MTG Aetherdrift is essentially the latest installment in a series of Magic: The Gathering sets that have tested and unsettled the preferences of the game’s traditionalist fans. I can’t claim I was blindsided by this. Considering everything, it entirely makes sense that one of the top card games, with a history spanning over two decades, would have its share of players who feel fiercely protective of what they believe to be the ‘true’ essence of the game’s universe.
However, that concept of Magic’s lore grounded in High Fantasy is constantly being challenged by the core content of recent sets, which incorporate themes not commonly found in the genre. Whether it’s neo-noir detectives, cowboys, or street racers, MTG’s creators have shown a strong commitment to bold, genre-blending innovation – but as a result, the Magic multiverse is progressing at a pace that has left some segments of the player base feeling abandoned.
Let’s label these individuals as nostalgic. Call them skeptics. Either way, they all grapple with similar issues: the numerous ways in which Magic: The Gathering’s universe fails to resonate with that of a Tolkien or a Le Guin. For some, there’s an almost painfully irreverent quality to the incorporation of symbols from our contemporary world into MTG. A leap over the shark, a torching of the history books, whatever terminology they choose, the sentiment is uniform: forget this.
If you are engaged with the player community, you’ve likely encountered your fair share of critiques regarding the perceived disparity between Aetherdrift’s main premise (i.e., racing cars zooming) and the established norms of Fantasy fiction. Alternatively, you may have come across those whose grievances are more specific, such as a recent criticism directed at Chief Design Officer Mark Rosewater, which denounced the MTG Aetherdrift symbol as “standing out negatively amongst other set symbols.” This curious sentiment resonates throughout various Reddit discussions in a less polite fashion as well, with one user specifically labeling the checkered flag symbol as “the worst in years.”
No matter how you might choose to portray everyone in this camp as merely a garden-variety pessimist, I believe it’s worth considering their arguments to some extent. I mean, at least they’re worth reflecting upon.
Nevertheless, despite all the uproar regarding how MTG Aetherdrift diverges from traditional Magic, I have yet to see anyone latch onto what is possibly one of the most significant shifts we’ve observed in the lore. It arises from one of Aetherdrift’s racing teams; the Guidelight Voyagers, who are the first of their creature type to appear in a canonical setting. That’s right – there are robots in-universe now.
Robots have featured in Universes Beyond sets and several non-canonical Magic: The Gathering products previously, and there are numerous robot-like creatures that have appeared on cards in core sets. If you reward a random piece of artwork depicting most artifact creatures, you will likely see them identified as some sort of machine. However, there is a nuanced yet essential distinction in the lore between Golems, Constructs, and fully-fledged classical Robots.
Notably, Rosewater mentioned that his understanding of what differentiates a Robot from its artifact creature counterparts is that it is a non-organic, non-magical, programmed creature that is entirely reserved for function in “more contemporary settings.” Thus, even as some have sounded the alarm over Magic: The Gathering’s Classic Fantasy universe upon encountering Duskmourn‘s CRT televisions or Kamigawa’s mechs, all these elements have within-world magical plausibility. The genuine concern reflects a lot of the worries expressed by many real-world conspiracy theorists: the robots are coming. Welcome to the future, old friend.
Before the release, get up on everything you need to know about MTG Aetherdrift. For recommendations on what to enjoy in the meantime, check out our top board games list.