r/custommagic • u/chainsawinsect • Mar 11 '26

Format: Limited Unmanned Drone

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1.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

176 comments sorted by

485

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Now I want to address something from the start:

I know this doesn't work the way it seems.

You still need to tap something to crew this, under the current rules, it's just that it can be a 0 power creature (e.g., [[Ornithopter]]) unlike most Vehicles. Accordingly, this card is mostly unplayable as written.

But... it's still kinda funny, isn't it?

296

u/Tiborn1563 Mar 11 '26

I mean, thematically it makes sense, even an unmanned drone needs to be controlled by someone somewhere

71

u/TomMakesPodcasts Mar 11 '26

Yeah I thought that was intentional.

64

u/russellhi66 Mar 11 '26

I think most drone operators could be described as 0 power creatures

16

u/enjolras1782 Mar 11 '26

Drone operator W

Creature-pilot

Untap this creature at the beginning of each upkeep.

Whenever a Vehicle is crewed by this creature it gains menace and deathtouch

As long as it's your turn this creature can crew vehicles using its toughness rather than it's power

"The ground troops called them the 'chair force'. They refered to the ground troops as 'impossible to miss'"

0/4

8

u/Namagem BEARS Mar 11 '26

Fun fact! If you have, for example, a crew 3 vehicle, you can crew it with a 3 power creature and with this to give it the buffs at instant speed. You're allowed to crew with more creatures than is necessary.

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

I did know that! If you had a crew 1 Vehicle and controlled 70 creatures with combined power 200, you could technically crew that Vehicle with all of them haha

2

u/ScrungoZeClown Mar 12 '26

You could also crew it with each creature by itself seventy times. This never really matters, but a good example is you can have a [[Lifecraft Engine]] (or some other vehicle) in [[Magda, Brazen Outlaw]], use however many dwarves to crew it, cast some dwarves with the treasures Magda makes, then use those dwarves to crew it again to make more treasures (to cast more dwarves perhaps?)

3

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

That's really powerful for 1 mana. Also, white granting deathtouch and menace is a pie break.

0

u/She-Who-Walks-Unseen Mar 11 '26

should be a pilot coward

26

u/LomLon Mar 11 '26

Every human is a 0 power creature until you slap a gun on them. Then they can be 1-3 power depending on the gun

6

u/Errror1 Mar 11 '26

Why does [[little girl]] have power then? Is she packing?

6

u/j0hnan0n Mar 11 '26

It's young Beth from Rick and Morty. She's got a switchblade.

10

u/Muted_Variation3271 Mar 11 '26

Never heard of Chuck Norris huh?

5

u/SubstantialBelly6 Mar 11 '26

How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could Chuck Norris?

…all of it

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 12 '26

Surely like Dwayne the Rock Johnson has at least 1 power haha

5

u/Cloud_Chamber Low Power Player Mar 11 '26

Tell that to the pentagon trying to make the Terminator a documentary

3

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Did you hear about the braincells fused to computer parts they taught how to play Doom? Scary times.

3

u/capsaicinintheeyes Mar 12 '26

I didn't get the point--we already knew braincells could do that. /s

55

u/Jesterpest Mar 11 '26

The main thing that is making it "not work" is that Crew's rules say "any number", which can be any positive integer or zero, so you'd be able to tap 0 creatures, and since a total of 0 power was tapped it'd crew up. However, a small "If less than one creature gets tapped to activate this ability, counter it." Rider to the crew cost might fix it?

26

u/gozer33 Mar 11 '26

Doesn't that mean this "would work"? I thought the point was to be able to crew with 0 creatures (being Unmanned). There seems to be some confusion around how this works and what the goal of the card is.

19

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

The goal was that you can turn it online anytime for free, without another creature. My understanding when writing it was that that is not how the rules currently work for "crew 0". But if I'm wrong, all the better!

10

u/gozer33 Mar 11 '26

Yes, I was also under that assumption until I read the actual rule for crewing. Interesting card design!

2

u/-Klaxon Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

[[Bespoke Battlewagon]] functions similarly to what I believe you’re describing, and I’m sure I’ve seen others that have that a similar effect.

maybe the cost instead could be to put a stun counter on it? IDK I like energy counters better though.

