Crew is one of the most innovative mechanics introduced into Magic in a long time. This mechanic lets you use your creatures in a completely new way, and brings a ton of flavor to the game. In this article, I’ll break down everything you need to know about Crew, as well as list my picks for the best cards in the game today. But first, how does crew work?
Every Vehicle comes with a Crew cost that can be paid by tapping untapped creatures you control. If a card has “Crew 2”, then the player must tap creatures with total power two or greater (i.e two 1/1 creatures, one 2/2 creature, etc.). Once the cost is paid, it becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.
The general idea of the mechanic is simple. There are, however, some pretty tricky interactions that can come up. Not to worry, in this article I’ll answer any and all questions you might have about. Let’s jump right in.
How Does It Work?
To crew a vehicle, you just have to tap untapped creatures with enough total power. How much is enough? Well that depends on the number written on the card. If a card has “Crew 1”, then you have to tap a creature with one power. If it has “Crew 2” you need to tap a creature with two power, or two creatures with one power. Pretty simple, right? The power doesn’t have to be exact either; you can overpay if you need to.
How Do Vehicles Work?
Vehicles start out as artifacts. Even though they look like regular creatures, most of them can’t really do anything by themselves. Once you pay their Crew cost, however, that’s when the fun starts.
As soon as you tap creatures with enough power, your Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn. You can block with it, attack with it, sacrifice it, or use it for any other creature-related purposes.
FAQs
When Can I Crew?
You can activate a crew ability any time you have priority. This can be during your turn, or during your opponent’s. You do, however, have to make sure you do it before the Declare Attackers step begins if you want to attack. You must crew before going to attacks. Likewise, during your opponents turn, you have to do it before the Declare Blockers step if you want to block.
What Happens When a Vehicle Dies?
When a Vehicle dies, it goes to the graveyard. Just like a regular creature, they can die from combat damage. They can also die from removal spells like Lightning Bolt or Murder, but only if they’re currently creatures. And they can be destroyed by Artifact removal such as Fragmentize at any time.
Does the Crew Die?
No, when a Vehicle dies, the creatures crewing it do not die with it. This is good news for the mechanic, since having everything die all at once would be devastating. After you’ve paid the cost, the Vehicle and the creature(s) are completely separate. This might not make a ton of sense flavor-wise, but that’s the way it is.
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Can You Over Crew?
Yes! You can over-pay if you want. For example, if a card has “Crew 1”, you can tap an 8/8 creature to pay the cost if you want. As long as the creature(s) power is equal to or greater than the cost, you’re in business. You can also keep paying the cost, even if it’s already been paid. Why would you want to do that? Well maybe you want a bunch of tapped creatures for some reason. Quest for Renewal is a good example of why you might want to pay more than once.
What About Shroud?
Shroud does not affect the process in any way. You can tap creatures with Shroud to pay, and you can activate Crew abilities of Vehicles that have Shroud.
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Do Vehicles Have Summoning Sickness?
Yes, Vehicles enter the battlefield with summoning sickness. This means you can’t attack with them the first turn they’re played unless they have Haste. If you want to, however, you can still turn them into creatures even when they have summoning sickness. Though again, you won’t be able to attack with them that turn.
Can You Tap a Creature for a Crew Cost the First Turn Its Played?
Yes you can tap creatures who have summoning sickness to pay Crew costs. This is a great way to put creatures to use the first turn they’re played.
Can a Vehicle Be Equipped?
Yes, you can equip Vehicles! You can, however, only do so when they’re creatures. It’s also important to note that when it stops being a creature at the end of the turn, the equipment unequips itself.
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Can You Enchant Vehicles?
Yes, you can enchant a vehicle! You have to be careful to use the right type of enchantment though. Most enchantments have to go on specific card-types, creatures being the most common. If you use an enchantment that says “enchant creature”, then you have to do so once it’s a creature. Also, when it stops being a creature at the end of the turn, the enchantment will go to the graveyard.
Likewise, this makes equipping a Vehicle costly, since you’ll have to pay the equip cost every turn. There are some enchantments that target vehicles specifically, like Aerial Modification. In this case, the equipment stays on for good.
