As we dive into a new year we find ourselves diving into a new and very unusual set. Aetherdrift is set to hit stores in mid-February and we're already seeing previews. While I wasn't initially a fan of vehicles, I eventually got used to them. I never imagined we'd get a set that seemed desperate to make you think of Mario Kart more than Magic: the Gathering.

Fortunately, every set that is focused around a theme that one player might find off-putting or weird will invariably have lots of other cards that fit right in with your average EDH deck. You might not want your Elves to suddenly be revving their engines and racing down Magic's equivalent of Rainbow Road. I certainly don't, but there are plenty of other gems to find in Aetherdrift, starting with what looks to be a cycle of new Gods.

For today's column I'm going to shine a light on the Simic God, as he gives me one of my favorite things as a deckbuilder - a puzzle to solve.

This Legendary God is a 6/6 for five mana in colors that make it easy to ramp. She has reach, trample, and is indestructible, but Sab can't attack or block unless it has an even number of counters on it. That's good, but it gets better. At the beginning of my first main phase, I'll put a +1/+1 counter on Sab-Sunen and if it has an odd number of counters on it, I'll draw two cards.

Not "draw a card", but "draw two cards"? That is a triggered ability worth building around!

This deck is going to want lots and lots of ways to put counters on a creature. I'll want to be able to make sure that Sab-Sunen has an even number of counters on the end step of the player before me. I want to draw those two extra cards on every one of my turns. I then want to be able to put another +1/+1 counter on my commander so that my indestructible God can attack.

Counting on my Counters

The first thing I focused on when building this deck was instant speed ways to put +1/+1 counters on a creature. If I can do it at instant speed I can make that last minute adjustment on the end step so that I draw those cards.

My commander is indestructible, but it'll be nice to have ways to keep it from getting targeted. Spells like Heroic Intervention, Snakeskin Veil, Silkguard, and Slip out the Back will help with that. Both Snakeskin Veil and Silkguard can give it hexproof until end of turn and will give it a +1/+1 counter as well. Slip out the Back will put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and will have it phase out until my next turn.

Removal is something I didn't expect to be able to work into my +1/+1 counter theme, but Ancient Animus does the job nicely. This 2 mana Green instant will put a +1/+1 counter on target creature if it's legendary, and then it will fight target creature an opponent controls.

There is a class of Green instants that untap a creature and a few of them put a +1/+1 counter on that creature. Stony Strength and Burst of Strength do that, but I've got to remember that my commander can't actually work as a surprise blocker without an even number of counters on it. Gift of the Viper actually puts three counters on the creature - a +1/+1 counter, a reach counter and a deathtouch counter.

The best trick I found for putting counters on my commander might just be counter doublers. Whether I've got an even or an odd number of counters on my commander, if I double that number I'll end up with an even number. I want an even number so I can put a +1/+1 counter on Sub-Sunen at the beginning of my first main phase, note that it now has an odd number, and then draw two cards.

Solidarity of Heroes is a Green instant that will double the +1/+1 counters on target creature. I can pay additional mana to target additional creatures, but chances are good I'll be focusing on just my commander. For one mana more, Invigorating Surge will add a +1/+1 counter to target creature and then double the number of +1/+1 counters on that creature. Hydra's Growth is an aura, providing repeatable value. At the beginning of my upkeep I'll double the number of +1/+1 counters on enchanted creature.

It's notable that I decided not to play any standard counter doublers. Primal Vigor and Doubling Season seem like they'd be great, but I think I'd struggle to ever get my commander to have an odd number of +1/+1 counters. Hardened Scales is essentially a counter doubler in a deck with so many ways to put a single +1/+1 counter on a creature. Maybe they're so good in this context that I wouldn't care, but I decided to leave them out in this first draft.

Odds and Ends

I'm optimistic that this is going to be a fairly potent voltron deck, capable of dishing out damage but playing a relatively fair game. The assumption is that we're playing by standard EDH rules, so I need to get to 21 points of commander damage to kill someone. If you're playing by house rules... well, don't play by house rules. Play with commander damage - it's an essential part of the format.

The game plan of building up a huge God and sending it into battle is pretty neat, but I wanted to add in ways to take advantage of having a huge creature.

Ramping equal to the greatest power among creatures you control can solve your mana problems for the rest of the game. Traverse the Outlands will do that for me. Fungal Sprouting will give me a modest little army of 1/1 Green Saprolings. Monstrous Onslaught will let me push out damage divided as I choose among any number of target creatures. In this deck all three of these spells will scale up to the power of my commander, which could easily be 10 or higher, and could be much, much higher.

