The 40 Best Vehicles in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 29, 2025

Heart of Kiran | Illustration by Jaime Jones

Vehicles are a commonplace sight in sets these days, and most releases will have at least one included in them. After their introduction in Kaladesh, vehicles went on to become a “deciduous” mechanic, one that can appear in small numbers in any set if they met the requirements of the set.

There have been some unbelievably powerful vehicles printed over the years, though, and in this article we’re going to take a look at the best of the best.

What Are Vehicles in MTG?

Possession Engine | Illustration by Leroy Steinmann

Vehicles are an artifact type first introduced in Kaladesh and seen regularly since. Generally, they’re artifacts that don’t do very much by themselves, but if you tap creatures with total power equal to or greater than their crew cost, they become artifact creatures with the power and toughness displayed in the bottom right of the card. Designs go much wider than this, though, and there are sometimes other ways to turn them into creatures.

They are both an interesting gameplay piece and a great way to add flavour to card designs. They go from absolute dross that you wouldn’t even think of including in the worst Sealed deck, to super powerful threats that can take over the game. What are the best ones we have so far, though? Let’s dive in and find out!

40. Magmatic Galleon

Magmatic Galleon is a removal spell on the heads up, with a good body left behind. It reminds me a lot of Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, though without the raw power or colorless flexibility.

#39. Bessie, the Doctor’s Roadster

The first Universes Beyond card on the list, Bessie, the Doctor's Roadster has some good stats on it, and can help your creatures that matter get through. If you have a commander that you want to deal combat damage with, Bessie can help you get that out of nowhere.

#38. Getaway Car

Crew costs are really important when it comes to vehicles, and Getaway Car only having crew 1 makes it worth a second look alone. It gets even better if you have some cheap creatures you want to cast over and over again. Imagine using a Thraben Inspector to crew this. All of the Clue tokens!

#37. Mysterious Limousine

Mysterious Limousine is an interesting take on an Oblivion Ring on a stick. The nice thing is you can swap out the exiled creature with something else if need be, perfect for taking out tokens. It may only really be balanced for 1v1 formats, but it’s an interesting take from a period where designers started experimenting with the card type a little more.

#36. Smuggler’s Buggy

Hideaway is a cool mechanic that lots of players were happy to see return in Streets of New Capenna. Smuggler's Buggy was especially cool as a repeatable way to cast hideaway spells. It does require you to get into combat, which is a big restriction. Cards that promote combat are good in my book, though.

#35. Ghost Ark

Coming from the grim darkness of the far future, Ghost Ark is a way to get a bunch of utility from artifacts in your graveyard, which is perfect for a Necron-themed deck. Exiling the artifacts at end of turn with unearth is a downside, but probably needed to keep this balanced.

Note: You only need to crew Ghost Ark, which means you can use this effect the turn it comes down and don’t need to risk it in combat!

#34. TARDIS

The most iconic visual from Doctor Who, TARDIS clearly needed to be included in that set. You probably don’t want to play it outside of a Doctor Who deck, but then again, the TARDIS doesn’t work as well for anyone other than The Doctor!

#33. RMS Titanic

Ball Lightning effects are pretty iconic to a certain subset of players, and RMS Titanic is a cool one. I don’t think the stats are quite there for a one-shot effect like this, but I love the flavor, and there are worse ways to create a bunch of Treasure.

#32. Fleetwheel Cruiser

Part of the downside/balancing of vehicles is the need to crew them, so vehicles that can crew in different ways are often useful. Fleetwheel Cruiser does a very good impression of a 5/3 trample haste creature that only costs 4. The main problem we have here is that this creature just doesn’t really do it in modern Magic (I could see this being an uncommon these days!), and the rate wasn’t even really good enough when it was first printed, either.

#31. Kylox’s Voltstrider

Next up is Kylox's Voltstrider, the lone vehicle from Murders at Karlov Manor. It’s always interesting to see an alternate way to crew a vehicle, and this gets a bit of card advantage to go with it. It hasn't really broken through any meta in particular, but it’s certainly not weak.

