My first thought was Spear of Heliod pumps all your creatures and can get you targeted removal that people often forget about.

Second thought is Iroas, God of Victory. Menace helps when you don't have easy access to trample but what's really great is a you don't take damage when attacking. Makes Ovalchase Dragster even better.

Finally I think Paradox Engine really shines in a vehicle deck. Also it allows you to take advantage of cards like Savage Beating letting you attack with your driver's as well for a big finisher. There are tons of possibilities with this card.

mrluthor, thanks for the suggestions! Spear of Heliod looks like it could do some serious damage, not to mention that it is a great rattlesnake for opponents who might see me as easy pickings after a full flunge. Iroas, God of Victory might never get the devotion in order to make him a creature, but I feel menace might be a great addition to the deck's toolkit. However, I will not be considering Paradox Engine as it quite pricey and I'm not already running cards to take full advantage of it. I'll playtest your suggestions and see where they might fit!

No problem!

The biggest thing I think that Iroas has going for him is that he doubles as a limited Darksteel Forge and gives menace making him a creature is just icing on the cake.

How is Aerial Modification working for you? Seems a bit pricy mana wise for what it does. I'd think you'd get more mileage out of something like Hammer of Purphoros giving haste to everything. If you miss the evasion you can find room for Rogue's Passage perhaps?

The other thing that worries me is the usual how do you deal with playing aggro in a multiplayer format? I'm curious as I was thinking of making one of these decks myself...

mrluthor oh boy, more suggestions!

Ok, so we'll start off with Aerial Modification. Believe it or not, this is a late game all star for me mainly because it turns one of our vehicles into a creature indefinitely so we don't have to spend creatures crewing it up. In addition, the +2/+2 and flying turn a huge vehicle with a large crew cost (example being Consulate Dreadnought) and gives it evasion, which it heavily needs to become a real threat as opponents will often just throw a 1/1 in front of it to stop the 7 damage. As of now, I'll leave it in there as it's a great curve finisher.

Next up are the suggestions. Believe it or not, I've never really wanted haste. After all, the crew mechanic allows you to tap a creature with summoning sickness to crew a vehicle you played last turn. This often leads to a turn 2 vehicle followed by a turn 3 creature and crewing the vehicle to hit for 5 or 6 (thanks Heart of Kiran!). So with that in mind, i'll pass on Hammer of Purphoros. Next up is Rogue's Passage. Well I've got nothing against more evasion, so why not?

n0bunga: Thanks for the upvotes and suggestions! Initial D will always live on from it's fans of the anime and the games.

Ok, into the suggestions. So here's the thing with those moxes and mana rocks: they're expensive. This deck was made as an attempt to make the best use of the vehicle mechanic, which for the most part is really cheap (thanks a lot Heart of Kiran). Now I'm not going to judge someone that runs them, but this specific build of depala has a really low curve with not much to ramp into aside from Darksteel Forge. I suppose you could take out some early game threats for more rocks, but it seems disadvantageous. As long as this remains the case, I think the measly signet and Sol Ring will do.

Next is the general suggestion of Myr. The reason I'm not going to run them (or any other creature type for that matter) is that they aren't dwarves. As long as that's case, I can't draw them with Depala, Pilot Exemplar's . And, if you look carefully, that is really the only card draw source this deck has, and i'd rather not compromise it for a few extra abilities. Finally is Depala's Lord ability for dwarves. +1/+1 Is a big number, especially when you really want to hit some larger crew numbers.

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I hope this clarifies my thought processes for you. If you don't like my not inclusion of certain cards, feel free to make a copy of this deck and share it with me so I can see how it goes. Initial D may be over, but it will never be forgotten!

n0bunga: Round 2. Start!

Alright so I'm still going to only use my 2 mana rocks I've got in there so far only because I've never had a mana problem when I've played the deck. Now I'll let you in on a secret: I'm currently thinking about running Mirrorworks, which is a 5 drop. If I end up adding it as a permanent resident to the list, I probably will add another rock to the list so I can more reliably curve out. But as long as I'm not getting consistently mana screwed and my deck pacing feels right, I'll leave it as is. If you end up buying the deck, feel free to throw in a rock or two more if you feel you need it.

Now onto the automatons and general Lord buffs. There are 2 reasons why I won't be running Adaptive Automaton or Metallic Mimic. First off, I don't really need massive dwarves as really the only thing they'll be doing is crewing. I run every vehicle printed in order to assure I'll never have to attack with the pilots. Unfortunately, vehicle isn't a creature type, so I can't name that when the Lords ETB. Second reason is same as last time, Depala can't grab them. I was considering the Mirror Entity because it could be grabbed, but I decided against it as there are more relevant dwarves I already have. Urza's Incubator isn't too helpful because of most the dwarves I'll be running only have generic in their mana costs.

But don't worry! I really like the idea of Unwinding Clock and Sun Titan and I'll add them to the maybe board for testing. Thank you again for you interest in my deck!

