Aetherdrift (DFT) Limited Primer — Multicolor

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Aetherdrift (DFT) prerelease events run on February 7, 2025, and the set is officially released one week later on February 14, 2025. Want to know more about how each card rates in Limited, with some pick advice? Then check out this series of DFT Limited primers!

• For the mechanics, see this article: Aetherdrift Mechanics Explained

Rating Scale

5.0: An unconditional first pick that gives you a near-winning advantage
4.5: An unconditional first pick if you are in the right colors, giving you a huge advantage
4.0: Worth a first pick. Excellent synergy with its color pair’s theme, and can be the deciding card for splashing, switching colors, or committing to the pair
3.5: Top uncommons and commons of the set, plus other cards that are strong enough. Great synergy with the color pair’s theme and a key card for committing to the pair
3.0: An important card for the color pair’s theme, plus other above-average cards. You will want it in your final deck
2.5: Average, usually a decent curve filler
2.0–1.0: Below average. Generally you do not want to play it, but it can fill out the deck if necessary, just not too many of them
0.5–0.0: Unplayable. Basically do not play it. Playing it will only help you lose

Card Reviews

Score: 3.5
Comment: Cast it at six mana and you should get at least three 1/1 Insects, which is a huge board advantage. If the ground is stalled, those 1/1 Insects can also make suicide attacks or blocks to chip away at your opponent’s life while fattening up this card itself. I believe this is a strong card in grindy matchups!

Score: 2.0
Comment: Having to tap itself to activate the ability is a bit inefficient. You may need to check whether there are creatures with power 2 or less that cause real trouble when they connect; if not, this is probably the score it deserves.
Of course, if you are ahead on board, a small creature that gains you life as it attacks is also very strong.

Score: 2.5
Comment: Exhaust only reduces the cost by two for permanents other than itself. As a nine-mana 5/5 trampler you can pay for in installments, it really does not measure up. Its 3/3/3 stats are not outstanding in Gruul either. It is a competent curve creature, but nothing that will especially tempt you to play it.

Score: 3.5
Comment: It does not even need to connect. Just attacking lets you loot, and both crew 1 and menace make you want it in Izzet. Early on, when your small creatures cannot get through, it attacks for you; in the mid to late game, when it cannot get through either, you swap in better creatures and keep attacking. The efficient card filtering that happens along the way should not be underestimated.

Score: 3.0
Comment: The allied-color Gearhulks this time have very demanding color requirements, so from that angle, to cast it in Limited you may need to add a mana or two to the estimate. Under that assumption, a six-mana 4/4 with first strike and trample is still a very strong card for combat, and the searching is great, but in Limited it only finds a creature, artifact, or enchantment with mana value one or less. Unless you have Marketback Walker, by the time you can cast it, whatever you find will not matter much.

Note: On an unrelated topic, being able to find two copies of Urza’s Saga in Modern is so good…

Score: 3.5
Comment: If it were not a color-intensive Izzet card, it would deserve a 4.0! Instant-speed five damage for three mana is already efficient enough, and you get to loot too! Do not forget that in this color pair, discarding can trigger extra advantages, so remember to maximize its value when you use it!

Score: 3.0
Comment: Once it lands, surveilling 1 each turn improves your future draws, and if you surveil a great creature, you can follow up by sacrificing it for four mana to dig it back. Quite good.

Score: 4.0
Comment: Reasonable stats with a bit of self-protection. Its discard ability can deal a massive amount of damage when given to fliers or tramplers (note: discarding two at once gives +4/+0, and if you discard one at a time you can give +2/+0 to two target creatures). Being able to draw a card when it deals damage also makes up for the downside that attackers may not survive. It is a key card worth building an Izzet cycling/discard aggro deck around!

Note: If you really need to draw cards, you can also cycle at instant speed when your opponent attacks you, giving their creature +2/+0, which works out to something like losing 2 life to draw 1.

Score: 4.0
Comment: The 4/4/2 stats are a bit off, but when it enters it finds a Vehicle or Mount to make up for the card disadvantage. While it is on the battlefield, it will basically eat a removal spell; otherwise, paired with some effects that put counters, you should be able to wear your opponent down in a few turns.

Note: When you put counters on it, it gets one extra too!

Score: 3.5
Comment: A 2/3/1 is an aggressive creature, and scrying 2 on entry makes up for its weak stats. In the designated Boros Vehicle/Mount aggro plan, it can single-handedly grow a bunch of pilots to crew or saddle with.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Crew costs only 1, and putting counters on itself when it enters makes a 4/5 flying Vehicle. The counters can also be distributed freely, so it is quite flexible.

