The Aetherspark | art by Dominik Mayer 

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Midnight Initial NeeD Forza Turismo

Greetings and salutations my fellow brewers! I hope everything's fine with you on this fine (and a bit frosty) day.

We have a long way ahead of us, so let's not dilly dally too much on this intro. I'll just keep it short: lots of lovely cards for a lazy setting.

Initially I wanted to cover each and every artifact, including colored ones. Then my editor stepped in and threatened to ram my car and my head both into a wall if she had to review a 8,000-words article (true story).

To whom I replied: "I'm French, I don't care, ram ahead. Still love you!". So buckle up, get your oil checked, your tank fueled, your suspensions suspended and your windshield wiped, grab some snacks and a warm cup of something nice, we're in for a long ride.

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Mythics

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The Aetherspark

We start things off with the crown jewel of this ragtag race. This is a very interesting outlet, not to mention the first planeswalker artifact. And I believe it has a lot of potential.

First off, this thing is going to be somewhat hard to kill with regular damage. You're more than likely to play it only if you have a creature to attach it to, which will shield it from combat. Granted, artifact removal is extremely common, but that's one more hoop your opponents have to jump through.

The payoffs are more than decent, provided you can feed the thing. For once, the +1 is totally anecdotal (aside from enabling the initial protection) and you'll want to focus on the secondary and "ultimate" abilities. Provided you can consistently hit your opponents for 5 damage, this will yield consistent card draw.

Getting to 10 counters is not that hard of an ordeal either, as you only need to deal 5 damage to get there. Granted, you'll have to wait for a whole rotation – Play the card, attach the card, hit for 5 – but getting a 10-mana bump could often be game-ending, even if it's only of a single color.

With that said, where to play this oddity? Basically in any deck with decently powered and/or evasive creatures. I could also see a spot for this in Proliferate strategies, albeit demanding an adequate setup to make it work.

It's versatile, it's easy to play, it pays off and it can find a home pretty much anywhere. Wait, wasn't Golos banned for this very reason...?

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Radiant Lotus

You thought The Aetherspark was a heavy-hitter? This one's even better.

To be clear: the required to cast it is a hurdle all right. But this could be game-ending. Between Treasures, Clues, Thopters, Servos and other artifact tokens you can make these days, this basically says "Go ahead, knock yourself out, triple your mana".

Granted, it requires some setup to work its magic, but the ceiling is sky-high.

Play this in Galazeth Prismari for a massive Crackle with Power or Jaya's Immolating Inferno to take out the table.

Play this in Yurlok of Scorch Thrash to mana burn an opponent down.

Play this in Breya, Etherium Shaper, Tivit, Seller of Secrets, Ygra, Eater of All, Kambal, Profiteering Mayor to sacrifice an insane amount of tokens and make an even more insane amount of mana.

Oh, and a fun little interaction: Since it targets, it's not considered as a mana ability, so it can be interacted with. I see you, Ashnod the Uncaring. I see you, Abstruse Archaic. I see you, Lithoform Engine.

I see you all, and I'm terrified. This is no KCI, but it's a close relative. And a hungry one.

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The Gearhulk cycle

Let's dive into this new cycle of Gearhulks. The original one has seen more than a little play.

Noxious Gearhulk is currently included in 83,147 decks, Combustible Gearhulk in 67,202, Torrential Gearhulk in 19,345, Cataclysmic Gearhulk in 19,186, and Verdurous Gearhulk in a "measly" 12,839.

Granted, these numbers are likely inflated by the "precon effect", as all of these were reprinted at some point, sometimes in several decks. Nevertheless, they are versatile spells which excel in their specific endeavors.

