When Spacecraft were first previewed during Edge of Eternities spoiler season, it was hard to tell just how impactful they’d become. Many of them have high Station costs or abilities that don’t seem the best suited for competitive play.
Yet, fast forward to today, and it’s clear that there are some powerful cards in the bunch. From Standard to Modern all the way to Duel Commander, this card type has helped revolutionize a variety of different archetypes. Let’s start by refreshing ourselves on two Spacecraft we’ve recently discussed.
Sledge-Class Seedship and The Seriema
Kicking things off, we have two Spacecraft that each help in decks that are looking to cheat huge haymakers into play. Sledge-Class Seedship is an interesting option that’s a bit surprising to see in any competitive environment. After all, a three-mana Spacecraft with no enters the battlefield trigger that requires a Station cost of 7 to get anything going sounds a bit rough.
However, the reward of getting a 4/5 flier that puts in big fatties from your hand to play out of the deal is cool. In a deck like Gruul Dinosaurs which features big, efficient creatures to help charge Sledge-Class Seedship up, you’ll be attacking with your Spacecraft and cheating in Vaultborn Tyrant in no time. Tapping Pugnacious Hammerskull a single time nearly charges up your Spacecraft entirely.
Meanwhile, The Seriema helps you accomplish a similar goal in Selesnya Kona shells. Alongside Kona, Rescue Beastie, The Seriema serves as a way for you to reliably tap Kona and trigger Survival. From there, whether you’re putting in Valgavoth, Terror Eater or Ureni, the Song Unending, you’re in good shape.
Notably, all of these creatures listed are legends. So, The Seriema lets you tutor any of them up when it enters, making your gameplan significantly more consistent. If you can get seven charge counters on The Seriema, the reward is pretty good, too. A 5/5 flier is no joke, and your opponents won’t be able to use sorcery speed removal on your legends, assuming you tapped them.
Synthesizer Labship
Next, we have a spicy addition to Modern Affinity that not many players have been talking about. While Pinnacle Emissary is getting all the spotlight, Syntheszier Labship is also appearing in a handful of decklists.
As a super cheap artifact, it naturally synergizes with Mox Opal, Thoughtcast, and beyond. It’s easy to Station to unlock the first ability, since all you need to do is tap Pinnacle Emissary one time. You’ll then get to turn one of your artifacts into a 2/2 flier every turn.
This isn’t the most overwhelmingly strong ability, but it provides a reliable source of damage output on a cheap artifact, which is all you could really ask for. Then later, if you resolve Kappa Cannoneer or create a huge Construct with Urza’s Saga, you can immediately charge up Synthesizer Labship and get a 4/4 evasive threat for your efforts. It’s hard to go wrong with that!
Lumen-Class Frigate
Lumen-Class Frigate is yet another very cheap Spacecraft whose value primarily rests with its first charge tier. All you have to do to unlock a Glorious Anthem for your squad is get two charge counters on this, which is trivial.
This alone is already pretty good for a deck like the Azorius aggro shells shown above that plays a bunch of small creatures. Once you factor in the artifact subtheme, though, Lumen-Class Frigate really starts to pull its weight.
It synergizes with Warden of the Inner Sky. You can enchant it with Zoetich Glyph. It triggers Haliya, Guided by Light when you play it. All the little things add up, making Lumen-Class Frigate a worthy inclusion.
Extinguisher Battleship
Moving back to Modern, we have a potent addition to mono-green Tron sideboards with Extinguisher Battleship. Extinguisher Battleship’s biggest drawback is its mana cost. Fortunately, thanks to the “Tron” lands and other ramp elements like Sowing Mycospawn, you’ll typically have a lot of mana to work with.
The reason Extinguisher Battleship is a common one-of in Tron sideboards is that once you have your mana set up, Karn, the Great Creator can tutor it up at will. The fact that this Spacecraft doubles as a board wipe and a way to blow up problematic noncreature permanents makes it very appealing.
For example, against Boros Energy, you can often blow up all opposing creatures alongside Goblin Bombardment or Arena of Glory that could otherwise leave your life total in jeopardy. Even if you don’t have other creatures to Station Extinguisher Battleship after, Karn’s +1 ability makes the huge artifact a real threat, regardless. It’s great to have searchable options with Karn that provide a unique effect.
Exploration Broodship
Last but not least, we wanted to highlight a card from the Edge of Eternities Precons. Exploration Broodship is a strong addition that has been seeing play in Duel Commander since its printing. Its most notable archetype is one centered around Emmara, Soul of the Accord.
As a one-mana Spacecraft, this card already acts as the perfect turn one play to set up Emmara turn two. This is because you can immediately tap Emmara to charge this up, and you’ll get your Soldier token with Lifelink as a result. If your opponent can’t kill Emmara, things can spiral out of control pretty quickly, especially since you’ll soon start playing extra lands during each of your turns.
Most of the card’s upside comes from its efficiency and synergy with Emmara. Regardless, you will Station this fully from time to time, and the payoff is outrageous. A 4/4 flier is great. You’ll also be able to convert excess lands into spells from your graveyard, pulling you ahead on board over time.
It’s exciting to see a new card type have immediate success across multiple formats. Spacecraft are neat designs for the most part, so it’ll be cool to see if any new ones make their way to our beloved game in the near future.
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