10 of the Best Clones in Commander

Clones are a great way to round out a deck – or even build one that’s all about copying your opponents. Here are 10 of the Best Clones in Commander. 

Clones are a lot of fun. They introduce some level of variety to gameplay, as you’re unlikely to have the same game twice with them. They aren’t the most reliable card type, given they hinge on what your opponents are doing… but they are always interesting, and can lead to some great stories and comebacks.

If you play high level Commander then you know that cards like Flesh Duplicate and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces are the bees knees. They thrive in environments where copying your Commander or having low-cost clones is super important. The rest of the time? I like to play with cards like these.

Yes, even I enjoy playing blue. 

10 OF THE BEST CLONES IN COMMANDER

10. VIZIER OF MANY FACES

Vizier of Many Faces is a standard kinda clone – four mana, copies anything you want. Except, it can also 

be Embalmed, and create a token copy of itself. The sheer amount of blue decks that will discard cards on a whim or self mill means that this is a card you should seriously be interested in. Getting a clone that essentially has “Flashback” is sweet. 

9. PHYREXIAN METAMORPH

Good old metamorph never gets old. The fact it can come in as a copy of artifacts as well as creatures gives you so many more options. If your opponent has The Great Henge or The Ozolith or Aetherflux Reservoir, you can get one too. Same for Bolas’ Citadel, and other nuts artifacts.

What makes the card so good, though, is the fact you can cast it for three generic mana, and ignore the blue by paying 2 life. This makes it an easy play early in the game, or when you’re screwed on your colors. 

8. MACHINE GOD’S EFFIGY

Sometimes the best clones are the ones that are hard to interact with. In that case, you’ll want to try one that copies a creature but leaves it as an artifact. Imposter Mech is a great one for two mana, but if you want an interesting mana rock to try, you can look into Machine God’s Effigy.

It’s basically a four mana rock that can have the abilities of a creature (including EtBs). I feel like seeing as this one was only in a precon in old border that it gets overlooked, even today. 

7. MOCKINGBIRD

One that isn’t overlooked, but embraced, is Mockingbird. Bloomburrow’s clone, it’s a clone that costs more mana the higher the mana value of the thing you’re copying. The upside? Yours is a Bird that literally flies, too. Perfect for copying early game value engines that require hitting opponents for value

6. AUTON SOLDIER

This thing is dangerous. Auton Soldier comes in as a copy of anything, and then it has Myriad. Do you understand how powerful that is? You can get so much EtB value off of this thing, and what’s more, it comes in as a non-legendary copy, meaning if someone has something stupid good like MOM Etali, you can have one with MYRIAD. 

Yeesh. 

5. IRENICUS’S VILE DUPLICATION

You know what’s really good? Flying. It wins games. Know what else is really good? Bending the rules of the game and copying legendary creatures… such as your Commander. 

For four mana, this sorcery does a lot of heavy lifting. Try it sometime. 

4. REPLICATION TECHNIQUE

Replication Technique is such a great political tool. You pick the player furthest behind with the least powerful thing to copy, and you can make a friend. This is exactly what blue control decks want to do, as the virtual card advantage of making a deal benefits this type of deck the most. 

The freedom of copying any permanent you control is intoxicating, and it can be a way to create serious value, combo off, or create redundancy on your board. If you Demonstrate this you’re actually making two copies, by the way. 

3. SEE DOUBLE

And I thought I was seeing double after number four… See Double is a spell that is devilishly easy to turn on and get both modes on. Copying a spell is a great way to counter a counterspell, or have a second removal spell, or just copy a card draw engine. Copying a creature is also really powerful. Both effects for only four mana is criminal. 

2. MOCKING DOPPELGANGER

Mocking Doppelganger is one of my favorite clones of the last few years, and it’s because goad is incredible at swinging games. What’s better than copying an opponent’s best creature? Making it attack someone else. 

Having Flash on this makes it very similar to Stunt Double. Stunt Double is a card that overperforms for me, because having a clone effect at instant speed leads to all sorts of shenanigans. 

1. CURSED MIRROR

See, you thought this list was going to be all blue cards, right? You thought I’d really manage to write a whole piece without mentioning a red card?

Well think again. Cursed Mirror is hands down one of the best clone effects because it comes in on a three mana rock, and you get to have haste for the turn on whatever creature you have it come in as.

With the sheer quantity of creatures that have strong EtB and attacks triggers, this can be a huge tempo swing for such a small investment.

And hell, so many blue decks are Izzet anyways, right? Just play this rock. It’s incredible. 

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This was 10 of the Best Clones in Commander. Would your list be the same?

I’ll see myself out. 

Double puntendre.