The death race idea had been in discussion for over a decade. It was the Omenpath idea (travel through multiple worlds) that finally helped it get made. Some of its inspirations were Death Race 2000, Speed Racer, Wacky Races, and The Fast and the Furious. The genre entails not just a race where people race cars, but there is activity where people sabotage one another. Winning is as much about removing the competition as being the fastest.

Aetherdrift contains 291 regular cards (91 commons, 100 uncommons, 60 rares, 20 mythic rares, 20 basic lands), and includes randomly inserted traditional foil versions of all cards. And Yellow foil.