The deck's gameplan is pretty simple. You crew up vehicles and beat face. The funny part about the deck is that sometimes there are not enough creatures to crew vehicles. The trick is to use Sydri to animate cards like Howling Mine and Blinkmoth Urn.
To make sure this deck keeps on trucking while others are stuck on traffic I also run Winter Orb and friends.
If your goal is to focus around vehicles, any reason you wouldn't want to run depala, pilot exemplar? Using sydri to crew vehicles seems like using a flamethrower to light your cigarette. If you're playing random tables, there's a good chance sydri will paint a target on your head, and I'm not sure the synergy with "only work when untapped" artifacts is really worth it.
With Sydri you can crew with static orb. With depala you can't. You can also give deathtouch to vehicles with sydri. Which is a relevant ability.
Depala doesn't really bring anything relevant to the table. +1/+1 doesn't really do much when it's fairly hard to go wide with vehicles and card draw ability can be off set by just playing card draw blue offers.
I also don't know how playing sydri paints a target to my head. I get targeted regardless what I play.
With Sydri you can crew with static orb. With depala you can't. You can also give deathtouch to vehicles with sydri. Which is a relevant ability.
Depala doesn't really bring anything relevant to the table. +1/+1 doesn't really do much when it's fairly hard to go wide with vehicles and card draw ability can be off set by just playing card draw blue offers.
I also don't know how playing sydri paints a target to my head. I get targeted regardless what I play.
That may be true, but I don't actually see much draw in here, and some of what you've got is pretty subpar. Depala isn't the most efficient but she's reliable and she gives you a good reason to actually run vehicles.
To my eye it looks like you've got a lot of cards that make it difficult to play the game but not impossible. Static orbing the table seems like it'll be annoying but in a turn or two someone will have untapped enough mana to play something that kills it and you don't have a lot of ways to stop that, compared to something like derevi that can actually re-tap lands. You don't have very many pieces that really "break" the combo with vehicles, and you don't have any tutors to find them so I suspect anyone who can remove the couple of stax pieces that you draw in a given game will basically shut your plan down. The only card I see that really seems like it actually wins you the game is soulscour tbh. More than anything, it seems like you've got way more vehicles than seems necessary for your combo, which equals a lot of wasted cards.
Basically, this seems like a pretty underpowered stax deck that will annoy people but not actually do anything significant (unless you cast soulscour successfully). Sydri is a commander that can do pretty broken things and is kind of wasted here - if you're already going stax, seems like you may as well run mycosynth lattice. Not that I think lattice combo is actually fun, but you're already playing a bunch of "unfun" cards, so I don't see why you'd shy away. In short, it feels like you're playing competitive cards that a lot of people hate for an end result that isn't actually very powerful - the worst of both worlds.
Depala at least justifies running a ton of vehicles, so if you want an excuse to run vehicles then she happily provides, since she actually requires a density of them to be functional. Certainly you could make a better sydri vehicles deck than a Depala one, mostly because Depala is Boros where Sydri is esper. But you could also make a way, way better Sydri deck that didn't involve vehicles. Depala is a lighter, not a flamethrower - she's not as powerful as a flamethrower, sure, but at least she's built for the job.
But hey, if your only goal is that you think it's funny to crew aradara express with a static orb, then I suppose everyone's fun is different and carry on.
Updated the list in op (tappedout link is outdated).
Now that I have played few games with the deck here are my thoughts.
The deck kinda works. I get to crew vehicles and punch face but I've faced some insane hate (cursed totem + damping matrix) and epic mana screw (I had crack inventor's fair just to get a signet). If I manage to get vehicle + stax effect + sydri online I'm extremely well positioned to win even after 10 turns not being able to cast sydri.
