mtg aetherdrift cards Card Treatments Introduce Gold Foils and Bold Borderless Styles 2 Box Topper cards Full Throttle · Aetherdrift (DFT)

Many of blacks biggest plays come from harnessing the supposed costs or drawbacks of its cards

More and more decks are incorporating a Treasure production angle to accelerate their game plan, with cards like Dockside Extortionist and Smothering Tithe being the most (in)famous of the lot

You can also treat it as creature or planeswalker targeted removal with its mana and discard ability

Cycling for 2 life and no mana means it's a popular target for the Doomsday piles in Legacy, effectively cycling you through the last few cards until you can hit Thassa's Oracle

That begs the question: Why not use the graveyard to your advantage

Just two mana for three shield counters is excellent, and in counter-centric decks you're likely also going to be running things like Doubling Season to make those shields last even longer