Aetherdrift
This article documents an upcoming release. |
Aetherdrift | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Set Information | |||||
Set symbol | |||||
Symbol description | A waving chequered flag | ||||
Design | Mark Rosewater (lead), Chris Mooney, Corey Bowen, Doug Beyer, Donald Smith, Jr, Graeme Hopkins, Yoni Skolnik | ||||
Development | Yoni Skolnik (lead), Adam Prosak, Reggie Valk, Donald Smith Jr, Daniel Xu, Ben Weitz, Jadine Klomparens, Michael Majors | ||||
Art direction | Vic Ochoa | ||||
Release date |
February 11, 2025 (Arena) February 14, 2025 (paper) | ||||
Plane |
Amonkhet Avishkar Muraganda | ||||
Themes and mechanics | Vehicles, Mounts, Speed | ||||
Keywords/ability words | Crew, Cycling, Exhaust, Max speed, Saddle, Start your engines! | ||||
Set size | 281 + 125 | ||||
Expansion code | DFT[1] | ||||
Development codename | Tennis | ||||
Standard | |||||
| |||||
Magic: The Gathering Chronology | |||||
|

Aetherdrift is the 103rd Magic expansion and will be released on February 14, 2025.[2][3] It features a multiplanar twist on the racing genre.[4][5]
Set details
“ | You're in the Driver's Seat | ” |
The set was first teased during the 2023 Announcement Day panel at Gen Con where it was revealed that it would feature a Death Race across three planes.[2] Two of the featured planes are planes from premier sets that have not been revisited since their debut (Avishkar and Amonkhet). The third plane is an existing location that has never been featured as a premier set before. Mark Rosewater calls it a "travelogue set".[6] While the mechanics are more focused on the race, the individual card designs are more focused on the scenery.[7]
The death race idea had been in discussion for over a decade. It was the Omenpath idea (travel through multiple worlds) that finally helped it get made.[8] Some of its inspirations were Death Race 2000, Speed Racer, Wacky Races, and The Fast and the Furious.[9][10] The genre entails not just a race where people race cars, but there is activity where people sabotage one another. Winning is as much about removing the competition as being the fastest.[11]
Aetherdrift contains 291 regular cards (91 commons, 100 uncommons, 60 rares, 20 mythic rares, 20 basic lands), and includes randomly inserted traditional foil versions of all cards.[12] The regular set includes full-art "Driver's Seat" basic lands (#272-276). Alternate card frames have a different card number than the original version. Borderless cards are #292-376 ("revved up" is #292-332) and extended art cards are #377-396. Japan Showcase cards in traditional foil are #397-406 and in fracture foil #407-416. Promo cards are numbered #417-426. Yellow borderless first-place foil cards are #427-516. Yellow borderless "Revved-up" cards (featuring a racer and their ride) are #517-531. First-place foil borderless "rude riders" (showing off the racing machines and racing steeds) are #532-545 and the 8 mythic rare borderless "Graffiti Giants" cards (five Gearhulks and three Amonkheti Gods in graffiti style) are #546-553.
Storyline

Aetherdrift follows Chandra Nalaar as she competes in the Ghirapur Grand Prix, a death-defying interplanar circuit race across Amonkhet, Avishkar and Muraganda.[13] The racers come from near and far, the competition is fierce and the stakes are high, as her objective is the incredible prize only given to the race's champion: the Aetherspark.[14] The race is disturbed by sudden dragonstorms.
The set is the third in the Dragonstorm Arc. The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Aetherdrift are:
Magic Story
Marketing

Aetherdrift is available in Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, two Commander decks, the Aetherdrift Bundle and the special "Finish Line" Bundle. The booster box for Play Boosters is reduced from 36 to 30 boosters.[12]
Play Boosters may contain DFT #1–375 and SPG #84–93. A foil mythic borderless Graffiti Giants card appears in <1% of the boosters. Collector Boosters may contain DFT #1–276, #292–416; #DRC 1–4, DRC #21–36 and SPG #84–93. Japan Showcase cards and Serialized Aethersparks appear in <1% of Collector Boosters. First-place foils appear only in Box Topper packs, which are included in Aetherdrift Play Booster boxes, Collector Booster boxes, and Finish Line Bundles.
