Though I'm not the biggest fan of Aetherdrift's flavor, I'll admit the set has many budget-friendly tools for specific archetypes. You don't need fancy racecars and Akira bikes (Greasefang did it first) to print some powerful cardboard. While powerhouses like The Aetherspark and Ketramose, New Dawn have earned their lofty price tags, there are plenty of cards that bring the heat without scorching your wallet. Note how these cards aren't necessarily powerful on a universal level. They're not just good-stuff engines that'll go into any deck of their respective color(s). Think the Rhystic Studys and Smothering Tithes of the world. Those cards are expensive because of their wide-range use. It's specificity that helps bring the price tag down to more reasonable levels, as the following cards all have powerful applications, just in distinct strategies.

Note: We'll stick to a tight budget, so all cards discussed today are under $5 as of the writing of this article. That doesn't mean they'll stay that way forever, so I've noted which cards I predict might climb in price over time.

Let's jump in!

Seatbelts recommended

Cycling

Before we get into individual cards, I want to highlight how Aetherdrift's delivered a myriad of new Cyclingcards. It's easy to underestimate how good cycling is, as while the ability might not be flashy, it provides what is arguably the strongest quality in the game: versatility. A cycling card is never dead in your hand, regardless of how crazy its CMC might be. The ability to replace a card irrelevant to the current board state for a new slice of cardboard does wonders to keep game play rolling. For example, Spectacular Pileup is great on a stuffed battlefield, but does little when everyone else is playing control or spell-slinger. Simply pay the cycling cost and pick up a new card. Waxen Shapethief is one of the most flexible shapeshifters we've had in a while, but if nothing's worth copying, you can still recycle it. Even better is when the ability comes with a bonus, as seen on cards like Agonasaur Rex (more on him in a minute). Aetherdrift includes a bunch of "Bonus-Cycling", giving you an effect on top of the normal cycling effect. Valor's Flagship makes a fantastic target for Greasefang decks to revive, as you can pitch it Pilot tokens, revive it via your Okiba general, then have it return to hand to start the process all over again.

Dinosaur Synergies

Aetherdrift's detour to Muraganda resulted in a bunch of new cards for our Jurassic (or Cretaceous) friends. Regal Imperiosaur not only comes with an incredible stat line for 3 mana, but also provides an anthem-effect (+1/+1) for the rest of your thunder lizards. Agonasaur Rex similarly packs power-crept stats for his CMC, with Trample added to ensure chump blocks are easily swept aside. But what's more, this Rex can also act as a combat trick. One that can be used either offensively via +1/+1 counters and Trample, or defensively via Indestructible. Add the fact that this is a bonus atop of the cycling ability, drawing you a card and unable to be countered, and have incredible versatility contained in one scaly package. The primordial ooze that shaped itself into Terrain, World Tyrant may lack abilities, but brings Yargle-level of power for only 5 mana, only with much greater durability. Finally, while Oviya, Automech Artisan isn't herself, her ability to drop what are usually mana-intensive behemoths certainly earns a spot in many dino decks. For one Green mana, you can drop all manner of Polyraptor or Sliverclad Ferocidons to shake up the Commander table. Sure, you might miss out on the untap trigger for Zacama, Primal Calamity, but bypassing the 9 mana cost is more than a worthy trade.

Individual Cards

Cryptcaller Chariot - One could almost ignore the Vehicle side of this card, as its true power lies in discard synergies. Producing a zombies for each discard turns a simple Dark Deal, or any other wheel-effect, into an instant army of the undead. Though not as powerful as Monument to Endurance, any deck playing that card would also be happy to include Cryptcaller Chariot for extra zombies along the way. Zombie-typal already has a ton of discard-happy Commanders (Hashaton, Scarab's Fist, Temmet, Naktamun's Will, Varina, Lich Queen) to synergize with the chariot, but even outside of the walking dead, you've plenty of generals like Raffine, Scheming Seer, Anje Falkenrath, and Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar to build around. Finally, while 5 damage isn't a ton of impact in Commander, the fact that Cryptcaller's Chariot creates its own rotting pilots, only one of which is necessary to crew it, means your zombie-engine can easily get in for damage when the coast is clear.

Gonti, Night Minister - I love highly political Commanders, as they shake things up with forced alliances and uneasy bargains. Gonti, Night Minister is a perfect example, rewarding opponents who go after each other rather than you. You can bet at least one other opponent will be hesitant to remove Gonti, as while the effect favors you more than anyone else, the temptation of stolen cards is often too good to pass up. Especially if a player has fallen behind and really needs those extra resources. Gonti says "They may play that card" rather than "cast that card", meaning a player behind on lands suddenly has the chance to draw into more. Just from their opponent's deck. They may not get the Treasure token this way, but it hardly matters if their mana base is already struggling. For opponents running go-wide style decks (Jetmir, Nexus of Revels, Caesar, Legion's Emperor, Baylen, the Haymaker), Gonti's effect holds even greater allure, as it triggers for each creature that gets in for damage. Eventually, players will have so many cards that someone will have to remove Gonti, Night Minister, and that may even be you at one point, depending on what cards your opponents have in exile. You can bet that sort of Commander will forge many an exciting story, a highlight to any game night with friends.