This new cycle of allied colors follows in the same pattern. While I'll leave the Fabulous Mike Carrozza to comment on these at length, I feel like giving each my two cents:

• Brightglass Gearhulk: 4/4 first trike trample. Decent. Tutor two cards directly to your hand, that's very strong. Go fetch your Sol Ring, your Esper Sentinel, your Mother of Runes, your Mystic Remora, your Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, any of the legal Moxen, a Skullclamp, a Basilisk Collar, a Sensei's Divining Top, The Ozolith... I could extend this far and wide. Despite the color-heavy combination, this is a strong, strong tutor.
• Oildeep Gearhulk: A reboot of Vendilion Clique, with a little more oomph. Sure, you can choose a land. But unless you find ways to blink it into oblivion, I'm not sure this is a great card in commander, as the impact is quite minimal considering there are two other opponents to deal with.
• Pyrewood Gearhulk: This one, on the other hand, screams FINISHEEEEER! Ahem. Craterhoof Behemoth it is not, trample it giveth not. Yet for 6 mana, that body is more than decent, and the evasion provided by menace is going to cause some feverish calculations to whomever is attempting to block your onslaught. I really like the vigilance touch, keeping your army untapped to block the inevitable retaliation strike. Solid.
• Riptide Gearhulk: Another one I really like. Sure, its power is puny, but the combination of Prowess and double strike should ensure 6 to 8 damage consistently, if not more in a spell-slinging deck. And if you can manage to blink it, which shouldn't be too hard in these colors, it's likely to make quick work of the board. A solid removal with a decent body.
• Coalstoke Gearhulk: Probably the one I'm less thrilled about. Reanimating a creature is fine, and I suppose you could find juicy targets in the 4-or-less range, but it sounds a bit bland in my book. A decent outlet for Rakdos Reanimator decks (Chainer, Nightmare Adept for example). A corner-case scenario could also be bringing back something from another graveyard, preventing its owner from doing it for themself, prior to exiling it on the end step. But it's a bit far-fetched.

There you go, 10 cents.

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Salvation Engine

At first I was quite skeptical of this twist on good old Sun Titan. However, there is some sneaky synergy to be had here.

If your deck happens to generate a lot of artifact tokens, say Servos, Thopters or Myrs, this should be easy enough to animate, as the boost provided allows you to Crew it with only two artifact creatures. Suddenly, you've got a big body pushing through and bringing back an artifact each turn.

Be it the small rocks providing a little something when entering and leaving (Ichor Wellspring, Mephitic Draught, Prized Statue, etc.) or a beefier behemoth (Triplicate Titan, Parhelion II, Phyrexian Triniform...), or even a useful outlet (Vedalken Orrery, Bootleggers' Stash, The Great Henge, a used-up Wishclaw Talisman...), the possibilities are as juicy as they are terrifying.

Worst case scenario, this pumps your whole team, albeit at a significant cost. Thank the Blind Eternities, it has no evasion.

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The Last Ride

Look, I love a beefy body in my graveyard as anyone else. Give me a Death's Shadow in Varolz, the Scar-Striped or The Mimeoplasm any day. But don't count on using this Ride for these kinds of shenanigans.

Honestly, I see this as a reverse Greed. The latter asks for as an initial investment but then only to activate.

This one costs only but requires to give you cards. So, for two activations, Greed costs you , whereas the Ride climbs to Not sure it's truly worth it in the long run.

A fun design, for a disappointing result, although I'm positive some of you will prove me wrong.

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Thunderous Velocipede

This is huge. Giving anything costing 5 or more mana 3 +1/+1 counters turns any monster into an even more massive beast.

While the boost for less expensive creatures (yes, and vehicles, but I feel it's anecdotal) is cute, this is going to truly shine in big mana decks.

I for one have already reserved a spot for it into my Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty/Keruga, the Macrosage list.

This is green doing green things at its best. It's a simple yet clever design, and one of my favourite cards in the set, period.

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Valor's Flagship

A strict upgrade from the Cycling text of Decree of Justice. You get Pilots instead of Soldiers, and if you pay the prohibitive and very colored cost, you get a big vehicle that can be crewed with a single Pilot.

There's not much to comment here. It's a versatile outlet, but one I doubt will see much play. Maybe in Greasefang, Okiba Boss, and even then I'm not sure the payoff is worth the inclusion.

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Rares

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Adaptive Omnitool

With such a name, I somewhat expected more from this trinket. But despite not quite living up to its hype in terms of versatility, it definitely has a few interesting quirks.