I intend to improve the mana base because sydri is pretty color greedy and the deck needs sydri to operate. I'm interested to try out key to the city, I can get the untap trigger without using the ability and unblockability seem relevant. Cranial Plating could be interesting. The floor might be something like equip it to sydri and crew aradara express and then equip it to aradara and puch for 10 dmg with lifelink and deathtouch. Praetor's Grasp could be a potential answer to stuff like damping matrix, either exile it before it enter the battlefield or tutor up removal for it.
So Ixalan releases this Friday and to my surprise there are new vehicles which means this deck has the potential to improve and not just wait for Return to Kaladesh.
Galleon is clearly the best and I will most likely replace Skyship Weatherlight once I acquire a copy. Skyship is just really expensive and Galleon can recur any card.
Dreadnought is pretty bad stats and cmc wise but the crew cost is decent and vigilance is not bad. Still I think the card is overshadowed. The biggest thing I'm annoyed is the massive flavor fail.
Fell Flagship is pretty interesting. The stats and crew cost are fairly bad but it has lower cmc than Irontread Crusher and a relevant ability (the discard one). I'll try out Flagship over Crusher and if I don't like it I'll try Sleek Schooner. Stats vs Ability vs Crew Cost. I wonder which one wins.
Shadowed Caravel is just bad. For 2 mana you get a bear. No thanks.
Sleek Schooner has crew cost of 1.
What do you guys think of the new vehicles? Are there any other cards I should look into from Ixalan? I'm also thinking of including Cranial Plating and Lodestone Golem but I'm not really sure what to cut or even if plating and golem are good enough to play.
1x Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Transportation (18)
1x Heart of Kiran
1x Sky Skiff
1x Smuggler's Copter
1x Aethersphere Harvester
1x Cultivator's Caravan
1x Daredevil Dragster
1x Fell Flagship
1x Mobile Garrison
1x Peacewalker Colossus
1x Renegade Freighter
1x Bomat Bazaar Barge
1x Fleetwheel Cruiser
1x Ovalchase Dragster
1x Untethered Express
1x Aradara Express
1x Ballista Charger
1x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
1x Demolition Stomper
Mana Rocks (13)
1x Sol Ring
1x Azorius Signet
1x Dimir Signet
1x Mind Stone
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Azorius Cluestone
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Dimir Cluestone
1x Orzhov Cluestone
1x Hedron Archive
1x Dreamstone Hedron
1x Howling Mine
1x Key to the City
1x Liquimetal Coating
1x Metalspinner's puzzleknot
1x Prophetic Prism
1x Winter Orb
1x Caltrops
1x Static Orb
1x Storage Matrix
1x Portcullis
1x Skyship Weatherlight
1x Blinkmoth Urn
1x Ward of Bones
Instants (7)
1x Negate
1x Countersquall
1x Artificer's Epiphany
1x Dismantling Blow
1x Metallic Rebuke
1x Thirst for Knowledge
1x Traumatic Visions
Sorceries (5)
1x Hidden Strings
1x Praetor's Grasp
1x Thoughtcast
1x Open the Vaults
1x Stolen Identity
Creature (10)
1x Merchant's Dockhand
1x Disciple of Deceit
1x Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
1x Gearshift Ace
1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
1x Trophy Mage
1x Aeronaut Admiral
1x King Macar, the Gold-Cursed
1x Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1x Arbiter of the Ideal
1x Era of Innovation
Land (32)
1x Arcane Sanctum
1x Command Tower
1x Spire of Industry
1x Opal Palace
1x Dromar's Cavern
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Orzhov Basilica
1x Dismal Backwater
1x Scoured Barrens
1x Tranquil Cove
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Temple of Silence
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Buried Ruin
1x Blinkmoth Well
1x Inventors' Fair
1x Ancient Den
1x Seat of the Synod
1x Vault of Whispers
7x Island
4x Plains
2x Swamp
The deck's gameplan is pretty simple. You crew up vehicles and beat face. The funny part about the deck is that sometimes there are not enough creatures to crew vehicles. The trick is to use Sydri to animate cards like Howling Mine and Blinkmoth Urn.
