The Aetherdrift Vintage Cube Update
Posted on Mar 07, 2025
By Chris Wolf
What’s up Cubers? I’m Chris Wolf, your Magic Online Vintage Cube designer. MTGO Creative Director Ryan Spain wrote an article looking back at Vintage Cube in 2024 and ahead in 2025 from the vision perspective—you can check it out here. Before we get to the specifics of the Aetherdrift update to the Magic Online Vintage Cube, I wanted to look back from the design perspective (but you can speed to the Aetherdrift update section if you want!).
Looking Back to Look Ahead
The December 2023 update to the Magic Online Vintage Cube was the first time Ryan gave me full control over the final list, so December 2024’s update represented my one-year anniversary of curating this Cube, and honestly, I couldn’t be happier with how the year went. Sure, I would’ve done some things differently looking back, but that’s inevitable when curating a Vintage Cube. The important thing is that we took some measured risks and learned a lot from the results.
Just looking at it from a player’s perspective, we got to:
- Play the Magic Online Vintage Cube more than ever before.
- Participate in the most historic Cube event ever with the Vintage Cube LIVE!
- Experience a variety of archetypes and strategies to keep things fresh and exciting,
And I am still first and foremost a player, so it was an exciting year for me as a Vintage Cube fan. As the designer, though, I understand that different players have different tastes, and I feel like we got to hit a lot of sweet spots for a lot of people through Ryan’s vision, which brings me to my next point.
Working with Ryan, Product Manager Tony Mayer, Senior Community Manager Aaron “Torbin” Linde, and the rest of the Magic Online crew has been an absolute blast! I recently started studying full-time to become a Kindergarten teacher, but I’m hoping to continue in my role in designing the Magic Online Vintage Cube as I start my teaching career. We will see how the juggle goes, but regardless of whether I am involved in the curation or not, I have 100% confidence that Magic Online is in great hands with this team. Getting to peek behind the scenes a little, the outside factors they have to manage can be intense and difficult, and continuing to grow the game and its audience in the face of its challenges inspires my faith in the future of this platform!
As you can tell, they also poured a lot of love and resources into everyone’s favorite format: the Magic Online Vintage Cube. Apart from the things listed above, they also supported my development of a testing team for the Vintage Cube, made up of a number of select players under NDA who are helping our efforts to curate the best possible Vintage Cube experience for all of you to enjoy. And it would be an understatement to say they’ve been a great help, so big thanks to my incredible testing team! If joining that team is something that interests you, feel free to join the MTGO Discord and shoot me a DM to join the testing group!
Lastly, moving back to the designer’s perspective, I was really happy to be able to introduce so many sweet new cards into the Vintage Cube—I crossed a bunch of cards off my audition list that I’d been wanting to give a shot, even if some of them didn’t hit home for everyone. Ever since Ryan first laid out his vision of bringing the Cube out more frequently and with increased variety, I had wanted to curate a nostalgia-driven Vintage Cube experience and a “maximum power” version, and we were able to deliver both in 2024! I’ll leave the full topic of where we’re headed to Ryan and his article, but I’m sure we’ll have many more amazing years of the Magic Online Vintage Cube ahead of us!
The Aetherdrift Update
As Ryan laid out in his article, we are going to switch things up a little this year, moving from four large updates with four small follow-ups to six moderate updates after the six Standard sets, and no scheduled follow-ups. That said, we are still looking to keep things fresh while including exciting new options.
So, what is coming into the Magic Online Vintage Cube with the Aetherdrift update? Not just Aetherdrift Cube contenders!
An Energetic Couple
The Energy deck has been running rampant in Modern, even drawing a ban for one of our inclusions here. While Vintage Cube doesn’t provide a reliable critical mass like Constructed does, we expect these two to stand on their own while having the ability to synergize with counter-copying effects and with each other.
Understanding the Paradox
Paradoxical Outcome is back for another ride and with enough mana producing artifacts, you can loop it indefinitely with Stormchaser’s Talent. But how can you produce that much mana without a ridiculous amount of Power, you ask? Well, here’s a suggestion…
Making tons of mana can fuel other things besides Paradoxical Outcome, of course, so we decided to bring these two back in tandem for those of you who enjoy going big with blue mana.
Multicolor Loot-box
For those of you who enjoy taking lands first and figuring out what to cast with them later, we’ve got a couple of new and old toys to play with! And while we’re on the topic of lands…
Mycospawn’s ability is powerful in Vintage Cube whether Field of the Dead is in the 540 or not, but the former provides some good support for the latter. Field of the Dead decks aren’t tearing up the trophy race or anything, but it can be a low-opportunity-cost inclusion for decks heavy on nonbasics, and some people just like to Do the Thing—we salute you!
A New Dawn
Ketramose is making a splash in Constructed, so we did not want to exile the New Dawn from Vintage Cube. Its best buddy Relic of Progenitus is back to join pretty much all of its other Constructed companions which are present in the Vintage Cube already.