First, the boost. While not equaling the unparalleled mana cost of Cranial Plating, it will provide a serious power-up to any creature it's attached to, provided your deck is built towards making a slew of Treasures, Clues, Thopters and whatnot.

Second, the search ability on attack will most likely provide you with something of at least moderate value. Digging 6 cards deep is no joke, especially if you have a decent ratio of artifacts.

In a way, this reminds me a bit of Siona, Captain of the Pyleas (played in 12,341 decks) or Carth the Lion (15,645 and 3,297 decks to his name).

While I would rather have this cost 3 and equip for 2, I still believe this could turn into a great search engine in a plethora of decks. A recurring tutor it is not, but it's still a great card advantage outlet.

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Aetherflux Conduit

Let me start with a few stats. At the time of writing, Aetherflux Reservoir is played in 187,716 decks. There are also 14,791 Energy decks out there, mostly in Jeskai colors, a number that's bound to increase significantly with the new dedicated precon.

Anyone who has played against an Energy deck knows how terrifyingly fast this pseudo-mana can grow in the right conditions. If Aetherflux Conduit only had the first ability, I'm quite sure it would still see play, despite the respectable mana cost.

I have no doubts however that players will find ways to reach that fated 50 threshold without much trouble. Drawing 7 cards and getting Omniscience for a turn is more than likely to win you the game, or at least put you in very commanding lead.

Heck, I could even see this played in non-Energy decks. Find a way to proliferate or double your counters and you could get into the danger zone.

Speaking of doubling...

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Aetheric Amplifier

Hello! One Commander's Sphere on steroids please!

Worst case scenario, this stays as a mana rock. At best, you turn that 25 energy into 50. There is almost no downside in playing this in any deck caring about counters. Skullbriar, the Walking Grave could see a use for this, as could Kyler, Sigardian Emissary.

I also see a bright future for it in decks caring about Experience counters. Unplayed hidden gems like Meren of Clan Nel Toth (15,308 decks), Azlask, the Swelling Scourge (6,735), Ezuri, Claw of Progress (6,372) or Kelsien, the Plague (4,901).

I'm quite certain that is not that high of a price for such a powerful ability. Just be careful not to double your counters if you're poisoned (although that would be a hilarious way to die).

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Boommobile

A big meh. I'm certain this has infinite combo potential (anything providing you mana upon entering generally does), despite the fact that said mana is limited to activating abilities.

That Exhaust is underwhelming at best – I'd rather play a good old Fireball or any other burn spell – and it sports no evasion whatsoever.

For me, that's a quick and hard pass for Commander.

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Cryptcaller Chariot

Now this is a funny trinket.

Forget about the vehicle. 5/5 menace is cute but nothing to fawn at.

Making Zombie tokens when discarding cards however is much more interesting. Granted, they will enter tapped, but I'm fairly certain that won't be such an issue for creative brewers looking for cheap chowder.

Let me put this in perspective. Bone Miser, while indeed more versatile, is played in 35,833 decks. It's also included in 60% of Varina, Lich Queen decks. Frankly, I'd have a hard time believing this Chariot is not at the very least worth a shot there.

And then there's also Raffine, Scheming Seer, Sauron, the Dark Lord, Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer...

I'm willing to bet this has great potential.

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Cursecloth Wrappings

Before we begin, allow me to gush on the illustration. Those petals reminding of a famous Black Lotus are absolutely gorgeous. I can't really say as much for the anime counterpart. Seriously, do we really need to turn our game into Yu-Gi-Oh?

At any rate, this is... fine. Sure, it can activate every turn, meaning that basically every creature in your graveyard gets a second breath. A decent way to keep threats returning to the battlefield.

In a way, this is like turning all creatures in your bin into a secondary hand. Having more cards is never a bad idea. Oh, and the anthem is nice I suppose.

Overall, this is an efficient recursion engine that can find a spot in any deck including black. But it's precisely that universality that leaves me a bit unfazed.

Will it be efficient? Looks like it.

Should you play it? Probably, at least to try it out.

Is it exciting? Not really.

Is it going to be really annoying? You bet.