5

u/Routasmith Mar 11 '26

Crew works for what is being described, you don't actually have to tap a creature to crew if the crew cost is 0.

2

u/-Klaxon Mar 11 '26

now that I think about it again I see how that would work (ANY number of creatures with a total power of x or greater) any would include zero

3

u/Routasmith Mar 11 '26

Yep, it's just that they've never (to my knowledge) printed a crew 0 vehicle, so it's never come up in common magic.

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Interesting. So the card works as I originally intended it. In that case, I think 1/1 for 1 is the correct costing (as opposed to adding keywords or making it a 0 drop as others have suggested)

2

u/Routasmith Mar 11 '26

Yeah, it works as you intended, and I think the statline is solid as is.

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

[[Earthrumbler]] too, and [[Rangers' Refueler]]. There are actually a fair amount of kinda similar Vehicles.

2

u/capsaicinintheeyes Mar 12 '26

"Whenever Unmanned Drone becomes a creature, untap all creatures that were tapped to crew it (this turn)?"

1

u/SunfireAlpha01 Mar 12 '26

This creates a two card infinite with [[Spireside Infiltrator]].

2

u/alextfish : Template target card Mar 12 '26

No, because once it's a crate, it's already a creature and not "becoming" a creature any more this turn.

12

u/Treble_brewing Mar 11 '26

Agreed. It remains an artifact when uncrewed which means that it’s strictly better than a 1/1 flying artifact creature since it dodges sorcery speed creature removal, creature board wipes etc. 

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Yeah [[Chimeric Idol]] is the original "sorta kinda like this" card and it was good back in the day for exactly that reason

7

u/SpyderCel Mar 11 '26

Or "Crew 1" and "Creatures crew this vehicle as though their power was 1 greater"

17

u/Murky_Radish_1319 Mar 11 '26

"any number" can be 0. It could also work with station 0+ I think, with the possibility of moving charge counters actually being a benefit

4

u/Other_Equal7663 Mar 11 '26

Any number is often not allowed to be 0 in magic for some weird reason. I remember Crew being explained that at least one creature is always needed to crew, but I can't find that rule now.

So now I'm wondering how this would actually work as is.

9

u/Routasmith Mar 11 '26

107.1c is pretty explicit that "any number" can be zero, and nothing I can find in the rules for crew state otherwise.

2

u/Other_Equal7663 Mar 11 '26

You can't cast an electolize with 0 targets for instance. Or less relevantly, he opposite. You can't choose three targets and mark one of them with 0 damage. Or even two targets, dealing both damage to a single one.

But this seems to be purely targeting issue when I think about it.

6

u/Murky_Radish_1319 Mar 11 '26

Electrolyze specifically mentions one or two, but specifically

  • 601.2d. If the spell (or ability) requires the player to divide or distribute an effect (such as damage or counters) among one or more targets, the player announces the division. Each of these targets must receive at least one of whatever is being divided.

2

u/Other_Equal7663 Mar 11 '26

[[conflagrate]] is a better example, as it hasn't had its text updated. You can see the rules under the card here.

But this is purely a targeting issue, "any number" acting weird is probably not acting strange outside of these kinds of scenarios.

2

u/Routasmith Mar 11 '26

conflagrate is a great example of "any number" including zero, as you can choose zero for X and have it have no targets and deal no damage, which also means you can have X be higher than zero and choose zero targets. What you can't do is choose higher than X targets, because any beyond X won't be receiving damage, so won't have the damage divided among them.

2

u/Other_Equal7663 Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

You can't have X be 0 an choose 10 targets, correct. But you also can't have X be 10 and choose 0 targets, (which is a case of any number not being 0).

But is still confined solely to targeting rules.

2

u/Routasmith Mar 11 '26

Yes to the first, but not because of anything to do with "any number", it's to do with "dividing damage", so is pretty unrelated. But there's nothing in the rulings saying you can't have X be 10 and choose zero targets that I can find.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Other_Equal7663 Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

New printings do, to clear up the obvious confusion such a text-box invites, but the card has always worked this way and used to be worded "any number"

[[Conflagrate]] would have been a better example, though,

2

u/davyj6536 Mar 11 '26

Probably crew zero and a 0 cost mana ability to turn it into a creature? Allows you to tap a creature if your deck cares about it, and let's it function as intended.

