The Strongest Pilot Cards In MTG

Pilots are a creature type available in Magic: The Gathering first introduced in 2016’s Kaladesh set. As the name implies, Pilot cards are frequently support cards for the Vehicle artifact type and later, Mounts.

Pilots pair very well with Vehicles and Mounts, with effects that make it easier to crew or saddle, respectively. Some Pilots are staples of meta decks across multiple formats, while others, while strong, are a bit more niche in their usefulness. There aren’t a ton of Pilot cards in Magic, but the ones the game does have do wonders to make Vehicles and Mount a threat.

10

Mu Yanling, Wind Rider

Vehicles To The Skies

Creatures with flying can often be hard to block, so giving all your Vehicles flying is fantastic. Mu Yanling, Wind Rider even comes with a Vehicle token of its own to immediately start making use of its effect.

The draw on damage is great and doesn’t necessarily need to be done with a Vehicle, just with any creature with flying. The card advantage that Mu Yanling provides is great, along with a boost to Vehicles if you dedicate your deck to that card type.

9

Hotshot Mechanic

Hotshot Mechanic is a very simple creature with a simple effect. It can crew Vehicles as if its power was two greater. This means for just one mana, it can crew a Vehicle with a crew cost of four.

If a Vehicle needs a large power number to crew, Hotshot Mechanic can handle that as well. It checks for whatever Hotshot Mechanic’s current power is, not its base power. So if it is getting its stat boosted, Hotshot Mechanic can handle all your crewing needs all for just one mana.

8

Interface Ace

Tapping Twice

If you are playing with any Vehicles or Mounts that need a high-power creature to use their crew and saddle abilities, you will want Interface Ace in your deck. One downside to Vehicles and Mounts is that it requires you to lose access to a creature by tapping it. However, Interface Ace gets around this by untapping it when it becomes tapped the first time.

If you have multiple Mounts or Vehicles, you can power up both of them with just Interface Ace. It saddles and crews with its toughness, and not many Mounts or Vehicles need more than four.

7

Redshift, Rocketeer Chief

Exhausting Goblin

Redshift, Rocketeer Chief doesn’t actually do anything for Vehicles or Mounts like most Pilots do. Instead, it’s a way to dump a lot of permanents onto the battlefield with its exhaust ability. While the exhaust costs a lot of mana, this can be cut down with Redshift’s mana generation ability.

You want to pump up the power of Redshift, Rocketeer Chief as it will be able to make mana for effects easier to activate. While it’s great for its own exhaust ability, there are a ton of other expensive effects that would be great to pay for with just one creature.

6

Sanwell, Avenger Ace

Vehicles From The Top

Sanwell, Avenger Ace is a way to get both Vehicles and artifact creatures out from your deck and onto the battlefield. You do want an artifact creature attacking alongside Sanwell, as this will make it so Sanwell won’t take damage and survive combat.

Sanwell’s effect triggers whenever it becomes tapped, be it through combat or by crewing or saddling a permanent. You do still have to pay the mana to cast the Vehicle or artifact creature you exile, but since there’s no mana needed to be used for Sanwell’s effect in the first place, you should have access to however much mana you need.

5

Depala, Pilot Exemplar

The Original Vehicle Commander

Depala, Pilot Exemplar gives a stat boost to all your Dwarves and Vehicles, the former of which can support Vehicles greatly. The stat boosts to Dwarves make it easier for them to crew Vehicles, and the Vehicle stat boost helps to get in for more damage.

Depala can load up your hand with a ton of Dwarves and Vehicles whenever it becomes tapped, letting you constantly build up card advantage and a board presence. It also has a low mana cost, letting you take advantage of its effect very early in the game.

4

Captain Rex Nebula

Any Permanent Is A Vehicle

Captain Rex Nebula is a very unique Pilot in that it can turn any nonland permanent you control into a Vehicle until the end of your turn. This allows it to take advantage of anything that supports artifacts or Vehicles, and the potential to do a ton of burn damage.

The downside to Captain Rex Nebula is if the permanent you made into a Vehicle does damage, you’ll have to sacrifice it as the crash land ability is mandatory. This can do a ton of damage if the permanent’s mana value is high, but you’ll wind up losing that permanent unless you can bring it back from the graveyard.

3

Kotori, Pilot Prodigy

Discount Crew Costs

There are many Vehicles that have a high crewing cost, which is something Kotori, Pilot Prodigy gets rid of entirely. Crewing for two is very easy, and lets you cheat around high crew costs to get in for a ton of damage and trigger many great effects.

As an added bonus, Kotori gives an artifact creature lifelink and vigilance at the start of combat, making your Vehicles into even better attackers. Thanks to vigilance, you’ll have the option to crew them again on your opponents’ turn to act as a blocker.

2

Kolodin, Triumph Caster

With Haste

Kolodin, Triumph Caster is a great card if you’re playing a ton of Vehicles, Mounts, or both. It gives both Mounts and Vehicles haste, as well as saddles or crews them the same turn they enter. Since they have haste, they can attack right away and get bonus effects off without ever having to tap a creature.

Since Kolodin only costs two mana, you can easily ramp into your best Mounts and Vehicles. Boros (red/white) has the largest number of Vehicle support cards, making Kolodin the perfect choice for that with Mounts to back the Vehicles up.

1

Greasefang, Okiba Boss

Parhelion II’s Best Friend

Greasefang, Okiba Boss immediately became a Pioneer staple upon release. Greasefang’s ability to reanimate a Vehicle with haste from the graveyard is great, and most often paired with Parhelion II, which leaves behind two 4/4 Angel tokens.

Greasefang works best in decks that can quickly discard or mill their best Vehicles into the graveyard to bring back with its own effect. There are a ton of different variations of Greasefang decks using different colors, and all great in their own way. Greasefang offers a lot of versatility for Vehicles, especially since it can crew most Vehicles on its own.