Building Kolodin, Triump Caster for 100 Dollars

Posted on February 5, 2025

I remember when Vehicles made a splash in Standard, back in 2016. Back then, Boros () Vehicles were so much fun I built a Depala, Pilot Exemplar deck. It was arguably one of the top W/R commanders in the set. Now that we're going back to the plane in Aetherdrift, us motorists got a few more toys to play with. I'm, of course, talking about Kolodin, Triumph Caster.

Vehicular Manslaughter on a Budget

Kolodin, Triumph Caster and Depala, Pilot Exemplar overlap a lot, although Kolodin is a little better in my eyes because of his casting cost. Despite Mounts being such a big thing in the last sets, I decided to build this as a Vehicles deck because of two reasons:

We got some new toys to use in Aetherdrift in the form of Alacrian Armory (a sleeper card and one of my favorites), and Interface Ace (crew TWO things instead of one!)

Vehicles are much more powerful than they look, dodging sorcery-speed removal most of the time.

The Commander

Kolodin, Triumph Caster's power as a Vehicle commander lies in making those Vehicles swing on the turn they come in. That means that Parhelion II pops out two Angels on the same turn that it hits the field!

What's more, this particular build goes deep on the card advantage engine, being able to go toe-to-toe with other more grindy decks for a long game. It addresses one of Boros's big weaknesses, which is rebuilding a board after a sweeper, or keeping your threats when they're on board. Every Vehicle you draw becomes an immediate threat with Kolodin out.

Unlike a commander like Shorikai, Genesis Engine, you don't even need to crew these hulks. Sure, it's nice in a pinch to have creatures that can jump in these vehicles, but we're going the route of self-driving cars since we're all about the future here.

Keeping To Our Budget

While there are a lot of great cards out there, I wanted to keep the budget for this Kolodin deck somewhat manageable. Along with the cards yet to drop at their pre-release prices, this deck comes in at around $100. It's cheaper than a real vehicle, AND you get to run your friends over. If this sounds like your kind of raceway, let me introduce you to the deck.

Card Choices and Strategy

This deck aims to ramp in the earlies, then explode with massive swings later on, using creatures and artifacts to support the gameplan. A few cards allow your otherwise "dead" Vehicles to crew themselves and become artifact creatures in addition to Kolodin's ability. This also gives you a bit of resilience when facing opponents. The deck runs a suite of sweepers, using them offensively before you turn your creatures on. This deck wants to put your pedal to the metal and never let up until your opponents are just skid marks in your wake.

The deck breakdown by type looks a little like this:

10 ramp spells

13 draw/reanimation spells

7 sweepers

15 Vehicles

5 direct burn spells

With this deck, you want to be swinging in early and often. Constant pressure combined with a few burn spells to close out the game and control the board makes it a decently powerful build.

Ramp

Cultivator's Caravan is both a Vehicle and a ramp piece, getting you to your payoffs that much sooner. Kor Cartographer gets you a Plains and allows you to crew something in the future. Conqueror's Galleon comes in as a Vehicle, but transforms into a utility that also doubles as a reanimator in a pinch.

Card Advantage

Sanwell, Avenger Ace and Depala, Pilot Exemplar both give options for getting cards into your hand when they tap. The Weatherlight gets you historic cards to hand, which includes artifacts and legendary creatures. Our one saga, Showdown of the Skalds gives us an impulse draw we can use up to one turn in the future.

Sweepers

Urza's Ruinous Blast is easy to turn on, as many of our creatures are legendary. Explosive Getaway is a great option for blinking an artifact to get its ETB triggers again. It also doubles as removal dealing four damage across the board. Slaughter the Strong works best when we're at one or two creatures. Since our Vehicles aren't creatures when we cast it we can still keep a scary board while removing our opponents' threats.

Vehicles

Parhelion II is an auto-include in any Vehicle deck because of how much power it puts out on the board from a single attack. Kolodin makes sure it swings the turn it comes in. Peacewalker Colossus turns all of our Vehicles into auto-crewing artifacts. Skysovereign, Consul Flagship is a repeatable bolt on attack, making it annoying for the opponent.

Direct Burn Spells

Alibou, Ancient Witness is amazing in this build since it doesn't need to attack to get its ability; it scries, and it also deals damage based on the number of tapped artifacts you have. Surgehacker Mech deals damage equal to double the number of Vehicles you control when it enters to a creature or planeswalker, making it double up as creature removal on play. Throne of the God-Pharaoh makes opponents lose life equal to your tapped creatures at your end step. You could potentially burn out opponents just using that ability.

Potential Upgrades

This budget build is pretty good, but it's open to tweaking based on how your pod plays. If you want to upgrade, here are a few options to consider:

Valor's Flagship: A new release from Aetherdrift that will fit into this shell without a problem. It'll give you more creatures to crew your Vehicles with. Salvation Engine is expensive, but worth it. With Kolodin, this is a 6/10 that immediately brings back one of your artifacts to the field. Thunderhawk Gunship is a less impressive version of the Parhelion II, but it still makes a pair of 2/2s to crew other stuff with so it may be worth it in this shell.

And that's the list! I hope you enjoy running your friends over with this build of Kolodin, Triumph Caster. And remember, you can't have vehicular manslaughter without laughter!