What Happens in Aetherdrift?

Aetherdrift releases on February 14th. Its story follows the events of the Ghirapur Grand Prix, an incredibly dangerous multi-planar race. This race was made possible by the opening of the Omenpaths following the events of the Phyrexian invasion. These portals allow anyone – and not just planeswalkers – to travel between planes.

Many characters old and new are competing in this death-defying race, which takes place on the planes of Muraganda, Amonkhet, and Avishkar (Formerly Kaladesh). In this article, I’ll tell you what went down during this death race.

A PRIZE WORTH DYING FOR…

Any good Death Race has to have something worth dying for, and The Aetherspark delivers. This artificial planeswalker spark is capable of granting its owner the same abilities as a planeswalker. Even in a world of Omenpaths, becoming a planeswalker is a pretty big deal. They don’t have to find the right portal to go somewhere – they can simply planeswalk.

It was invented by Ishikari Bindra, an Avishkar inventor. It contains aether and a fragment of the Blind Eternities. She was only able to gain the fragment during the Phyrexian Invasion. She lost her life in obtaining it.

Its inventor was willing to die to create this powerful object, and so too are many other denizens of the multiverse. There are 10 teams from throughout the multiverse competing for the Aetherspark in the Grand Prix.

THE MAJOR COMPETITORS

The most famous of these competitors – both to us and in story – is Chandra Nalaar. She’s a celebrity on her home plane, and is a crowd favorite as a result. She enters the race because she wants to win the Aetherspark for Nissa, who has been unable to visit her home since losing her spark during the Phyrexian Invasion. She joins the Cloudspire Racing Team, whose other members hail from the plane of Kylem.

Chandra’s mother Pia is also competing in the race as the co-captain of the Aether Rangers, who come from Avishkar. This gives the Nalaar family two shots at obtaining the Aetherspark for Nissa.

Winter, who we last saw in the Duskmourn story, is the captain of the Duskmourn team – the Speed Demons. Winter enters the Grand Prix because Valgavoth has promised him his freedom from his frightening home plane if he can win. If he loses, he’ll never be able to leave Duskmourn.

Daretti was one of many planeswalkers to lose their spark following the Phyrexian Invasion, and he ended up stranded on Avishkar as a result. When many other goblins ended up stranded on the plane as a result of an Omenpath that was only very briefly open, Daretti effectively adopted them.

These other goblins are from an unknown plane, but they are obsessed with speed. This makes them a great fit for a Ghirapur Grand Prix racing team, and they enter as the Goblin Rocketeers with Daretti as their captain. They have an interest in the Aetherspark because they would like to return home, and Daretti wouldn’t mind being able to planeswalk again.

Like Daretti, Basri is a planeswalker who recently lost his spark. He and the other Champions of Amonkhet ride for the glory of their gods, who are helping them rebuild their plane following the Phyrexian Invasion.

“Spitfire” is almost as famous as Chandra among the racing fans of the multiverse. Known to many as “The Queen of Racing,” she always wears a mask to hide her identity. She is actually Sita Varma, the daughter of Mohar, a member of the Kaladesh Consulate before the events of a successful popular uprising, which resulted in the abolition of the old consulate and the plane being renamed Avishkar. 

Her father – nor anyone else – knows that she’s actually Spitfire. He is still very traditional and wants the plane to return to how it’s always been. This includes there being a more limited role for women. Meanwhile, his daughter loves how the multiverse is changing. 

She has a love-hate relationship with Chandra. She idolizes her, and wants to be a Planeswalker just like she is. But she also resents her for being so famous and powerful, and sees her as a major rival on the racetrack.

She wants the Aetherspark so that if Avishkar ever becomes Kaladesh again, she can easily leave. She is Pia Nalaar’s co-captain in the Aether Rangers.

START YOUR ENGINES!

The race gets started in the city of Ghirapur on Kaladesh, and the first leg of the race is rather short – with an Omenpath to Amonkhet only a few minutes away. 

The race gets off to a chaotic start to say the least. Or, as Sita puts it:

What’s worse than navigating the jam-packed streets of Ghirapur in a vehicle going half the speed of sound? Doing so while debris is falling overhead, a swarm of wasps are trying to get into your ride, shark-people are firing cannons at you, and you’re fairly certain those nice little robots are messing with your communications.

To make matters worse, much of the racing infrastructure is in terrible shape, since the engineer was more interested in quickly building the race track on a budget than he was in making sure it was safe. Almost immediately, part of the platform collapses, and the debris complicates things even further.

