Highlights
- Stunt Double is a better version of Clone with flash, allowing for reactive copying of creatures and versatile gameplay options.
- Callidus Assassin is a powerful clone with a game-changing flash ability, making it a top choice among shapeshifters.
- Spark Double is a clone that can copy legends without repercussions, enabling infinite combos and offering versatility in Commander decks.
You're probably aware of Dolly the sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal, but did you know Magic: The Gathering beat Dolly to the chase? Clones have existed since the printing of the titular creature in Alpha. The 'clone' nickname has since been used to describe all sorts of dopplegangers, imposters and face-snatching entities across the Multiverse.
Clones take many forms, pun fully intended, but the traditional use of the name refers to shapeshifting permanents that either enter the battlefield as copies or copy something else at a later time. They're a mainstay of most set releases, mostly relagated to blue's portion of the color pie, and usually riffing off the classic 4-mana 0/0 baseline with some set-specific upside.
10 Stunt Double
Clone, but with flash! That single word makes Stunt Double a strictly better Clone, and adds a significant amount of depth to the card. Clones are usually great by virtue of matching the best creature on board, and while Stunt Double doesn't let you copy anything that Clone wouldn't already, it does allow you to use your copy creature reactively.
Stunt Double can do anything from ambush attackers in combat to copying a legendary creature that's about to die anyway. The only question left is which actor it's doubling for.
9 Callidus Assassin
Callidus Assassin is a name-changer, and flash is a game-changer. It plays out like an Evil Twin that gives you all the best parts of the card all at once. No waiting around for a tap ability, Callidus Assassin assumes something's identity and then it's off with its head.
Six mana's reaching for a clone creature, but a clean 2-for-1 at instant speed puts this among the best the Shapeshifters have to offer. Don't be turned off by the 3/3 stat-line, that's only there in the off-chance there's nothing to copy.
8 Spark Double
Spark Double was one of the first clones that could copy legends without repercussions. Clever Impersonator had similar functionality, but was best left to copying your opponents' permanents thanks to the Legend Rule. Spark Double was more deliberately pointed towards Commander, hence the positive legendary text.
This clone is also one of many infinite combo enablers with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, and loops with other flicker effects like Aminatou, the Fateshifter and Felidar Guardian. You usually need a third piece to turn that into a wind, but options are plentiful.
7 Sakashima Of A Thousand Faces
Sakashima's second iteration is a Mirror Gallery effect that you can put in the Command Zone. Odd considering the singleton nature of Commander, but Sakashima's already a standard clone on its own.
Partner adds an extra wrinkle to the package, effectively allowing you to run two copies of a commander from among the options with partner. If Vial Smasher the Fierce or Tymna the Weaver are good enough to be your commander, surely you'd want two copies, right? You even get to add blue to your deck's color identity free of charge.
6 Sakashima's Student
A ninja academy graduate with a doctorate in creature cloning? Sakashima's Student must have had a great teacher. It's an unimpressive clone at face value, but the ninjitsu ability shaves off half the cost while also unexpectedly sneaking it into combat.
Two things need to go right for Sakashima's Student to pan out. First, there needs to be something worth copying when it enters the battlefield. Second, one of your creatures needs to go unblocked. Put those two elements together and you end up with one of the cheapest, craftiest clones in Magic.
5 Glasspool Mimic / Glasspool Shore
Glasspool Mimic is a great example of a Modal Double-Faced Card worth running in Commander. It's a 'bad Island' when you play Glasspool Shore, but it's a cheap clone when you find the opportunity to cast the front side.
Mimic's more limited than the average clone since it can only copy your own creatures, but it costs a mana less than most, and it plays well with Rogue payoffs. It's not immensely, but it's advantageous to hide cards like this in your manabase without sacrificing the consistency of your land drops.
4 Machine God's Effigy
Machine God's Effigy is a bit of a departure from the typical Clone formula. It becomes a noncreature copy of whatever you choose, but it's also a mana source. Think of it less like a clone that taps for mana, and more like a versatile mana rock that copies a creature's abilities.
Even though Effigy isn't a creature, it still gets any relevant enter-the-battlefield effects and static abilities from whatever it copies. As an artifact, it also has a different subset of vulnerabilities that could either expose it to or protect it from different types of removal.
3 Phantasmal Image
Phantasmal Image is the ultimate clone if all you care about is copying ETB effects. Two mana is as cheap as they get, but Phantasmal Image balances the cost by tacking on the 'illusion' downside. No matter, since you're typically playing this card to copy ETB or death triggers and could usually care less what happens to it.
It enables infinite loops with creatures like Bladewing the Risen or Sharum the Hegemon, and it sets up an easy target for Sun Titan, which nets you another copy of Titan when it enters the battlefield.
2 Imposter Mech
Neon Dynasty Commander engineered some bizarre vehicle tech, including unique designs like Imposter Mech. This one becomes a vehicular copy of a creature and demonstrates Magic's loosey-goosey willingness to use both spellings of 'impostor' and 'imposter.'
Mech starts off as a noncreature with a crew cost that animates it later on. This helps it dodge most creature sweepers and lets you copy the abilities of relevant creatures for a cheaper cost than most clones. It's notably more rigid than most clones though, since it only copies your opponents' creatures.
1 Cursed Mirror
Most clone-adjacent effects in red are temporary, giving you a copy of something for a single turn. Cursed Mirror falls into this 'temp clone' territory, but prooves that one turn is often good enough.
Cursed Mirror catches any relevant ETB effects upon hitting the battlefield, and it doesn't take much to get extra value out of it. It's great if you can snag a good attack trigger along the way, but even if you can't you're still getting a Heat Shimmer effect that leaves behind a mana rock for future turns.