#smuggler's copter

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Smuggler's Copter

Artist: Florian de Gesincourt TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[blue-jacket]

One of my favorite moments was crewing a Smuggler's Copter with a Calcite Snapper when vehicles first came out. Just the idea of a mage putting a turtle in a helicopter tickles me.

[markrosewater]

Mark, I love the execution of Battles. They are an elegant and compelling new card type, mechanically speaking. My only complaint is that you (R&D) played too cautiously with them. I appreciate the desire to avoid a new Smuggler's Copter event, but it's just sad that the first entirely new card type in what, a decade, seems to be mostly a Limited-only thing.

If people like them and we decide they can be higher in power level, we can do that.

[inventors-fair]

Three in the Bush: Idiom Winners ~

Congratulations to @helloijustreadyourpost, @reaperfromtheabyss and @yourrightfulking for winning this week's contest!

@helloijustreadyourpost — Goblin Engineering Corps

Let's get my one-and-a-half nitpicks out of the way first: the first ability is missing "to cast" at the end of the sentence; and also, this is envisioning a world where echo is presumably coming back to standard, so keep your fingers crossed, I guess. Neither of these takes away from the fact that this card is one of the best examples of how to use idioms cleverly. I absolutely love the "check this out" hubris on display, emblematic of MTG's traditional goblin mood and at the same time not entirely demeaning—because the card's also pretty great! The more I look at it, the more I feel that it should be a rare in the intended shell, so maybe up this to two-and-a-half nitpicks, but who's counting?

Not these goblins, because they don't have time to count when they could be building things. I don't think I can quantify just how much I'm enjoying this card; instead of attempting to analyze the humor, I'm literally sitting here chuckling to myself. So let's break away and talk about the gameplay, and also talk about playing this and getting a zero-cost hasty Smuggler's Copter. Hoo boy, can you imagine something like Pioneer Eggs with this? The design is somewhat reminiscent of Heartless Summoning, actually, with a slightly different bend. The difference is actually more powerful in some ways, because you can pay the echo cost of one two-drop having drawn into another free one. Let's be real, this is for sure a rare, but it's got the drawback and upside balance that's pushed without being brokenly so. I think out of all the cards this contest, this is my favorite use of an idiom in itself.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Streamside Picknicker

Well, it's cute. Very cute. Pleasantly cute! I think that the flavor text is groanworthy but it can't be groaned without a grin there. It's resembling some of the Bloomburrow shenaniganery, and the enters trigger is certainly a curious case of whether or not it'll fit the archetype well. Sometimes they'll say that it's in one, and it turns out to be not viable, yadda yadda, but here, well, I like the fact that the mechanics tell a story. The frog comes to a stream for a picnic, and, seeing the stream is nice, feels invigorated by its tranquility. And if it's not quite the best vista, it notifies a companion that they should keep moving on. Isn't that just dandy?

Moreover, the mechanics are curious in the best way. Utility lands can perhaps make the untap ability relevant in the late game, but there's always the chance you just want to untap one of your creatures as a blocker post-combat. If you have a more aggressive start, then you untap a land and play another one-drop on turn 2, and you're in business for sure, assuming you don't already have an on-curve play. There are more complex options hidden in this card for limited, and as a common I believe there would be a nice niche for it. Whimsy isn't going to move any mountains, but perhaps it'll untap an Island or a fellow frog. And that's just plain pleasant to me.

@yourrightfulking — Nothing Personal

I'm teleporting behind you as we speak to say: I really frickin' like this card. You can stab your opponents, backstab yourself, and when you're done doing those things you're better off either way! I'm a huge fan of this mechanical versatility. Removal is great, but you can turn a weak blocker into two kickass blockers, or if you're getting ahead you can make your attacks even better and spread out the board. It's a nasty little rare that I would love to play in limited; it's almost reminiscent of that little Dimir cantrippy thing from MKM, the terrible bulk rare that was actually awesome if you got the morbid trigger thingy.

