Aether Revolt - Green

 

Aether Herder

Just for the base stats of a 3/3 for four mana, Aether Herder is a petty solid creature. Unfortunately unlike the other "Aether" creatures, it doesn't have its own keyword ability but it still provides you with energy just for playing it and can make more creatures as a result of attacking. Just like Aether Inspector, the other four drop creature with this ability, Aether Herder sits a little higher on the curve but is more resilient and lends itself to a more mid-range strategy, allowing for a slower deck that focuses on the end game more. If you can make a bit of energy then Aether Herder could make for a nice sudo energy sink and increase your board position incrementally each turn, until you can send the little Servos in and start keeping Aether Herder back to block.

Aetherstream Leopard

Aetherstream Leopard is pretty much Voltaic Brawler. Sure the stats are slightly different and the mana cost is one more, but in essence they do the same thing; when it attacks it becomes a 4/3 creature with trample. Leopard is fine for limited but even in that aspect if the choice is Brawler or Leopard then its Brawler all the way, mainly for the additional energy and one less mana. Its easier to splash then Voltaic Brawler but they do fit into the same deck, an aggressive energy based deck, so you would probably play it along side Brawler in limited. However, like I said earlier I think the choice in constructed would be Voltaic Brawler as I feel it gives you slightly more for less of an investment.

Aetherwind Basker

A big splashy mythic lizard with trample. Basker's first ability may seem quite big; you could get a lot of energy out of it, but you could also have zero creatures in play and end up getting one energy from the Basker itself. I think this card should be judged on its stats and second ability. A seven mana 7/7 with trample is nothing to turn your nose up at, and if you have any energy left over from other spells, you can pump it into you Aetherwind Basker for even more damage. Aetherwind Basker could be a game winner when it hits the table provided your opponent has no blockers or removal, best case scenario, but it could end up being a seven mana gain same energy at the end of the day, so be careful. In limited you should always play Aetherwind Basker as it could be the big swingy play you need to turn or win you then game, however It doesn't have enough of an immediate impact for constructed, aside from the potential of a butt-load of energy.

Aid from the Cowl

Another card that gives you free stuff, Aid from the Cowl is a bit on the expensive side for what it does. Yes it is a recurring ability, but only if you can trigger the Revolt each turn and even then there is a chance you wont hit a permanent, and then it because a bad Scry 1. Aid from the Cowl could get you the board presence needed to get yourself back into the game, granted if you jump through some hoops for it, or it could be a five mana do nothing card and in my mind, more often than not, it will be the latter. Aid from the Cowl could turn out to be quite fun in limited if you can reliably trigger it, but I would advise to have some sort of back up plan just in case your plan goes awry. Constructed isn't the place for Aid from the Cowl for its lack of immediate impact, as you need to wait until the end of the turn to reap the benefits even if you did trigger it that turn, so unless you can fix the top card of your deck it could prove to be unreliable.

Druid of the Cowl

Not much to say about Druid of the Cowl; its a mana creature for two, not unseen in previous sets, and its good at blocking. It will get you from two to four mana nice and easy and can sit back in the late game. You should always play this in limited as it acts as an additional land and creature, allowing for a still risky but now slightly less risky steep curve or a more consistent lower curve. There will always be a place for mana creatures in constructed and this could be a good shout for that slot, it helps in those ramp decks and maybe even a mid-range control-ish deck.

Greenbelt Rampage

At first glance Greenbelt Rampage looks really good. A one mana 3/4 with what looks like almost no drawback, but the trick is you don't want this nor will you get this on turn one. Sure you might play it on turn one but all that will result in is gaining one energy, something that can be achieved in double by Attune with the Aether on turn one and that gets you a land as well. This will always sit in your one drop slow in limited, even if you hardly ever play it there, being a one mana 3/4 mid game is still good as it gives you a threat and frees up your mana for other spells. In limited, Greenbelt Rampager should probably be played almost every time even if you don't have much energy producers, as it can power itself out at the risk of essentially becoming a two mana creatures after playing it twice already on turn one and once on turn two to get the two energy needed before playing it the second time on turn two.

