Commander is a singleton format, encouraging diversity through deckbuilding. But what if you could play the same card, over and over? And what if that card was your Commander?
WHAT IS A CLONE IN MAGIC?
Clones are named after the eponymous Alpha card, Clone, a card that debuted with Magic. Clone effects have been popular ever since, with dozens upon dozens of different flavors of Clone available. Cloning is predominantly a blue effect, but other colors can get access to it conditionally, or on multicolor cards that feature blue.
Clones give you a copy of a creature. The cheaper ones usually copy something you control, but unless you pay more mana, there’s usually a restriction or drawback. By paying more mana, you can generally copy anything in play, and often with an upside.
HOW TO CLONE YOUR COMMANDER
Copying a Commander is a little harder. You need to get specific effects that either let you ignore the Legend rule, or pick clone effects that ignore the Legend rule or change their name.
Some of the most popular Clones in the format are the two Sakashimas and Spark Double for exactly those reasons. Clone effects aren’t limited to blue, or limited to creatures – as we’ll find out.
FIVE COMMANDERS THAT ARE GREAT TO CLONE
If you’re interested in Clone effects and want to take them to the next level, then here are five great Commanders that love to be Cloned – along with some sweet tech picks to make the most out of them.
5. ADRIX AND NEV, TWINCASTERS
Adrix and Nev isn’t what you first think of when you think Simic, but it’s arguably one of the best and most fun Simic Commanders out there. Let’s get straight into it: a token doubler in the command zone is really strong. It’s also got Ward {2}, which is sneaky good, and ends up forcing opponents off-kilter in order to deal with it. Having your token doubling in the CZ means you can really build around it, and in that case, that means loading up on ways to make Clone tokens!
Getting an extra copy of Adrix and Nev – or should we say two extra copies – can be achieved by clone token creating sorcery spells like Irenicus’ Vile Duplication, Quantum Misalignment and Ember Island Production. Copying Adrix and Nev can really accelerate your gameplan.
From then on, all of your effects that create extra tokens can then target a non-legendary copy of Adrix and Nev, which tends make an exponentially large number of tokens. Twinning!
Two cards that work really well in Adrix and Nev are Relm’s Sketching and City of Death. They benefit massively already from the Commander’s copying effect, but then get even better if you can copy a non-legendary Adrix and Nev
4. GILGAMESH, MASTER-AT-ARMS
For something completely different, let’s head to mono-red Equipment and check out Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms. Gilgamesh provides oodles of mana and card advantage whenever he enters or attacks. You get to “spin the wheel” and freeload any equipment you find from the top six cards straight into play, and even auto-equip one of them. It’s a very powerful effect, so why not double-dip?
Red has some neat ways to do clone effects, even if it’s not as versatile as blue, you still usually get haste strapped on. Gogo, Mysterious Mime is arguably the best one, turning itself into a differently named copy of Gilgamesh while granting your Commander haste. In a deck like this though, you don’t even really care about having extra copies of the Commander running around – you’re way more all-in on the effect. That’s why using The Fire Crystal to get a one-shot Gilgamesh, or Cursed Mirror to do the same for three mana, can be just as good, even if the copy is immediately sacrificed to the legend rule.
That’s why Blade of Selves is so good. While it won’t leave behind copies like Helm of the Host does, it can still give you multiple extra triggers to vomit equipment onto the board and go for the kill.
Speaking of equipment, why not copy that as well? Firion, Wild Rose Warrior does exactly that, the moment they come in. Masterwork of Ingenuity can copy any equipment for just one mana. The Mycosynth Gardens can sit quietly as a land until you need it to bail you out.
3. GYRUDA, DOOM OF DEPTHS
While you can absolutely have Gyruda as a Companion for Commanders like Muldrotha or Be’lakor, it’s way more popular to just run as the Commander – because it’s easier to get going. What makes Gyruda such a great Commander to clone is that the vast majority of Clones you want to run come at even mana costs. Furthermore, even if you hit a Clone that can’t copy a Legendary creature and stay in play, you get to keep milling regardless, which brings you closer to big finishers that use the Graveyard.
If you’re all in, you want to be taking Clever Impersonator and Stunt Double, even if they perish to the Legend rule. There are other options, though – Chameleon, Master of Disguise is a new one to add to the pool of ways to make copies that stick around.
Of course, the main attraction here is using the graveyard as a second hand. Vizier of Many Faces and Naga Fleshcrafter work great when they’re milled with Gyruda triggers and you decide to leave them there. You also get to play Standard all-star Superior Spider-Man for more graveyard action.
Winning the game with such a filled yard is easy. You have Living Death or Rise of the Dark Realms, and even-cost creatures to reanimate like Ardyn, the Usurper. Remember that when Gyruda isn’t a companion, you can run odd-costed creatures too. That makes Syr Konrad really enticing as a way to slowly grind down the table, especially if you can clone multiple copies of him.
2. ETALI, PRIMAL CONQUEROR // ETALI, PRIMAL SICKNESS
If you thought Gilgamesh was going hard on red clone effects, you’ve seen nothing yet. Etali, Primal Conqueror is one of the most powerful Gruul Commanders available, and some might argue oppressively so. Some folks even take this one into cEDH, but just how are they taking advantage of Etali’s EtB?
Well, the EtB nets you four free spells, which means any way to get multiple activations is going to pay dividends. As such, playing cheap ways to get token copies of Etali (regardless of whether they stick around) is the way to go. Choreographed Sparks, Electroduplicate and Molten Duplication are some such examples of how to go big on this Dinosaur menace.
You really want to lean in here and include as many ways to get more Etali triggers as you can. Jaxis and Rionya can make copies multiple times, with Rionya one of the best cards to see while you’re resolving your initial triggers. Etali decks aim to overwhelm opponents with board advantage and using everyone else’s best spells to win quickly.
If you need a little extra juice to secure those wins, you can try and keep your extra Etali tokens in play with Mirror Box, copy triggers with Panharmonicon and Roaming Throne, and make sure everything you’re casting off of the triggers burns face with Passionate Archaeologist. You are what you eat, apparently.
1. MIIRYM, SENTINEL WYRM
Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm is arguably the best Commander to copy, and that’s because of how it’s worded. You get a non-legendary copy of whatever Dragon you copy with the trigger, which makes it cracked in half. You get to employ the cream of the crop of the clone effects we’ve covered thus far, while also dipping into more specific payoffs.
Double Major is one of my favorite UG spells, and in the case of Miirym, it’ll put a copy of Miirym into play first, meaning the non-token copy – your Commander – will hit the board after, triggering the token copy to make another token copy. Neat!
Dropping clones that come down before Miirym – like Gogo, Mysterious Mime, or Irma, Part-Time Mutant – is key to curving out properly. You can also use MDFC clone Glasspool Mimic to great effect here, dropping it early as a land or late as a clone.
Typal synergy is high here, and Miirym is one of the better Dragon type Commanders on offer. You get to take full advantage of typal removal like Raise the Palisade while also getting Typal clones from Molten Echoes and Will of the Temur – which leans into your high mana value permanents for big card draw.
Winning the game with Miirym is easy. Dragon Tempest comes down early, providing EtB damage which you can enhance with Scourge of Valkas and Terror of the Peaks. For a big-burn-turn, consider Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest, and just leave all of the cards in exile. Multiple copies of this can kill people really easily. If you want an infinite combo win, you can do Astral Dragon with Cursed Mirror. It just keeps going, and going… and going.
END STEP
These are five Commanders that we love to Clone. Got any you can recommend? Let us know.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.