Aetherdrift is here and everyone is ready to start their engines. With that in mind, Magic: The Gathering's latest set will bring a massive amount of new cards to all formats. Which White cards are worth your time? We put a list together with the top five and what makes them so good.
This cat has a ton of potential. With the ability to pull land from your deck and have lifelink, it'll be a solid addition! Gloryheath Lynx provides a mana ramp, a tap outlet, and a ton of value.
Commander: If you are looking to take advantage of Gloryheath Lynx in your deck, you can abuse it to get a land draw and easy Survival triggers. The low cost and lifelink lend a lot to the value of this uncommon and it is extremely versatile.
Sealed: If you end up opening Gloryheath Lynx in a sealed event, congrats, you will probably be running White. Sealed games are always about running advantage and this card provides it in health, value and a land draw. Gloryheath Lynx's power and toughness make it a very viable creature as well. This is a very good card for Sealed.
Constructed: There's potential here! Gloryheath Lynx is low to the ground and pairs with a lot of strong cards. If you paired this up with Reluctant Role Model you can pump it up without putting it in danger while also getting more mana for larger spells.
Sometimes board states get out of control and the best thing to do is get back to zero. Spectacular Pileup is a neat option that can get around indestructible and also deals with vehicles at the same time.
Commander: Spectacular Pileup is going to ruin many games for people who hide behind indestructible bodies. With vehicles having a surge in popularity with Aetherdrift, Spectacular Pileup will be, well, a spectacular way to level the field.
Sealed: This is a good, but not necessarily great card in a sealed format. Aetherdrift is chocked full of unique creatures and vehicles. The major issue here is that Spectacular Pileup is going to come in later. Still, with some solid indestructible threats out there in this set, including this card will still be put in work.
Constructed: I like Spectacular Pileup here. It's not the perfect card for a lot of Constructed play but it has uses. I see it as an ace in the hole when you lose a key piece to a combat trick. Finally, there is an easy way to get around Hexproof and Indestructible reliably in Standard!
White has a lot of different ways to deal with pesky permanents that are on the board. Perilous Snare is an artifact that costs a little more than some options but also offers advantages with Start Your Engines! and Max Speed bonuses.
Commander: Perilous Snare has a lot of benefits. Targeted removal is always welcome in Commander. As a bonus, you get access to Start Your Engines! while getting rid of something pesky. Finally, generating a +1/+1 counter on any creature or vehicle is never going to be something I'd complain about.
Sealed: Yes. Perilous Snare is a fantastic inclusion into any Sealed deck. Start Your Engines! will likely be a key to success and getting the ball rolling as soon as possible will be helpful. With any luck, you'll have one or two creatures on the battlefield, so you could potentially be up to 2 the turn you play this. The counters are the icing on the cake for this value piece!
Constructed: This really will be based more on how you build your deck. If Max Speed will matter, Perlious Snare is a card to include. It's not as good as Sheltered By Ghosts but the perpetual ability to pump up your more dangerous pieces still makes this a useful card. If you happen to include Builder's Talent the value here can be paid in spades.
A creature that is also a mount, Guardian Sunmare is packed full of all the stuff that makes a card nasty. Ward (2) and the ability to cheat out permanents with a mana value of 3 or less makes this one a card to watch.
Commander: Want to cheat out all sorts of goodies to give yourself an advantage? Guardian Sunmare has you covered. A Saddled Guardian Sunmare can cheat out any card on this list, as well as a ton of powerful pieces. This card is rad.
Sealed: Guardian Sunmare is a value piece in sealed. It's not the cheapest card to play, the ability to cheat out a lot of great cards is just too good. Imagine Saddling Guardian Sunmare and then tutoring out Perilous Snare removing a blocker and letting five damage get through.
Constructed: My prediction is that Guardian Sunmare is going to be a meta piece in Constructed formats. Imagine you Saddle up and swing to tutor a Delney, Streetwise Lookout and then play a [Hare Apparent]. At that point you can keep churning out Hare Apparent cards, or you can work on life gain or other combo pieces.
Aetherdrift is all about vehicles, mounts, and making sure you crew or saddle them. Cloudsire Captain not only provides an +1/+1 anthem for those cards but also adds two to its ability to saddle or mount.
Commander: We are going to see a lot more vehicles and mounts in Commander. Cloudsire Captain provides legendary creature levels of value to any deck that uses them, while making it a bit easier to use them as well. This is a pretty solid piece to any deck built this way.
Sealed: You are going to be playing a lot of vehicles and mounts. With some fantastic cards that have a ton of benefits to attack with a crew or saddling abilities, Cloudsire Captain provides a lot of ability to do this extremely well.
Constructed: Cloudsire Captain is going to offer a ton of options when it comes to something like Standard. Vehicles and mounts don't see a ton of love but that's because of the time it takes to make them work. This could become a significant combo piece to make decks with these cards extremely viable.
That's our top five White Aetherdrift cards. There are a lot of fantastic cards in this set, so this is only the tip of the iceberg. As always, be sure to pick those strong cards up early so you have time to cook with them early!