Aether Spellbomb (Original Sketch)

Aether Spellbomb is a one-mana artifact from Mirrodin (2003) with two activated abilities to either draw a card or return target creature to its owner’s hand. It’s popular because it is cheap, flexible, and never dead. You always get something out of it – either a tempo bounce spell or a redraw (“cycling mode”). Because it’s a 1-mana artifact, it is easily found with cards like Urza’s Saga, Goblin Engineer and Trinket Mage – making it a tutorable artifact. Spellbomb also has graveyard synergy, it can be recurred with e.g. Emry, Lurker of the Loch. This card is great for tempo and protecting combo pieces. It’s bounce ability is useful for stopping creature-based combos, resetting an opposing threat, or saving your own key creature. In Legacy, this card’s existence is almost purely because of Urza’s Saga. Therefore it’s seen in decks that play Urza’s Saga and can use the effect. It’s played in artifact-based decks like Blue Painter (UR) and Affinity / “8-Cast” – both decks are playing with Urza’s Saga and Emry, Lurker of the Loch to either tutor it or recur it from the graveyard. In the current Modern format, it can also be seen in decks that play Urza’s Saga and Emry like UR Pinnacle Affinity – together with cards like Kappa Cannoneer, Pinnacle Emissary, Thoughtcast and Thought Monitor. This is one of the best performing decks in the format right now. In Pauper it’s played in decks such as Affinity, and Blue Urzatron – to bounce a problematic creature or draw a card. In Commander / EDH, Aether Spellbomb acts mainly as a toolbox artifact card – especially in decks with Oswald Fiddlebender, Urza, Lord High Artificer and Emry, Lurker of the Loch. Aether Spellbomb is not on the Reserved List.