Aethedrift preview season has crossed the finish line (there are so many easy puns with this set) and after being a little dismissive of the set at first, I do think it shows a high enough power level to let a few new decks break out in Standard. There are some powerful cards hiding in this set, and I look forward to taking them for a spin (soooo many puns).

Honorable Mention: The Verge Lands

As I said with Duskmourn: House of Horror, I don't like putting the set's dual lands in my top ten, but I can't talk about the set without recommending them. The Verges are great, pick them up as soon as you can. I want to point a special spotlight on Wastewood Verge since it allows Golgari to cast Llanowar Elves on turn 1, and should help solidify the Golgari manabase.

10. Bloodghast

An oldie but a goodie. With Bloodghast it's always been, "how can I use this creature outside the combat zone," and I see nothing changing this time around. It's just not big enough to be a threat as an attacker, so you have to find some way to get value out of repeatedly sacrificing it or returning it from the graveyard. I have faith that Insidious Roots players will find a way to do so.

9. Riptide Gearhulk

I have some evil plans for this. The ability is fantastic, tucking a problematic permanent away, far enough to give you enough time to force a shuffle effect or just prepare for it to come back. With Doublestrike and Prowess, this can hit for a ton of damage, it just needs some form of evasion. Maybe we can pair this with Salvation Swan to double up on the triggered ability, getting rid of multiple permanents, and letting it take to the air?

8. Momentum Breaker

The Esper Pixie decks were already playing Tithing Blade and this card is so, so much better. It is almost always guaranteed to get a card (and if it's not getting a card you should be winning anyway), synergizes with Optimistic Scavenger and Entity Tracker, and can even offer a life buffer in tight matches. This might not be the best card in the set, but it is one of the cards that stands to see the most play.

7. Kolodin, Triumph Caster

If a vehicle deck does make it in Standard, it will be off the strength of this card. This is going to be a, "Kill on sight" level card for Standard. Personally, I want to pair it and Valor's Flagship with One Last Job, but I'm not sure there's enough support for a Boros reanimation strategy.

6. Quag Feast

If this was an instant, it would have been the best card in the set. With a baseline of being a two mana spell that can kill any two-drop (barring graveyard hate shenanigans) this should see some play. The fact that it enables a graveyard deck and can also take out a Planeswalker or Vehicle means it could end up being one of the more versatile removal spells in the format.

5. Brightglass Gearhulk

Look, I love a good toolbox card, and this is a pretty good one. Pairing this with Nurturing Pixie should help you grind out most decks. Finding Ghost Vacuum can help combat the graveyard decks. Something like Basilisk Collar will make sure you win every combat step. You can pair Nesting Bot with Dusk Rose Reliquary to get rid of a creature/artifact. In fact, there's easily 20-30 cards you can list that would make this an amazing card, in Standard alone.

4. Loot, the Pathfinder

Loot was so exciting that I wrote an article and brewed a deck for him before the rest of the set was spoiled. Now that all of Aetherdrift is spoiled... I'm still team Loot. I love the little guy and I think he's playable as a mid-range card and as a combo card. Agatha's Soul Cauldron is always lurking in the background, waiting to be part of one of the best decks in Standard, and Loot might be the card that finally carries it there. But, even if not... I will still jam him into numerous mid-range decks. This is the card I'm most excited to brew with, even if I'm not sure it's the best in the set.

3. Ketramose, the New Dawn

By far, the best of the new gods in Aetherdrift. Most of the power here is in the triggered ability, though it shouldn't be too hard to enable this as an attacker if that's your druthers. Attaching a cantrip to some of the best removal in the format means this needs to be tested and considered as soon as the set drops. Or, pair this with blink effects, or graveyard removal to go a different direction. In fact, I wonder if this might be too easy to turn on, to the point where you risk killing yourself since it's not a "may" ability.

2. Radiant Lotus

Someone is going to break this in Modern/Pioneer, and I think the possibility exists that it'll be broken in Standard. There are so many ways to make artifact token in Standard right now. Just off the top of my head, you can play Novice Inspector, Spyglass Siren, Vinereap Mentor, Sentinel of the Nameless City, Nesting Bot, Carrot Cake, Fountainport, Mirrex... The biggest issue for Radiant Lotus in Standard is the payoff.

What are we doing with all this mana? I've seen people suggest Doppelgang and Worldsoul's Rage, and both could end up being the right choice, but I would prefer to be able to cast the spell I want off of Radiant Lotus immediately after playing it, and these both require a second color of mana. Personally, I want to try it with White Sun's Twilight, which can work as both an enabler and payoff.

1. Monument to Endurance

In the right deck, this card is absolutely ridiculous. It can be a lone wincon in a control deck. It can be an accelerator in a mid-range deck. It can even work in some form of aggro deck where you pair it with Marauding Mako and Scrounging Skyray. Pairing this with cheap cycling cards to motor through your deck and triggering other discard/card draw shenanigans seems the best place to start.

You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456 and on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/anakinsdad.bsky.social