
# Kykar's Cars

Cars are cool. This is an indisputable maxim that anyone capable of rational thought knows to be true. Cars go fast, they starred in Mad Max, and they make epic explosions from time to time. Unfortunately, most vehicles in Magic the Gathering are not very cool. Cards like Skyseer's Chariot, Boommobile, and Mukotai Soulripper are too weak to compensate for the major downside of requiring actual creatures to become creatures. This also isn't an uncommon occurrence for most vehicles in the game. Aside from Greasefang reanimation combo decks, vehicle decks generally struggle to pose any meaningful threat. In fact, most vehicle cards suffer from being too balanced in a game where most other archetypes aren't very balanced. After sifting through many vehicles cards within Magic, it became apparent that any vehicle deck (barring Greasefang) has two major hurdles to overcome. Essentially, a good vehicle deck has to both create a lot of mana and generate enough creatures to compensate for crew costs.

<BlogCard cardId="MTG-MOC-334" size="lg" />
<br/>

And here is where <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MOC-334" title="Kykar" /> comes in! This goofy Jeskai bird person can make bodies to crew each vehicle and can also make mana by sacrificing those creatures after they have been tapped to crew. The more I think about it, the more I realize that his commander is better than most dedicated vehicle commanders. I do include many common vehicle commanders in the main deck, but it seems to me that Kykar works better at the helm than any of them. So without any further ado, let's look under the hood!

## Full Deck List

<BlogDeckList deckListIndex="0" />

## The Engine

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-SOC-176,MTG-EOC-118,MTG-NEC-16,MTG-LCC-75,MTG-FIN-60,MTG-LCI-225,MTG-PM20-233p" />

For this deck I wanted to draw a lot of cards and cast a lot of cars. With a commander like Kykar it's good to fall into a spellslinger styled archetype. Cards like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-SOC-176" title="Sram, Senior Edificer" /> and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-EOC-118" title="Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain" /> are great for refilling your hand. Anything that lets you draw cards from casting artifacts/vehicles/noncreature spells work as amazing draw engines. Cards like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-NEC-16" title="Research Thief" /> and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-LCC-75" title="The Indomitable" /> are great draw engines in decks like this that want to win through combat damage. Finally, card you play the top of your library like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-FIN-60" title="The Lunar Whale" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-LCI-225" title="The Belligerent" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PM20-233p" title="Mystic Forge" /> not only let you see what is coming up but also work as an extra card slot in your hand.

## The Fuel

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-EOC-114,MTG-EOC-72,MTG-CMM-385,MTG-PEOE-226p" />

Any two cost ramp cards work well with Kykar because optimally you should play it on turn three. There are enough two cost mana rocks in this deck that such a feat shouldn't be too hard to achieve. Further, any of the cards that reduce the cost of artifacts like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-EOC-114" title="Enthusiastic Mechanaut" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-EOC-72" title="Etherium Sculptor" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-CMM-385" title="Foundry Inspector" /> all allow you to cast more artifacts per turn. With Kykar out, you're also recouping some of the mana you use to cast said artifacts in the form of spirit tokens. Perhaps the craziest card in this deck that really pushes things into overdrive is <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PEOE-226p" title="Sami, Wildcat Captain" />. I have no idea how this card only costs $1-$2 right now but it is absolutely crazy value in any commander artifact deck that includes Boros colors. Giving anything you cast affinity for artifacts makes many spells in this deck free and most other just cost their mana pips. If you have Sami and any permanent that draws cards whenever you cast vehicles/artifacts/noncreature spells, you're in for some crazy turns.

## The Cars

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-PEOE-238p,MTG-EOC-2,MTG-PEOE-35p,MTG-EOC-7,MTG-EOE-25,MTG-WAR-24,MTG-PIP-22,MTG-BLC-39,MTG-WHO-177,MTG-DFT-27,MTG-MOC-108,MTG-NEO-249,MTG-PIP-128" />

I naturally am using a very vague definition of the word 'car' in the title of this deck. Spaceships, boats, automobiles, and aircraft are all being lumped into this category. The standout spaceships in this deck are <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PEOE-238p" title="Dawnsire" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-EOC-2" title="Inspirit" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PEOE-35p" title="The Seriema" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-EOC-7" title="Uthros Research Craft" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-EOE-25" title="Lumen-Class Frigate" />. With Seriema, you should usually tutor for Sami or one of the draw engine cards like Jhoira or Sram. Also Lumen-Class Frigate can be quite useful for turning all of Kykar's spirits into much buffer crew members. Getting to shoot a creature with Dawnsire is always fun and Inspirit is just solid protection.

<BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-WAR-24" title="Parhelion II" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PIP-22" title="The Prydwen" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-BLC-39" title="Rolling Hamsphere" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-WHO-177" title="Cybership" /> are all just fun big vehicles that are great for generating tokens. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DFT-27" title="Salvation Engine" /> is fantastic for making your cars stronger and occasionally works well for vehicle reanimation. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-MOC-108" title="Deluxe Dragster" /> is just such a fun wildcard spell that lets you cast your opponents previously played spells. Cards like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-NEO-249" title="Mechtitan Core" /> and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PIP-128" title="Brotherhood Vertibird" /> are solid for finishing out games with high power evasive creatures. The deck is mainly attempting to go wide and utilize flying but it helps to have big creatures to finish off at least one player.

## The Drivers

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-ORI-165,MTG-KLD-132,MTG-DFT-210,MTG-DFT-379,MTG-DFT-213" />

Most of the crew are tokens but some of the better drivers give haste like <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-ORI-165" title="Thopter Engineer" />, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-KLD-132" title="Speedway Fanatic" />, and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DFT-210" title="Kolodin, Triumph Caster" />. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DFT-379" title="Mu Yanling, Wind Rider" /> is also great because she gives vehicles flying. For some extra spice, <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-DFT-213" title="Mendicant Core, Guidelight" />'s Max Speed copy ability is great for doubling your vehicle value.

## Final Notes

<BlogCards cardIds="MTG-PDSK-32p,MTG-ELD-126,MTG-WAR-24,MTG-PEOE-226p" />

Admittedly, one could make a vehicle deck decently strong with more board wipes. I don't run many in this one because it aims to overwhelm the board with tokens. <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PDSK-32p" title="Split Up" /> is a great add though because you can tap all of your creatures at will with crew abilities. I included <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-ELD-126" title="Fling" /> in the removal category because the idea of flinging a car at someone seemed hilarious. This thought then led me to the rabbit hole of thinking up a Ziatora vehicle deck, but I don't think that would work as well as this one. It would be a funny theme though. Another interesting car commander is Bello, Bard of the Brambles. He might be stronger than Kykar but the blue draw engine in this deck plus the ability to run <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-WAR-24" title="Parhelion II" /> and <BlogCardLink cardId="MTG-PEOE-226p" title="Sami" /> is just so good.

Let me know your thoughts on the deck below. Also, are there any underrated vehicle commanders that you like?


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Kykar's Cars