("Chandra Aetherdrift Slide" by Devin Elle Kurtz)

Ready? Set? Go!

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Fortune, Loyal Steed is the only Mount that can blink creatures and/or vehicles?)

With Aetherdrift coming out soon, we're likely to see a whole new influx of vehicle and even possibly Mount commanders. So I figure, why not take a look at how that crop is looking currently before the whole thing gets drowned out by the engine noise?

Top 10 Vehicle (or Mount) Commanders

While it's never been as deep as Equipment, there's also no question that with 140 "vehicles" to choose from, things are already deep enough that you can build some decent vehicle (or Mount) decks.

The real question is: Who do you have lead up the thing? To take a look at the options, we need to find the commanders that care about vehicles. So, to do that, I figure we start in about the same place we would if we were building a Kindred deck. For those, I look for any commanders that are the creature type in question, or mention the creature type in question. That first one seems like it wouldn't happen much, as technically legendary vehicles aren't able to be commanders, but there is actually getting to be a full crop, if you take a look:

First off, there is one entry that just says "this can be your commander on it, in Shorikai, Genesis Engine, so that one's in for consideration. More broadly, however, there are also starting to be dual-facing cards (DFCs) that have a vehicle side, a trend that I'm going to call as continuing in Aetherdrift in some capacity. I wouldn't be surprised if we even get a cycle of the racing team captains with the front side being the creature and the backside being the vehicle they pilot. And then finally, the largest entry by far is the Transformers supplemental product that came out alongside The Brothers' War. Almost every Transformer made for that set has a backside that features a Living Metal version of a vehicle, which is just a creature on your turn automatically, without having to crew it. This leads to an actually fairly deep pool of commanders that are vehicles, not to mention the three Mount commanders besides.

Mostly, however, if you want a vehicle commander, you're probably going to want a commander that mentions vehicles. We'll take a look at the exceptions for that rule in the honorable mentions, but for now, why not take a look at the obvious stuff in front of us?

Criteria: Commanders that either are vehicles or Mounts, or mention vehicles or Mounts in their rules text. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score, only this time we will be going by decks helmed, rather than total inclusions.

10. Depala, Pilot Exemplar

(Helms 1,516 Decks, Rank #847; 2,190 Inclusions, 0% of 1,118,526 Decks)

For a long time, if you wanted a vehicle deck, Depala was your option. Coming out in Kaladesh, the same set that birthed Vehicles as a concept, Depala both makes your vehicles bigger and goes to find more of them when you crew with her. That's a one-two punch that has proven hard to overcome for any of the following vehicularly-minded commanders, which is why Depala actually ranks above most of them on the EDHREC Vehicles page.

With that said, Depala's main restriction is her color combination. With more and more new vehicles being colored artifacts, Boros just really isn't the strict home of vehicles anymore like it used to be. Combine that with it being difficult to pay huge X costs in the color combination, and slowly but surely, Depala is starting to fade back into the background.

9. Sram, Senior Edificer

(Helms 1,785 Decks, Rank #773; 136,169 Inclusions, 6% of 2,281,644 Decks)

Which should doubly apply to the mono-white Sram, then, no? Well, yes and no. With Depala, you have a limited card pool of vehicles, and have to pay huge X costs to go find them. With Sram, you have an even more limited card pool of vehicles, but every single time you cast one, you have a reasonable chance of drawing another one. And if you don't? Well then you're just getting a land or another card that's probably still helping you cast and crew more vehicles. Make no mistake, this is not what most Sram decks are doing. That in no way means that it couldn't be, however.

8. Kotori, Pilot Prodigy

(Helms 2,065 Decks, Rank #680; 15,325 Inclusions, 1% of 1,098,355 Decks)

One of the main restrictions on vehicles as a whole is crew costs. Even seemingly middling crew numbers like Skysovereign's crew 3 can be a hurdle to climb at times, leaving it uselessly sitting around as a mundane artifact. Not so with Kotori, Pilot Prodigy! With all your vehicles having crew 2 and them having two power, the world is your oyster. Honestly, though, if there was a piece of this card I was even more excited by, it would be the vigilance. Vigilance is a bit harder to work with when it comes to vehicles, as you still have to crew them (therefore tapping a creature), but given that in general, your biggest creatures in a vehicle deck are going to be your vehicles, it can be a heck of a disincentive to have them untapped when it comes time for opponents to decide who to attack. Combine that with the larger vehicle pool, as you can play many of the crew 6 monstrosities that otherwise wouldn't even be worth consideration, and the fact that Kotori allows card draw all on its own by being in blue, and this one more than earns its spot.