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Debris Beetle

So. Back in the day, when Khans of Tarkir was a thing, Siege Rhino saw decent play, more than decent even.

Does this warrant a similar future for this Vehicle counterpart? I have strong doubts. While the stats are slightly better, you still need something to crew it

I'm not knowledgeable in Standard, haven't been in a long while, so it may have a chance there.

In Commander though? The life loss/gain is not impactful enough to make a difference in my book. And while Siege Rhino sees a modest 2,479 inclusion rate, I'm not sure this will reach even that.

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Demonic Junker

The same cannot be said for this nifty toy. Again, it's not for all decks. But if you produce a somewhat moderate amount of Treasures, Clues or creature tokens, you basically get sorcery that says ": Blow up up to four creatures".

Even for that would be an excellent rate. And don't get me started on blinking it repeatedly.

It's not the sexiest card ever printed, but it gets the job done. I'm looking forward to trying this out in my Wernog, Rider's Chaplain/Hargilde, Kindly Runechanter deck.

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Gastal Thrillroller

A 4/2 hasty creature for 3 mana is not something I'm excited about. This is likely to impale itself on the first chump blocker, and not make such a difference otherwise.

I mean, sure, it can come back once. And maybe, just maybe, Ognis, the Dragon's Lash can give it a shot. But it's a corner case.

Go on ahead, I'll watch you from the curb.

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Lifecraft Engine

Oh yay, another outlet to turn all creatures into a specific creature type and give them a buff... As if there weren't enough of these already.

As you can tell, I'm a bit... underwhelmed by this one. It almost feels like a tick on a checklist. "Making vehicles into any creature type? Check." "Make a 3 mana anthem playable in any typal deck? Check".

Hooray, give me three cheers for blandness, lackluster and boredom.

Aside from that, sure, it's probably playable, though not extremely mana efficient.

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Lumbering Worldwagon

This vehicle would have been very cute, were it not for its hefty Crew cost.

Granted, at worst it's a strictly better Wood Elves, but let's be honest, getting a basic into play tapped for 3 mana rarely makes the cut today, with all the Farseek, Nature's Lore, Three Visits and Into the North of the world.

Unless you find a way to turn it into a perennial creature, that 4-power worth of crewing is going to bear heavily on your board, all for a puny basic land.

Unless you're desperately craving for land tutors, do yourself a favor and play Sword of the Animist instead.

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Marketback Walker

I'm a bit annoyed. I really like this design, I do. It's a clever reimagining of the infamous Hangarback Walker, which is played in 47,960 decks and of Walking Ballista, which made its way into 128,960. Both are staples known to wreak havoc if not downright end games.

And yet, this is... boring? It's a bit as if the designers decided to give a mechanical mate to Toothy, Imaginary Friend.

It can probably find a slot in basically any deck, with a sweet spot for ones able to generate a lot of mana. Yet I fail to be thrilled by the idea of spending 12 mana to eventually draw 6 cards.

Proliferate- and +1/+1 counters-based decks might give it a shot. Aside from that? I'm not so sure.

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Mendicant Core, Guidelight

We've reached our only Legendary artifact creature, and it's a spicy one.

First perk, it comes down fast. This means that you can start cranking up your speed as soon as turn 2, and get max speed by turn 4. Not a bad deal.

With that top speed reached, it's time to use and abuse the second ability. Osgir, the Reconstructor players know how powerful doubling up each and every artifact you get can be.

I'm not going to list each and every asset that's worth copying. Let's just name a few: Panharmonicon, Solemn Simulacrum, Esper Sentinel, Sol Ring, Triplicate Titan, Myr Battlesphere, Bronze Guardian...

Need I say more?

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Monument to Endurance

We've talked about how I liked Cryptcaller Chariot earlier on. This gives me even better vibes.

Aside from those self-discarding decks we've already mentioned (Rielle, the Everwise, if you can hear me...), I could also see this become an instant staple in any list focused on Cycling.

This works particularly well with Gavi, Nest Warden for instance. As long as you have cards to cycle, this means you get four kitties per rotation: cycle the card, draw a card, then draw another one, get kitty, rinse and repeat on your next turn. Not too bad.