And you really made this flavor text work, in my opinion. It turns the original bird quote from "current resources are just as valuable as potential futures" into "betrayal is as betrayal does," in a sense. That just sends tingles down my easily penetratable spinal column! It's like the very concept of assassination is both speaking the card's name to your opponent and/or your own creatures, and the flavor text is inviting you regardless to look at the life you've chosen and say "Yes, yes absolutely it is worth it. Now lemme swing in." You go, you funky little mercenary. Godspeed, shadows willing.

Running are just around the bend. @abelzumi

[niuttuc]

I’m gonna be real honest, I have an ongoing list of fanwalkers that needs to probably be updated at some point (trying for one of each color combo) and I want to make a cohesive narrative for them all, but until I do so, here’s one of my favorites:

Jakas Elyre is a Jeskai-colored Viashino from Ravnica that specializes in Vehicle magic. He is a faithful member of the Izzet League, and sparked when an experiment went wrong (as is off to happen) and sent him to Kaladesh. There, he met up with the Renegades, where he helped out, specifically designing vehicles for use of both smuggling and general revolt use. There’s even a “rumor” that he drove a modified Ovalchase Dragster with explosives on the front into a Consulate Bastion that keeps being passed around. Since then, he’s continued to generally research and develop vehicles in various garages and labs of his on Ravnica, Kaladesh, Kamigawa, and more. Recently his old pal and fellow Renegade Tarabai paid him a visit for some serious matter, but it’s probably fine.

I even made a signature spellbook for him, consisting of his own card (Jakas, Pilot Adept) as well as Silent Submersible, Smuggler's Copter, Daredevil Dragster, Mizzium Tank, Ensoul Artifact, Aerial Modification, and Start Your Engines

Labs and garages plural? Damn, what’s the secret to his fortune? This is a serious question btw, how has he earned money, does it involve exploiting his access to the Multiverse or something more mundane?

[horademagic]

Cóptero do Contrabandista/ Smuggler's Copter

Artefato - Veículo

Custo de mana: 2 incolores e/ou de qualquer cor

3/3 de poder e resistência 

Por que ela é interessante? Ele tem Tripular 1, você vai precisar virar qualquer número de criaturas que você controlar que o poder seja igual ou somado igual a 2, quando fizer isso, ele torna-se uma criatura e pode portanto defender e atacar como se fosse uma normalmente. Esse tem voar, então é vantagem sob oponentes sem voar ou alcance para se defender. Toda vez que ele atacar ou bloquear um ataque, você poderá escolher comprar uma carta, só que se escolher comprar, então precisa obrigatoriamente descartar uma carta da sua mão também. O legal é que só precisa usar esse veículo, não apenas para atacar, mas defender também.

Preço da carta: em torno de 38,00 até 75,00 

Disponível em Português

Link: https://www.ligamagic.com.br/?view=cards/card&card=Smuggler%27s%20Copter&aux=C%C3%B3ptero%20do%20Contrabandista

 Até a próxima postagem, Ulli e Thiago

[mtg-polls-cube]

[cyanlastride]

im not very good at this. self-motivation, i mean.

yaknow what i did do today? i went on a walk.

there were some people at the mysterious house again. there's always people there, acting as though they live there, but theyre always new different people. i will never figure out whats up with that house.

there were people skipping rope. i think the last time i used a skipping rope was in grade 5.

went into the movie theatre. dune 2 is still showing daily. havent watched barbie or oppenheimer yet. perhaps i never will. no, i doubt that.

got food at the food court.

walked to walmart to check out their mtg stock, not that i would ever buy mtg product from walmart. not that i ever plan on buying mtg product again.

i was tempted, though. they had four thunder junction commander precons, and on the face of one was a sultai cowboy gonti. of course gonti is a cool sultai cowboy. i love it. does it make any sense? i was too awestruck to care. i did not give in to temptation. but i was close.

when i got home, i looked up the decklist. gonti was the only aetherborn in the deck. one of two aetherborn in the entire set, as there was a nameless aetherborn reprint in a different precon. what a shame. you confirm that aetherborn, or at the very least, gonti, can travel the omenpaths, but you do nothing with it. the most flavour i could find product-wise was written on the back of the box, that he is "representing ghiraphur" on thunder junction. oh well. i suppose i should count myself lucky that gonti still even exists.

