Crew in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Reckoner Bankbuster | Illustration by Steve Prescott

The introduction of vehicles to Magic brought a science-fantasy vibe to the game just as it had in the olden days when Urza used power armor to fight the mechanical threat of Phyrexia. It created a powerful image of what the artificers of Kaladesh could do with aether.

Vehicles also introduced the crew mechanic, which enables the card type. But how exactly does it work? And what happens when you have a card that flips between being an artifact creature and a regular artifact? I’m here to settle all those questions today.

Let’s get racing!

How Does Crewing Work?

Ovalchase Dragster | Illustration by Victor Adame Minguez

To crew a vehicle, you tap one or more untapped creatures with a combined power equal to or greater than the crew cost. Because crewing counts as an activated ability on an artifact, it’ll be affected by cards like Suppression Field and Collector Ouphe.

When you pay the crew cost, the crew ability goes on the stack. The vehicle doesn’t become an artifact creature until after the crew ability resolves; this means your opponent can’t Murder the vehicle in response to the activation. Likewise, if your crew ability gets Stifleed with an effect like Tishana's Tidebinder, the vehicle won’t become a creature.

You may crew vehicles at instant speed, and you may crew them multiple times should the need arise. A vehicle does not need to be untapped to be crewed.

The History of Crew in MTG

Vehicles were introduced in 2016 with Kaladesh, the first Magic expansion of a block set on a steampunk-inspired plane with a heavy emphasis on artifice (as well as the home plane of Chandra Nalaar).

Flavorfully, they demonstrated the mechanical prowess of the Kaladesh plane with a variety of vehicles from barges (Bomat Bazaar Barge) to race cars (Ovalchase Dragster) to skyships (Sky Skiff). As a plane whose artifice manifested in scientific progress, it’s more reminiscent of Dominaria’s storied history with artificers than planes like Esper and Mirrodin where the artifice became part of the natural landscape and peoples.

Vehicles have become frequent fliers in Magic sets since Kaladesh. Even on planes without significant technological advancement, R&D found room for vehicles as any large, man-made object that would reasonably need the aid of people or animals to move.

We see ships often, from the grand The Belligerent to the humble Funeral Longboat. One set with a notably great use of vehicles was Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, which introduced a variety of mechas in the Japanese-inspired set that one might expect to see in the newest episode of Gundam.

In-universe sets aren’t the only ones to benefit from vehicles. Many Universes Beyond sets have used vehicles to explore their lore in the crossover. The Transformers cards are the most obvious example, but the mechanic also gave form to the TARDIS with the Doctor Who set and helped underscore the scale of Warhammer 40K’s universe.

While vehicles offer lots of flavor to Magic sets, they’re also powerful. So powerful, in fact, that several have been banned in Standard. How could I talk about vehicles and not reflect on the absurdity of Smuggler's Copter? The combination of an oversized, evasive body and card filtering that fixed any hands and could be played in any deck with creatures saw the Copter getting a quick ban; it was even preemptively banned in Pioneer at the format’s inception, though it got unbanned in late 2023.

A more recent vehicle banning was Reckoner Bankbuster which… was broken for practically the same reason as Smuggler's Copter. It was a colorless card-draw engine that any deck could play and provided a ton of pressure. Bankbuster lacked the sheer aggression of Copter, but the argument for its banning reflected the justification for Copter: Every deck could play them at little to no cost, stifling deck diversity.

Perhaps these two cards taught Wizards that colorless card draw engines are too powerful since every deck can play them at no cost…

… never mind, they printed The One Ring.

Do Vehicles Have Summoning Sickness?

If you crew a vehicle the turn it comes into play, it will become a creature with summoning sickness. Creatures have summoning sickness the turn they come under your control, even if they weren’t creatures when you played them (this is why Threaten variants give the stolen creature haste).

In other words: Any artifact that turns into a creature has summoning sickness the turn it enters play, regardless of how it became a creature.

Can Vehicles Block?