The special "Finish Line" Edition of the Bundle consists of two Collector Boosters and six Play Boosters. It includes five full-art "Driver's Seat" basic lands in "first-place foil". It also includes one "first-place" foil Box Topper pack, five mana symbol stickers (one for each color), a checkered flag oversized spindown life counter, and three extended alternate art Bundle promo cards.
DFT # | Frame | Promo |
---|---|---|
424 | Extended art | Amonkhet Raceway |
425 | Extended art | Avishkar Raceway |
426 | Extended art | Muraganda Raceway |
Special Guests
Aetherdrift features 10 Special Guests (SPG #84-93).[12] These may be found in Play Boosters and may be played in Limited games. You'll find a non-foil Special Guests card in 1 out of 64 Play Boosters (1.5%). Traditional foil Special Guests cards can be found in Collector Boosters (4.2% to replace the traditional foil Booster Fun rare or mythic rare card). The Special Guests for this set have cards and illustrations hand-picked by the Secret Lair team. These unique treatments are designed to embody the multiplanar chaos of Aetherdrift.
Japan Showcase
Aetherdrift features 10 Japan Showcase cards (DFT #397-416).[12] Each card has been reimagined by Japanese artists and illustrators and have a special frame and style that pays homage to Japanese hobby shops. Unlike Special Guests they use the standard Aetherdrift set code and expansion symbol (). Japan Showcase cards appear only in Collector Boosters. In Japanese Collector Boosters, Japan Showcase cards will always be in Japanese. In non-Japanese Collector Boosters, they will appear in English two thirds of the time and in Japanese one third of the time. One-in-ten Collector Boosters will have a Japan Showcase card (9% traditional foil, 1% fracture foil).
Ad cards
For Aetherdrift Play Boosters, Wizards of the Coast has removed the ad card as an option from the 15th card slot.[12] Play Boosters will only contain token, emblem, helper, and art cards.
Box Toppers
Aetherdrift Booster boxes each include a 2-card Box Topper pack containing 1 of 10 "first-place foil" full-art basic lands and 1 of 127 first-place foil cards from either the main Aetherdrift set or the Special Guests.[12]
Headliner
The Headliner for this set is The Aetherspark, which also features a serialized version.[15][12]
Events
- Prerelease: February 7 – February 13, 2025
- MTG Arena Release: February 11, 2025
- Magic Academy Events: February 14 – April 3, 2025
- Standard Showdown: February 14 – April 3, 2025
- Friday Night Magic: February 14 – March 28, 2025
- Commander Party: February 21–27 / March 14–20, 2025
- Store Championship: March 8–30, 2025
Promos
- Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare of Aetherdrift.
- The seasonal dark-frame promos are: Tune Up, Gastal Raider, Marauding Mako, Skyserpent Seeker, Voyage Home.
- Buy-a-Box: alternate art Lifecraft Engine.[16]
- Bundle promo: alternate art .
- Store Championship: alternate art Deep-Cavern Bat (participation), Preacher of the Schism (Top 8), and Virtue of Persistence (winner).[16]
- Commander Party: retro frame Rishkar's Expertise.[16]
- Standard Showdown: Lightning Strike with Cowboy Bebop crossover art.[5]
Tokens, emblems and markers

Aetherdrift has 12 tokens, one emblem, and one double-sided speed helper card.[17] The tokens and emblem are double-sided in different combinations.
1/1 Pilot creature with "This token saddles Mounts and crews Vehicles as though its power was 2 greater." for Back on Track; Cloudspire Coordinator; Country Roads; Defend the Rider; Foul Roads; Reef Roads; Risen Necroregent; Roadside Assistance; Rocky Roads; Valor’s Flagship and Wild Roads.