you know, if that deck was cool i wouldve gone to my lgs tomorrow to pick it up. i would broken my vow to never buy mtg again until they fix standard, or replace it with something that isnt uber-casual whale-hunt-y like commander. because cowboy gonti sounded cool as fuck. rrrrrrrhhhhh.

why do no card games scratch the itch for me anymore? standard is dead, commander is either too casual or just plain unfun, fab is too strictly typed, hearthstone has been powercrept to hell, lorcana is too simple and also disney, battle spirits saga nobody played to begin with, this new star wars unlimited game has no product, the most engaging card game i currently play is marvel fucking snap!! god.

it was a lot simpler when everyone just played standard. sure, it had problems, but at least we played. i enjoyed playing. i lost as much as i won, and i had fun trying to win as much as i could with my limited resources. i put unclaimed territory in my non-tribal deck and memorized the creature types of all my creatures to know the optimal creature type to name is ever scenario. i wasnt supposed to win against the guys who had bought smugglers copters and hydriod krasis, but i still tried my best, and sometimes i came pretty close. sometimes, rarely, i did win.

the thing that impressed me most about inscryption was po3. thats when i realized that the guy who made inscryption was a real card gamer. i have sat across the table from po3 on friday nights more times than i can count. i lost most of the games i played against them early on... but slowly, i got better, and i spent less time worrying about them and more time locked in on the game, and nowadays i win two games out of three. i miss the early days though, when po3 was scary. when i spent 10 seconds wandering around the tables looking for my number, and another 20 seconds steeling my nerves to sit down and shake hands with the nerd across from me. i miss those times. they were terrifying. i messed up, a lot. i learned.

someday ill make my own card game. ill make it accessible, and encourage proxying. ill make it flavour-focused, and competitive. ill make it worthy of the community it will build.

i hope i make it soon. i cant spend all my time going on walks.

[dimestoretajic]

crewing looter scooter

[drmothmaam]

*pilots Smuggler's Copter with Emrakul the Promised End*

"Huh. I guess I just don't see why this combo was banned."

[betterthanabear]

Smuggler’s Copter

Ah, hey, it’s the looter scooter!  This card’s weird and a little outside our normal wheelhouse here, but it’s essentially a two-drop creature so let’s do some rating!  ... It’s better than a bear, guys.  It’s a 3/3 flier that loots for you and all it requires is you have a little buddy to drive it.  That’s a dang good boat

[metabretsmagicblog-blog]

Modern Local - December 12, 2017

Tonight's event went much better than last Tuesday. I ended the 3-round event with a 2-1 record, taking 2nd in overall standings. I made adjustments to my deck, including a stronger sideboard and two Smuggler's Copters in the mainboard. I took out two copies of Master of Waves for the Copters (2 copies remaining in mainboard).

Round 1 brought me up against UB Faeries. Their game plan is essentially to out-tempo their opponent with counterspells, flash creatures, and a wide board. The deck manages to do so quite effectively, but game one went in my favor because Aether Vial bypasses counterspells and two thirds of my Lords give my board Islandwalk. Smuggler's Copter provided a 3/3 flying blocker that fixed my hand. I out-valued my opponent to a swift victory.

Game two went a little longer. My opponent had a clutch Spell Snare and made me fight for the board. Bitterblossom cranking out bodies for a few turns, then using Mistbind Clique to remove it and tap all your opponent's lands is a frightening strategy. Nevertheless, the fight was won, and I moved into round 2 with an X-0 record.

Round two was played against GW Eldrazi Hate Bears. Thought-Knot seer on turn 2-3 is strong, and Ghost Quarter against my Mutavault is strong. I couldn't keep up with his large creatures (including two copies of Reality Smasher). This match was brutal and I lost 0-2.