#30. Mindlink Mech

Mindlink Mech is a card that’s itching to be broken. It’s seen some fun play with one of Magic's best demons, Bloodletter of Aclazotz, and it just needs the right creature to be printed to make its ‘clone’ ability something ridiculous. It may never get the right card to go with it, but I say it’s just a matter of time.

#29. Aethersphere Harvester

Aethersphere Harvester saw quite a bit of play in Standard decks, and not just in Mardu Vehicles. It was a good sideboard card against aggro decks, and the crew 1 was incredibly easy to meet, meaning the Harvester could help you close out the game in time. There’s clearly a lot of stats, and I still think the right deck could make use of it in Pioneer.

#28. The Belligerent

In the right deck, getting in with The Belligerent can give you a huge amount of card advantage. Allowing you to play lands and cast spells off the top of your deck is powerful, and getting a Treasure to help you on your way is a great addition. There are more powerful ways to try and play your entire deck, but this is a pretty nice one for a lower powered table.

#27. Reaver Titan

Reaver Titan is massive as a 10/10 vehicle that deals 5 damage when it attacks, and it has nice, relevant protection from cheat removal and creatures. You're pushing damage in even if it gets blocked, and it’s a legit wincon in EDH.

#26. Possession Engine

Possession Engine is Mind Control on a vehicle for the same cost. It’s much worse, but in a vehicle deck, adding to your board while disrupting theirs can be very effective. Especially if your opponents rely on their commander, for example.

#25. The Prydwen, Steel Flagship

The Prydwen, Steel Flagship makes 2/2 Human Knight tokens whenever an artifact enters, so it’s at its best in artifact-heavy decks. Plus, your tokens have some kind of prowess, so each turn you’ll want to play another artifact to attack with your 4/4 knights. It’s easy to crew this giant ship and attack for 6 in the air, too, seeing as this vehicle makes more creatures to crew it as time goes by.

#24. Thunderhawk Gunship

Like Esika's Chariot, Thunderhawk Gunship comes with its own crew members. Plus, you’re left with a 6/6 flying vehicle that gives all your attacking creatures flying, so it’s a massive attack for you. It’s also a natural three-for-one, giving you many rectangles for a 6 mana value investment.

#23. Mechtitan Core

Mechtitan Core has a lot of potential. In a deck with a bunch of artifact creatures and/or vehicles it’s a 7-mana 10/10 flying, vigilance, trample, lifelink, haste. What’s more, if the artifacts that you used to assemble the “Megazord” have ETB abilities, you get bonus value from them when (if?) your opponent deals with it. Go go Mechtitan Core!

#22. Hedge Shredder

Hedge Shredder is a nice ramp and self-mill card, and it can be used as a glue for many decks that combine different strategies. Either way, this is a 5/5 vehicle for 4 mana with crew 1, so it’s very easy to attack with, and ramping even one land when attacking is already very efficient. This card works passively too: If you mill five cards and three are lands, you’ll put them all onto the battlefield.

#21. Knight Paladin

Knight Paladin is super efficient. A 6/6 trample vehicle with only crew 1 rumbles a bunch of times with ease, and if you have any kind of blink engine, it’ll deal massive damage on its own, or even win on the spot if it’s an infinite combo.

#20. Cryptcaller Chariot

Cryptcaller Chariot has huge upsides in discard strategies, or cycling/madness strategies. On top of that, the vehicle itself is a 5/5 menace that makes its own crew, so expect this Aetherdrift card to hit the red zone very often.

#19. Deluxe Dragster

Deluxe Dragster has built-in evasion, as it’s very hard for vehicles to be blocked by other vehicles unless we’re talking about a weird meta. When it connects, you get to cheat spells into play, so target the player with 5+ mana spells in their graveyard. Think about this card as an easily crewed 4/3 unblockable beater.

