Aether Revolt - White

Today I'm going to look through all the cards in Aether Revolt colour by colour, and today we'll be starting with white.

As you may have seen, I've taken a look at a handful of the spoilers already, so they wont be featuring here.

So on with the show;


Aerial Modification

Auras haven't always been looked upon favorably, most of the time resulting in a two for one in your opponents favor - meaning if they destroy the creature you attached the aura too, you lose two cards for their one card. Aerial Modification is still in that camp of the auras, but it does provide you with a lot of power. For the price of five mana you can turn a vehicle on, allowing it to attack, give it flying and it gets +2/+2, and even if you only put it on a creature its still gets flying and the power/toughness boost. Although Aerial Modification is fairly high costed, this should still probably see play in your limited decks, as far as constructed goes, I'm pretty sure this is a miss.

Aeronaut Admiral

A big theme through Kaladesh and Aether Revolt is vehicles, most of which are very aggressive but do take other creatures to allow them to attack. Aeronaut Admiral addresses both of these points, firstly by being a three powered creature - high enough to be able to turn on most vehicles or just attack in the air or maybe trade up. Secondly, when it does turn your vehicles into creatures it provides them with the added bonus of granting them flying to get over your opponents blockers. Four mana is a bit much for constructed and the one toughness means it could be a bit brittle, a solid card in limited though.

Aether Inspector

A nice, clean, middle of the road creature. It gives you mana and an extra guy, what more could you ask for? The vigilance is probably what makes this playable in limited for those slower games, when the board is a little empty and it can hit in for a bit while also keeping your opponents smaller creatures at bay.

Aethergeode Miner

This card is just value all over; It comes down early, trades up and protects itself all in a neat, little dwarf package. Obviously Aethergeode Miner will be a hit in limited, but the question for me is; where this falls in constructed. I'm confident it will see play in constructed, don't get me wrong, I could see this is some sort of Energy Weenie build, abusing that personal blink ability, or maybe just attacking into whatever sits over the other side of the table, steadily increasing your energy to funnel into something later on. Another thing Aethergeode Miner is good at is triggering Revolt that we will see later, when using that personal blink, for the low price of two energy or in other words, free! Don't underestimate this ability.

Airdrop Aeronauts


Our first look at Revolt in this set, an ability that triggers if a permanent you controlled left the battlefield this turn. Note, this doesn't only mean if a permanent you controlled was put into the graveyard from the battlefield. Like with Aethergeode Miner, as long as you use its ability to exile it before playing a card with Revolt, the Revolt will trigger and you will have Aethergeode Miner in play as well. Airdrop Aeronauts is a fantastic Revolt card to open with because this is great all over. A five mana 4/3 is fine, a five mana 4/3 with flying is good, but a five mana 4/3 with flying and that gains you five life when its enters the battlefield is great. This is gonna be brilliant if you end up with one or two in limited and could easily pull you back into a game with such a big amount of life gain or, if unanswered, could win games for you. Probably not going to see constructed play though being so expensive.

Alley Evasion


I like model spells, I like the versatility of them and the cheaper the better. Alley Evasion is a very good instant defensive model spell that is very hard to play around with it being one mana. Its not going to win any trophy's but it will always do work for you; on the one hand it could provide that little bit of toughness to survive a block, or on the other hand it can return a creature of yours to block another day, dodge a removal spell or just to re-trigger any enter the battlefield abilities there might be. Lets not forget that it can trigger Revolt and for one mana as well, this will do nicely as your twenty third card.

Audacious Infiltrator


Pretty run of the mill again with this one. I like cheap, aggressive creatures and this one comes with a small upside. Yes, this will probably bite it pretty sharpish hopefully while trading up, but in those moments when you come up against all the artifact creatures, this will be doing a lot of work for you. Good in limited, not in constructed.

Bastion Enforcer


Nothing to write home about here. A solid creature that will happily block and maybe get some damage through every now and again.

Call for Unity

As good as Call for Unity may look, this may be a little costly for its effect. Needless to say this is a bomb in limited and if you can abuse the Revolt mechanic then this can get out of control. This is a great card for those weenie strategies especially if you can power it out earlier than turn five. I don't think there's a place in constructed for Call for Unity but you never know, with enough Aethergeode Miners it could be a blowout aggro deck.

Caught in the Brights


Pacifism effects are great for limited, and for an added one mana this one gets a power additional effect. Vehicles are big for these two sets so its easy to pick one up, Caught in the Brights gives you an added bonus just for attacking with that vehicle. This enchantment allows you to hold down a creature in the early game, but in the late game it could be the removal for your opponents bomb creature. This is a pushed effect for this mana cost.

Conviction


Like I said about auras earlier they can be fragile and can land you in a two for one. Conviction gets around that by giving you the option to return it to your hand, so if the enchanted creature is going to die, you can bring it back for one mana to put it on another creature. Conviction also makes the enchanted creature a very good blocker that will hold down the board and buy you some time. Will do work in limited, don't worry about it for constructed.

Countless Gears Renegade


Another Revolt card, Countless Gears Renegade's added bonus is a little Servo friend. A bear - A 2/2 creature for two mana - with this ability can be good in both the aggressive sense; if you can drop it early, hitting in for three damage, and in the defensive sense; giving you two creatures to spread your blockers around more. Countless Gears Renegade will do work for you in limited with two creatures for the price of one and I could possibly even see this in constructed, again in a weenie deck build.