Round 3 brought me against a strong RW Prison deck. Wrath effects, Chalice of the Void, and Engineered Explosives in the mainboard meant I shouldn't have won this match, but win I did in a spectacular fashion. In game one, I spent a few turns hitting his face with Merfolk. When I had him down to one, my opponent used Nahiri to summon Emrakul, the Aeons Torn from his deck and made Gideon Jura a creature to alpha strike me. I tapped my last Island with Emrakul's Annihilator trigger on the stack, and cast Vapor Snag on Gideon, causing my opponent to lose his last 1 life.

Game two: turn 5 Emrakul (with haste)

Game 3 determined my shot at prizes. I had to keep up the pressure with my merfolk if I wanted to win. The game was ultimately decided by a Mutavault and a Smuggler's Copter. A particularly important clutch play was casting Vapor Snag on my own Mutavault in response to a Lightning Helix, simultaneously saving me from Lando and preventing my worthy opponent from gaining 3 life. In the end, I was able to out-pressure his Planeswalkers and avoid his destruction enough to get the W.

My next event will hopefully be this Friday, December 15, 2017. I may also be shifting to UG soon, but I'll definitely keep testing with Copter. I adore that card, and it provides a good amount of value. Definitely worth two slots in the mainboard.

[cardboard-crack]

[inventors-fair]

Vroom for Improvement

Today I woke up feeling like going nowhere fast.

Vehicles were a type first introduced in the world of Kaladesh, and they've been deciduous ever since. They're an investment, but they've made quite an impact on the game, and we've seen them impact tournaments and steal hearts and minds—Smuggler's Copter comes to mind.

But, to be fair, Smuggler's Copter is a pretty standard vehicle... Ships and trains are one thing, but the "unicycle debate" has been argued in Maro's inbox for quite some time, and there are walkers, striders, farm equipment, and the Dermotaxi (which is my favorite vehicle visually) that have all made their own impacts. So this week...

Design a weird/unique/interesting vehicle.

What makes a unique vehicle? That's ultimately up to you, but we're looking at non-acorn versions of odd ways to get around. Mechanically, how is it crewed/animated? What about the in-world design means that it can't be crewed "normally" like a bike or car. What colors is it, and how would that impact who builds it, how it's built, how it can be crewed, what mechanics you can use to make it weird?

M.E.O.W.—

Mandatory: You must have a vehicle. No Transformers, please, and no DFCs this week. Just a single vehicle.

Encouraged: Find something that makes you smile. This is a week to get a tiny bit more "out there" than usual, provided your card has a good mechanical basis. You don't even have to get rare with it—what's a common and fun card to open, perhaps? Something where players would be happy to open it?

Optional: You don't need to fit conventional vehicle rules necessarily, not as long as the card type is Vehicle. If it works, it works, and don't feel you have to be based on a pun or a traditional vehicular way of getting around.

Warning: You can't just call an animal a vehicle. Maybe do some thought experiments. You're still designing for a standard-legal draftable set.

There may be some examples through the week, but this week we have some other announcements. Until then, be well, be good, and rev your engines!

[magicjudge]

Vehicles + Enchanted Evening If I crew my smugglers copter, will it still be an enchantment? Or will it it's cardtypes be overwritten to "artefakt creature" and nothing else?

Yes, it will be an Artifact Enchantment Creature - Vehicle.

Normally, effects that set a permanent’s types (or subtypes) without stating that it’s in addition to other types or subtypes will overwrite all those other types or subtypes.

However, “becomes an artifact creature” is an exception to this rule. When something “becomes an artifact creature” due a spell or ability resolving, it automatically retains all its other types and subtypes in addition to being an artifact and a creature. 

Why though? Because the first cards that turned things into artifact creatures worked this way or specifically called out when they didn’t. (See Ashnod’s Transmogrant, Xenic Poltergeist, and Titania’s Song.)

[stoketheflavor]

“Loot and scoot. Disappear for a few weeks. Loot and scoot again. Just don’t let ‘em catch ya.” - High Market Dealer

Writing flavor text for Magic cards that don’t have them.

Follow for daily updates and/or drop a card request in my ask for me to write flavor text for.