Turning Vehicles Into Different Vehicles After Crewing
Recently a discussion happened at one of our tables where a player of a vehicle deck proceeded to crew all his vehicles and then cast Mirrorweave with the intention of turning all creatures into a copy of his biggest vehicle. This turns all creatures into artifact copies of the vehicle chosen, they just aren't artifact creatures yet. The player then reasoned that because he had all of his vehicles crewed already that they were still crewed and thus could swing for lethal. I feel this is wrong because cards do not get a crewed status, the crew ability just turns a vehicle into an artifact creature. Thus in my opinion only the vehicle that was chosen to be copied is still an artifact creature, while all others get temporarily overridden by the effect of Mirrorweave. Can anyone elaborate on this?
Accepted Answer
This seems fine and is so because of the way layers work.
So, let's say they have a Smuggler's Copter, Esika's Chariot, and Aradara Express.
They crew all of them. Crewing, as you pointed out, turns the object into an Artifact creature. That is it. It doesn't do anything else as the rest of the creature specific stats are printed on the card, So, they now have an effect on all of them applying in Layer 4 turning them into Artifact Creatures.
Mirrorweave is cast and turns all of them into Aradara Express for their base stats. This, alone, doesn't affect the creature status one way or the other. It applies in Layer 1 but does not override any other effects that may be applying to the other permanents. So, now their base is all Aradara Express. And they still have their effects turning them into Artifact creatures so they can attack as normal.
So, basically, your friend was right. Mirrorweave, and any other copy effect, only applies in Layer 1. It will only affect the base stats but won't change or remove any other effects already acting on the permanents.
You are correct that Mirrorweave doesn't crew them just because the "source" is crewed. That is, if they had not crewed everything, they would all be uncrewed Vehicles. Which is what would happen to all creatures they had that were not Vehicles, if they had any. The only reason they are still creatures is because your friend crewed them already. Just as Mirrorweave doesn't crew them, it also doesn't uncrew them. Once crewed, they remain crewed for the rest of turn even if they change stats.
Go to full postSo, let's say they have a Smuggler's Copter, Esika's Chariot, and Aradara Express.
They crew all of them. Crewing, as you pointed out, turns the object into an Artifact creature. That is it. It doesn't do anything else as the rest of the creature specific stats are printed on the card, So, they now have an effect on all of them applying in Layer 4 turning them into Artifact Creatures.
Mirrorweave is cast and turns all of them into Aradara Express for their base stats. This, alone, doesn't affect the creature status one way or the other. It applies in Layer 1 but does not override any other effects that may be applying to the other permanents. So, now their base is all Aradara Express. And they still have their effects turning them into Artifact creatures so they can attack as normal.
So, basically, your friend was right. Mirrorweave, and any other copy effect, only applies in Layer 1. It will only affect the base stats but won't change or remove any other effects already acting on the permanents.
You are correct that Mirrorweave doesn't crew them just because the "source" is crewed. That is, if they had not crewed everything, they would all be uncrewed Vehicles. Which is what would happen to all creatures they had that were not Vehicles, if they had any. The only reason they are still creatures is because your friend crewed them already. Just as Mirrorweave doesn't crew them, it also doesn't uncrew them. Once crewed, they remain crewed for the rest of turn even if they change stats.
This seems fine and is so because of the way layers work.
So, let's say they have a Smuggler's Copter, Esika's Chariot, and Aradara Express.
They crew all of them. Crewing, as you pointed out, turns the object into an Artifact creature. That is it. It doesn't do anything else as the rest of the creature specific stats are printed on the card, So, they now have an effect on all of them applying in Layer 4 turning them into Artifact Creatures.
Mirrorweave is cast and turns all of them into Aradara Express for their base stats. This, alone, doesn't affect the creature status one way or the other. It applies in Layer 1 but does not override any other effects that may be applying to the other permanents. So, now their base is all Aradara Express. And they still have their effects turning them into Artifact creatures so they can attack as normal.
So, basically, your friend was right. Mirrorweave, and any other copy effect, only applies in Layer 1. It will only affect the base stats but won't change or remove any other effects already acting on the permanents.
You are correct that Mirrorweave doesn't crew them just because the "source" is crewed. That is, if they had not crewed everything, they would all be uncrewed Vehicles. Which is what would happen to all creatures they had that were not Vehicles, if they had any. The only reason they are still creatures is because your friend crewed them already. Just as Mirrorweave doesn't crew them, it also doesn't uncrew them. Once crewed, they remain crewed for the rest of turn even if they change stats.
So, let's say they have a Smuggler's Copter, Esika's Chariot, and Aradara Express.
They crew all of them. Crewing, as you pointed out, turns the object into an Artifact creature. That is it. It doesn't do anything else as the rest of the creature specific stats are printed on the card, So, they now have an effect on all of them applying in Layer 4 turning them into Artifact Creatures.
Mirrorweave is cast and turns all of them into Aradara Express for their base stats. This, alone, doesn't affect the creature status one way or the other. It applies in Layer 1 but does not override any other effects that may be applying to the other permanents. So, now their base is all Aradara Express. And they still have their effects turning them into Artifact creatures so they can attack as normal.
So, basically, your friend was right. Mirrorweave, and any other copy effect, only applies in Layer 1. It will only affect the base stats but won't change or remove any other effects already acting on the permanents.
You are correct that Mirrorweave doesn't crew them just because the "source" is crewed. That is, if they had not crewed everything, they would all be uncrewed Vehicles. Which is what would happen to all creatures they had that were not Vehicles, if they had any. The only reason they are still creatures is because your friend crewed them already. Just as Mirrorweave doesn't crew them, it also doesn't uncrew them. Once crewed, they remain crewed for the rest of turn even if they change stats.