#18. Thunderous Velocipede

After you land Thunderous Velocipede, even if you don’t care about vehicles at all, each creature you cast after this gets +1/+1 counters, so it’s a very strong card in a counters plus proliferate strategy. Not only that, but any power-based strategy is gonna love this card. Also, sometimes you’ll even attack with a 5/5 trampler. Play a 2/2, place a +1/+1 counter, crew this vehicle, and profit.

#17. Demonic Junker

Demonic Junker is a generally better Ravenous Chupacabra in EDH, getting to snipe a couple creatures when it enters. You can also sacrifice a creature, and you’ll be left with a 6/5 vehicle. Realistically, this card will cost between 3-5 mana to cast most of the time.

#16. Salvation Engine

Salvation Engine is one of the hardest vehicles to crew at 6, but at least it has a hefty bonus. Giving +2/+2 to artifact creatures is huge, so part of this crew cost is reduced if you have at least a robot or two by your side. This card is invaluable in decks that flood the board with artifact tokens, especially flying Thopters. Like Thunderous Velocipede, the static bonus warrants its place in a deck alone, and if you can crew it and attack, it’s obviously a lot better.

#15. The Last Ride

The Last Ride is a build-around card, like Death's Shadow before it, in decks that want to pay life to get benefits or cards. If you can get there, these cards are 7/7 or bigger for just 1 mana. These are usually better in formats like Modern with fetch lands and shock lands, and worse in EDH, because going from 40 to 10 or so isn’t safe at all in these formats. This card is a little better due to its Greed ability.

#14. Heart of Kiran

Heart of Kiran saw quite a bit of play when it was in Standard, and I could see it coming back again in the right deck. A lot of the time it was a 4/4 flying vigilance, which is a good body for 2 mana no matter which format you’re playing. It does require planeswalkers to be particularly useful, though, which is a drawback, especially as we’re going to see fewer planeswalkers printed going forward.

#13. Jackdaw

Jackdaw is a very efficient and well-costed vehicle for what it does. Seeing as Izzet () decks these days want to cycle cards, draw two cards a turn, and the like, this Izzet card is well-positioned. In artifact decks, this card can make a good Wheel of Fortune impression.

#12. Unlicensed Hearse

Unlicensed Hearse is a great sideboard card that can hate out your opponent’s graveyard whilst turning into a game-ending threat. In a couple of turns this can become a 6/6, and blocking with it, then tapping before damage is also something you can do. One for the 1v1 tables, for sure, this is quietly parked in a lot of Pioneer sideboards.

#11. Nautiloid Ship

Nautiloid Ship is a vehicle that can let you do some crazy things, repeatedly getting your opponents’ best stuff (in their graveyard) onto your side of the field.

Not only that, but it also allows you to take out a problematic graveyard. Did I mention that it has flying, making it hard to block? Value when it comes down, then more value if it goes unanswered. This is strong, and may be worth a higher slot.

#10. The Indomitable

Just casting The Indomitable and attacking with a creature or two is already a profit. This time, they put the Coastal Piracy effect on a 6/6 trample vehicle that can draw you cards, with a little help. It’s hard to block all 6 points of trample, and even if you trade, you’ll be up on cards.

#9. Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Skysovereign, Consul Flagship occasionally shows up in Vintage Cubes, and although this is hardly a high pick, those Cubes have some really strong artifacts in them. The bonus here is that it turns the tide against many decks that rely on smaller creatures, as well as being a pretty good clock on top.

#8. Valor’s Flagship

Valor's Flagship is a very interesting and powerful vehicle that can give Parhelion II a run for its money. If reanimated, it hits for 7 damage while gaining life, and you can bin it by cycling. Plus, it can be a real surprise for your opponents to see Pilot tokens appear at instant speed.

#7. Esika’s Chariot

Esika's Chariot was a huge midrange threat that warped Standard around it. It still sees a good amount of play in Pioneer, although this is usually in Greasefang, Okiba Boss decks. There are just so many words on it, and they’re all so good! Spreading the value over three bodies is a huge benefit here, and there are so many ways to get value from this vehicle.