7. Optimus Prime, Hero

(Helms 3,359 Decks, Rank #444; 4,913 Inclusions, 1% of 543,909 Decks)

On the one hand, Optimus Prime is a terrible vehicle commander. On the other hand, he is a vehicle. What that means is, you can do things in reverse. Throw Kotori down to give Optimus Prime, Autobot Leader lifelink and vigilance. Prodigy's Prototype will get you a 1/1 every time you swing with him. Get a full grip of lands from The Omenkeel. While Optimus doesn't necessarily do anything for your other vehicles, the things that are a boon to your vehicles are a boon to him.

The only problem? That list I just gave you is more or less the whole list. So, here's hoping that we get some relevant vehicle lords in Aetherdrift to help our main bot out!

6. Megatron, Tyrant

(Helms 3,856 Decks, Rank #386; 2,523 Inclusions, 0% of 545,238 Decks)

At first glance, you may think that Megatron, Tyrant is the same story as Optimus Prime, only with black instead of blue. In actuality, however, Megatron is a pretty darn good vehicle commander, so long as you're okay with consistently throwing said vehicles in the bin.

You may have to use some red tricks to cheat your vehicles into play, but there is no shortage of huge vehicles to throw at folks, a lot of which will also give you tokens and such before they shuffle off to the graveyard, eliminate a blocker, and convert Megatron. And once you've done all that? You're immediately rewarded with a bunch of mana to continue throwing down huge vehicles. Honestly, if there's a deck I would build out of our list today, it would be this one.

5. Greasefang, Okiba Boss

(Helms 4,559 Decks, Rank #311; 2,252 Inclusions, 0% of 1,122,470 Decks)

Speaking of cards that are really good with Megatron, it's Greasefang, Okiba Boss! Easily the best two-color vehicle commander we've seen yet, Okiba is efficient as a 4/3 for three, and immediately gets you a vehicle out of your graveyard before she can even attack herself (although she can crew). That's value right there, and it's not like it's hard to get cards in the graveyard when you're in black. The then returning the vehicles to your hand is a bit clunky, but does allow for some resiliency in case your commander is dealt with, which I enjoy. All in all, a buy.

4. The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride

(Helms 4,669 Decks, Rank #301; 10,814 Inclusions, 2% of 547,521 Decks)

I knew Mounts were a mistake.

All kidding aside, The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride is neither a good vehicle commander, nor a good Mount commander. Even with ramping and drawing cards as the reward, and the increased power that's likely from vehicles or mounts, it's just too much to ask to put down a creature to crew something to then sacrifice said something. Even worse, there's essentially no Mount support like there is with vehicles, so we can't go the Optimus Prime route, either.

Don't get me wrong, this version of The Gitrog is a fine commander. Just not for what we're trying to do today.

3. Edward Kenway

(Helms 5,428 Decks, Rank #250; 5,739 Inclusions, 2% of 234,373 Decks)

I'm both surprised that Edward Kenway made it this far up the list this quickly, and also that since he has, he isn't all the way at the top. I don't know about you, but I've seen many a vehicles deck with this Assassin-y Pirate at the helm over the last few months, and for good reason: Getting a Treasure for every tapped vehicle would be good enough, but he threw in the Assassins and Pirates that crew them, as well.

The second half of the card seems kind of strange until you realize just how much mana you have from all those tapped vehicles and various Outlaws, then you realize that it's not just gravy, but that the full gravy boat has arrived.

2. Slicer, Hired Muscle

(Helms 6,058 Decks, Rank #204; 17,954 Inclusions, 1% of 2,440,349 Decks)

Slicer's brief foray into the top 16's of various cEDH tournaments got some attention, but didn't answer the real question that we have today: Is Slicer a good vehicle commander?

In a word, no. None of the cards we found that helped out Optimus Prime are in red, so there's no boons to be had for his status as a vehicle, nor does he tend to stay a vehicle for very long. This just... isn't what Slicer wants to do.

1. Shorikai, Genesis Engine

(Helms 17,237 Decks, Rank #20; 29,278 Inclusions, 3% of 1,095,383 Decks)

If you were looking for another commander that is a vehicle and had a brief career in cEDH, though, then might I suggest Shorikai, Genesis Engine? It's ability to draw cards is really what makes it good, but the constant stream of Pilots isn't anything to sneeze at, either.

With that in mind, if Kotori didn't scratch your Azorius vehicle itch, then maybe give Shorikai a shot instead. It certainly hurts a lot more, once you get it swinging instead of just keeping you at a full grip!

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Honorable Mentions

Part of the reason I am excited about Aetherdrift is precisely because of the fact that when it comes to vehicle commanders, there just currently aren't that many options. Outside of our top ten list, there are technically around 25 more cards, but most of them really aren't trying to helm a vehicle or Mount deck.

