The 45 Best Clones in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 30, 2026

Phantasmal Image | Illustration by Darren Tan

I love playing Magic with my opponents’ cards thanks to theft effects like Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Stolen Strategy. But if I can’t steal from them directly, plagiarizing their work is the next best thing!

That’s where Clone variants come in, to copy the best creatures my opponents (or I) control for a steady stream of value. This effect has a long history in Magic: Clone debuted in Alpha, giving us plenty of iterations to examine.

Let’s check out which are the best!

What Are Clones in MTG?

Spark Double | Illustration by Eric Deschamps

Named for the Alpha classic Clone, clones copy other creatures when they come into play, though the years have seen several iterations of the effect that copy artifacts and even copy any permanent. This effect is mostly found on blue cards.

In addition to clones that enter as a copy, Magic has lots of effects that create token copies of permanents, like Quasiduplicate and Cackling Counterpart. This list doesn’t include cards that make temporary copies that leave play at the end of the turn like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker or Flameshadow Conjuring.

Theres a third subsection of clones: clones that transform into creatures that are already on the battlefield, like Protean Thaumaturge. While these clones don’t get those ever-valuable enters abilities, they have a few benefits—namely copying something after they’ve been in play for a turn so you don’t have to worry about summoning sickness. This list considers all three variants with an eye for Commander and Cube.

#45. Visage Bandit

Visage Bandit shows off exactly why plot matters. This lets you set up a later turn where you play a game-changing threat and immediately follow it up with Visage Bandit to double down on that impact. That back-to-back pressure can easily catch opponents off guard.

#44. Waxen Shapethief

Flash alone makes Waxen Shapethief worth a closer look, but copying artifacts as well as creatures pushes it even further. Cycling is a nice safety valve, keeping it useful even when the board doesn’t cooperate.

#43. Copycrook

Copycrook‘s distinctiveness is the connive trigger, which turns every attack into card selection and potential growth. In decks that care about graveyard setup or incremental advantage, this clone sets up synergies without demanding extra resources.

#42. Progenitor Mimic

One of the most expensive clone variants, Progenitor Mimic takes over the game… if you survive long enough. This kind of slow, grindy payoff can be outclassed in the modern Commander landscape, but creating copies of Archon of Cruelty and Agent of Treachery each turn is a tantalizing enough reward to try anyway.

#41. Extravagant Replication

Playing Extravagant Replication comes with a big risk: This blue enchantment does nothing the turn you play it, so an opponent with a Reclamation Sage or Destroy Evil waiting in the wings might devastate you. But if you protect it (or just know your pod never runs enchantment removal) you get a disgusting chain of value.

#40. Metamorphic Alteration

Metamorphic Alteration’s a strange one. This aura is among the most efficient copy abilities, yet sets you up for a blowout in a way others don’t and effectively forces you to sacrifice a creature for your copy instead of adding to the board. But turning a token or an unnecessary mana dork into a real creature has its appeal.

You can also do some neat tricks with this blue aura by targeting opposing creatures; this briefly saw Pioneer play in a combo deck that used Alteration to transform an opposing creature into Archfiend of the Dross, causing them to lose on their next upkeep. If you put this on a good non-legendary creature while an opponent controls their commander, you force them to sacrifice one to the legend rule.

#39. Moritte of the Frost

Copying any permanent opens the door to interesting plays, like doubling down on your Rites of Flourishing or Propaganda. But the biggest appeal to Moritte of the Frost are the +1/+1 counters it enters with, ensuring this shapeshifter enters play as a significant threat and giving you a wealth of synergies to draw upon.

#38. Flash Photography

Copying your best permanent at instant speed makes Flash Photography extremely effective, since it lets you keep mana open and react to the table. Flashback ensures the effect is not a one time deal, giving control and midrange decks repeatable value without overcommitting.

#37. Dack’s Duplicate

The standard rate for a Clone has been 4 mana since Alpha, but modern iterations staple additional text onto the template for a variety of clones with upside.

Dack's Duplicate is an excellent example of this with the addition of red allowing it to be a hasty copy. It works best when copying creatures with strong attack triggers like Grave Titan and Overlord of the Boilerbilges for immediate, devastating value.

#36. Evil Twin

Evil Twin has a beautifully flavorful design. It’s excellent against opposing commanders because you can activate the ability again and again, forcing your opponents to have an answer to this Dimir card () if they want their commander to stick around.

#35. Auton Soldier

Combining myriad with a Clone makes Auton Soldier a nasty threat. You can dominate games with cards like Overlord of the Mistmoors and Scourge of Fleets or establish long-term value with humbler targets like Solemn Simulacrum and Plaguecrafter.

