards like Wild Mongrel don't do much on their own, and we don't have more versatile options, but trying to close A and B lanes in the same list with the same shell of Malevolent Rumble and Deadly Dispute could yield some interesting results.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!