Aether Revolt - Blue

 

 Today, we're going to be looking at all the blue cards in Aether Revolt starting with...

Aether Swooper


Similar to Aether Inspector, Aether Swooper gives you Energy and allows you to use it to make additional creatures. The fact that Aether Swooper has flying makes it very effective in limited as it has evasion; so you can hit for one in the air while still providing board value.


Aethertide Whale

I love the look of Aethertide Whale; I love the effect, I love the mana cost and I love the fact that its a flying whale. Landing this in limited will probably win you the game as its going to be very hard to deal with. It gets around removal on its own and nets you Energy while flying over for six each turn and, if you can power this out with some mana ramp, it could be devastating. I'm going to brew with this card a bit, but at first glance I could see this in some sort of Energy control deck or Temur ramp build. Realistically however, I'm not sure if Aethertide Whale will make it as far as constructed, as much as I would love it.

Baral, Chief of Compliance


In the same vein as free spells, cards that reduce the cost of spells are slightly less awesome, but awesome none the less. Baral goes the extra mile by giving you an added draw mechanic when you counter a spell, hopefully reduced by Baral himself. With the low cost allowing it to come down early and the high toughness making it a decent blocker, I'm fairly certain about Baral popping up in constructed, maybe the return of Mono Blue control decks or possibly giving combo decks another tool in their arsenal. Baral will be fine in limited, probably not drawing you many cards or maybe reducing that many mana costs, but he will hold the board up for a couple of turns at least.

Baral's Expertise


The second in the Expertise cycle in both order of colour and power level in my opinion. The bounce effect holds a lot of power in limited, where it will more often than not clear the path for a big attack for the win. I think it will shine in constructed in the control decks, ridding you of any pesky artifact or creature problems, but the free spell for four mana or less is whats going to put this over the edge I think. You can chain Baral's Expertise into another Expertise we will get to later, adding more free spells, or even into a handful of planeswalkers. Keep your eyes on this one for the near future.

Bastion Inventor


Improvise is another new mechanic in Aether Revolt, most a kin to convoke from back in OG Ravnica which later became evergreen (can be used in any set). In this instance, Improvise only allows artifacts to help pay as part of the mana cost which will be all over the place. Looking at Bastion Inventor as a 4/4 Hexproof for six mana might seem ok to begin with but the Improvise ability, allowing you to drop it by turn three or four, could make this really stand out in limited.

Dispersal Technician


We've had five mana bounce creatures through the years and they always do well in a limited sense. You can use them in a tempo strategy to take out the biggest blocker and send your guys through for some damage, or on the defensive to buy yourself some time by taking out a specific problem artifact.
No constructed application however but like I said, limited all the way.

Efficient Construction


In a set like Aether Revolt that revolves around artifacts, a card like Efficient Construction is almost pure value as you get a token for just playing the game of magic and for no additional cost. I would like to say I could see this in constructed but as it stands nothing has jumped out at me that can push this over the edge for token making. In limited however, I can see this taking over games and in multiples will just get silly.

Hinterland Drake


In every set there has to be those "meh" cards, this is one of them. Its not particularly good nor is it bad by any means, it will sit nicely on your curve and get some damage in but will get you in those times when its your only blocker and you're facing down artifacts on the other side of the table. Hinterland Drake does compensate for its downside with additional toughness so you know, swings and roundabouts I guess.

Ice Over


Dehydration, Encrust, Encase In Ice, this effect has been done many a time and is always a limited favorite. Ice Over gives you the choice of creature or artifact so you can use it on vehicles, so provided you've caught said vehicle when it's already tapped, it wont be untapping in the near future rendering it useless for any further attacks or blocks. Sometimes these effects can find their way into constructed and at such a low mana cost, this could be in the running.

Illusionist's Stratagem


Like I said before, I love blink effects. This is a double blink and draw a card all at instant speed and I cant wait to play with this in limited. I will definitely be brewing with this for constructed but I'm not sure how far it will get purely based on its mana cost; yes, it provides a powerful effect if you can use it in combination with good enter the battlefield abilities, but there might be times when you only have one creature or even worse none and then its just terrible.

Leave in the Dust


Another card with a draw a card rider which will do some work in limited, but again, with the mana cost of four, I'm not sure it will see constructed play. The fact that this hits any non-land permanent as opposed to specifying creature or artifact, so use this wisely as you may find yourself facing down a particularly large creature or even a planeswalker.