While the life loss is not that impressive at first glance, if you can repeatedly discard a card every turn, it's going to pay off eventually, to the point of potentially becoming a wincon.

With enough cards and ways to discard them, you could hit the table for 12 and gain 12 life each rotation. Again, not bad.

It does not do anything extravagant, but I absolutely love how it does it.

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Perilous Snare

Hey Wizards, can I get a Banishing Light that can conditionally and slowly boost my creatures as well? Thanks. Bye!

Seriously though, this could see some play in decks churning through their graveyards. Osgir, the Reconstructor and Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle may fine some use for that (thanks Mike!).

Still, I see no reason to celebrate in glee.

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Possession Engine

This one puzzles me. I love it when you have to read a card a second time to make sure you've understood it properly.

So, basically, this steals a creature, but prevents you from attacking or blocking with it. So you can either use this to remove a threat from the board, or steal something with an activated ability which, in fact, you can use.

5 mana is a tad expensive to basically Pacify a creature, but it could be worse.

Frankly, I'm not sure where I would play this. Maybe a Vehicles-based Shorikai, Genesis Engine?

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Repurposing Bay

We continue on our series of revival of all-stars with a rethinking on Birthing Pod.

What can I say. This card screams use & abuse. Birthing Pod is played in 58,851 decks and has its own tag on the website. Eldritch Evolution, another heavy hitter, is in 111,900 decks. Neoform is played in 57,831 lists.

This is likely to see play in a plethora of builds. Sacrificing any token will net you a Sol Ring, an Esper Sentinel, a Skullclamp.

Our resident DougY has already gushed on the various ways to untap this trinket, so I'll keep this short: as long as you keep the value of the artifact you're sacrificing fairly low (say, between 0 and 3), I can see almost no deck that could not go tutor something from their library.

Expect seeing some nasty loops and/or surprises if this thing hits the board. At least the activation is still at sorcery speed.

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Riverchurn Monument

An interesting and versatile mill outlet. I see this as a two-edged coin, equally winning but for two very different strategies.

You could use this to support your milling, before dealing a finishing blow by exhausting the thing. Of course, some savvy players will Bojuka Bog themselves to prevent that outcome, but still, that's a nifty Sword of Damocles hanging on their head.

Or your could be greedy and use this to fill up your graveyard. The ability to self-mill is nothing to scoff at. After all, our resident Joey Schulz has built a deck with Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator just for the ability to throw stuff into the bin.

Just imagine playing this with Syr Konrad, the Grim out, and paying . Yep, that's going to be painful.

Again, not the most outstanding idea ever, but a well-built outlet.

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Skyseer's Chariot

Unless you're metagaming hard or you are a horrible, horrible person who loves nothing more than sadness, despair and misery (aka a Stax player), you will steer away from this thing.

And even if you are, I'm not sure it's really worth a slot. In limited, however, this is going to be a real pain to deal with.

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Stridehangar Automaton

Pffffffffffft............ Can you hear me? I sighed. Again. Long and loud. In French.

Let's be clear: it's fine. It works, it makes Thopters in addition to whatever other tokens you may create. This will definitely find a room into Sai, Master Thopterist lists. I could even see some future for it in Breya, Etherium Shaper.

I'll be trying this in my aforementioned Wernog, Rider's Chaplain/Hargilde, Kindly Runechanter deck. And possibly with Galazeth Prismari. It's not bad, and it will likely spew tokens faster than a gatling gun.

But frankly, it's a Jack-of-All-Trades. If you play anything even remotely focused on creating any kind of artifact tokens, you have no real reason not to include this.

All that go-to makes a bit... sad?

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Thopter Fabricator

Speaking of sadness. We've seen this effect countless times before. Alandra, Sky Dreamer, Detective of the Month, Minn, Wily Illusionist, Mischievous Mystic, Prince Imrahil the Fair.......

We get it Wizards, you put that on a Vehicle now, and it's very pretty. But did we really need it, furthermore as a rare?

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Voyager Glidecar

A versatile little thing that can grow bigger the more stuff you tap to boost it.

