Salvation Engine – Aetherdrift
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.63
Casual: 4.63
Limited: 4.75
Multiplayer: 4.00
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I was a little surprised to find that this is the first time the words “Salvation” and “Engine” have been used together in this way, but I suspect we’ll all become quite familiar with the card in days to come. With all of the rules and reminder text, it’s easy to gloss over the fact that the Glorious Anthem part is always active, even when it isn’t a creature. While a five-mana global +2/+2 boost isn’t stellar, you can use it as such and it can be serviceable. It really shines, though, once you start reanimating cards. Note that there’s no limit on what you can get back, as long as it’s an artifact: that means it does everything from making unkillable creatures in aggressive decks, all the way up to intricate Second Sunrise-style perpetual motion machines. This is the kind of card that defines entire archetypes in casual formats.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.5
Commander [EDH]: 4.5
Salvation Engine is certainly eye-catching…it’s Tempered Steel mixed with a bit of Sun Titan. Five mana gets a pretty big anthem effect, and if you can turn this sideways, things can really start snowballing by bringing an entire army back over time. And with this being a bulky 6/10, it’s likely to not die in most combat scenarios. Admittedly, if you have an army of Thopters, vehicles, and other artifacts, this can make for a massive out-of-nowhere bomb swing in one turn. I feel like this will have plenty of homes in both more aggressive builds and more grind-focused ones; the high crew cost of Salvation Engine means this is more going to want to attack to trigger its effect than to do damage, and this will struggle to rebuild a busted board alone. It has promise, though, ad I’m interested in seeing what it can do.
Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4.75
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4
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