KLD Vehicles - Answer the CallThe meaning behind the deck name is sort of how I envision and play the deck. Let me take you on an imaginary journey to Magic land where a large handful of pilots are hanging out at the local bar/pub/cafe/bistro. All are enjoying their favorite beverages and reminiscing over their past conquests. Each pilot embellishing those memories into tall tales. When all of a sudden the &h!7 goes down (this could be whatever you can come up with - storyline: Tezzart throws down// imagination: tanks and aircraft start bombing the city// too much imagination: the hot pants factory has been attacked and that's really upsetting to the average citizen) and all the pilots run out to see what's happening. Without hesitation, they rush head long into battle doing everything they can to fight back the threat. In many cases this is more than enough to solve the problem and they all return to the saloon/tavern/parlor/cabaret to add this story to the never ending web of myths and legends. There are times though that the confrontation will require a greater commitment. The pilots retreat back to the inn/ night club/ gin mill/ lounge to rally support (this could be whatever you can come up with - storyline: Planeswalkers and Vehicles// imagination: military with arsenal// too much imagination: LOTS of thread and some sewing needles. There's going to be a lot of mending to do!) so that they can return in force to vanquish their foes. When they do, it's a hard fought but triumphant and glory filled victory. One that will go down in song at the alehouse/ taproom/ hall/ salon for many years to come.
All boobery aside, the deck is an aggro platform with some 'late game' legs (which is just a byproduct of including vehicles). The idea is to beat down with early threats to pressure life total and win the race. If your opponent or your draws don't let you get there, then you aim to finish the game off with vehicles and walkers. In a goldfish match the deck can win by turn 4 on the play. One sequence I just had was T1
Kytheon, Hero of Akros, T2
Toolcraft Exemplar, T3
Depala, Pilot Exemplar, T4
Fleetwheel Cruiser for a total of 21 damage overall (T2 = 2dmg, T3 = 4dmg with Depala played precombat, T4 = 15dmg). Realistically though you're aiming to put them on the back foot early and have them scrambling.
Pilots (21)2 x
Toolcraft Exemplar1 x
Kytheon, Hero of Akros3 x
Inventor's Apprentice2 x
Selfless Spirit2 x
Speedway Fanatic3 x
Veteran Motorist2 x
Thopter Engineer1 x
Pia Nalaar1 x
Thalia, Heretic Cathar2 x
Depala, Pilot Exemplar2 x
Pia and Kiran NalaarRemoval (5)2 x
Skywhaler's Shot1 x
Fragmentize2 x
Declaration in StoneWin Buttons (3)1 x
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar1 x
Chandra, Torch of Defiance1 x
Nahiri, the HarbingerSweet Rides (7)2 x
Smuggler's Copter2 x
Renegade Freighter2 x
Fleetwheel Cruiser1 x
Skysovereign, Consul FlagshipGo Go Juice (24)10 x
Plains2 x
Needle Spires10 x
Mountain2 x
Clifftop RetreatCard discussion and synergies:
Kytheon, Hero of Akros - there are enough creatures at the right end of the curve to make this potential walker worth it. If you flip it, don't undervalue it's +1. Removing blockers for big swings are worth it and there are some decent sized vehicles that can block for removal. The card also draws a lot of attention which is always welcome. It does clash with
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar at times but that's a fine problem to have and you're probably in a good situation when you have it.
Toolcraft Exemplar/
Inventor's Apprentice/
Speedway Fanatic/
Thopter Engineer - great little beaters for fast starts and can crew quite well too. Having some haste options always helps the beat down plan too.
Selfless Spirit - can add to the fast starts but can also keep your board in play for crewing
Veteran Motorist/
Depala, Pilot Exemplar - Both good crew options but more importantly great for set up/ draw/ filter. Remember that Depala can attack or crew to trigger her X ability. Her ability is fantastic for using up leftover mana that would normally be wasted or it can allow you to dig deep for gas. Also consider that her ability works well with the scry on
Skywhaler's Shot and
Veteran Motorist. With the card filter on
Smuggler's Copter, the +1 on
Nahiri, the Harbinger and the +1 on
Chandra, Torch of Defiance, you should be digging through your deck well.
Pia Nalaar/
Pia and Kiran Nalaar - value cards. Pia Nalaar's first
ability is repeatable but the 2nd ability is again where it's at. Like Kytheon, the less threats they have to stop your swing, the farther you get ahead in the race. Crew a vehicle with a token, sac it to remove a blocker and swing for wins. Pia and Kiran Nalaar shouldn't need much explanation as it's been rocking Duels since the game was released. Just remember the ability is
any artifact. Both these cards can sac their way to wins.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar - Yet another way to remove blockers and help shift tempo in your favor. Race race race! Can also crew everything on it's own if need be.
Skywhaler's Shot/
Fragmentize/
Declaration in Stone - This is subjective to meta and can be flexible if you so choose (i.e. burn options in things like
Galvanic Bombardment which works with the filtering or
Harnessed Lightning. Value removal -
Collective Effort/
Collective Defiance etc - lots of options that can be shifted and adjusted to fit the current meta but just consider any shifts this might make in color and the need to reflect that in the mana). For explanation on choices, Skywhaler hits pretty much everything we could be concerned with. Anything under 3 power shouldn't be a concern for us to be swinging in to. Otherwise it's flat out removal at instant speed which this meta is calling for. It also removes a lot of popular meta cards - especially
Smuggler's Copter. Fragmentize is great in an artifact set like KLD. It hits most things we want to remove and I teeter back and forth over whether this should be x2. Declaration in Stone is still good removal. It may not be instant speed to keep up with the new pace of the meta but it still does a great job especially against any thopter/servo decks. The 3 options together cover a lot of ground for the deck and I have been happy with them so far.
Smuggler's Copter/
Renegade Freighter/
Fleetwheel Cruiser/
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship - Copter is just a flat out bomb and everyone is already talking about it so I won't spend the time to repeat it all. I just wish we had more. The freight train, cruiser and flagship are all great finishers and can punish planeswalkers when needed. All these cards are typically hard to remove and help give the deck some late game legs.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar - always a power house and can win games on it's own. It produces pilots for crew and can buff for big swings as well as swing big itself. What's not to love?
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - The +1 which exiles is great for gaining advantage and as mentioned above, synergizes with scry effects. Her ultimate is game winning (it's on cast) and having an additional removal option is never a bad thing. If you decide to go the burn route for removal, her
+1 ability becomes a lot better.
Nahiri, the Harbinger - what a card! +1 synergy, -2 kill the whole KLD set, -8 for Cruiser or Flagship and win the game.
Needle Spires - do not overlook this. It fits quite well into aggro beats and can crew vehicles in a pinch.
I've settled on 24 lands with an even split. The filter/scry of the deck does allow the deck to be a bit greedier and could go to 23 lands but my confirmation bias always notices that I get punished when leaning one way with a mana color or reducing land counts. I'd much rather be playing lands to 4 or 5 mana and filtering for better threats than filtering for land and tossing gas. Having the even split also gives us a better chance of hitting the right color for a one drop start.
And there you have it! One beat down deck that can make a small transition into a mid-game without too much trouble. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know over in the
Constructed Subforms and I'll do my best to discuss/address. It's up to us; the posting members, to clean up our subforms!
Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it!
elk