Pattern Recognition #424 - The Grand Prix

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

3 September 2026

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Hello Everyone! My name is berryjon, and I welcome you all to Pattern Recognition, TappedOut.Net's longest running article series. Also the only one. I am a well deserved Old Fogey having started the game back in 1996. My experience in both Magic and Gaming is quite extensive, and I use this series to try and bring some of that to you. I dabble in deck construction, mechanics design, Magic's story and characters, as well as more abstract concepts. Or whatever happens to catch my fancy that week. Please, feel free to talk about each week's subject in the comments section at the bottom of the page, from corrections to suggested improvements or your own anecdotes. I won't bite. :) Now, on with the show!

When Aetherdrift was released, one question was on a lot of people's minds. Where was the race itself? What is the point of having a set all about a race, an dnot making a token effort to actual make a race? Well, where Wizards didn't deliver, a lot of players stepped up. Some efforts were a lot more workable than others, but most of them have dropped off the face of the internet. So I'm going to fix that. Or at least make a good effort at it!

LADIES AND GENTLEMENT, START YOUR ENGINES!

Grande Prix Format

1.0 - Intro

The Grande Prix Format (also called the GP) is a proposed format for Magic: The Gathering that puts the players in the place of a racer competing against other players to finish the race. Or prevent everyone else from winning in the process. So pick your ride, select your racer, and get to the start line!

2.0 - Deck Construction

The GP is a 60 card Singleton format, where you are only allowed a single copy of each non-Basic Land card in your deck. The exception to this is cards that specifically state that you may have multiple or as many copies in your deck as you are allowed, such as Seven Dwarves or Persistent Petitioners.

At this time, the deck utilizes the Commander Banlist, but this can be modified in future updates.

Two cards in your deck are your Rider and your Ride. Your Rider is a Legendary Creature or Planeswalker that is not on the format's Banned list, and your Ride is a Vehicle or Mount that is legal in in this format. At this time, Starships are not legal as a Ride, but can be in your deck. This may change in the future. These two cards begin the game in the command zone, leaving each player with 58 cards in their starting deck.

Your Rider and your Ride form your deck's colour identity, and all cards in your deck must match the combined colour identity of these two cards. Your Rider and your Ride do not need to share any colours, and can be the same, share colours or be totally different.

3.0 - Setup

Each player places their Ride and Rider in their Command zone, and then shuffles their library, drawing 7 cards. Each player gets one free mulligan, then from there the London Mulligan is in play.

Players determine randomly the turn order. The player who goes first passes their turn to the left, proceeding clockwise around the table. The player to the right of the starting player starts the game with the "Flag" Emblem, which is defined later.

If the players are using the Planechase variant (defined later), then the first Plane is revealed at the beginning of the starting player's first upkeep.

No players have a life total, and they cannot take damage. If they would take damage, it is ignored, but will trigger any effects that respond to a player taking damage.

4.0 - How to Play

The objective of the Grand Prix is to win the race. It is not to destroy your opponents, though that is something that can be done.

The Race is defined as a score goal that is by default, 2N+1 units in length. A two player race will have the racers going to 21 points, a four player version would go to 41 points. This number can be discussed and changed pre-game with the approval of all players. Any player who has earned that many points or more has finished the Race.

Each player enters the race to score points independently of each other. Some may start earlier, some later. You can stop racing if it is to your advantage, and you do not lose your position in the race if you pause for whatever reason. A player enters the race when, during the combat step of their turn, they use their Rider to crew or mount their ride, and then their ride is declared as being 'in the Race'. Only the Ride with the Rider can be qualified for this. The ride can have other creatures tapped to meet its Crew or Saddle requirements, but unless the Rider is counted among them, it cannot be in the Race. The Rider can be tapped to Crew or Saddle a different vehicle or mount, but cannot be in the Race.

If your Rider is a Planeswalker, they use their Loyalty to Crew or Saddle. Loyalty is only checked when the relevant ability is activated, much like Power for Crew or Saddle is, and if it is changed afterward, the value applied to the Ride's ability is not changed.

Once a player has their Rider and Ride 'in the Race', other players may attack the Ride as though it were a Planeswalker controlled by that player. Attacks are directed at it and creatures may be used to block attacks against it. Attacks may not be directed at the Rider, and if they are a Planeswalker, they may only be attacked as a Planeswalker while they are not in the Race. Damage to the Ride is done in the form of -1/-1 counters.

If a Ride is reduced to 0 toughness it (and the Rider) are out of the Race, and the ride is returned to the Command Zone. The rider is no longer in the Race, and is treated as any other creature (or Planeswalker) on the battlefield. The Ride and the Rider pay an additional tax of for each successive time they are summoned from the Command Zone. If, at the end of any player's end step, their Ride has -1/-1 counters on it from taking damage in the Race, but they are not currently in the race, remove all -1/-1 counters from the Ride.

The player at the end of the turn rotation - to the right of the starting player - was given the "Flag" Emblem at the start of the game. This emblem is defined as "At the beginning of your End Step, each player with a Ride in the Race gains points equal to the power (or Loyalty) of their Rider + the power of their Ride + their Speed, to a maximum of 9. Then, if any player has finished the Race, they win the game. If multiple players finish on the same turn, the player with the highest point total wins. If there is still a tie, then highest Speed. If there is still a tie, the player who has cast their Ride the fewest times win. If all players are still tied, then the race is a tie, and all eligible players win."

If a player runs out of cards in their deck, they do not lose. Play proceeds until someone wins the race.

4.1 - Planechase

If the players are utilizing the Planechase variant, before the game begins, a deck of Planechase cards that numbers at least twice the number of players is shuffled and set to one side. When the first player enters the race, the top card of the Planechase pile is flipped over. This is the location of the first 'leg' of the race. Every player in the race who has a score of 0-10 is in that leg of the race, and when the first player to reach 11 or more points, they flip over the next card in the Planechase pile. Previous planes are not removed, as players may still be on that leg of the race. This process continues for each 10 points of the race (or some other method agreed upon by the players) until the race ends with a winner.

Players whose points put them in a Plane are considered to be on that Plane, and not any others.

The Planar die may be rolled as per Planechase rules, but any result of the [Planeswalk] symbol is treated as a Chaos result.

This was the outline of the format. The idea being that you are racing to earn points/advance along the race course, and you can attack or be attacked to reduce your power in the race. Being able to protect your Rider and Ride is the name of the game, and getting them across the finish line is the end state.

I considered adding more details to the format, but I realized that every line written was another potential exploit to be made. Putting the maximum of 9 points per turn was a balance factor, and ensuring that the actual scoring only happens at the end of the last players turn helps to alleviate the problem of the first player having an advantage, especially in multiplayer formats.

And so, with all that in mind, I present to you a couple decks to try out!

Lagorim and Miriam, Untouchable Racers

Custom berryjon

13 VIEWS

Henrika and her Baloon

Custom berryjon

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Mu Yanling Cruises to Victory

Custom berryjon

11 VIEWS

Varying degrees of viability, but they show how different decks can take the idea of just a Rider and a Ride and push themselves to the limit.

So, what do you all think?

Thanks for reading! I'll see you all next week!

Until then, please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job (now), but more income is always better, and I can use it to buy cards! I still have plans to do a audio Pattern Recognition at some point, or perhaps a Twitch stream. And you can bribe your way to the front of the line to have your questions, comments and observations answered!