As short as the first leg of the race is, many racers don’t make it to the Omenpath. In the end, it’s Winter and the other Speed Demons who make it through the portal first, followed by Sita. However, this baffles the experienced Sita, who could have sworn they were very far behind only a moment earlier.

THE AMONKHET LEG OF THE RACE

Things don’t become any less chaotic on the Amonkhet leg of the race. In fact things get even crazier! Daretti and his teams of goblins are getting particularly devastated by Far Fortune, the leader of the Endbringers, who are hurling flaming, exploding chainsaws at Daretti and the other Goblin Rocketeers.

None of the other competitors are pulling their punches either. Chandra is slinging fireballs, Winter summons a giant spectral demon to protect his vehicle, and Sita Varma is using aether to create lightning that mows down her enemies. Many more competitors fall during this hectic battle on the race track.

It’s not only the competitors who are dangerous though. The plane of Amonkhet is itself a dangerous place.

A strange dust storm filled with lightning and fire kicks up near the end of track in Amonkhet. This forces the racers to focus on outrunning the storm, as it will swallow them up and destroy their vehicles if they don’t. One entire team is swallowed by the storm, and many others perish, but all the story’s major players manage to survive and make it to the next Omenpath.

Once again, Winter and the Speed Demons are in first place, though no one is sure how that’s the case, as none of them remember being passed.

MAYBE AMONKHET WASN’T SO BAD…

Muraganda makes Amonkhet look like the most peaceful place in the multiverse. As the racers emerge on the track there, they find absolute chaos. The plane itself seems to be crumbling. There are massive crumbling trees, falling floating islands, and even fragments of the moon as major obstacles.

In addition to the natural disaster creating so many problems, the plane is also filled with marauding raiders riding gigantic dinosaurs who are trying to take advantage of the chaos by attacking the racers. Many racers are killed, and Daretti gets captured.

Luckily for Chandra, her destructive abilities are perfect for the challenge of falling debris and raiders, and she uses her pyromancy to burn her way through the obstacles, and finds herself in first place. At least…that’s what she thinks. Somehow, Winter is once again in front of her. Convinced he’s cheating, Chandra starts to watch him very closely.

As she does, she notices a strange orange caged creature is in his vehicle. Not long after that, a raider attack results in that creature’s cage being dislodged and taken away by the raiders.

Chandra decides to stay behind and try to get the creature back, much to the chagrin of her teammates. She ditches her vehicle and mounts a dinosaur, to follow the captors. 

Pia sees that Chandra’s vehicle has been crushed by a dinosaur, and urges Sita to make sure Chandra’s alright, but she turns off her radio and speeds ahead, with winning the race her only concern.

LOOT IS THE KEY TO EVERYTHING…EXCEPT CAGES, APPARENTLY

Meanwhile, Daretti finds himself imprisoned in a cage alongside a strange orange telepathic creature, who reveals himself to be named Loot. We’ve seen Loot before – first, on Thunder Junction where he was one of the many great treasures in the vault. And most recently, we saw that Valgavoth had captured the little guy in Duskmourn. That’s why Winter had him in his vehicle.

As Loot and Daretti are bonding over their love of chocolate and their potential end at the hands of the raiders, Chandra and Pia arrive on the scene and free the pair from their captivity.

Now that Daretti is the only one with a working vehicle, the four of them pile into it to make their escape just as they come under attack from the raiders. They have to make a break for it, with Chandra hurling fireballs and Daretti deploying all the weaponry he still has.

Still, it isn’t looking good for them. But then, Loot tells everyone in the car to turn left. At first his new friends are very confused, because that would mean they would crash into a tree. But then, Chandra decides to trust Loot, as she suspects he’s the reason Winter and the Speed Demons have been in the lead the whole race.

As they turn, Loot’s tail glows, and an Omenpath opens right in front of them.

A DETOUR ON AMONKHET

Chandra and the rest of her party end up in an oasis on Amonkhet thanks to Loot’s abilities and quick thinking, but it’s something of a crash landing and Daretti’s vehicle ends up out of commission. He, Chandra, and Pia work together to fix it.

That night, Chandra is visited by one of the new Gods of Amonkhet – Ketramose. He’s interested in learning about other worlds, and Chandra tells him about Zendikar and how much Nissa misses her home plane. 

JACE & VRASKA’S (MOSTLY JACE’S) SABOTAGE

Throughout the events of the Ghirapur Grand Prix, Jace and Vraska have been working behind the scenes to start a new revolution on Avishkar. One that will return it to being called Kaladesh.