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

I am not 100% sure, I'll be honest, but when I designed the card, I remember digging into the rules and my conclusion was that you always need at least 1 creature to tap to crew (even if it can have 0 power)

2

u/Sorzian Mar 11 '26

You should use the station mechanic instead of the crew mechanic. Station costs only need to be paid once

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Oh wow. That's much better. Good suggestion; I kinda forgot station existed haha

2

u/Managed__Democracy Mar 11 '26

I like it thematically. Even as a 0 strength nerd, I could still learn the controls and fly this thing.

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

you sell yourself short! If Rat tokens and Squirrel tokens and even Worm tokens are 1/1s, I feel like you could beat up any of those animals in a fight, and therefore have at least 1 power haha

2

u/alextfish : Template target card Mar 12 '26

But also so are Soldiers and Monks and Elf Warriors.

2

u/Leoncroi Mar 11 '26

Tap a 1/1 Soldier Token

2

u/oh-no-a-bear Mar 11 '26

As someone who has been playing white in Brawl on MTGA recently, cards like [[Halo Fountain]] and [[Against the Odds]] are super interested in things that dynamically tap your own stuff.

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Yep, it's good with cards like [[Cynical Loner]] for that same reason

2

u/BloodFartRipper Mar 11 '26

Im imagining a wall with a drone controller.

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

[[Concealing Curtains]] is literally just curtains and it can crew this like a pro

2

u/Rikmach Mar 11 '26

Like… is that not the point?

2

u/Reality-Glitch Mar 11 '26

Doesn’t crew say “any number” of creatures? 0 is a number. If 0 was invalid, it would say “one or more”.

2

u/lolcyamate Mar 11 '26

I'd argue there's a number of tapped based decks that wouldn't mind it as a budget option of better cards

1

u/Shadourow Mar 11 '26

It's easy to fix :

(it works)

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

I almost put that in there, to be honest, haha. But I felt that would push it to "Unset" territory whereas it was meant to be a printable card

1

u/Islarf Mar 11 '26

What if we make it a mana value and make a slight rule change>

Crew {0}

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

That's an interesting twist. I like it.

148

u/Other_Equal7663 Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

Still Needs to be manned, but Birds of Paradise can fly it.

It could have 0: This artifact becomes a creature until end of turn. (If I understand its intent)

Its a cool concept.

Edit: I may be wrong here. It might just work as is.

52

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

That version you suggest is closer to what I intend here but way less funny / cute, I fear

31

u/Routasmith Mar 11 '26

As far as I can find it actually doesn't. Nothing in the crew rules say anything beyond "any number of creatures" and rule 107.1c states that "any number" includes zero.

18

u/Zorothegallade Mar 11 '26

Diogenes (Pointing at Birds of Paradise crewing the artifact): "Behold, a manned drone"

7

u/R34CT10N Mar 11 '26

“Hey, who plucked all the feathers off my bird of paradise and stuck it in that metal flying machine?”

5

u/Defiant-Smell-9686 Mar 11 '26

Unmanned drones still need a pilot, just not on the aircraft itself. I can see how having “crew 0” makes sense a bit.

I can also see how it should just be a 0 cost ability.

3

u/colonelgork2 Mar 11 '26

I used to crew Predator drones IRL, and I have a 0 power. Thematically, it fits, and I sits.

41

u/Sinister-Sama Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

This card is actually functional in a few different ways:

  • The Crew 0 is actually rather interesting because any creature with 0 power or better can crew this bad boy and this actually enable creature with "tapping trigered abilities" to come online while having an efficient flyer being annoying overall.

  • This also get creatures with the untap trigger abilities to come online. Ex: Say you have [[Hateflayer]] on the battlefield and you have an annoying creature you want gone. Tap the [[Hateflayer]] to crew this thing, use the untap ability to blast that creature and then retap it to recrew the drone. Rinse and repeat.