Score: 3.5
Comment: Digging for a creature with mana value four or less onto the battlefield to get in a punch, plus gaining the leave-the-battlefield effect, is quite good, and the body can fight too. Although it is heavy on color requirements, it pays for itself even when cast at six mana.

Score: 3.5
Comment: Easy to cast, and it is itself a four-mana 6/6 trampling Vehicle that gains you a 6-point life swing on entry. Nothing to complain about.

Score: 3.0
Comment: As graveyard recursion goes it is not very efficient, and spending two mana to get a crew 2 3/3 Vehicle may not accomplish much. The black Carrion Cruisershould be better than this.

Score: 2.5
Comment: A total of 3/4 stats for three mana is good, and Zombie is the right creature type. It starts your engine on entry, and reaching Max Speed gives a small extra reward. But do not expect too much; starting your engine is probably the more important part.

Score: 4.0
Comment: It can save your most valuable creature, or one with a great enter/leave effect, or an artifact, and then deal 4 to everything, which basically clears the board effectively. Worth taking first.

Score: 3.5
Comment: Excellent stats. It can basically reach speed 2 right on entry, and if it is not removed, it attacks two turns later and jumps straight to Max Speed, and all damage dealt that turn gets +1, which is considerable!

Score: 3.5
Comment: I really want to give it a 4.0, but let me stay conservative for now. The body is a 3/3/3 with haste, and all Vehicles get haste, so if things go smoothly it can trigger draw three, discard two on the very turn it enters. The looting moves forward a little too fast.

Score: 3.0
Comment: It reaches speed 2 right on entry, and giving it extra deathtouch and haste should not be hard.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Apart from the high six-mana cost, there is little to complain about. On entry it can find an artifact, and anything with mana value two or less can be put straight onto the battlefield. In Azorius with some artifact cost-reduction effects, playing it is perfectly reasonable, but without them you do not necessarily need to.

Score: 2.0
Comment: Its floor is making two 1/1 Thopters and dealing a 4-point life swing. If your deck is good at filling the board with artifacts, it has a chance to take your opponent out in one shot.

Score: 2.5
Comment: Cheap crew cost, so it basically attacks as a 4/3 deathtouch. It might be stronger than it looks, but I will give it a baseline score for now.

Score: 0.0
Comment: Not a card for Limited. Do not play it.

Reason: Getting cards into exile is too hard in Limited, and it needs seven or more to take part in combat, so you can basically treat the first two ability lines as nonexistent. By the same token, since exiling is difficult in Limited, the third line, drawing a card and losing 1 life when something is exiled, is also hard to trigger.

Score: 3.5
Comment: Look at the floor first: if you do not pick up enough Vehicles/Mounts, it is just a very ordinary 2/2/3 worth 2.0 or less. If Vehicles and Mounts keep smashing in on curve after it lands, it is a 4.0 card. I gave it a higher score to remind Boros drafters to take it; if you are not in this color pair, there is no need to pick it.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Its base stats are weak, but it comes with flying and has a cheap saddle condition, and when Mounts ride Mounts they can get strong together. In Selesnya it is worth taking early!

Score: 3.5
Comment: A five-mana 2/4 with double strike, vigilance, and haste is an interesting body, but of its three exhaust abilities, the red and blue ones both can affect the game. In ramp strategies in these three color pairs, it is a very good mid-game threat.

Note: After first-strike damage is dealt from this guy’s attack, activating the red exhaust ability lets it trade with a big 5-toughness creature without taking any damage.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Quite capable in the Azorius artifact plan. The Max Speed effect may come a bit slowly, but if you can trigger it, it is a great deal.

Score: 3.0
Comment: This is a slower card that earns mid-to-late-game value. It is better suited to a Golgari graveyard plan splashing blue to play it. X should usually be 2 or more when you cast it. I will leave the activated ability for readers to explore; it should be pretty strong, but for me it is not strong enough to be a first pick.

Score: 3.0
Comment: With its heavy color requirements, you might only be able to cast it at five or six mana, and an enter ability that just lets you discard one and draw one is a bit weak. It generally depends on your opponent: if their cards are all bad, do not discard, and if they have a strong card, discard then.

Note: A 4/4 lifelinker may have limited impact on the game when it arrives, and might not even get through to attack. Treating it as a wall might be even stronger.