Greenwheel Liberator

I'm certain Greenwheel Liberator will find a home in constructed as its simply a bear with upside. A pretty good upside, for two mana and triggering the Revolt mechanic this is a 4/3, Quite formidable if dropped fairly early and with little opposition. The Revolt on Greenwheel Liberator almost feel like its there to teach you when to cast it, or at least the optimal time to cast it which is more often then not going to be post combat, because a creature of yours dying in combat triggers the Revolt. You will always love Greenwheel Liberator in limited, even if you don't get the Revolt part as its still a bear. In constructed, this will find its home on a low curve, fast aggressive deck where hopefully the Revolt can be triggered pretty consistently.

Heroic Intervention

This is the best proactive fog ever. For two mana Heroic Intervention allows you to attack into your opponents creatures in those stalemate situations, or block a particularly big attack from your opponent and suffer little to no repercussion at all. This is a silver bullet card for most sideboards as its easy to splash and will shine in those certain times to combat a sweeper or ground stall. You may find a place for one, maybe two in the main deck in constructed but I think its a bit of a specialist card that wont always come in handy in game one.

Hidden Herbalist

Another bear with upside. Hidden Herbalist, if played correctly, could act as a very aggressive creature; being able to trigger the Revolt on turn two and using the the two green mana to play another creature, maybe like Greenwheel Liberator for example, resulting in six power on turn two. It can also work in a defensive sense, being a cheap way to beef up your board while you look for answers. Its a nice little design that offers a lot of value for little investment. As I said before, bears will always see play in limited, but as far as constructed goes I think there are better creatures right now in the two drop slot.

Highspire Infusion

Pretty straight forward here, Giant Growth with two energy attached. Fits in very will in an aggressive energy deck or even just in those time in a slower deck when you just need a little more energy. You'll play this in limited as its splashable, can push you over the finish line or protect your creatures as a combat trick and it gives you energy, what more could you want.

Lifecraft Awakening

A great combat trick, Lifecraft Awakening gives you an additional creature to block with if you have a spare untapped artifact lying around, which can mess up combat math giving you an edge. Aside from that, you can use it to permanently pump a vehicle you control at instant speed, and with this being an X spell, you can easily put a lot of your mana into it if you're getting a bit flooded, turning whichever you choose into a big threat. Lifecraft Awakening will probably sit in limited and I think is unlikely to see play in constructed.

Lifecraft Cavalry

Like I said about Greenwheel Liberator, the Revolt mechanic on Lifecraft Cavalry will probably come post combat after losing a creature. In which case you will be looking at a five mana 6/6 with trample, providing value above the curve. Obviously Lifecraft Cavalry wont see its way out of limited.

Lifecrafter's Gift

A lot of creatures in Aether Revolt, and Kaladesh in the sealed format, have ways of giving themselves +1/+1 counters as part of their abilities. Lifecrafter's Gift gives you a away of giving a creature a +1/+1 counter and then rewarding you for other creatures having counters by increasing them further, the fact that it's an instant means it will be invaluable as a combat trick. Lifecrafter's Gift could get you out of some sticky situations in limited, probably to expensive for constructed.

Maulfist Revolutionary

Aether Revolt has a big increasing counters theme and Maulfist Revolutionary is probably as packed with value as those kinds of cards come. A three mana 3/3 with trample is already really good, but when it triggers both when it enters the battlefield and dies its get more interesting. Maulfist Revolutionary increases all types of counters both on creatures and players, meaning it also increases your energy counters and loyalty counters on your planeswalkers. This card will do work in limited just for its stats and will probably increase some +1/+1 counters and almost definitely your energy counters. I could even see this making its way into constructed either in that planeswalker control deck or in a token pump strategy as another anthem effect.

Monstrous Onslaught

This may look like it could do a lot of damage for five mana but I think if you end up playing Monstrous Onslaught you will realise quickly that you wont get as much out of it as you hope for. If you can engineer a situation in where you can get five or six damage out of it spread across two or three opposing creatures then it will feel worth it, but it could spend a lot of time clogging up your hand. I could see this in limited if you have a heavy top end deck where a lot of the creatures in Aether Revolt have 5+ power, way too slow for constructed.

Narnam Renegade

I like elves, all types of elves, especially the cheap ones. Narnam Renegade is as cheap as they get and technically above the curve for elves being a 1/2 for one. The deathtouch will hold up the ground nicely in the early turns and, if found late on in the game, can start getting in for some damage thanks to the Revolt. You should always play this in limited because its a great early drop that will do some work for you pretty much all the time. I think this will see a fair bit of constructed play for some of those GB decks looking for a solid one drop.

