Aetherdrift is right around the corner, and with it comes more Vehicles! Let's take a look at some of the best support cards to fill out your Vehicle-based decks, whether you play 60-card or Commander.
A quick reminder: Vehicles are Artifacts with the card type "Vehicle." They all (I think) carry the ability "Crew," which lets you tap Creatures with total power equal to or greater than the number after Crew. If you do, the Vehicle becomes an Artifact Creature.
Vehicles are subject to summoning sickness. Creatures Crewing them, however, are not, because the Vehicle taps the Creature.
This list is support cards. I'm not looking at great Vehicle Commanders (there are a bunch), nor am I looking at the Vehicles themselves (even though some of them surely are also excellent support cards). Let's dive in!
Crewing Help
- Hotshot Mechanic
- Giant Ox
- Adewale, Breaker of Chains
- Cyberdrive Awakener
- Siege Modification
- Aerial Modification
- Suit Up
- Armed and Armored
- Mech Hangar
- Reckless Crew
- Start Your Engines
There are several cards which make Pilot Creature Tokens as well, which Crew as if they have a Power two greater than their actual power. They're similar to Reckless Crew, but I felt Reckless Crew should be listed because it counts Vehicles. After a Wrath of God, you can cast this, make a bunch of guys, and tap them immediately to attack with all your Vehicles!
The biggest challenge with Vehicles is needing the Creatures to Crew. That's why I listed this section first, and why some of these which could fall into other sections (Adewale, Breaker of Chains could be Draw, Aerial Modification could be Pump) go here. If they get you around Crewing (like Aerial Modification) or help you Crew (like Giant Ox or Hotshot Mechanic), they're listed. Adewale specifically is a little strange, but the fact it comes back and has a high Power (making it a good Crewer) gives it the nod. Mech Hangar is particularly great, allowing us to avoid Crew altogether and just pay mana instead. Start Your Engines is another great one for after the board has been wiped, and can certainly serve as a game-ending Overrun-type spell.
Pump
- Aethershield Artificer
- Arcbound Shikari
- Assaultron Dominator
- Seven-Tail Mentor
- Steel Overseer
- Veteran Motorist
- Weldfast Engineer
- Born to Drive
- Grafted Growth
- Roaring Earth
- Tales of Master Seshiro
- Lifecraft Awakening
- Light the Way
- Invoke Justice
Here we have ways of making our Vehicles more lethal. It's worth remembering Vehicles are both noncreature Artifacts and Artifact Creatures - it depends on whether or not they've been Crewed! That means Steel Overseer and Weldfast Engineer work great with them.
Note some of these cards are fairly specific. Assaultron Dominator probably isn't strong enough unless you're already working with Energy. Seven-Tail Mentor would need pretty serious justification, like a flicker theme. And Tales of Master Seshiro, while kind of cool, is fairly limited, leaving you with a 5/5 non-Vehicle which really wants to attack on its own, not Crew Vehicles!
Evasion and Abilities
- Aeronaut Admiral
- Gearshift Ace
- Kitsune Ace
- Spectral Guardian
- Speedway Fanatic
- Synod Artificer
- Okiba Reckoner Raid
Evasion is great. Aeronaut Admiral and Cyberdrive Awakener (from a previous section) both give all our Vehicles Flying, which is worth its weight in gold. Spectral Guardian is a little weird here, but it protects our Vehicles from point removal while they're not Creatures - it's kind of a corner case, but it's worth knowing about. Speedway Fanatic lets us get around summoning sickness, which is always good. And remember you can Crew your Vehicles on other peoples' turns, so Synod Artificer's form of pseudo-Vigilance can be very effective in preventing attacks.
Card Draw, Advantage, and Search
- Arcum Dagsson
- Canoptek Spyder
- Deadeye Quartermaster
- Research Thief
- Sanwell, Avenger Ace
- Sram, Senior Edificer
- An Unearthly Child
- Anchor to Reality
- Okiba Salvage
- One Last Job
Sram, Senior Artificer is kind of the poster child for this, and with good reason, but Sanwell, Avenger Ace is worth noting as well. I'm bullish on Deadeye Quartermaster, too. Four mana for a 2/2 and whatever Vehicle you want in your hand is quite strong. Canoptek Spyder might be expensive for a 60-card format considering it's five mana and doesn't just win the game, but every Commander deck with Vehicles in it should be running this card.
Arcum Dagsson is a great way to upgrade your Vehicles - turn one into a Creature, attack, do damage, then sac it and put a much better Vehicle on the 'field! Anchor to Reality does this as well, but with fewer limits (sacrifice a Treasure or something) and as a one-shot.
Okiba Salvage and One Last Job both get Vehicles back from the 'yard, which can be quite valuable if you have specific Vehicles which are particularly strong.
Additional Support
Here we have the rest of the list. Intrepid Stablemaster smooths out your colors, and works as a mana dork even if you don't need the color requirements (I suspect this guy is really more for Mounts, which tend to have color, as opposed to Vehicles, which are far more often colorless). Caught in the Brights is a great removal spell, and Exiling is always strong.
March of Progress and Mirage Mockery could probably go in the "Card Advantage" section, but because they are so specific I thought they were worth mentioning separately. March of Progress could be a game winner if Overloaded correctly, and Mirage Mockery can copy two Vehicles with Entwine as long as you Crew at the right times.
I hope this helps you prep for your next Vehicle-based deck!
Thanks for reading.