Best Vehicles
Ariel Surveyor
Ariel Surveyor has two things going for it. As a 3/4 flyer, it has good stats. And whenever it attacks, it lets you bring a land from your deck to the battlefield if your opponent has more lands than you. This is an underrated effect, especially in Commander where you can get multiple triggers and easily go from last place to first place. Ariel Surveyor is an all around nice card.
Surgehacker Mech
Surgehacker Mech doesn’t just have good stats. It’s also a removal spell, and a payoff. When Surgehacker enters the battlefield it deals twice X damage to target creature or planeswalker where X is the number of Vehicles you control. So, at the very least, you get to deal two damage to something since Surgehacker counts towards his own ability. Pair this with a big 5/5 body and Menace and you have a pretty nasty card.
Reckoner Bankbuster
Reckoner Bankbuster is very affordable both to cast and to turn into a creature. Its activated ability, however, is the real strength of the card. Reckoner Bankbuster enters with three Charge counters on it. By paying two mana and removing one Charge counter you can draw a card. And then, when you run out of counters, you get to create a 1/1 Pilot creature token that can crew like it has three power instead of one! That happens to be the exact amount needed for Reckoner Bankbuster. That’s some great built-in value and synergy.
Heart of Kiran
A 4/4 with Flying, Vigilance for just two mana, Heart of Kiran has awesome stats. The one downside is the somewhat steep Crew cost. Thankfully, you don’t have to pay it. Instead, you can remove a loyalty counter from a planeswalker you control instead of tapping creatures. This opens Heart of Kiran up to plansewalker decks, where it sees most of its play nowadays. Back during its time in the Standard format, however, Heart of Kiran was insanely powerful. And to this day, Heart of Kiran is still remembered for its dominance.
Esika’s Chariot
Esika’s Chariot is my pick for the best in the game today. The Chariot gives you everything you need to crew it as soon as it enters the battlefield, in the form of two 2/2 green cat creature tokens. Also, whenever you attack with Esika’s Chariot, you get to make a copy of a token creature you control. And all of this for just four mana. The best part about Esika’s Chariot, is that it doesn’t need to be built around at all. It’s a great card all by itself.
If you’d like to see a list of every Vehicle in the game today, you can head over to Scryfall and view every card with the vehicle card type.
Best Crew Cards
So we just went over the best Vehicles in the game today. But you still need a good pilot to go with them. Here’s the best creatures for activating those sweet rides.
Greasefang, Okiba Boss
Greasefang is a great creature. His four power is plenty enough to activate most Vehicles, and his ability lets you bring one from the graveyard to the battlefield every turn. And it gives it Haste!
Mech Hangar
Okay, so Mech Hangar isn’t actually a creature, but it can still turn your Vehicles into creatures. For just three mana, Mech Hangar turns any Vehicle into an artifact creature. This is especially useful for activating high powered cards like Shorikai, Genesis Engine. It also taps for one mana of any color, as long as you use that mana for vehicular purposes.
Depala, Pilot Exemplar
Depala, Pilot Exemplar has a lot going for it. First off, it gives all of your Vehicles +1/+1. It also has a pretty sweet activated ability. Whenever Depala becomes tapped you can pay X. Then you get to look at the top X cards of your library and grab any and all Vehicles you find and put them in your hand.
Sram, Senior Edificer
Sram is the one creature card that you definitely want. His ability is simple, yet powerful. Any time you cast a Vehicle, Sram let’s you draw an extra card. His ability also works with Auras and Equipment too, so it’s probably a good idea to throw some of those in as well. Drawing extra cards every time you play your decks most useful spells is amazing. Any time Sram hits the field, your opponents are forced to either deal with him, or suffer the consequences.
End Step
I personally really enjoy playing with Vehicles and I’m happy Wizards keeps printing them. The Crew mechanic has proven to be fun and impactful in many different decks across many different formats. And I believe that impact will keep growing as more and more players try their hands at including them in their brews.
I hope this article has answered all your questions. If not, drop a comment down below. I’ll be happy to answer it. Until next time, good luck with all of your MTG ambitions, vehicular or otherwise!
