Last updated on January 15, 2025
Cataclysmic Gearhulk | Illustration by Jason Rainville
The Magic community got a lot of cool hints about Aetherdrift in a recent teaser by head designer Mark Rosewater. There are two bullets in particular from it that really jump out: new multicolored Gearhulks and new legendary vanilla creatures! How might these play out?
New Multicolor Gearhulks
These are easier to speculate on, as Brightglass Gearhulk was spoiled over a month ago. It's essentially a souped up Ranger of Eos with a stricter mana cost, extra tutor options, and much better combat stats. But what does this mean for the rest of the cycle?
- Since we already know that Brightglass Gearhulk is GW, this is very likely to be a 5-card cycle, with one Gearhulk for each allied color pair (GW, WU, UB, RG, BR). This would also match the number of Gearhulks in the original Kaladesh.
- Each Gearhulk will likely cost a minimum of XXYY, though some of them could be more expensive than the others (i.e. the GR one costs ).
- It's also possible that each Gearhulk will have two key words that correspond to their colors. Brightglass Gearhulk for instance can be seen as getting first strike from white and trample from green. Will Azoriusglass Gearhulk (not its real name of course) have vigilance and flying from its colors?
- Another theory could be that these Gearhulks all use existing cards as a template for what they do, similar to how Ranger of Eos was used above. Maybe the BR one could be modeled off some powerful black or red creature? Hard to say.
Either way, given how powerful Brightglass Gearhulk looks, this is arguably the cycle to watch in this set!
A Cycle of Legendary Vanillas?
Muraganda Petroglyphs | Illustration by Scott Altmann
On a lighter but interesting note, Maro's teaser has promised a cycle of vanilla legendary creatures in this set. These are incredibly rare, as there are only 14 of them total in MTG history (11 of which are awful creatures from the Legends set). Why include some now with Aetherdrift?
- Races are nothing without racers, and the cycle of legendary vanilla creatures could be a way to showcase plot-relevant characters while keeping the set approachable.
- Vanilla creatures can also have better stats for their cost (as they have nothing else going for them), which could be ideal for Aetherdrift due to the set's prominent focus on vehicles.
- To that point, perhaps the legendary creatures themselves will sync up to the vehicle they are driving in the story? Imagine if Sita Varma from the recent stories shows up as a 4/3 for , and has just enough power to crew the car they're driving in future stories.
For reference, the last two legendary vanillas that were printed were Yargle and Multani in March of the Machine (2023) and Yargle, Glutton of Urborg in Dominaria (2018). The only other relevant one to this day is Isamaru, Hound of Konda from Champions of Kamigawa (2004).
How Are Players Reacting?
Torrential Gearhulk | Illustration by Svetlin Velinov
There's a lot of curiosity surrounding the vanilla creatures in particular. Vanillas haven't been an important part of Magic design in a few years now, so an entire cycle of vanillas, legendary ones no less, definitely raises eyebrows.
Reddit user Maybe_Marit_Lage posts: “I'm curious to see if there's a hidden caveat here…. Perhaps one side each of a cycle of DFCs?” Double-faced cards could certainly make a cycle of vanilla creatures more palatable.
GruulGuy5 responds: “Muraganda is a plane known for vanilla abilities. That's almost certainly where these legends will be from.” Muraganda is one of the three planes being visited during Aetherdrift, so it's possible the cycle is just a callout to the thematic identity of the plane.
The Gearhulks have caught some buzz in general, which makes sense given their competitive pedigree during their last appearance. Torrential Gearhulk and Verdurous Gearhulk were Standard mainstays during their rotation, and the rest of the original cycle sees extensive play in Commander.
We'll see how this one develops as spoiler season finally begins. There's just under a week to go, so don't hit the gas just yet!
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