Howlsquad Heavy - Maxing out your speed is tricky in Commander, as not only will it take you multiple turns to achieve, but you'll have thrice the opponents to disrupt your plan compared to something like Standard or Limited. Despite these hurdles, Howlsquad Heavy acts as both an excellent enabler and payoff card for the mechanic. Granting mass-Haste is already on a dedicated goblin deck's wishlist, but even better, the Heavy actually makes a 1/1 goblin to immediately swing in for damage. Ideally, this will bump your speed up to 2 before your turn ends, after which point, you'll take full advantage of the swarm Commanders like Krenko, Mob Boss, Krenko, Tin Street Kinpin or Muxus, Goblin Grandee to snag the final two levels in subsequent turns. Once you've hit max speed, Howlsquad Heavy provides an excellent reward, producing mana for each goblin you control. Seeing as you're already amassing a goblin army, this oughta provide ample fuel for a lethal Crackle with Power to finish off the game.

Full Throttle - How fun would this be with Ruhan of the Fomori at the helm? Any deck interested in winning via combat, be it go-wide (Krenko, Mob Boss, Edgar Markov) or Voltron (Zurgo Helmsmasher, Uril, the Miststalker), hopes to wrap up the game in one epic onslaught. Sure, they'll spend earlier turns whittling life totals down, but once the game goes late, the idea is to close the book with one definitive attack. Or in the case of Full Throttle, three attacks. One for each opponent! Though costly at six mana, Full Throttle turns even a mildly-threatening board state into a lethal one for a single opponent. With a highly-developed board state, it becomes lethal for all opponents. You'll need to have a large army or Equipment-laden commander in play for Full Throttle to matter, but your deck was already trying to do that, anyway.

Bulwark Ox - As +1/+1 counter generation, Bulkwark Ox is nothing special. Sure, it'll accumulate counters on the creature of your choice, but only if it can attack while saddled each turn. The key feature is the second ability. For +1/+1 counter-themed Commander deck (Shalai and Hallar, Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, Hamza, Guardian of Arashin), Bulwark Ox serves as an excellent defensive tool, shielding the team from mass or targeted removal for a humble two mana. Rather than having to keep mana open for a Flawless Maneuver or Heroic Intervention, the Ox can come down and start chipping in for damage, dish out a few counters along the way, then act as an insurance policy when the table goes boom.

Salvation Engine: I imagine any deck already running Tempered Steel would be happy to include another copy of the effect, but Salvation Engine offers a whole lot more for its heftier CMC. Able to offset its own titanic crew cost via boosting artifact creatures, Salvation Engine need only attack to bring your most powerful artifact back from the scrapheap. This leads to one of the saltiest combos in the game: repeated recursion of Mindslaver. With an attacking Salvation Engine in play, you'll be able to ensnare the strongest opponent's entire game until someone disrupts your combo. Possessed Portal is another mean lock-down engine, this time hitting the entire table. Using Salvation Engine to recur Possessed Portal after your draw phase locks out anyone from drawing a card. Once a now-quite-furious opponent reaches their end step, use Possessed Portal's sacrifice effect to put itself back in your graveyard. Once your turn begins, you'll draw a card as normal, only then to attack once more with Salvation Engine and start the process over.

Note: Take a quick peek at Salvation Engine's artwork. It's floating over a swamp, so it's easy to assume the ship has Flying. Alas, despite appearances, it does not, so don't send this vehicle into the Red Zone thinking it can evade blockers.

Unstoppable Plan - Here's a card I can easily see climbing to $10 or beyond within a few years. Look at Drumbellower as comparison. The kami only untaps creatures and is still holding strong at $7. Unstoppable Plan goes the extra distance by untapping all nonland permanents you control, and as an enchantment, it's harder to remove than its creature-counterpart. Blue is also a prime color for this sort of effect, as combo potential abounds. Unwinding Clock combined with Mana Vault, Basalt Monolith, and Grim Monolith is already a potent cocktail. Unwinding Clock takes things a step further by also untapping your army. If I had to pick any card from Aetherdrift to pick up now while it's still cheap, it'd be Unstoppable Plan.

Repurposing Bay - If I had to pick a second card to pick up from Aetherdrift while it's still cheap, it'd be Repurposing Bay. Blue already has ample artifact synergies, and the Bay acting as an artifact-centric Birthing Pod supercharges that strategy by giving you a repeatable tutor for your best machines. Much like my article on Oswald Fiddlebender, Repurposing Bay requires careful deck construction, with key artifacts across all mana costs. Also useful is stocking up on artifact tokens like Treasure, Blood, Maps, or 1/1 Servo's, as they all sacrifice to Repurposing Bay as zero-mana artifacts that'll help search up Sol Ring, Skullclamp, Esper Sentinel, or Mana Vault. As the game progresses and you work your way up the mechanical chain, you begin dropping powerhouse sequences like Spine of Ish Sah to Possessed Portal to Portal to Phyrexia.

Riverchurn Monument - This one may be obvious, but that doesn't make it any less attractive to a dedicated Mill player. For those looking to feed their own graveyards (Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Grolnok, the Omnivore, The Master, Transcendent), Riverchurn Monument provides a steady stream of utility early on, then doubles the total number of cards in your graveyard later. Resources for days. On the flip, for decks looking to vanquish their opponents via Milling them out (Phenax, God of Deception, Bruvac the Grandiloquent, The Mindskinner), Riverchurn Monument's Exhaust cuts the requirement for victory in half. Any player with half of their deck already in their graveyard will suddenly find the rest of their cards washed away once the monument starts flowing.

I hope today's adventure has given you some ideas for new, exciting, and inexpensive inclusions to your Commander arsenal. Are there any Aetherdrift cards you think I missed? Or pricey cards you think will fall into budget range over the next few months? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading, and may your collecting ever be easy on the wallet

-Matt-

@Intrepid_tautog