Natural Obsolescence

Its almost Naturalise, aside from the fact that it cant hit enchantments, but may end up being slightly better in a world where you can recur your artifacts from your graveyard. It also doubles as protection in a pinch for your own artifacts, if you'd rather it being back in your deck with the potential to be shuffled to the top then lying in your graveyard. A good trick for limited, this might even see sideboard play in constructed strongly aided by its low mana cost.

Peema Aether-Seer

Lure elves are nothing new. This time around the Lure elf gets to utilize energy. Peema Aether-Seer not only provides you the ability to be very proactive in a combat sense; forcing your opponents creatures to block your very large creatures and added combat tricks for the low cost of three energy, it also gains you energy, the majority of the time three but that's all you need to activate Peema Aether-Seer once. Add in that Peema Aether-Seer is decent at attacking, this is a pretty powerful four drop that any aggro or temp deck would love to see in limited.

Prey Upon

It's back, Greens premier removal spell. Prey Upon is cheap and can be very powerful. It can put a hole in your opponents defense just in time for your oncoming assault or just snuff out there early creatures to get the ball rolling with some early damage. It obviously works best with a massive creature, but you'd be surprised how much this can get people, playing it pre-combat to mess up combat math, or engineering your attack around Prey Upon to take out an opposing creature post combat. Always play this in limited, its pretty good.

Ridgescale Tusker

This card is pushed. A five mana 5/5 is good, and then it makes all your other creatures bigger...permanently...ALL OF THEM...FOREVER. If you find yourself with two of these in your limited pool, you will be having some fun. Imagine Ridgescale Tusker on turn five, +1/+1ing all your other creatures and then another on turn six replicating that ability and giving you a 6/6 Tusker. Even Fatal Push Cant hit this thing. All that rambling praise aside, it wont have a home in constructed.

Rishkar, Peema Renegade

This is another pure value card. Three mana for a 2/2 is alright, that's if you want it to be a 2/2. Rishkar could end up being a three mana 3/3 Llanowar elves if you chose to put one of his counters on himself or he could beef up your other creatures and turn them into sudo Llanowar elves. Dropping Rishkar early gives you both the power to threaten a fast game, and the extra mana to accelerate you even further. Always in limited and as easily splashable as Rishkar is, probably most of the time in constructed as well.

Rishkar's Expertise

Rishkar's Expertise, in my opinion, is the worst of the Expertise cycle. Traditional in the past this kind of effect hasn't been particularly powerful, mainly because it requires you spending a lot of you mana to draw a bunch of cards, only to be in a position where you cant play them because you don't have enough mana and end up having to discard most of them. The free spell saves it because it gives you such a range of spells you could play, as long as it costs five mana or less, you can play it for free off Rishkar's Expertise. It will probably stay in limited and even then I'm not sure how often this will get played over rare-drafted and nothing more, maybe in a weird tempo control deck, I'm sure you wont see it in constructed.

Scrounging Bandar

Its a cat monkey, whatever that is, but this cat monkey is pretty good. Not only is it a bear, you can choose to move the counters to other creatures later on in the game. If you can add any more +1/+1 counters to Scrounging Bandar you could move them as well, its not just restricted to the counters it came into play with. Limited again, as much as I would like to see a cat monkey in constructed I don't think its the time.

Silkweaver Elite

The new kind of spider, Silkweaver Elite sits nicely on the three drop slot with a neat effect to replace itself. Again the Revolt on Silkweaver Elite will probably be triggered by combat, meaning you should play this in your second main phase. Other than that there isn't much more to say about it, obviously it stays in limited as the effect isn't that powerful for constructed.

Unbridled Growth

Unfortunately this doesn't add additional mana like these kind of cards have done in the past. It does however allow you to splash other colours and your enchanted land provide the mana for those cards. It also replaces itself and this line of text is probably the most interesting part, not the part about drawing you a card though, the other part about sacrificing for free.
It triggers Revolt, so you can play this on turn one, sacrifice it on turn two and then drop a 4/3 Greenwheel Liberator ready to attack for turn three. Unbridled Growth will always be good in limited and may even sneak into constructed depending on how many four and five colour decks could start showing their heads.

So we're at the end of our look through all the Green cards in Aether Revolt. Check back soon for a look through all the Multicolored cards before ending with the crux of the set, the Artifacts.
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