1/1 Cat creature with lifelink for Basri, Tomorrow's Champion.
2/2 Zombie creature for Cryptcaller Chariot; Embalmed Ascendant; Hour of Victory; Risen Necroregent and Zahur, Glory’s Past.
1/1 Goblin creature for Howlsquad Heavy.
4/4 Dinosaur Dragon creature with flying for Draconautics Engineer.
1/1 Insect creature for Aatchik, Emerald Radian.
3/3 Elephant creature for Autarch Mammoth; March of the World Ooze and Stampeding Scurryfoot.
1/1 Servo artifact creature for Nesting Bot.
1/1 Thopter artifact creature with flying for Broadcast Rambler; Camera Launcher; Haunt the Network; Nimble Thopterist; Rangers' Aetherhive and Thopter Fabricator.
1/1 Thopter artifact creature with flying.
Treasure artifact for Gilded Ghoda; Gonti, Night Minister; Monument to Endurance; Rocketeer Boostbuggy and Ticket Tortoise.
3/2 Vehicle artifact with crew 1 for Chandra, Spark Hunter and Mu Yanling, Wind Rider.
- Emblem for Chandra, Spark Hunter.
- Start Your Engines! // Max Speed double-faced helper card.
Themes and mechanics

Vehicles are a big feature in the set.[18][19] Mounts and saddle also return from Outlaws of Thunder Junction.[20]
A major mechanic, acting as a resource, is Speed, controlled primarily by the Start your engines! ability.[20] Your speed starts at 1, and it increases by 1 the first time an opponent loses life on each of your turns. The maximum possible speed is 4, and many cards reward achieving max speed.
A new keyword ability is Exhaust, which appears as activated abilities of permanents of various types. A given exhaust ability can only be activated once per game.[20]
Cycling returns to act as a smoothing mechanic, and synergizes with some cards in the set that reward discarding cards or having a full graveyard. While cycling's flavor has always been a bit generic, this was a set where the name matched the theme. The cards with cycling fall into two major categories. The first are generic cyclers, letting you discard a card for another one. The second are cards that trigger an effect when you cycle them, so they play a bit more like modal cards, as you get a choice between two effects.[21]
Cameo mechanics from Amonkhet (Embalm, Exert), as well as synergy with vanilla creatures (referencing Muraganda Petroglyphs), are present in small amounts to flavorfully accent the planes on which the race is staged. No mechanics from Hour of Devastation or Kaladesh block are featured in the main set.
Card types
Aetherdrift introduces the Seal creature type.[22] Robot is used for the first time in-universe. This is because the Guidelight Voyagers are all made fully of metal and animated by programming, rather than magic like most Constructs.[23]
Limited archetypes

Aetherdrift features the following limited archetypes.[24] Each color pair represents a team participating in the Ghirapur Grand Prix for the Aetherspark.[14][25] Among the teams are Goblins, Insects and Zombies. They are not all divided by creature type. The division is much more about mood and tone, with a number coming from a specific plane.[26]
: Guidelight Voyagers - Artifacts Value
: Speed Demons - Artifacts Bleeder
: The Endriders - Max Speed Aggro
: Goblin Rocketeers - Exhaust Midrange
: Alacrian Quickbeasts - Vehicles and Mounts Midrange
: Champions of Amonkhet - Max Speed Attrition
: The Keelhaulers - Discard Aggro
: The Speedbrood - Graveyard
: Cloudspire Racing Team - Vehicles and Mounts Aggro
: Aether Rangers - Exhaust Ramp
Cycles
Cycle name | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rare legends | Basri, Tomorrow's Champion | Vnwxt, Verbose Host | Gonti, Night Minister | Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer | Oviya, Automech Artisan |