Score: 4.0
Comment: Giving your whole team +2/+2, vigilance, and menace is no joke. After attacking it can still block, and next turn there is an extra 7/7 vigilance menace attacking alongside it. As long as the board is not in terrible shape when it resolves, you should pull ahead in one go! Six mana in Gruul should be able to come down on time, so it is worth a first pick! With the right build and curve, it is a 5.0 card!

Score: 3.0
Comment: Cheap crew cost, and a 3/3/5 vigilance Vehicle is excellent on both offense and defense. Paired with some creatures with exhaust abilities, it can also send out extra 1/1 little fliers. If you are in Simic, it is worth taking early and picking up more exhaust-themed cards to maximize your resources.

Score: 3.0
Comment: The mana it produces can only be spent on activating abilities, which is rather limiting. The exhaust ability could realistically come online in the mid to late game, BUT… by then, will your hand be mostly empty anyway?

Note: Pair it with the blue Unstoppable Planand pump it to 6 power or more, then respond to the enchantment’s untap ability for a total of 12 or more mana, and you can activate its exhaust ability early! Achievement unlocked: Limited Wilderness Reclamation!?

Score: 4.0
Comment: A five-mana 2/5 with double strike and prowess is a very threatening body, and do not forget that Vehicles enter as noncreature spells, so they can trigger prowess. It basically comes with a hard removal on entry, and it is a very powerful card.

Score: 3.0
Comment: It brings a Treasure on entry for color fixing plus a one-time mana boost, and you will basically always exhaust it to turn it into a 4/3 creature and increase the pressure of your attack.

Score: 5.0
Comment: Its color requirements are low, and five mana should be a breeze for Simic. On entry it is a 6/6 reach indestructible wall, then next turn you draw two first. It cannot attack, but that is fine: your opponent has to face yet another 7/7 reach indestructible wall, and the turn after that an 8/8 trampling indestructible just beats them down.

Readers are welcome to share the tricks you use to make a killing with Simic in Limited!

Score: 4.0
Comment: This version of Samut is strong on her own, and is a bomb that gets even stronger if you already have some board when she lands. A six-mana 4/5 with first strike, vigilance, and haste is hard to handle. On entry she gives your creatures at least +1/+0, and once she deals first-strike damage and your speed goes up to 2, your other creatures get +2/+0 instead. As for the noncreature cost reduction, it may not matter much by the time you can cast her for six, but if you have some X spells, you can try going big for once.

Although she is a three-color legend, she is strong enough to be worth lightly splashing a third color for, so if your colors line up, give it a try!

Score: 2.0
Comment: Before exhausting, it is very ordinary, and if the exhaust X is not big enough, you may not even want your other creatures to change along with it.

Note: In the extreme case, if exhaust X is 4 or less, getting hit by Syphon Fuelfor -6/-6 after it resolves would really make you cry…

Score: 3.5
Comment: A flying deathtouch Snake can basically trade for a creature, and four-mana exhaust is very powerful: pass on turn four, activate exhaust on your opponent’s turn, and on turn five you should have seven mana to play with.

Score: 3.0
Comment: Blowing up a nonland permanent with mana value four or less on entry is already strong enough, and early on or when color-screwed you can also cycle it away to dig for cards. Quite good in Golgari.

Score: 3.5
Comment: 3/3/4 stats are beyond reproach. Once it lands, you have a big advantage in creature combat, and if you crew a Vehicle and attack this turn, the Vehicles will untap at end of turn along with it. The four-mana ability to grow your whole team is a bonus, but it always comes in handy.

Score: 3.0
Comment: In Azorius artifacts, it should be a four-mana sorcery that draws three and returns three.

Score: 3.0
Comment: With this you can lean toward a low-curve artifact/Vehicle aggro deck: early on, your opponent has to pay life to remove your artifacts, and in the mid to late game you have a chance to sweep the board and try to turn things around. But if you cannot pick up enough artifacts, do not play it.

Score: 3.0
Comment: The ability is a bit awkward; it would pair better with the start-your-engine mechanic if it also came with a life-loss effect. That said, before or after reaching Max Speed it should be worth eating a removal spell; otherwise, a pile of 2/2 Zombies is pretty annoying.

Conclusion

Looking at the multicolor cards alone, the Izzet cycling/discard aggro and Simic exhaust ramp themes have noticeably better synergy among their cards than the other multicolor cards. I personally would love to try these two color pairs, but with plenty of artifacts and Vehicles pushing things along, the other themes should also be able to put up explosive boards. Let’s go put it into practice in Limited together!