Mechanized Production


Most sets will have a card that provides an alternate win condition and Mechanized Production fits that niche this time around. Firstly to confirm one thing, Mechanized Production doesn't only count the artifacts it has made towards you winning the game. It counts all artifacts with that name meaning you can stuff your limited deck with as many artifacts with the same name and use Mechanized Production to get the last few onto the battlefield to win the game. Therein lies the problem; you can put this on an artifact creature to gain a board advantage, but you then run the risk of the enchanted creature dying as part of combat. Even if you put this on a non-creature artifact, with the amount of artifact and enchantment destruction going around, both the non-artifact creature and the Mechanized Production probably wont last long.
It could be fine for limited to gain a slight edge, but you're probably only playing this as a last resort.

Metallic Rebuke


Its the improvise counterspell and this could be a beating in both limited and constructed with the amount of artifacts that will be seeing play. Most decks play some artifacts in the current meta-game so even just one artifact turns Metallic Rebuke into a Mana Leak, so imagine how good it would feel with two artifacts effectively turning this into the best Force Spike ever. I'm keeping my eye on this one.

Negate


Nothing new to talk about with Negate past the fact that there will be a spike in artifact play, but that's about it. Play this when it comes up, you can usually get away with one in the main deck in limited.

Reverse Engineer


Another card I could see in a control deck in constructed, Reverse Engineer gains you so much value for a reasonable cost, especially if you can use a couple of artifacts to Improvise it out earlier. It will always be helpful in limited in those slower decks, but no more than one.

Salvage Scuttler


This is an interesting effect on a powerful creature. Five mana for a 4/4 is great and what looks like a drawback could provide some good interactions, if you can pick up some of the artifacts with enter the battle field effects that we will be looking at later. All from a limited standpoint as Salvage Scuttler is going to be too slow for constructed.

Shielded Aether Thief


This word is gonna come up a lot in this complete set review, but this card is value. Flash is such a good mechanic and its even better when the card has a low mana cost. The reason flash is so good here is because it means you're pretty much guaranteed to get a surprise block out of it, which means you'll be getting at least one energy from it and might not stop there with such a formidable blocker on the board. Then to the last ability. Three energy might seem like a lot but if you can continue to produce energy, which isn't hard in this set, Shielded Aether Thief will be an all star in limited and could even break through to the constructed scene.

Shipwreck Moray


Another massive blocker and a great way to produce energy, Shipwreck Moray could win you a lot of games in addition to holding up the board in limited. Its not the most aggressive of creatures and it sits nicely in those slower decks to buy you some time but, worst comes to worst, its four mana for four energy and that's not a bad trade off.

Skyship Plunderer


Proliferate was a counter based mechanic back in Scars of Mirrodin and Skyship Plunderer pretty much has proliferate but targeted. Aggressively costed at two, this 2/1 flyer looks pretty good to me for both limited, as a lot of creatures and spells in Kaladesh and Aether Revolt have +1/+1 counter effects, and even in constructed in a planeswalker central deck. If left unblocked multiple Skyship Plunderers could get you a lot of value.

Take into Custody


A nice cheap control related card, Take into Custody can lock down a creature through your turn, keeping it from blocking, and stopping from untapping in the next turn so it cant attack either. In limited, Take into Custody is a nice way to slow your opponent down or maybe stem a tap ability on an opposing creature. With such a low cost I could see this in constructed, but right now the effect might not have provide enough of an impact.

Whir of Invention


I absolutely love this card. Its Chord of Calling for artifacts, and slightly harder to cast. I'll say now that this wont be as good as Chord of Calling but being able to pack your deck with one-ofs of the best artifacts to pull out whenever you need them will be incredibly useful. Whir of Invention probably wont do much in limited as it will end up being very clunky and you might not have many good targets for it. In standard however this could see a home in a control deck, being able to find a threat at the end of your opponents turn and because of the Improvise mechanic you could leave mana up for a counterspell. Look for this one in the future.

Wind-Kin Raiders


A solid creature showing off a new mechanic, Wind-Kin Raiders is very powerful in a limited environment, especially if you can power it out by turn 3-4. It will trade with a lot in the air or get some damage in if left alone. Even if you don't have many artifacts to abuse the Improvise mechanic, always play this if you're blue. Nothing for constructed though.

So that concludes our look at all the blue cards from Aether Revolt. Check back soon for a look through all the black cards but until then, keep checking back to Game Changers for more news and updates.