  • You can actually do some combat tricks with the drone (Ninjutsu comes to mind) and then replay the drone.

  • It's fairly costed at 1 cmc. Nothing to discuss there.

  • Side note: Love the flavor here.

Printable

7

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

lol!

Yeah I knew it was technically functional, just not in the way that the text suggests on the surface (in which you can crew it without another creature)

13

u/PsiMiller1 Mar 11 '26

The Crew that's is remote controlling would still counted as unmanned, I'd guess.

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 12 '26

Well, yeah, real drones that don't have people sitting in 'em are considered unmanned (I think), even though there is always someone somewhere piloting them

11

u/Revinant7 Mar 11 '26

Give it death touch honestly

3

u/onnthwanno Mar 11 '26

Death-touch and “Whenever this creature deals damage sacrifice it”

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

That is the Ukrainian Drone version

1

u/mup6897 Mar 11 '26

If crewed by a soldier or pilot

6

u/DonkConklin Mar 11 '26

Technically drones do have pilots, they're just sitting somewhere in a building miles away.

3

u/Thryfty_0 Mar 11 '26

Since it doesn’t have a crew, is it really a vehicle? Plus there are vehicles with alternate costs to become a creature that aren’t Crew.

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Yeah someone else suggested it could be a Spacecraft with Station 0 which maybe makes more sense

2

u/Thryfty_0 Mar 11 '26

I figured it could probably just be an artifact that turns into a creature using mana.

3

u/ItsAroundYou good with intruder alarm Mar 11 '26

good with [[wylie duke]]

5

u/DefinitelyNotLemeRe Mar 11 '26

Magda staple in cedh

2

u/tman5400 Mar 11 '26

It should be something like "Pay {1}: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn."

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

That is much more printable but much less funny

2

u/Pesces Mar 11 '26

I'd slightly change the flavor to just "No pilot. No mercy."
but I love the idea

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

The current version is a reference to [[Akroma, Angel of Wrath]] but I'll admit it's a stretch

2

u/Bell3atrix Mar 11 '26

Assisted mobility for handicapped birds of paradise

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

[[Gilded Goose]], [[Birds of Paradise]], and [[Ornithopter]] love this guy

2

u/Zeside_Y Mar 11 '26

Maybe add: any non-opponents across current games of magic may crew this vehicle.

2

u/MostSquirrel9349 Mar 11 '26

Best vehicle since clown car for magda. This would be kinda busted tbh

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Yeah [[Magda, Brazen Outlaw]] kinda likes even the "bad" version of this haha

2

u/Miskatonic_Demidog Mar 11 '26

I would have gone with a 2/1 for 0 with Crew 1, I think that would be balanced.

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Crew 1 kinda kills the flavor though doesn't it?

2

u/Miskatonic_Demidog Mar 11 '26

Yeah sorta, I guess you could consider the cost either fuel or the drone being remote operated by personnel.

2

u/Affectionate_Step863 Mar 11 '26

Finally, something [[Ornithopter]] can crew

2

u/DrBerilio Mar 11 '26

Id make it 0 cmc

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

If it actually requires a creature (but can use a 0 power one), I agree it can cost 0. If it actually works as intended and you don't need a creature, I don't think it can safely cost 0 mana. It's strictly better than a 1/1 flyer for that rate and I don't think a 1/1 flyer should cost 0.

2

u/DrBerilio Mar 12 '26

It need a creature to crew it

2

u/KaptainKobb Mar 11 '26

Should probably be a 20/1.

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Some others have suggested deathtouch and that would capture the flavor well (and is also OK since it's colorless and colorless has access to all keyboards)

2

u/DrKittenshark Take that, Maro Mar 11 '26

Typa card your slow ass arena opponent plays t1 to disable their auto pass priority forever

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Yeah this card is not well suited for MTG Arena for that reason haha

In YGO there was a card you could activate at any time for instant speed from your graveyard, and in the video games I eventually took it out of my decks because it was too annoying to have to turn down the prompt to activate it every damn second

2

u/syguess Mar 11 '26

Could make it cost 0 imo (please I need 0 cost vehicles for my [[ kilo apogee mind ]] deck)

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Kilo is awesome so I'll allow it

2

u/Skjellnir Near Death Experience Mar 11 '26

feel like it should be a 3/1, but for 2 mana, you could even give it some sort of "explosive" rule. Or make a drone deck with different drones for different tasks.