I like how easy it is to crew, and that Scry 1 upon entering is cute. Still, I believe this lacks the necessary perks in the long run to be viable in Commander. Maybe as a way to help tapping Saint Traft and Rem Karolus, and even then...

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Accursed Duneyard

Another both efficient and uninspired design that will no doubt see massive play in a slew of decks. Swarmyard has been adopted by 64,526 decks, and there are currently 69,955 Zombies lists.

If you have a deck focused on any of the types on this land, there is no reason not to include it.

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Muraganda Raceway

This one is interesting. I've had a talk at length with some other editors over in our lair, deep in the Muragandan caves, while trying to dodge the teeth of an enraged Somethingosaurus Rex.

Personally, I think this land is quite bad. For it to be worth it, you need to reach max speed. Thing is, it will take you three turns at best.

So if you play it turn 1, that potentially makes you a land that gives two mana instead of one on turn 4.

One turn later, and it's no different than playing a Temple of the False God (assuming you did not miss a land drop).

If it comes at a later turn, unless you managed to Start your Engines with another card, it's simply a land giving you colorless mana.

Others seems to think it could find a room in some specific decks (namely, Belbe, Corrupted Observer or colorless decks).

No matter what, do not mistake this for fast mana. It's not. It might give you a small edge in the long run. But in my book? Not worth it.

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The Verge Cycle

Hey, look, we've got another cycle that's finally completed, at long last, after all these years! Er, months! Er, weeks...

Still, cynical as I might sound, I'm not complaining. The cycle that was started in the recent Duskmourn set was absolutely fine, and I really like that their enemy pairs get their due.

This is an easy way to get dual lands that enter the battlefield untapped, and that's all I'm asking from them.

Now Wizards, the only thing left to do is reprint these into oblivion in the precons to come. Can you do that? Pretty please?

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Uncommons & Commons

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Guidelight Matrix

For brevity's sake, I'll stick to colorless artifacts in this section.

Of all the lower rarity cards, this is by far my favourite. Granted, there aren't that many Mounts (yet), but the ability to turn any of them or a Vehicle into a beater for a puny two mana is great.

And it gives you a card upon entering? And it's a COMMON?

That's what I'm talking about!

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Pit Automaton

This gentleman is niche, very niche. But I'm very excited about the potential shenanigans it will eventually allow.

There are a lot of abilities out there requiring mana. Most Exhaust of course, but I'm also thinking of the draft chaff crew usually tagging along Agatha of the Vile Cauldron or simply to help sacrificing Clues.

I have not yet seen an Exhaust ability really striking my fancy, but it's worth keeping an eye out for.

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Conclusion

Usually I end up these reviews with an exclamative like "WE'RE DONE!!!" of "WHEW!", or even "THAT WAS A LOT OF FUN!!!!!!!1!!1".

Not this time.

Let me be clear, writing about these cards has definitely been enjoyable, and overall I believe there are a few gems worth taking a second, if not a third look at.

But as I skimmed through many of these, what lingered was a sensation of laziness. A lot of these cards feel like déjà-vu, as if they had been made and twisted a hundred times before.

Maybe I'm just an old grump who liked it better before. Maybe.

But I feel like, like many sets in the past couple of years have been quite lackluster in their backstories – Karlov Manor, Duskmourn, Thunder Junction, to name a few –, mechanically speaking, there is less effort in innovating than before.

Don't get me wrong. I know designing new ideas for a game with close to 30,000 cards is an ordeal, one that's getting harder by the day, especially with Hasbro breathing hard on creators' necks to publish a gazillion sets a year.

But the more I see these "novelties", the more I get the feeling that they are designed more to fit an overall general theme (cowboys, detectives, horror movies, Fast & Furious/Mad Max/The Love Bug) rather than a consistent and engaging backstory.

The last set that got me truly thrilled was, in fact, Foundations, as it brought me back to what I felt what Magic should be at its core.

As usual, dear readers, thank you for sticking with me to the very end of this lengthy review. I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions, as well as you pointing out inevitable mistakes or misconceptions.

See you in the next Trim!