Five rare monocolored legendary creatures. | |||||
Vanilla Tyrants | Sundial, Dawn Tyrant | Caelorna, Coral Tyrant | Kalakscion, Hunger Tyrant | Tyrox, Saurid Tyrant | Terrian, World Tyrant |
Five uncommon Legendary creatures from Muraganda with no abilities. Each has a name ending in "Tyrant". | |||||
Surveyors | Leonin Surveyor | Glitch Ghost Surveyor | Mutant Surveyor | Goblin Surveyor | Loxodon Surveyor |
Five common creatures with start your engines: their owner can pay | |||||
Counterclockwise Enemy color verges | Sunbillow Verge ( |
Willowrush Verge ( |
Bleachbone Verge ( |
Riverpyre Verge ( |
Wastewood Verge ( |
Five rare lands each tap for a primary color. Additionally, each can tap for its counterclockwise enemy color, annotated in brackets, if its controller controls a basic land type associated with either of those colors. | |||||
Roads | Country Roads | Reef Roads | Foul Roads | Rocky Roads | Wild Roads |
Five uncommon lands that enter tapped unless their controller controls a Mount or a Vehicle, tap for M and can be sacrificed for | |||||
Cycle name | |||||
Allied-colored Gearhulks[27] | Riptide Gearhulk | Oildeep Gearhulk | Coalstoak Gearhulk | Pyrewood Gearhulk | Brightglass Gearhulk |
Five mythic rare artifact creature Constructs that continue the Gearhulk cycle printed in Kaladesh, since Avishkar (formerly Kaladesh) is one of the three planes in the race. Somewhat similar to the previous cycle, they have MMNN in their mana cost, two keyword abilities, and an Enters effect. |
Double cycles
Vertical cycle
Cycle name | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Raceways | Avishkar Raceway (Stage 1 & 5: Avishkar) |
Amonkhet Raceway (Stage 2 & 4: Amonkhet) |
Muraganda Raceway (Stage 3: Muraganda) | |
Three Lands that can tap to add |
Flavor-based cycle
Aetherdrift features an irregular, flavor-based cycle.
Cycle name | |||
---|---|---|---|
Gods | Ketramose, the New Dawn | Hazoret, Godseeker | Sab-Sunen, Luxa Embodied |
Three mythic rare legendary gods of Amonkhet. |
Pairs
There are two matched pairs in the set
Mirrored pair | Description | |
---|---|---|
Scrounging Skyray ( |
Marauding Mako ( |
Two uncommon Pirates with cycling |
Momentum Breaker ( |
Outpace Oblivion ( |
Two uncommon Enchantments with start your engines!, an enters the battlefield effect and speed-related self-sacrifice activated ability. |
Reprinted cards
Aetherdrift features the following Reprints:
- Bloodghast — first printed in Zendikar, last seen in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan/Commander decks.
- Broken Wings — first printed in Zendikar Rising, last seen in Foundations.
- Gearseeker Serpent — first printed in Kaladesh, last seen in Foundations Jumpstart.
- Lightning Strike — first printed in Theros, last seen in Secret Lair.
- Spell Pierce — first printed in Zendikar, last seen in Mystery Booster 2.
Notable cards
- Pit Automaton required errata before the set's release to prevent its second ability from being used to double the amount of mana produced by Exhaust mana abilities.[28][3]
Misprints
- The illustration credit for all printed versions of Skysovereign, Consul Flagship (Special Guests) incorrectly states the artist was Kogado Studio instead of Imiri Sakabashira.[29] The digital versions of the card on Magic Online and Magic: The Gathering Arena have the correct artist credit.
Preconstructed decks
Aetherdrift features two Commander decks released as a regular part of a set's product line.
Theme deck name |
Color Identity | Commander | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Living Energy | U | R | G | Saheeli, Radiant Creator | ||
Eternal Might | W | U | B | Temmet, Naktamun’s Will |
Gallery
-
Initial concept art for the set.