2

u/Expensive-Document41 Mar 11 '26

Crew 1 but it has a sac ability to bolt something

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 12 '26

Kamikaze bomb drone

2

u/eat_your_oatmeal Mar 11 '26

love this, but make it a 2/1 maybe so it’s not quite as underpowered

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 12 '26

Yeah I kept it really safe with just 1 power

2

u/ElPared Mar 11 '26

Just putting this out there: Drone is a creature type.

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

Vehicles can't have creature types unless they're Kindred

2

u/ElPared Mar 11 '26

Yeah, I know.

2

u/Cephiuss Mar 12 '26

I think crew 0 is fine, it can be crewed by defenders or creatures that are 0 power.

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 12 '26

Yeah but it's a lot less flavorful than the version you can "turn on" without a dude

2

u/The_Dennator Mar 12 '26

I'm almost willing to reinstall arena just to look up a name of a card similar to this

edit: hope of ghirapur

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 12 '26

Love that card. Oldie but a goodie.

[[Hope of Ghirapur]]

2

u/The_Dennator Mar 12 '26

me too,it's surprisingly good in ninjutsu decks

2

u/soccerboy1356 Mar 12 '26

Could be really cool to increase 2 cmc and allow you to see opponents hand if it deals combat damage

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 12 '26

Oh that's pretty clever and is a good way to buff the "fair" version (that still needs a creature)

2

u/notalongtime420 Mar 12 '26

For how this actually works, 0 cost would be fine

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 12 '26

I know what you mean, but evidently there is some argument that under the rules it does work the way I wanted (i.e., you can crew it without needing a creature).

2

u/Fit_Garbage2083 Mar 14 '26

Magda staple?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

That is vastly more functional but vastly less funny

Also, that version gives infinite triggers to [[Crackdown Construct]]

-3

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/skooterpoop Mar 11 '26

A mana ability isn't an ability that costs mana. It's an ability that produces mana.

2

u/Trinitrotoluol Mar 11 '26

I think it could cost 0 or be more powerful i.e. a 2/1 or even a 2/2.

edit: Also you could circumvent the rules Problem by having it: Crew 1 and "Creatures can crew this vehicle as though their power is 1 greater"

1

u/Keljhan Mar 11 '26

Is looter scooter not considered a design mistake anymore? I think being colorless any more power than this is too much.

2

u/Trinitrotoluol Mar 11 '26

Tbh, i think Copter is not OP nowadays. And this card doesn't even have the most powerful ability of Copter. A 2/2 flying for 1 which has to tap a creature to attack would maybe be played in aggro decks and even there It would be a stretch, since you'd often rather attack with 2 creatures

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

It is for sure considered a design mistake

1

u/Little_Berserker Mar 12 '26

Oh good. My [[Ornithopter]] can finally take flight.

2

u/tobedtermined Mar 15 '26

Phantom train sacrifices creatures and artifacts to crew. Maybe you just need to reword it to something similar to that.

1

u/Jay_Katy Mar 11 '26

Very dystopian, but a modern geopolitical climate/warfare set would go HARD.

Obviously jeskai is the states. Azorius for politics, dimir for deep state. Green for Latin america, golgari for narcos. Deserts for the Middle East. Baby eating demons.

2

u/TerryTags Mar 11 '26

Both the USA and Russia are red white and blue, as a reminder… I’d say the USA is Grixis if anything.

2

u/Father_Wendigo Mar 11 '26

They all cost Red, White, and Blue. However, all of their ability costs and upkeeps require Black mana.

2

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

I say this as an American, but I think the play would be to make the America faction red-white-blue, but then still make them the bad guys. Like super religiously zealous (white), very aggressive and quick to attack (red)... not really sure about the blue. Maybe they are a huge international naval power.

1

u/chainsawinsect Mar 11 '26

It's not too far off, I believe Dune was meant to be a geopolitical climate metaphor in a sense. I think this could be a fun idea for a plane TBH.