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Exploring the Would-Be-Vehicles of Magic's Past

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Aetherdrift is set to hit store shelves February 14th, in just a couple short weeks, and it's sure to add some speed to the game (perhaps not literally, but in spirit at least). The set is all about "a multiversal race filled with adrenaline-fueled Magic gameplay across three planes." The image on Magic's website says it all:

Aetherdrift. You're in the driver's seat. Leave your competition in the dust! Get behind the wheel in Aetherdrift, a multiversal race filled with adrenaline-fueled Magic gameplay across three planes. Release Date: February 14.2025

I see Chandra riding a futuristic motorcycle, a weird-looking creature in a stripped-down version of a monster truck, and a shark(?) flying a shark-themed ship, oh my! I'm not sure the aesthetic screams my name, but at least it's something novel.

One major theme for the set is the fleet of vehicle cards seeing print. There are a couple dozen of them spoiled so far, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this set contain more vehicles than any set before. Let's take a look at a couple:

These alternate art cards sure bring out a racing aesthetic, don't they? I wonder if the Clamorous Ironclad is the ship also pictured in the marketing image above. Also, how many puns can Wizards of the Coast come up with to riff off the original Mulldrifter? Now we've seen Nulldrifter (a colorless Eldrazi creature that draws you two cards) and Hulldrifter (a vehicle that draws you two cards).

Anyway, clearly vehicles will be a crucial element to Aetherdrift's flavor.

I wonder, though... I've been playing Magic for a long time, and I can think of a handful of cards that sure look like vehicles to me, except they were printed before vehicles were created in original Kaladesh. What if vehicles were around since the beginning? Which cards would have been given the vehicle treatment to aid creatures in this epic race around the multiverse?

Ships and More Ships

If Clamorous Ironclad and Weatherlight are vehicles, then it stands to reason that other ships could have also had the subtype should it have existed since the beginning. Cards like Ghost Ship or Pirate Ship stand out as classics, but there are many others.

Ghost Ship
Pirate Ship

To transform Ghost Ship into a vehicle, I'd make it cost one less mana and give it a crew 2. Wizards of the Coast doesn't do regenerating much these days, but I think the effect could remain - I'd just add the text, "active this ability only if Ghost Ship is a creature." Pirate Ship is a much weaker card, so let's drop its casting cost by one and give it crew 1. Get rid of the Islandhome clause, an outdated and underpowered ability, and add the same "activate this ability only if Pirate Ship is a creature" to its activated ability. Then you'd have two modernized ship vehicle cards ready for Aetherdrift!

Other classic ships include Merchant Ship, Skeleton Ship, Rishadan Airship, and Talas Air Ship. Flavor wise, each of these cards would make more sense to be vehicles given the direction Magic has headed with the card type.

Lastly, how could I forget two non-creature artifacts that look an awful lot like ship vehicles to me: Skyship Weatherlight and Predator, Flagship.

Skyship Weatherlight
Predator, Flagship

I'm not sure exactly how I'd re-write these cards to implement the vehicle subtype. They'd have to be converted into creatures first, I suppose. The easiest approach would be to slap a 4/4 or 5/5 power and toughness on them, respectively, and add flying and crew 3. This way, they'd deliver their impact on the game while also offering a potential tiebreaker via air assault. If you don't want them to be vulnerable to creature removal, you could always leave them uncrewed so they continue to deliver value.

Chariot as a Vehicle

Another new card from Aetherdrift is Cryptcaller Chariot, an artifact vehicle that is clearly a chariot and can be crewed accordingly.

Cryptcaller Chariot

This makes sense - we've had chariot vehicles in the recent past, such as Esika's Chariot and Thundering Chariot. Clearly, Wizards of the Coast has declared the chariot a viable vehicle.

Where does that leave all the chariots of old, though? Previous Chariots were either creatures (Goblin Chariot) or noncreature artifacts (e.g., Chariot of the Sun).

