Hey guys! This is the deck I currently run in the Modern format. The story behind it is actually rather funny.
Deck Origins
I decided that for Modern I would brew my own deck. So I started with my favorite method of brewing: looking at the super expensive staples in a format, finding underrated "budget alternatives", and then looking for ways to break them. I found Dark Confidant, the ludicrously expensive Jund and Black Control card advantage machine, and copied his rules text into the Gatherer search bar. The jank rare Pain Seer came up, with virtually the same ability with the exception of an extra point of toughness and the fact that he has to untap with Inspired to get Bob's effect. I asked myself, "how can I get Dark Confidant's power without running the risk of him dying in battle?" The answer was simple. Vehicles. Pain Seer crewing Smuggler's Copter leads to two extra draws per turn and a cheap flying beat-stick that gives Delver of Secrets
a run for its money. The combo screams to be abused.
AND THEN...CURSE MY ROTTEN LUCK... literally TWO WEEKS after I started coming up with ideas for what I wanted this Pain Copter deck to look like, fricken SaffronOlive posts Mono-Black Vehicles for MTGGoldfish's Budget Magic Deck of the Week. So TECHNICALLY, the deck idea officially isn't mine. So what I'm deciding to do to make the deck my own is come up with other ways to play with "Mostly Black" vehicles, splashing other colors to see how I can further break vehicular interactions.
[https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-84-50-tix-mono-black-vehicles-modern]
Deck Goals
This is a low-to-the-ground aggro deck, with multiple ways to win. SaffronOlive does a better job of describing it than me, but I'll keep it brief.
Recurring Crewers
Scrapheap Scrounger: Requires an exile from your graveyard. Hit Pack Rat, Night Market Lookout or a dead vehicle if you can.
Dread Wanderer: The least efficient of the lot. Requires a nearly empty hand, which isn't too bad because you can still spend mana.
Bloodsoaked Champion: The best, hands-down. You're swinging almost every turn so Raid is easy to satisfy.
Smallpox build option: Gravecrawler. Going all-in on Pox means I'll need more recursion.
Another maybe: Endless Cockroaches. It's on my curve, and can only be killed by Path to Exile, really. How hilarious is that, making your opponent waste a Path on a 1/1. This guy would only be in the deck as an immortal crewer.
Card Advantage
Smuggler's Copter: Banned in Standard, this all-star is woefully underrated in Modern. A beater that makes Delver of Secrets
look tame.
Alternate Win-Cons
Night Market Lookout: Crew with these bad boys to drain your opponent out if games get grindy. This will help reclaim any life lost off of Pain Seer triggers.
Aethersphere Harvester: A flying beat-stick that you can grant lifelink. For best results, crew with Night Market Lookout.
Pack Rat: The ultimate wall in grindy games if you flood out and start drawing lands. Even more powerful alongside a Copter crewed with Pain Seer, as you get more cards to pitch.
Spells
Fatal Push: Best black removal in modern for 1 mana. Revolt triggers after Smallpox is cast for a devastating one-two punch.
Inquisition of Kozilek: Go for combo pieces, artifact hate, boardwipes, and graveyard hate as top priority. Sideboard this in if they aren't playing creatures and they're playing something weird like combo or control.
Smallpox: A wonderful card for exploiting what this deck is good at. Almost all of the creatures can reanimate themselves, so discarding and sacrificing them doesn't hurt my game plan. One life lost is nothing since I have a life gain engine in Aethersphere Harvester, Night Market Lookout and Zulaport Cutthroat. Sacrificing one land is nothing since I curve out at 2-3 mana.
Splash Options
Bloodghast: Modern's best recursive crewmember.
Hex Parasite: Remove counters from Chalice of the Void and Aether Vial. HILARIOUS. It's a little expensive to activate him, but if you do, he's a repeatable beater that's a terror for planeswalkers.
Vampire Hexmage: I'm torn between putting this creature or Hex Parasite in the sideboard against planeswalkers and Aether Vial, Chalice of the Void and others. With the Parasite, I'd have to dump a lot of mana to kill a planeswalker, not leaving any open for removal spells. But, with the Hexmage, it's a two-mana commitment that's a guaranteed dead planeswalker or nerfed Chalice. However, the Parasite is a repeatable effect. It's a tough debate.
Smallpox: Turning this deck into a Pox deck will mean I have to go all-in on the recursive creatures. It can be done is this deck. Discard a reanimating creature, sacrifice a reanimating creature, lose a life that I can get back with Aethersphere Harvester, and sacrifice a land as long as I have four or more out.
Cathedral of War: Not a black mana source, but amazing if you have only one vehicle and crewer on the board.
Monastery Swiftspear: A fantastic turn one beater and crewer. Gets bigger when you cast the vehicles so you can get in an extra point of damage when you aren't ready to swing with a vehicle yet.
Goblin Guide: The definition of red creature aggro. Shows the top of your opponent's deck, but since he might give your opponent extra lands, it's risky. Recursive threats may be better.
Lightning Bolt: Consider this a placeholder for burn spells of your choice. We're aggro, so why not burn?
Terminate: Good if the build doesn't run fetchlands, thus no Fatal Push. Having this AND Fatal Push makes for a mean aggro-control build. Kill flyers with it first.
Abrade: Access to red means that I finally have access to artifact removal.
Ensoul Artifact,
Tezzeret's Touch: Replace the non-
Pain Seer threats that can't recur themselves with these. Turns your vehicles into super beaters that are always vehicles and don't need crews anymore.
Remand, Dispel, Negate, Turn Aside: Placeholders for any counterspells you choose. Meta-specific. Dispel may be best, because you don't care about threats that be steamrolled or bypassed by our creatures. Instant speed removal is what you want to prevent in this deck. Get rid of combo pieces with Inquisition.
Snapcaster Mage: Only if you're rich or already have them. It can crew and protect your stuff by flashing back a counterspell.
Path to Exile: Simply better removal for flyers or beaters giving you a hard time. Best against multicolor decks.
Lingering Souls: More flyers, more crewers, more fun. Fits with recursive subtheme.
Vindicate: Kill troublesome artifacts and enchantments with it. Best used on Tron lands and Valakuts. This deck doesn't have many answers for those.
Tempered Steel: Bring more pain with the vehicles!
Heroic Intervention/
Blossoming Defense: The green splash could be more defensive. But this isn't as powerful. If your crew can all reanimate themselves, you'll only use this when someone tries to destroy your vehicles.
Eternal Witness: Or... it could go all-in on recursion. This card can get vehicles back.
Noble Hierarch: Included for the same reason as Cathedral of War. If the Hierarch and a vehicle are all you have, you get an extra point of damage.
Rancor: Recursive beaters require recursive pump.
You could make a Golgari Infect build using Tainted Strike, vehicles, Noble Hierarch and a bunch of pump spells.
