League 5-0 Deck Highlight: Mono-White Vehicles
It was only a matter of time before we highlighted a vehicles deck post-Neon Dynasty release, and this is the cleanest, most vehicles-focused vehicles decklist to 5-0 a league so far.
Mono-White Vehicles (Jegantha)
Pilot: OddlyUneven
Last week’s 5-0 deck highlight choice was between mono-white vehicles and the Song of Creation combo deck deck that I ended up going with. Luckily, mono-white vehicles 5-0’d again and we have another chance to write about it.
It was only a matter of time before we highlighted a vehicles deck post-Neon Dynasty release, and this is the cleanest, most vehicles-focused vehicles deck so far. Where Greasefang/Parhelion is more of a combo deck and the other lists that run vehicles are doing so more as utility rather than as a full-on archetype, this mono-white vehicles list was born to drive.
Let’s take a look at the list!
Besides Karn, Scion of Urza (which is somewhat of an alternate wincon in this deck), every nonland card in this deck either is a vehicle, tutors for vehicles or is there to crew a vehicle.
The Pilots
Even with an otherwise empty board, we have eight ways of crewing a turn-one Consulate Dreadnought on turn two: four copies of Giant Ox crewing six using its toughness and four copies of Armedand Armored turning all vehicles on. This gives us a 29.8% chance of swinging for seven on turn two, provided we have two lands.
Of course, we have other vehicles to crew and other ways to crew them. We have eight copies of crew six vehicles, eight copies of crew four vehicles and one crew three vehicle. As far as pilots, we have four copies of Hotshot Mechanic, which crews for three; three copies of Toolcraft Exemplar, which crews for three and four copies of Ingenious Smith, which could get up to crewing four by turn five.
It is important to note that you can crew vehicles with other vehicles, and sometimes that will make a lot of sense to do. Also of note, by turn five, Peacewalker Colossus will psuedo-crew any vehicle on the table for two mana and Mech Hanger will do the same for three mana.
The Cars
There are 17 copies of vehicles in this deck – all non-legendary except for Skysovereign, Consul Flagship and all but Surgehacker Mech have been legal in the format for quite some time. With this mass of vehicles, Surgehacker Mech will usually remove any creature or planeswalker giving you any trouble. Colossal Plow is another house of a crew six vehicle, especially in mono-white. The ramp and lifegain are both extremely valuable, and the three toughness is helpful in keeping it on the board.
Of course, Armedand Armored isn’t in the deck just to activate Consulate Dreadnought on turn two. Once you have a critical mass of these vehicles on the board, turning them all on for two mana is extremely tough to beat without a Settle the Wreckage. This opens up the possibility for huge finishers, as you are not only able to swing with all of your giant vehicles, but also the creatures that you would typically have to tap to crew your vehicles.
“We’ll surely be seeing a multitude of various Pioneer vehicles lists as the weeks go on – but if you really just want to buckle up now, mono-white seems like a great way to do it.”
The Sideboard
Oh, Jegantha, The Wellspring is here as a free-roll. The deck just plays six Pathways instead of basic plains on the off-chance we want access to a 5/5 companion. Otherwise, the sideboard is just full of white and colorless hate cards like Deafening Silence, Damping Sphere, Portable Hole and Grafdigger's Cage.
Summary
This is one of the more budget-friendly, viable vehicles lists I’ve seen so far, and you can shave some of the price off by ditching Jegantha and switching the Pathways to basic Plains. You could even drop Karn and save another $17.
Neon Dynasty only gave this deck three cards: Surgehacker Mech, Hotshot Mechanic and Mech Hanger. Obviously, this was enough to propel this archetype to where it needed to be, while firmly closing the door on the possibility that Smuggler's Copter will ever be unbanned.
