Magic: The Gathering’s Aetherdrift puts the pedal to the metal. This high-octane expansion brings players on a one-way trip to extreme speed, with an explosive new keyword that will have you clutching your roll cage in terror.
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That keyword is called ‘exhaust,’ and just like your NOS bottles, you only get to use it once before its gone for good. Unless you manage to recast that creature or otherwise make it leave play and re-enter play to reset it, but more on that later. For now, strap yourselves in for the most extreme keyword to hit Magic since monstrosity.
What Is Exhaust?
Exhaust is an activated ability keyword introduced in the Aetherdrift expansion. The key difference between exhaust and other activated abilities is that it can only ever be activated once. Once the exhaust keyword is used, it cannot be activated again.
Unless you recast the creature or make it leave play and re-enter. This ‘new’ version of the permanent has not used its exhaust ability and can therefore activate it.
Exhaust is similar to monstrosity in that it typically denotes its use with one or more +1/+1 counters, but not necessarily. Loot, the Pathfinder, for example, does not gain counters for using any of its three exhaust abilities.
Aetherdrift introduced 28 cards with exhaust, all of which appear on either a creature or artifact.
How To Use Exhaust
Exhaust can be activated at any time, placing its activation on the stack as with other activated abilities that do not specify their timing. This gives exhaust some flexibility to respond to opponents rather than just be used on your turn.
That said, many exhaust abilities are better used in preparation for an attack. Draconautics Engineer, for example, gives all other creatures you control haste when using its first exhaust ability, and Boom Scholar provides your creatures and vehicles with trample until end of turn.
The vast majority of exhaust abilities simply put one, two, or three +1/+1 counters on the exhausted creature, giving you a quick, one-time boost to that creature’s power. Since these are +1/+1 counters, exhaust also fits well into deck strategies that exploit those counters.
A few cards, like Elvish Refueler, Adrenaline Jockey, and Ranger’s Refueler, have additional abilities that enhance or are triggered by exhaust activations.
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Best Cards With Exhaust
With quite a few exhaust cards to choose from, we thought to pick out a few standouts to bring to your attention.
Draconautics Engineer
Giving your side the haste it needs to potentially win the game in a single turn is always a very potent ability, especially when your side could also benefit from having a 4/4 Dinosaur Dragon token alongside your 3/3 Goblin Artificer. Being able to swing with seven power for seven mana on the same turn when it comes into play is even better.
Loot, the Pathfinder
Depending on the color you use, Loot can either give you three mana, deal three damage, or draw three cards. It’s a shame that he can only ever do it once (unless you play something like Conjurer’s Closet), but one mana for three cards has historically been a really good deal.
Mindspring Merfolk
Pay X mana, draw X cards. It’s a deal that most blue wizards would take, and one that certainly makes a splash. Better yet, Mindspring Merfolk fits into either a merfolk of wizard-typal deck for just one mana. That’s a steal.
Redshift, Rocketeer Chief
Two mana for a 2/3 vigilance is already pretty good. Tap to gain X mana equal to Redshift, Rocketeer Chief’s power is also pretty great and becomes better the larger you pump the suicidally-fast Goblin’s power. But paying 12 to dump your hand into play? That’s awesome. Expect to see this card in Commander decks everywhere.
Sita Varma, Masked Racer
Another 2/3 for two mana, Sita Varma, Masked Racer provides a blue-green squad with a single-use X-pump for the entire team. You also get a bunch of +1/+1 counters for Sita, which is something that Simic colors tend to play well with. A great kill card for green-blue.
Winter, Cursed Rider
Potentially clear the board by removing artifact cards from your graveyard. It’s not what you’d typically associate with a blue/black Commander, but it’s interesting enough that it deserves to be looked at by those seeking something different. Plus the art is metal as hell.
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