With that said, there were a few diamonds in the rough that ended up just on the outside looking in.

The tradeoffs between Astor, Bearer of Blades and Depala, Pilot Exemplar are interesting. For a mana more, Astor will immediately look at the top seven and find a vehicle (or Equipment), rather than spreading that out over several turns with an X cost you have to pay for each time.

That tends toward Astor being a tiny bit better, in my opinion. With that said, on the other half, Depala's +1/+1 seems a bit better to me than Astor's crew 1 under most situations.

The crew 1 does let you play more of the clunky vehicles, and therefore have a deeper well to pull from, however, so with that in mind I think I would give the overall nod to Astor if you're looking at Boros vehicles.

If you're more looking to do your own weird thing, however, then might I suggest Prowl, Stoic Strategist? It comes down for just three mana on its vehicle side, and starts making your Pilots and vehicles bigger for you as you cast them. If you do that twice, then it will flip into removal that will also draw you cards as people recast things you remove.

That may not seem like it will happen that much, but those of us that have played Aerial Extortionist know better.

Finally, in 2024 Selesnya went from no vehicle commanders to two in Rip, Spawn Hunter and Miriam, Herd Whisperer. I personally really like Rip's long game prospects, as she will almost certainly be drawing you several cards a turn even before you make her bigger.

Those that are more aggro-minded may prefer Miriam, however, as hexproof and +1/+1 counters for two mana is nothing to sneeze at. Combine that with her crewing just about every decent vehicle and Mount available, and there's no question that she's going to go fast, even if that's followed up by getting blown out by board wipes.

Still, how many board wipes are there out there that will really take care of vehicles? Might be worth the risk!

Finally, we went straight for the obvious this week in our criteria, and therefore ignored some things that would still work well with vehicles, all because they didn't say the word "vehicle" on them. So, let's take a look at some of the other stuff you could look for in a vehicle (or Mount) commander.

1. Artifact Commanders

If there's one thing that vehicles have in common, it's that they're artifacts. So, with that in mind, there is little reason that you can't broaden your view out to a commander that cares about that entire card type, rather than the more specific vehicle type.

With artifacts being the most popular tag on EDHREC, there are literally hundreds of artifact commanders to choose from, and it's extremely possible you'll end up with a much more powerful, if less thematic deck as a result of going this route.

2. Tap Commanders

Whether you're crewing vehicles or saddling Mounts, you're going to end up tapping creatures to do it. With that in mind, why not have a commander that does things when it gets tapped?

While this used to be a rather rare effect, with the popularity of commanders like Emmara, Soul of the Accord and Magda, Brazen Outlaw, it's a space that's gotten a lot more exploration in the last year or three. Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed.

3. Cares About Power Commanders

Vehicles tend to pack a lot of power (and toughness) for their mana cost, so if you have a commander that cares about that number, it can be easy to get to eye-watering totals fairly quickly. The most popular version of this I've seen by a mile is Ghalta, Primal Hunger decks slapping down their commander on turn three, but there are some sneaky good other options if you look through the list.

Tuya Bearclaw is the other "slaps you in the face" option, but if you're looking for something a little more subtle, might I suggest The Pride of Hull Clade or Prime Speaker Zegana?

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Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

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What Do You Think?

I personally wasn't very excited for Aetherdrift when it was first announced. It felt like just another set in what's becoming a long line of sets that felt more like Universes Beyond than it did Magic: The Gathering. With that said, and as much as I hate the set symbol's checkered flag that in no way belongs on a typical Magic card, I have to admit that like many, the Planeswalker's Guide to Aetherdrift turned me around on it.

Or did it? Because the story for Duskmourn also had me excited about another set that didn't feel like Magic. Why? Because the story did feel like Magic. I actually wasn't down on that set in the least until it came out and I was suddenly seeing goofy Ghostbusters-esque cards that had nothing of the vibe of the Duskmourn story, where survivors wore scraps of the house's wallpaper to camouflage, not bright yellow leather jackets with flashing electronics in every pocket.

So, to put it mildly, I'm trying to contain my excitement when it comes to Aetherdrift, as it's become more than clear that just because the Story team is interested in Magic still making some kind of cohesive sense, as opposed to being a product where we just sell Jace in different hats as we move from place to place, Wizards as a whole hasn't really gotten that memo. What about you?

And finally, what is your favorite vehicle commander? Do you think it will get replaced by the fresh crop sure to be coming from Aetherdrift, or are you just going to put the new stuff in the 99?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table we're wheeling into the bay to have room to play.