If you crew a vehicle and it’s untapped, it can block an attacking creature; a crewed vehicle can do everything a creature does. Uncrewed vehicles can’t block. Make sure to crew it before you declare blockers, and remember that you can crew a vehicle at instant speed!

Can You “Over-Crew” Vehicles?

You can “over-crew” vehicles; that is, crew them with creatures that have total power exceeding the crew cost. This occurs often; for example, if you control two 2/2s, the only way to crew a vehicle with Crew 3 would be over-crewing with 4 total power. Some vehicles like Golden Argosy and Luxurious Locomotive benefit from over-crewing.

Over-crewing can also be useful in niche cases like preventing goaded creatures from attacking in Commander.

Can Vehicles Crew Other Vehicles?

A crewed vehicle can crew other vehicles after it becomes a creature with power and toughness. An uncrewed vehicle can’t crew other vehicles; even though it has a P/T box, those stats only affect the board once the vehicle is crewed.

Are Vehicles Considered Creatures?

A crewed vehicle on the battlefield is considered an artifact creature after the crew ability resolves. A vehicle on the battlefield that hasn’t been crewed, or a vehicle in any zone other than the battlefield (including the hand, library, and exile) is a non-creature artifact.

Can Vehicles Be Destroyed

Yes. Vehicles can always be destroyed with artifact destruction like Nature's Claim regardless of crew status.

Once a vehicle has been crewed and becomes a creature, creature interaction like Murder can also destroy it.

On the other hand, removal that can only target nonartifact creatures, like for example Go for the Throat, can't target vehicles even when they’ve become creatures – they are still artifacts, too.

What if the Vehicle is Uncrewed?

An uncrewed vehicle counts as a noncreature artifact. It can’t be destroyed by creature removal, it can’t get Threatened, etc. Uncrewed vehicles also aren’t affected by summoning sickness as they aren’t creatures, so you can activate abilities that require tapping right away. For example, Cultivator's Caravan can tap for mana the turn it enters play, but can’t tap for mana if it becomes a creature that same turn.

Can You Enchant Vehicles? Equip them?

A crewed vehicle becomes a creature, so you can enchant or equip it. However, the aura or equipment will fall off in the end step when the vehicle becomes a non-creature artifact.

A handful of auras such as Swift Reconfiguration and Aerial Modification specify that they can enchant creatures or vehicles, so they stay on.

Do Counters Stay on Vehicles

Yes. Counters remain on vehicles as long as they’re on the battlefield, regardless of if they’re crewed or not. This includes +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters, as well as ability counters, shield counters, etc.

Can Defenders Crew Vehicles

As creatures, defenders can crew vehicles. Since they often have 0 power, they’ll have a tough time doing it.

Assault Formation effects are commonly played with defenders; these do not modify a defender’s power, regardless of what the MTG Arena client shows you. They won’t help crew vehicles.

Are Changelings Vehicles

No. Vehicle is not a creature type but an artifact subtype like equipment.

Are Vehicles Creatures in Graveyards

No. Vehicles can only be creatures on the battlefield. They count as non-creature artifacts in any other zone, including the graveyard.

Can a Vehicle Crew Itself?

A vehicle can’t crew itself in any useful sense. If you control Smuggler's Copter, you need to have another creature to crew it and make it a creature (you could also use an effect like Rise and Shine to make the non-creature artifact into a creature).

Once a vehicle becomes a creature, it cannot be tapped to pay its own crew cost. This wasn’t originally the case when vehicles first released, and they originally could crew themselves. When vehicles made a larger return in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, the rules were tweaked such that vehicles could no longer crew themselves, probably for flavor considerations.

Wrap Up

Skysovereign, Consul Flagship | Illustration by Jung Park

Vehicles are cool. I appreciate the flavor they add to the game. As a threat that dodges sorcery-speed interaction, they add lots of nuances to gameplay. I hope to see more of them in the future, especially as they explore the cultures of the planes we encounter.

Which vehicles are your favorite? Have you played Smuggler's Copter since the unbanning? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe and keep driving!