#6. Reckoner Bankbuster

Banned during the latter half of its tenure in Standard, Reckoner Bankbuster is a colorless value engine that can go in any deck that’s not just flat-out aggro. Probably a bit slow for some older formats, it was just played in way too many decks in Standard.

#5. Subterranean Schooner

Subterranean Schooner is a rare instance of a blue aggro card. Crew 1 is always a good line to see on a vehicle, and Schooner has the bonus of potentially buffing whatever crews it. There’s a lot of 1-power things out there that would love to have 2 power instead!

#4. Parhelion II

Parhelion II has a lot of words on it, as well as a lot of big numbers. Unfortunately, some of those big numbers are the crew cost and the casting cost. Crew 4 isn’t insurmountable, and you get a LOT if you manage to swing with it, which is where Greasefang, Okiba Boss comes in. Play Greasefang on turn 3 with this in the graveyard and your opponent doesn’t have much choice but to lose.

#3. Imposter Mech

Clones are usually either incredibly strong, or completely unplayable. Only being 2 mana helps out Imposter Mech though. Whilst being a vehicle version of the cloned creature might seem like a downside, that stops it from being removed by board wipes, or other sorcery-speed effects. Don’t overlook this one.

#2. Shorikai, Genesis Engine

Shorikai, Genesis Engine was clearly meant to be a vehicles-matter commander. I guess the last line of text gives that away, though….

Still, it’s very good at what it does, and the Pilot tokens Shorikai creates help crew all your other vehicles. If you can make do with Azorius colors, here’s what you want!

#1. Smuggler’s Copter

It might not look like much now, but Smuggler's Copter provides a great rate. Only just out of the sin bin in Pioneer, this provides card selection, an evasive body, and cheap casting and crew costs all rolled into one. I can see this being usurped from the top spot at some point, but for now this still reigns supreme!

Best Vehicle Payoffs

Whilst we’ve had a lot of new space explored in vehicles since they were first introduced, we’ve seen less development in payoffs outside of a few very specific sets. Of course, we’ve had enablers like Greasefang, Okiba Boss, but true payoffs like Start Your Engines and Armed and Armored were a bit less visible until recently.

Aetherdrift gave players the bulk of explicit vehicle support. Chandra, Spark Hunter is a planeswalker that cares specifically about vehicles. Just having it on the field means that you can attack freely with a vehicle without crewing. If you have vehicles with steep crew costs, consider adding this to your deck. This Chandra also creates 3/2 Vehicle tokens in a pinch.

If you’re in need of more crew power, Interface Ace counts as crew 4. Not only that, but it untaps once, so you can crew two different vehicles with it.

Kolodin, Triumph Caster and Cloudspire Captain are possible vehicle lords you can play. With Kolodin around, each vehicle you play attacks with haste as if it were crewed, so you can definitely push some damage earlier than expected.

With Mu Yanling, Wind Rider you can take your vehicles to the skies, and when they hit, you draw cards.

Oviya, Automech Artisan is an Elvish Piper that also works with vehicles. It’s a nice combo with expensive vehicles like Parhelion II and Valor's Flagship.

Can Vehicles Crew Themselves?

No, they can’t. They could when they were originally released, but a rules change with the release of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty changed the rule so vehicles could no longer crew themselves.

That said, a crewed vehicle can use its high power to crew another one. You can have a situation where a 2/2 token crews a 4/4 vehicle A with crew 2. This vehicle A becomes a 4/4 creature, then it crews another vehicle B that has a steeper crew requirement, like crew 4, and so on.

Driving it Home

Esika's Chariot | Illustration by Raoul Vitale

Vehicles have been around for long enough that Magic's even introduced its very own “vehicle set” in Aetherdrift. There's been plenty of innovation on the card type, though some of the strongest were in that original batch, which just shows how powerful they were when they were first introduced.

Do you like vehicles? Is there any design space that you want to see Wizards explore? Or have I missed something off this list of top crewable artifacts? Let me know in the comments down below or the official Draftsim Discord, and until next time, may you always have alternate crew costs!