Hey, I've been running a Depala deck in a reasonably well-funded play group for a while with really great results. I'm not sure if this deck is intentionally budget-friendly or if it's just an attempt to strongly maintain the theme, but there are a few things that can give this deck a really big power boost.

First, my play style is a little different. I run the "good" dwarves, but I also largely crew my vehicles with hatebears (Grand Abolisher, Aven Mindcensor who is now $4, and the like). That said, Blood Moon resolving is usually the end of the game for about 50% of decks out there. So Magus of the Moon, who can also crew your vehicles is a pretty solid option. Iroas is a monster in this deck if you want to be able to swing safely, but a 4-drop is pretty slow. Turns out Wizards has a solution for that. It's called Dolmen Gate. Get it while it's hot.

Containment Priest is pretty broken. Mirror Entity and Taurean Mauler are the best Dwarves out there. Recruiter of the Guard finds answers and crews vehicles. Wheel of Fortune is broken. Dump hand, draw new hand. Or use it after an opponent resolves a Demonic Tutor. Ethersworn Canonist can be incredible depending on your meta, and Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker can keep you safe (since you do not have access to Dissipation Field or No Mercy in these colors. Plus she can crew things!

Finally, consider a Fell the Mighty and/or Retribution of the Meek at the top end of your curve, for cheap unilateral board wipes so you can keep on swinging. I found that without them, or anthems, I was screwed once my opponents got their first fat creature down.

My deck is here:

Depala Commander Vehicles and Hatebears

Commander / EDH strembl7

67 VIEWS

strembl7: Good to see another Depala, Pilot Exemplar player out there! Always good to know I'm not alone in this horrible world of combo-happy luck sacks. Okay then, onto the suggestions.

Believe it or not, I mainly stuck to Depala at first for the extremely strong theme she supports. Personally, I've always loved heavily themed decks and pretty much avoid anything that's description is "just value". That being said, when I started playing Initial D(epala) in 2-3 player games, I was heavily impressed as it did a lot with it's budget. Now since I do typically play the same 3 or 4 people in my EDH playgroup, I've been heavily influenced by our local meta. My friends and I all like making decks at less than $200, but we make a lot of them (I think I currently carry 4 completed EDH decks, the most expensive being $250) in order to keep it fresh and try new things. We're also pretty strict on our spikiness policy. Themes like hatebears or infect are really sensitive topics in our group since we mainly stick to fairly noncompetitive decks or ones that are competitive, but don't rely on un-fun mechanics or cheesy rules. That being said, cards like Grand Abolisher and Aven Mindcensor are pretty mean to other people (and not a single person owns a Demonic Tutor), and since I like keeping my friends in my playgroup, I think I'll pass. Next is the moon effects, which are not only pricey, but more or less ineffective. Believe or not, my group has this thing with dual lands that mainly involves not a lot of them. I think the only deck in our meta with large amounts of duals is my friend theicyhandofdeath's Progenitus deck (TASTE THE RAINBOW). Most people like the good ol' lucky basics.

Okay, now for the other dudes. Containment Priest could work, but no one happens run those kinds of effects. Now I will say this, if one day someone got a competitive Mayael the Anima deck together, I would be SO on that. Taurean Mauler is a card I've thought a lot about, but ended up not running because its a staple (and everyone running the same handful of cards is boring) and that I don't need anything bigger than 6 to crew a vehicle. Recruiter would work, except i'm not running answer creatures like, say for example, Containment Priest. Wheel of Fortune looks really good for this deck, but wait... it's $50. Ethersworn Canonist would end up being a HUGE MISTAKE as 2 of the decks played in the meta are Memnarch and Hope of Ghirapur.

Of all the cards you recommended, I really like Fell the Mighty. The vehicles' ability to stop being creatures every turn can lead to some huge plays, and this is a card suited to abusing just that. I intend to add it to the maybeboard for internal testing. Thank you for your time and insight, I always like seeing how EDH is different for other playgroups. I'll take a look at your deck since you took the time to do the same for mine.

I know you aren't keen on breaking the theme of dwarf creatures in the deck but I'd like to suggest one final addition and that is Felhide Spiritbinder. Hes got a decent body for crewing vehicles but his main selling point is that when he untaps you can pay 1R to get a copy of a target creature with haste until end of turn. Obviously this synergizes with your deck, as he can crew a vehicle, and then next turn get you a copy of the baddest thing on the board or even another dwarf to help with crewing.

mrluthor: Funnily enough, I was chatting my friend up about inspired and It's amazing interaction with the vehicle mechanic. I was planning on scoping out the cards today on the gatherer, but you may have done my work for me. Felhide Spiritbinder looks really interesting, and I figure he might be worth adding for some later testing. Not to pry, but do you really like the Theros block? I think 90% of the cards you suggested were from that block. I'm kidding! We've all got our favorite sets. Thanks again for your time.