I decided not to play any draw spells that would make me sacrifice my huge creature to draw a ton of cards, but Rishkar's Expertise, Return of the Wildspeaker, and Garruk, Primal Hunter will all draw me cards equal to the greatest power among creatures I control.

Hardy Outlander will let me attack with another creature and if my commander is attacking the player with the highest life among my opponents, another target creature I control can get +X/+X where X is my commander's power. Overwhelming Stampede takes that up a notch or three, giving all of my creatures trample and that same +X/+X.

Odds and Evens

This deck is one of my favorite kinds of decks. It's straightforward, and should play a relatively fair game. It's got a simple goal - to kill you with commander damage. Sub-Sunen is indestructible, so there's no major concern about going to combat, and it has trample, so there's a built-in ability to get damage through if I've got enough counters.

The worst-case scenario is probably just not having enough low mana creatures or blockers. Sub-Sunen doesn't have vigilance and sometimes can't block, so attacking could leave me open. I'm bound to take some early damage and if I find that's an issue I may need to load in a few more bodies to put onto the battlefield. You could replace utility cards with similar effects attached to creatures, especially if you play this deck in a meta with a lot of aggro and combat damage being dealt in the early turns.

The best-case scenario is that I'll see a steady flow of cards that deal with counters, I'll hit a few counter doublers, and I'll get to where I can just one-shot my tablemates in succession to win the game.

Sub-Sunen, Luxa Embodied | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Sub-Sunen, Luxa Embodied

• Creatures (19)
• 1 Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait
• 1 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
• 1 Deepglow Skate
• 1 Fathom Mage
• 1 Forgotten Ancient
• 1 Guardian Augmenter
• 1 Herald of Secret Streams
• 1 Kalonian Hydra
• 1 Pathbreaker Ibex
• 1 Pir, Imaginative Rascal
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Steelbane Hydra
• 1 Tanazir Quandrix
• 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• 1 Toothy, Imaginary Friend
• 1 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
• 1 Voracious Varmint
• 1 Vorel of the Hull Clade
• 1 Zimone, Paradox Sculptor

• Instants (21)
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Ancient Animus
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Burst of Strength
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Gift of the Viper
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Invigorating Surge
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1 Signature Slam
• 1 Silkguard
• 1 Slip Out the Back
• 1 Snakeskin Veil
• 1 Solidarity of Heroes
• 1 Stony Strength
• 1 Strix Serenade
• 1 Swan Song

• Sorceries (11)
• 1 Biogenic Upgrade
• 1 Fangs of Kalonia
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Fungal Sprouting
• 1 Monstrous Onslaught
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Overwhelming Stampede
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Rishkar's Expertise
• 1 Traverse the Outlands
• 1 Visions of Dominance

• Artifacts (6)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sword of Hours
• 1 The Ozolith
• 1 Thought Vessel

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Hardy Outlander
• 1 Hydra's Growth
• 1 Rhystic Study

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter

• Lands (38)
• 13 Forest
• 13 Island
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dreamroot Cascade
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Flooded Grove
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Homeward Path
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Rejuvenating Springs
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
• 1 Yavimaya Coast

Buy This Deck Export text

I usually discuss how I might tune this deck up or down at this point. Tuning this deck down would probably involve leaning away from the theme of getting commander damage kills. That's the main wincon, but you could play with a wider creature base and fewer ways to manipulate the number of counters on Sub-Sunen. You'd also probably want to play Bounty of the Luxa and Luxa River Shrine, as they are very on theme. Additional cards that deal with evens and odds might be fun, but I'll leave it to you to find out what you get by going down that rabbit hole.

This isn't a high-powered deck, and I'm not sure you could turn it into one, but if you wanted to tune this list up you could lean into more control. It's got a few counterspells but it could have more. You might add in some nastier spells like Triumph of the Hordes and Grafted Exoskeleton along with more protection in the form of Swiftfoot Boots. Lightning Greaves would keep you from targeting your commander, so it could be too troublesome to run. Ways to get through blockers also could help. This first draft is lacking in equipment, running just Sword of Hours to add or double +1/+1 counters.

Final Thoughts

As spoilers roll in, I've been trying to find cards to get excited about. I'll pass by some weird shark dude and think about how stupid it looks, but then I'll see a vehicle with Affinity for Artifacts and I'll start wondering if my Urtet Myr deck would be fun to build around cars.

Ultimately, not every set is for every player, and as EDH players we are graced with the ability to really pick and choose what we put into our decks. There's no limitation forcing us to play with recent cards, or even with particularly good cards! I'm not sure what I'll pivot to for next week but at some point I'll probably strap in, start my engine, and steer my way into writing about vehicles.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!