-
Aetherdrift Box Topper pack
-
Aetherdrift promo pack
-
Aetherdrift prerelease promo pack
-
Aetherdrift Bundle (regular)
-
Aetherdrift Finish Line Bundle
Teams
-
The Champions of Amonkhet (
)
-
The Endriders (
)
-
The Keelhaulers (
)
-
The Speedbrood (
)
-
The Speed Demons (
)
References
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (October 25, 2024). "2025 releases are going to take us on an exciting journey...". Twitter.
- ↑ a b Jess Lanzillo, Chris Kiritz, Athena Froehlich & Mark Rosewater (August 5, 2023). "Magic: The Gathering 30th Anniversary Panel at GenCon – A Recap of MTG's Past, Present & Future (Video)". Magic: The Gathering. YouTube.
- ↑ a b Jess Dunks (January 31, 2025). "Aetherdrift Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 6, 2023). "Is Tennis more Death Race 2000, Rat Race, or Wacky Races?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ a b Wizards of the Coast (April 22, 2024). "Announcing Cowboy Bebop Promo Cards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 17, 2024). "Would you say the Death Race Set is a Backdrop Set, an Event Set or neither?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 13, 2024). "About how much of aetherdrift is the race components and how much is scenery from the host planes?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 6, 2023). "One set I'd like to single out is the Death Race set (Tennis).". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 29, 2023). "Would you say Death Race is going to be more like Speed Racer, Wacky Races, or Fast And The Furious?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 2, 2023). "Did you mean that as a reference to the 1975 movie "Death Race 2000"?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 23, 2025). "Originally Aetherdrift was spun as a "Death Race" set...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Jubilee Finnegan & Max McCall (January 21, 2025). "Collecting Aetherdrift: The Four Most Important Things to Know". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic: The Gathering (October 25, 2024). "The three planes that were chosen for MTGAetherdrift are meant to ground our players in established Magic planes while fostering a desire to explore the endless worlds we have at our disposal.". Twitter.
- ↑ a b Magic: The Gathering (October 25, 2024). "The real stars of the show are the racers you support.". Twitter.
- ↑ Magic: The Gathering (October 25, 2024). "Headliners are slated to appear in future sets as well.". Twitter.
- ↑ a b c Wizards of the Coast (January 22, 2025). "Where and How to Play Aetherdrift". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ <Jubilee Finnegan (January 31, 2025). "The Tokens of Aetherdrift". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Magic: The Gathering (October 25, 2024). "Surprising no one, vehicles are a big feature in the set.". Twitter.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 21, 2025). "You Get the Aetherdrift, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c Matt Tabak (January 21, 2025). "Aetherdrift Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 27, 2025). "You Get the Aetherdrift, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 14, 2025). "Maro’s Aetherdrift Teaser". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 21, 2024). "What is the difference between robots and constructs?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ [DFT] Aetherdrift draft archetypes (from the box insert). Reddit (February 1, 2025).
- ↑ The Foundations of Magic's Next Era. magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast (October 25, 2024).
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 28, 2024). "What made you decide to lean into typal for teams when the teams are also defined by 2 color combinations?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (October 25, 2024). "Two-color Gearhulks? Yes please.". Twitter.
- ↑ Matt Tabak (January 29, 2025). "In fact, PA is getting errata so it doesn’t trigger off mana abilities.". Bluesky.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 28, 2025). "Statement on Aetherdrift Artwork for Skysovereign, Consul Flagship". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
External links
- Official product page.
- WPN product page.
- Aetherdrift Worldbuilding (Video). Weekly MTG. YouTube (December 10, 2024).
- Racers, Ignite Your Engines! - Aetherdrift Official Trailer (Video). YouTube (January 22, 2025).
- Miguel Lopez (December 10, 2024). "Planeswalker's Guide to Aetherdrift, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- Miguel Lopez (December 11, 2024). "Planeswalker's Guide to Aetherdrift, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- Mark Rosewater (February 3, 2025). "Aetherdrift Vision Design Handoff, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- Mark Rosewater (February 10, 2025). "Aetherdrift Vision Design Handoff, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.