As Sita’s father is begrudgingly watching the beginning of the race at home his home is invaded by Jace and Vraska, who offer to support him in the restoration of the consulate. When he hesitates about receiving help from this dubious pair, Jace invades his mind and shows him what a restored consulate would like. This is enough to convince Mohar.

He starts to go to his old allies and recruit them in his plot. Many are convinced to join when they learn of Jace’s ability to sculpt the minds of others. When Vraska expresses doubt and concern to Jace about their plan to foment a bloody revolution, he promises her that none of it will matter in a couple of weeks.

As they gather support, they start to put together a plan by laying a deadly trap at the end of the Grand Prix.

AND THE WINNER IS…JACE?

Meanwhile, the Ghirapur Grand Prix has reached its climax. During the last leg of the race on Avishkar, there are only two riders who are truly still in contention to win – Winter, who is in first place, and Sita, who is right on his tail. 

Despite Winter’s best efforts to kill his challenger, Sita starts to overtake him. But just then, a wall of golden filigree emerges out of nowhere. Winter and Sita both crash into it at full speed. Their vehicles are destroyed and they are incapacitated. Sita’s mask is partially removed in the crash.

This results in Mohar learning that “Spitfire” is his daughter. He has his goons take her captive, and he insists that she be taken to the doctor, but no one be told about her dual identity.

The real reason for Jace’s plans reveals itself. He doesn’t actually care about politics on Avishkar – he’s just after Loot. But he needed Mohar’s resources to set the trap.  He searches Winter’s wreckage for Loot, but only finds an injured Winter. Jace invades his mind and learns that Loot was abducted by raiders on Muraganda.

TEAM AVISHKAR!

Back on Amonkhet, Daretti’s vehicle has been repaired and the party uses an Omenpath opened by Loot to arrive near the finish line in Ghirapur, where they see the wreckage. Chandra is shocked to see Jace and Vraska in the crowd of consul goons on the race track. Jace immediately knocks Loot unconscious with his telepathy.

Jace tells Chandra that he’d like to take custody of Loot, but Chandra refuses. Jace responds by taking over the minds of many of the thugs and racers in the vicinity, and sending them to attack Chandra. While Chandra considers fighting back, she realizes that doing so would kill people who are merely Jace’s puppets.  On top of that, Vraska manages to corner Chandra and force her to give up the unconscious Loot

Meanwhile, Sita is trying to find a way to break free of captivity and win the race. While she’s thinking about this, she sees both Chandra and Pia taken captive. Desperate to help, Spitfire uses the last of her aether to give herself a temporary speed boost.

She uses it to break free of captivity, and then defeat both Pia and Chandra’s captors in what seems like an instant to everyone else. Then, she agrees to join Pia and Chandra in a newly formed team: Team Avishkar.

Despite their newfound unity, Jace ultimately overpowers them with his mind magic and takes Loot’s captive once again before disappearing. 

Nissa also arrives on the scene intending to help Chandra after seeing the fight on the broadcast for the race, but she’s too late.

A WINNER IS CROWNED

In the midst of the fight with Jace, a storm starts to swirl in Ghirapur. A storm that is very similar to the one that appeared on Amonkhet earlier in the race. To the surprise of everyone, it turns out there is a dragon at the center of the storm. It begins attacking everything in sight. Elspeth arrives just in time to fight the dragon before things get too out of control. 

With chaos all around them, the Champions of Amonkhet manage to sneak past the dragon by concealing themselves with sand, and they become the first to cross the finish line.

ELSPETH’S WARNING

As Nissa and Elspeth tend to Chandra’s wounds, Elspeth leaves them both an ominous warning. This incident with a dragon isn’t the first one in the multiverse. They have been appearing more and more frequently. She’s been doing her best to protect people from them, but the situation is starting to get out of hand.

Meanwhile, Jace and Vraska take Loot to Tarkir – drawing a clear connection between Jace’s machinations and the dragon attacks throughout the multiverse.

WHERE TO NEXT?

Aetherdrift is a lot of fun as a standalone death race story, but they are also setting up all kinds of future stories too. Obviously everything is set up for our imminent return to Tarkir. After all, we saw a dragon in a storm in this story. And the next set is called Tarkir: Dragonstorm. So, what’s Jace planning to do with Loot on Tarkir?

And what will the Champions of Amonkhet do with the Aetherspark?

Given their motivations, I think it’s likely they give the Aetherspark to one of the plane’s benevolent gods. Perhaps we’ll see Ketramose use it to become a Planeswalker? He told Chandra he is really interested in other worlds, after all. An Amonkhet God Planeswalker card would be pretty cool!

What did you think of the Aethedrift story? Let me know over on X.