Those are a few combos, cards, and mechanics coming into the Vintage Cube to consider! We also added some additional support for the Ninjas deck emerging as an archetype around Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and there are plenty of new toys from sets that have been printed since the last iteration as well—you can check out the changes with design comments in the table below.
Thanks for reading, and happy Cubing!
Changelist
| Color | In | Out | Design Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | Hero of Bladehold | Blade Splicer | Hero of Bladehold comes off the bench to lead your token horde to victory. Prepare yourself for her battle cry! |
| White | March of Otherworldly Light | Exorcise | While Exorcise performed decently, it didn't rise up to "staple" status, so we're switching it up in this slot with March of Otherworldly Light. |
| White | Monastery Mentor | Sanguine Evangelist | We are always looking for opportunities to bring back old favorites. This time, the venerable Monastery Mentor makes its return. |
| White | Skyseer's Chariot | Temporary Lockdown | Phyrexian Revoker text on a Smuggler's Copter chassis sounds pretty good. It might not rise up to "great" but it's worth a shot, and if you are playing it in game two, you were probably happy to have access to the revoker text. |
| White | Static Prison | Sheltered by Ghosts | Static Prison won't be the powerhouse it is in Modern without the full force of all the best energy cards behind it, but it is an efficient, broad, thorough removal option, if temporary. It's not for every deck, but if three more turns is all you need, or if you can recur it with Lurrus of the Dream-Den, you can probably extract some decent value out of a late pick, here. |
| Blue | Duelist of the Mind | Chrome Host Seedshark | We are increasing support for blue midrange strategies this iteration, so we feel justified in bringing back a World Champion here. Seedshark has depreceated a little in recent months, so we feel okay tossing the shark into the tank for a bit. |
| Blue//White | High Tide | Pre-War Formalwear | Pre-War Formalwear hasn't been too impressive. While it definitely has its moments, it's often lacking in the proactive department where white wants to be, and can be rendered useless by graveyard hate. High Tide is coming back in alongside Candelabra of Tawnos to provide combo players with an angle change. |
| Blue | Paradoxical Outcome | Fact or Fiction | Fact or Fiction came back for a visit, but it no longer deserves "staple" status. For this update, we're bringing in the higher ceiling of Paradoxical Outcome instead. |
| Blue | Stock Up | Dig Through Time | Dig Through Time is certainly powerful but it can be hard to cast, and with Stock Up breaking through in Vintage, we want to give it a shot in the Cube that shares the format's name. |
| Blue//Red | Stormchaser's Talent | Spiked Corridor // Torture Pit | While we don't expect Stormchaser's Talent to become a staple, we feel like it could be a neat toy to play with for a bit, and being able to rebuy Time Walk for an efficient cost is a nice way to "clear the bar" for inclusion in Vintage Cube. |
| Black | Kitesail Freebooter | Marionette Apprentice | We're bringing back Kitesail Freeboother as a solid standalone card that slots particlarly well into ninjitsu decks. |
| Black | Lethal Scheme | Virtue of Persistence | Lethal Scheme supports a variety of strategies as a "free" removal spell that can grow your team, and as a discard outlet. Will it stick aroud? That remains to be seen… |
| Red | Amped Raptor | Piggy Bank | Much like Static Prison, Amped Raptor won't be "Modern-busted" in Vintage Cube, but a card that warrants a ban in Constructed shouldn't be overlooked even in a nerfed context. The fact that we are still adding new cards from MH3 just goes to show how powerful the set is! |
| Red | Bonehoard Dracosaur | Overlord of the Boilerbilges | Rampaging Raptor and Bonehoard Dracosaur are coming in alongside a small Dino-package. The fiery Overlord did a fine job, but wasn't worthy of a long-term spot. |
| Red//Black | Glorybringer | Shriekmaw | Bringing back some Glory in exchange for Shriekmaw, which has some good applications but has seen much better days. "Nonblack" feels like a draconian drawback with the removal black has access to these days. |
| Red | Greasewrench Goblin | Kumano Faces Kakkazan | Savannah Lions with extra abilities are usually a fine choice in aggressive colors, and this Goblin carries a good one. Red makes great use of discard effects in Vintage Cube, and while 3 mana is no bargain, instant speed and an additional point of power and toughness are nothing to scoff at, either. |
| Red | Ivora, Insatiable Heir | Razorkin Needlehead | Red creatures that create Blood tokens are a known quantity at this point, and Ivora benefits nicely from all the discard effects R has to offer while doing a number on your opponents when combined with Survival of the Fittest and/or Bazaar of Baghdad. |
| Red | Rampaging Raptor | Anger | Rampaging Raptor and Bonehoard Dracosaur are coming in alongside a small Dino-package. While Anger can offer great support for Survival/Bazaar strategies, the card simply did not see enough play by the community, so we are letting go of it for now. |