I definitely see where you're coming from. I, of course, had no idea what your playgroup is like. Mine is a little larger: probably the same 12-20 or so people. However, Depala does not stand a chance against any of them in 4 player games without the hatebears. Containment Priest stops reanimation, Bribery effects, and flicker shenanigans such as Brago, King Eternal so that the board doesn't get locked out. Holding down Grand Abolisher is the only way I will ever be allowed to cast any of my angels or anthems. Ethersworn Canonist is essentially just my answer to storm decks, and worst case it baits out removal before Gisela or Aurelia hit the board.

Some hatebears are less hateful, and double as actively beneficial to you, such as Angel of Jubilation which has that wonderful little anthem effect while also stopping a number of infinite combos. You can always just grab the select few that actually affect your meta. Spirit of the Labyrinth, for example, doesn't affect Depala's ability, but it stops a lot of popular decks I find myself against like Mizzix of the Izmagnus and Sharuum the Hegemon and some really popular cards like Rhystic Study and Sylvan Library. And, if you just really want to win a game, it makes Wheel of Fortune (or Magus of the Wheel or Wheel of Fate for budget-friendly options) into something a whole lot more devastating - but that knife runs both ways. Your opponents' wheels are also something very different with it down.

I do not run Heart of Kiran because I play exclusively 4-player games, and Crew 3 for 4 damage just isn't worth a card slot when I need to deal 120 damage to win.

I'll definitely reconsider Siege Modification. My issue with it is that it makes my opponents' removal become a 2-for-1, which I guess is the flaw of any aura. Normally they would never waste removal on a vehicle. I'll have to try it out to see if its worth the risk. From that perspective, though, another hatebear would actually serve the same purpose (can keep a vehicle crewed) plus the bonus of slowing my opponents' wincons down even more.

I find it really interesting that you consider Taurean Mauler a staple. I had never even seen it before until I did a Gatherer search for creatures with Changeling, and I definitely needed to read it to my friends when I first played it. Also, my playgroup is much less budget-friendly: we consider my Depala list as casual. We do, also, enjoy building new decks each week. And, to keep things fair, we are usually very ok with proxies. To most of us, the challenge is in the deckbuilding, and no one should be barred from competing just because they aren't wealthy.

On a lighter note, this week I am putting together a specter and ninja deck featuring Nicol Bolas for some shenanigans. A couple weeks ago I put together a racism-themed deck featuring all the old color-hate cards like Eastern Paladin and Lifeforce and some manipulation like Darkest Hour. See Janky Racism (Color Hate) if you're interested. Still can't find a copy of Scuttlemutt and its bothering the hell out of me. I live in Canada and ordering in cards from the US is very expensive...

Oh, also, Inspired is awesome. That was a whole other direction I considered building. But, then I decided that if I was going to do Inspired vehicles, that King Macar, the Gold-Cursed would be the most interesting (to me) instead of Depala.

strembl7, The only problem with King Macar, the Gold-Cursed is that it limits you to mono-black. Now while vehicles are colorless, vehicle synergy is primarily in white and red, with the only black card being Ovalchase Daredevil. I'm definitly interested in seeing what you come up with though.

DEJA VU , I'VE JUST BEEN IN THIS PLACE BRFORE!

ROUROU HIGHER ON THE STREET

My only thoughts are the following:

Duergar Mine-Captain! Duergar Mine-Captain! Duergar Mine-Captain! Duergar Mine-Captain!

He can pilot EVERYTHING (if you have the mana) -- And your attacking creatures get a boost!

Also;

RUNNIN' IN THE 90'S!

Skulloelegy, Interesting suggestions. I'm having a hard time picking just one.

0ffensiveWombat

I'll be the first to admit I had to resist SUPER HARD not ticking every box when the comment preview came up.

Archived comments so you can actually get to the bottom of the page.

Love the deck, especially the theme! Only suggestions I'd make are finding spots for Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer and Dispatch

ManinSatin, I will consider Dispatch, even though most of the times we won't get metalcraft most games. In addition, Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer could be fun as an alternative commander. Thanks for the help!

So in my experience, Jor Kadeen just ends up being a conditional anthem and you'll almost always wish it was a Cathars' Crusade for the mana cost, or even better would be a Mirror Entity.

Dispatch is an excellent card, but it doesn't fit in well in an aggro strategy. Unless you are already running Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile and still need more removal... but if you want to play control, this isn't really the deck for it IMO.

You make some good points strembl7!I will leave the cards in the testing section in my description mainly because I like people who may want to build the deck to have options. Even if I never end up using them, these cards stand as options for later in case I get bored of the current build which I currently have a physical deck of. Dispatch may never be used, but as of now I really like the idea of using Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer as my commander if I get bored of Depala, Pilot Exemplar.

Consider using the "Maybeboard" for options like that. I've got like 85 things on my own maybeboard for when I feel like changing things up.

Always Watching so you could have some blockers.