Dawnfeather Eagle

Another limited all star, Dawnfeather Eagle could push you over the finish line at those times when you need to alpha strike. This is on the top of your mana curve in an aggressive deck, maybe with some mana ramp to power it out. Along with the +1/+1, Dawnfeather Eagle also gives your creatures vigilance until end of turn, meaning if you don't end up finishing your opponent off in one swing, hopefully you will have some creatures left to not die on the back swing.

Deadeye Harpooner


Sometimes Deadeye Harpooner will just be a 2/2 for three mana, which is still on the curve kind of. When its a three mana Nekrataal however, it could really pull you out of some sticky situations. Deadeye Harpooner will be fantastic in limited and may even have some constructed applications.

Decommission


With a heavy artifact theme in Aether Revolt, Decommission is going to become a powerful card in both limited and the constructed format to come. Naturalize effects have always been scattered through sets but have usually only seen sideboard play at best. Back in the Mirrodin days however, with such an abundance of artifacts, they started to see more main deck play and I think it could be that time again. If its not the sheer amount of artifacts that affects its play-ability then the life gain aspect is sure to do it.

Deft Dismissal


White has been getting some good removal of late, and Deft Dismissal is another hit out of the park. Four mana for three damage doesn't compare to red for burn spell damage output, but sometimes its the perfect thing for white. Deft Dismissal will see a lot of play in limited and possibly in constructed for the fact that you can split the damage from it as opposed to a one shot removal spell,

Exquisite Archangel


Mythic angels are usually big hitters but I think this one misses the mark a bit. A 5/5 flying creature for seven in limited may seem fine and when you play it it will be hard to deal with, maybe even winning you the game. This has no constructed application in my opinion though, it may stop you from losing the game but you have to protect it for that to happen. The more realistic scenario is that you will play Exquisite Archangel, your opponent will use a removal spell on it and then you will lose the game.

Felidar Guardian


I've always been a fan of blink effects so Felidar Guardian looks cool to me. Four mana might be a bit much for a blink effect especially at sorcery speed, but if you pick the right time to play this, Felidar Guardian could gain an advantage for you with a come into play abilities or just giving a creature sudo-vigilance by playing it post combat phase. Beyond that, Felidar Guardian is a brilliant blocker that will soak up a lot of damage for a couple of turns. This is all from a purely limited point of view, but I would love to try somethings with Felidar Guardian in constructed.

Ghirapur Osprey


This is a Wind Drake in white. Nothing special but it will get some damage in for you while being nicely on curve.

Restoration Specialist


I had to read this a couple of times just to make sure it did in fact get you up to two cards back instead of one, which is very powerful. With a lot of artifacts in Aether Revolt, you wont be looking too hard for an artifact to return, but if you get to return an enchantment as well you will realise the potential value this card holds. Apart from its ability, Restoration Specialist is a nice small creature that will sit nicely on your mana curve in limited an another card that I could see in a constructed sense.

Solemn Recruit


You don't see double strike on creatures much anymore and when it does come around, its not always on the most playable of creatures. Solemn Recruit may be different though, in a world full of Clues and Evolving Wilds I could see this being a formidable creature in constructed. Obviously a powerhouse in limited especially when dropped on turn three, this dwarf warrior is always playable if you're in white.

Sram, Senior Edificer


Another bear with upside Sram's ability could provide a lot of value. It doesn't trigger for general artifacts, because that would be insane value, but it does for equipment and vehicles specifically which will be rolling around a plenty in limited. Apart from that, it fits nicely on the curve and could get some damage in early. I'm not sure about constructed however as I cant see a place for it right now.

Sram's Expertise


Evan Irwin is famously quoted saying "Three dudes, seriously?" when talking about Spectral Procession back in Shadowmoor. While he had a skeptical view upon it, mainly for its triple white mana cost, it turns out that three flying tokens for three mana is really good. Sram's expertise is a slightly different card, however that added mana and lack of flying doesn't make this worse. The Expertise cycle all have this rider on them, letting you play a spell from your hand for free for any mana cost less than the spell's itself. I'll tell you now, cards that allow you to play free spells are awesome; its an instant two for one of the best kind for you, at sorcery speed that is. Imagine this; Sram's expertise, getting three 1/1 tokens, into Nissa, Voice of Zendikar using her minus two ability making all of those tokens 2/2's instead. There are many other combinations that I'm sure will come to light in the months to come so get ready to see this in all those weenie decks and maybe some control decks.

Thopter Arrest


Everyone love Oblivion Ring back in the day; an incredible powerful effect for three mana and it was common in its first print. Thopter arrest is slightly different because it only targets creatures or artifacts, as opposed to a permanent, but in this artifact heavy block is going to be a limited all star and will do a lot of work in constructed, thanks in part to its incredible splash-ability at 2W. Thopter Arrest will be all over the constructed meta-game for the foreseeable future as it fits into every type of deck, so get used to it.

So that's all the white cards from Aether Revolt. Check back soon for a look at all of the blue cards, but until then keep checking back to Game Changers for more news and updates.