Magic: The Gathering’s Aetherdrift adds a player-wide speed system built around the new start your engines! ability. It also features returning mechanics such as Vehicles and energy, two ready-to-play Commander decks, and several card treatments with different product distributions. Here’s how the rules, decks, and collectible versions fit together.
How does speed work in Aetherdrift?
Speed belongs to a player, not to a particular card. The first time you control a permanent with start your engines!, your speed becomes 1 immediately. If you have not started your engines, your speed is 0. Speed tops out at 4, which is called max speed.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Play Booster Box | $134.26 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Finish Line Bundle | $79.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Collector Booster (1 Pack of 15 Cards) | $39.90 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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MTG Booster Pack Play : Aetherdrift (DFT) | $7.69 | Buy on Amazon |
Once your speed is at least 1, you gain a triggered ability: during each of your turns, whenever one or more opponents lose life, your speed increases by 1 if it is below 4. This ability triggers only once per turn. It is not attached to the permanent that started your engines, so removing that permanent does not by itself remove your speed or the ability to increase it. Wizards’ January 21, 2025 mechanics explainer details the system in its Aetherdrift mechanics guide.
Some cards have abilities that work only while you are at max speed; others refer to your current speed. Read each card’s wording alongside the general mechanic: reaching speed 4 is a player achievement, and speed cannot increase beyond it.
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Which mechanics are new, returning, or featured?
Start your engines! and the speed system are new to Aetherdrift. Other mechanics and card types give the set its racing focus, but they do not all originate here.
Returning: Vehicles and crew
Vehicles are artifacts, and most have the crew ability. To crew one, pay its activated cost by tapping other untapped creatures whose total power meets the crew number. The Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn. A Pilot can count as having greater power for crewing or saddling, as specified by its ability.
Featured: Mounts and saddle
Mounts can have saddle, an activated ability used at sorcery timing. You tap other creatures with enough total power to saddle the Mount; card abilities may then reward it for attacking while saddled. Pilots can also affect how much power they contribute to saddling.
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Featured: Pilots and exhaust
Pilots are creatures with abilities that can make them especially useful with Vehicles or Mounts. Exhaust abilities are designed for one use per object. If a permanent with an exhaust ability leaves the battlefield and later returns, it is a new object and may use that ability again.
Returning: Cycling and energy
Cycling lets you pay a card’s cycling cost and discard it to draw a card. Energy also returns, with a prominent role in the Living Energy Commander deck. Energy counters are held by players rather than attached to a permanent. For card-specific interactions and rules clarifications, see Wizards’ January 31, 2025 Aetherdrift Release Notes; its legality section describes the release-era situation, not a current legality check.
What are the Aetherdrift Commander decks?
Wizards announced two ready-to-play, 100-card Commander decks for Aetherdrift, each with 10 new-to-Magic cards: Living Energy and Eternal Might. The deck themes indicate their mechanical focus, not their competitive strength.
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| Deck | Colors | Face and featured commanders | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living Energy | Green-blue-red | Saheeli, Radiant Creator (face); Pia Nalaar, Chief Mechanic (featured) | Energy counters and artifacts |
| Eternal Might | White-blue-black | Not stated in the cited announcement’s summary here; see the official decklists | Not stated in the cited announcement’s summary here; see the official decklists |
The names and color identities above are from Wizards’ January 24, 2025 Aetherdrift Commander decklists announcement. Consult its decklists for individual cards, commanders, and synergies rather than inferring details from a deck name.
What each launch deck package included
Wizards’ launch configuration listed the same package contents for each deck:
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- One ready-to-play 100-card deck
- One traditional-foil face commander with borderless art
- One traditional-foil featured commander with borderless art
- 10 double-sided tokens
- One Collector Booster Sample Pack
- One reference card
- One deck box
Where can you find Aetherdrift’s card treatments?
Wizards’ January 2025 collecting guide describes several Booster Fun treatments. Their availability depends on the product, and randomized boosters are not a guarantee of a particular card or treatment.
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- Magic The Gathering
- Innistrad remastered Play Booster
| Treatment | What it looks like or includes | Distribution described by Wizards |
|---|---|---|
| Revved up | Borderless art showing a racer and ride together in action | Availability varies by product; see the collecting guide |
| Rude rider | Selected Vehicles and Mounts with stylized art, a special font, and a matching frame | Availability varies by product; see the collecting guide |
| Japan Showcase | 10 cards reimagined with art by Japanese artists and a frame inspired by Japanese hobby shops | Collector Boosters only |
| Special Guests | 10 previously printed cards selected by the Secret Lair team | Non-foil copies in Play Boosters; traditional-foil copies in Collector Boosters; first-place foils in Box Toppers |
| Extended art | Extended-art versions of rares and mythic rares from the main set and Commander product | See the collecting guide for product distribution |
| Driver’s-seat lands | Five full-art lands | See the collecting guide for product distribution |
| Serialized Aetherspark | A serialized, borderless headliner | See the collecting guide for product distribution |
The Finish Line Bundle was listed with traditional-foil, extended-art versions of Avishkar Raceway, Amonkhet Raceway, and Muraganda Raceway. The collecting guide says this artwork is exclusive to those bundles. For the full treatment and product breakdown, see Wizards’ Collecting Aetherdrift guide.
Art cards are separate from card treatments
Wizards’ January 31, 2025 Aetherdrift Art Cards announcement lists 54 art-card artworks. It says art cards appeared in 30% of Aetherdrift Play Boosters, with an additional 5% featuring a gold-stamped artist signature or Planeswalker symbol. These are booster collation figures, not a promise that a particular art card appears in an individual pack.
Launch MSRP was historical, not a current price guide
Wizards’ 2025 launch collecting guide listed these MSRPs: Play Booster $5.49, Collector Booster $24.99, Commander Deck $44.99, Bundle $53.99, and Finish Line Bundle $79.99. They are historical launch figures, not current prices or statements about present availability.
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In Wizards’ 2025 State of Design, Head Designer Mark Rosewater described mixed feedback: players enjoyed Vehicles as a mechanical focus and found start your engines! gave Limited a distinctive focus, while the race theme and constructed impact drew criticism. He wrote, “Players preferred more emphasis on the planes and less on the race.” This is Rosewater’s account of player feedback, not a quantified survey result.
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