To make sure this deck keeps on trucking while others are stuck on traffic I also run Winter Orb and friends.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Depala doesn't really bring anything relevant to the table. +1/+1 doesn't really do much when it's fairly hard to go wide with vehicles and card draw ability can be off set by just playing card draw blue offers.
I also don't know how playing sydri paints a target to my head. I get targeted regardless what I play.
To my eye it looks like you've got a lot of cards that make it difficult to play the game but not impossible. Static orbing the table seems like it'll be annoying but in a turn or two someone will have untapped enough mana to play something that kills it and you don't have a lot of ways to stop that, compared to something like derevi that can actually re-tap lands. You don't have very many pieces that really "break" the combo with vehicles, and you don't have any tutors to find them so I suspect anyone who can remove the couple of stax pieces that you draw in a given game will basically shut your plan down. The only card I see that really seems like it actually wins you the game is soulscour tbh. More than anything, it seems like you've got way more vehicles than seems necessary for your combo, which equals a lot of wasted cards.
Basically, this seems like a pretty underpowered stax deck that will annoy people but not actually do anything significant (unless you cast soulscour successfully). Sydri is a commander that can do pretty broken things and is kind of wasted here - if you're already going stax, seems like you may as well run mycosynth lattice. Not that I think lattice combo is actually fun, but you're already playing a bunch of "unfun" cards, so I don't see why you'd shy away. In short, it feels like you're playing competitive cards that a lot of people hate for an end result that isn't actually very powerful - the worst of both worlds.
Depala at least justifies running a ton of vehicles, so if you want an excuse to run vehicles then she happily provides, since she actually requires a density of them to be functional. Certainly you could make a better sydri vehicles deck than a Depala one, mostly because Depala is Boros where Sydri is esper. But you could also make a way, way better Sydri deck that didn't involve vehicles. Depala is a lighter, not a flamethrower - she's not as powerful as a flamethrower, sure, but at least she's built for the job.
But hey, if your only goal is that you think it's funny to crew aradara express with a static orb, then I suppose everyone's fun is different and carry on.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Now that I have played few games with the deck here are my thoughts.
The deck kinda works. I get to crew vehicles and punch face but I've faced some insane hate (cursed totem + damping matrix) and epic mana screw (I had crack inventor's fair just to get a signet). If I manage to get vehicle + stax effect + sydri online I'm extremely well positioned to win even after 10 turns not being able to cast sydri.
I intend to improve the mana base because sydri is pretty color greedy and the deck needs sydri to operate. I'm interested to try out key to the city, I can get the untap trigger without using the ability and unblockability seem relevant. Cranial Plating could be interesting. The floor might be something like equip it to sydri and crew aradara express and then equip it to aradara and puch for 10 dmg with lifelink and deathtouch. Praetor's Grasp could be a potential answer to stuff like damping matrix, either exile it before it enter the battlefield or tutor up removal for it.
That said new vehicles are kinda terrible.
Galleon is clearly the best and I will most likely replace Skyship Weatherlight once I acquire a copy. Skyship is just really expensive and Galleon can recur any card.
Dreadnought is pretty bad stats and cmc wise but the crew cost is decent and vigilance is not bad. Still I think the card is overshadowed. The biggest thing I'm annoyed is the massive flavor fail.
Fell Flagship is pretty interesting. The stats and crew cost are fairly bad but it has lower cmc than Irontread Crusher and a relevant ability (the discard one). I'll try out Flagship over Crusher and if I don't like it I'll try Sleek Schooner. Stats vs Ability vs Crew Cost. I wonder which one wins.
Shadowed Caravel is just bad. For 2 mana you get a bear. No thanks.
Sleek Schooner has crew cost of 1.
What do you guys think of the new vehicles? Are there any other cards I should look into from Ixalan? I'm also thinking of including Cranial Plating and Lodestone Golem but I'm not really sure what to cut or even if plating and golem are good enough to play.