| Green | Agonasaur Rex | Balustrade Wurm | Balustrade Wurm looked like it could be a nice glue-piece, being playable in several archetypes. Unfortunately, it ended up just a tad weak, so we're giving it the boot. Agonasaur Rex's ability to transform into a combat trick seems sweet, and its baseline stats would make a player from 1997 blush, so we'll give it a go. |
| Green | Cankerbloom | Outland Liberator | Making this swap in light of Day/Night being bugged with Animate Dead and Necromancy, but we expect to liberate the Outland Liberator in a future iteration. |
| Green | Haywire Mite | Insidious Fungus | Swapping these back, as Haywire Mite represents the more flexible option. |
| Green | Scythecat Cub | Fyndhorn Elves | Bristly Cat! We are always looking for new options in green, and this one is promising, delivering the beats while also combining well with Nadu. |
| Green | Sowing Mycospawn | Eureka | Eureka certainly got a boost from cards like Portal to Phyrexia and Vaultborn Tyrant in recent years, but the symmetrical effect still makes it a bit of a trap, so we'll continue swapping it in and out whenever we need or don't need the slot. This time, Sowing Mycospawn makes a comeback to fetch up powerful lands. |
| Green//Black | Worldly Tutor | Valgavoth, Terror Eater | Valgavoth underperformed expectations and isn't worth a permanent spot. Instead, we'll try a card heavily lobbied for by one of our testers, and we think this is the time, because green has decent combo potential these days with Nadu and Titania. It's also a neat little combo with Metamorphosis Fanatic, getting you a reanimation target to Sneak in or DIY-Entomb when coupled with a Surveil land. |
| Boros | General Ferrous Rokiric | Figure of Destiny |
It's been some time, since Figure of Destiny has been a premier 1-drop for the Boros colors. General Ferrous Rokiric offers something unique, and Domain strategies have been surging in popularity, so we went with one of our tester's suggestion. |
| Golgari | Wastewood Verge | Nurturing Peatland | The lifeloss of the Horizon lands has become an increasingly bigger cost, so we are swapping a couple of them out for the new Verges, which have performed well, while keeping a couple lifeloss lands to combo with Crucible-type strategies. |
| Izzet | Riverpyre Verge | Fiery Islet | The lifeloss of the Horizon lands has become an increasingly bigger cost, so we are swapping a couple of them out for the new Verges, which have performed well, while keeping a couple lifeloss lands to combo with Crucible-type strategies. |
| Orzhov | Bleachbone Verge | Silent Clearing | The lifeloss of the Horizon lands has become an increasingly bigger cost, so we are swapping a couple of them out for the new Verges, which have performed well, while keeping a couple lifeloss lands to combo with Crucible-type strategies. |
| Orzhov//Golgari | Ketramose, the New Dawn | Witherbloom Command | With Ketramose making a splash in Constructed, we wanted to give it a shot in the Cube as well. While our hopes remain moderate, there are some nice combos with it, such as Relic of Progenitus and Parallax Wave in addition to the usual suspects seen in Constructed lists. |
| Selesnya | Brightglass Gearhulk | Qasali Pridemage | We are aware that players tend to avoid Selesnya like the plague, but also feel like rewarding the brave that occasionally find themselves deep in those colors. At least the demand for Selesnya means the required fixing will be easier to come by, and remember, this finds more than creatures, so the toolsbox includes things like Portable Hole, Static Prison, Urza's Saga and Relic of Progenitus. |
| Multicolor//Green | Golos, Tireless Pilgrim | Overlord of the Hauntwoods | We did not expect Overlord of the Hauntwoods to make a big splash and it met those expectations, so we're bringing back Golos, which arguably plays a similar role, but with higher ceiling. |
| Multicolor//Green | Huatli, Poet of Unity | Valgavoth's Onslaught | Valgavoth's Onslaught did a little less than we were hoping, so we are bringing back Huatli for some sweet Dino action in this run. |
| Multicolor//Simic | Loot, the Pathfinder | Koma, World-Eater | Koma has disappointed a bit, and Loot just carries that Vintage Cube aura with the built-in Ancestral Recall, Lightning Bolt and not-so-Dark Ritual. |
| Multicolor//Dimir | Raffine, Scheming Seer | Kaito Shizuki | While Kaito Shizuki technically does Ninja-y things that we are adding support for in this iteration, Raffine does a much better job of it. |
| Colorless | Candelabra of Tawnos | Reckoner Bankbuster | Candelabra is back to untap your Tolarian Academy and High Tide boosted Islands to fuel your big-mana dreams. |
| Colorless | Field of the Dead | Mutavault | With fewer mono-colored aggro decks seeing play, Mutavault is mostly hanging out in sideboards, so we're bringing back Field of the Dead alongside Sowing Mycospawn and Golos, Tireless Pilgrim. |
| Colorless | Relic of Progenitus | Soul-Guide Lantern | We are swapping these two to better support Ketramose, the New Dawn. |
| Colorless | The Aetherspark | Batterskull |
An Artifact Equipment Planeswalker is something we've never seen before, making it hard to evaluate properly but definitely worth trying, as it can be tutored by Stoneforge Mystic, cast off of Mishra's Workshop, and doesn't need to connect with players to gain loyalty, so that it can really make things happen on the back of a big Karnstruct. Batterskull is a shell of its former glory, so we are content having it sit on the bench for now. |