Goblin Chariot
Chariot of the Sun

It would be easy enough to rewrite Goblin Chariot as a vehicle with crew 1 and a lower mana cost. Chariot of the Sun, on the other hand, doesn't strike me as a card with a vehicle-like ability. Why does getting the ability to fly also necessitate reduction of your toughness? Such a card deviates significantly from the modern-day chariots we see in Magic.

The same goes for Soratami Cloud Chariot and War Chariot - both are artifacts that can grant creatures additional abilities, but don't lend themselves to the creature subtype.

At the beginning, Wizards of the Coast made chariots simple artifacts with activated abilities. In modern day Magic, chariots are vehicles that can become creatures with a crew cost. Then there was the in-between time, when chariots were considered equipment, as in Warmonger's Chariot.

Warmonger's Chariot

This card isn't all that old, printed just a few years ago. You can see how Wizards was evolving their view of the chariot by making it an artifact that can be equipped for a boost in power and toughness, but it still doesn't jive with the vehicle subtype. Chariot of Victory was another chariot that was printed as an equipment that granted creature additional abilities, but wasn't yet a vehicle.

A Potpourri of Vehicle Wannabes

Outside of ships and chariots, an array of other cards could have been printed to leverage the vehicle subtype had it existed since the beginning. If you'll allow a little creative license, I can touch on a few cards that I think could be a vehicle in today's day and age.

First to mind is Aerial Caravan, which depicts a soldier flying on a giant bird. Come to think of it, I could also see this as a mount rather than a vehicle, given it comes with a saddle and all. Maybe this should have been a creature that, when mounted, gained flying and an additional ability.

Aerial Caravan

Cultivator's Caravan from Kaladesh is a vehicle, so why not Aerial Caravan? To that end, why not Supply Caravan and Trade Caravan while we're at it?

Here's an outside-the-box suggestion: how about Al-abara's Carpet (or Flying Carpet for that matter) as a vehicle?

Al-abara's Carpet

We'd have to grant the card some power and toughness, but it could simply have the static text, "As long as Al-abara's Carpet is a creature, prevent all damage done to you by attacking non-flying creatures." Give it a steep crew cost to keep it relatively balanced, and you have an interesting vehicle option. I wonder if someone piloting a flying carpet would have a good chance of winning the bit Aetherdrift race!

Enchanted Carriage is a vehicle from Throne of Eldraine. If carriages are vehicles, and it stands to reason they would be, then why not Black Carriage, Phantom Carriage, or Runaway Carriage?

Black Carriage

Since each of these cards are already creatures, it would be relatively easy to adjust their casting cost and give them a crew cost in order to update these as vehicles.

I could also make the argument that certain machines would also double nicely as vehicles. That includes older cards such as Diabolic Machine, Thran War Machine, or Mishra's War Machine.

Mishra's War Machine

Doesn't that look like a vehicle? Mishra's War Machine has wheels and clearly some sort of crew, so it's not a far stretch of the imagination to visualize a version (probably with a lower mana cost, sans banding) as a vehicle with a crew cost. Maybe instead of giving it that horrendous downside, the card could penalize you only if it's not crewed at end of turn, giving you a buyout of sorts? The possibilities are endless!

Who could forget the sweetest machine of them all, printed in Unhinged: Time Machine?!

Time Machine

I'm not sure exactly how I'd retool this card to be a vehicle, but if John Avon's art for Time Machine doesn't depict a futuristic-looking vehicle that could win an Aetherdrift race, I'll eat my hat!

Wrapping It Up

The list goes on and on. It turns out Wizards of the Coast was onto the concept of vehicles well before they officially launched in Kaladesh. I'm not certain if this was deliberate or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if some of the cards mentioned above didn't at least inspire the idea of the card subtype! People have been harnessing the power of "vehicles" for many years, and they have a place in both our universe's history as well as Magic's multiverse's history.

As Wizards of the Coast continues to create "Masters" and other throwback sets, perhaps we'll see a world where a couple cards get updated with a new vehicle treatment. It's certainly possible, and if I were Wizards looking for candidates, I'd look no further than some of the cards mentioned here!

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