#34. Body Double

I always enjoy simple riffs on classic cards, which is exactly what Body Double provides: a Clone that uses the graveyard rather than the battlefield.

This blue creature finds a natural home in mill decks and works as a janky recursion spell, like a Rise from the Grave that works with creature synergies like Animar, Soul of Elements.

#33. Pirated Copy

Clones that interact with the copied creature are fascinating bits of tech. As interesting as I find Pirated Copy, it has a downside: For this shapeshifter pirate to function properly, you’re restricted in what you can copy. You don’t want to clone a value creature like Orcish Bowmasters or Storm-Kiln Artist, you want to copy something that’s aggressive and capable of attacking, otherwise you leave most of this card’s potential on the table.

#32. Vizier of Many Faces

Vizier of Many Faces provides two clones in one card with the upside of token synergies for cards like Adrix and Nev, Twincasters and Caretaker's Talent. It’s just a clean two-for-one that fits well into self-mill decks.

#31. Supplant Form

I love the tempo of Supplant Form. I like this best in a battlecruiser-heavy meta where you know you’ll have lots of juicy targets. And even if there's nothing gigantic in play, you can use it as the world's worst blink spell.

#30. Sublime Epiphany

I love big, flashy counterspells and Sublime Epiphany hits that note perfectly. I’ve never gotten less than three modes with countering a spell, drawing a card, and bouncing something for a sick three-for-one, but it can often be way better, especially when paired with Torrential Gearhulk for crazy clone value.

#29. Three Steps Ahead

One of the best Cancel variants, Three Steps Ahead provides an instant-speed Clone that sometimes hits a spell and filters your hand, giving it graveyard synergies on top of the token stuff. If your deck plays to the board, this blue instant functions as a combat trick by producing a surprise blocker.

#28. Synth Infiltrator

Synth Infiltrator starts off more expensive than the average Clone, but improvise takes the edge off. You should run this artifact creature when you have artifact synergies, especially with cards like Indomitable Archangel and Urza, Prince of Kroog that benefit from becoming artifacts themselves.

#27. Chameleon, Master of Disguise

If your deck already plans to stick good creatures, Chameleon, Master of Disguise is a clean and reliable way to double down on that plan. What sets it apart from most clones is that it enters as a copy while keeping its original name, letting it bypass the legend rule. On top of that, the mayhem cost adds real flexibility, allowing you to loot it away with cards like The Modern Age and cast it at a discount to squeeze even more value out of the effect.

#26. Stunt Double

Stunt Double gets a leg up on Waxen Shapethief by copying opposing creatures as well. You can use it as a sort of protective spell by responding to an opponent’s removal spell and copying the creature they attempt to kill, or surprise a creature like Niv-Mizzet, Parun in combat to trade. It also plays well with certain enters abilities that are much stronger when they happen at instant speed, like those that make opponents discard cards. Most importantly, you can hold up all your countermagic with this!

#25. Mirror Room // Fractured Realm

The big draw to Mirror Room // Fractured Realm as a copy spell is the enchantment synergies. Copying constellation cards like Setessan Champion and Archon of Sun's Grace gives you more of a good thing. Those cards make excellent use of the other side of this room enchantment, though I heavily recommend you don’t play this for Fractured Realm; if you don’t want Mirror Room, you don’t want this card.

#24. Protean Raider

You have to be fairly aggressive to exploit Protean Raider. Unlike other clones, this is technically a card if you don’t copy something. Technically. It’s weak… so make sure you're aggro if you put this Izzet card () in your deck.

#23. Wall of Stolen Identity

Wall of Stolen Identity strikes me as an interesting bit of tech that locks down anything that wants to attack. Critically, this card doesn’t target the creature it copies, so it sneakily handles hexproof and shroud cards like Uril, the Miststalker and Invisible Stalker.

#22. Mirrorhall Mimic / Ghastly Mimicry

Mirrorhall Mimic’s a fine, completely on-rate clone, but the intriguing part comes from Ghastly Mimicry. You don’t even need to put this aura on your creature; you can swipe your opponents’ creatures. The idea of copying an opponent’s Etali, Primal Conqueror… beautiful.

#21. Riku of Two Reflections

Since Riku of Two Reflections’s ability triggers when a creature enters, you can use cards like Thassa, Deep-Dwelling and Essence Flux to generate many copies of one card. This is an incredible X-for-one, even if a 2/2 for 5 is ludicrously mopey by today’s standards.

#20. Croaking Counterpart + Cackling Counterpart

Croaking Counterpart and Cackling Counterpart are similarly strong card advantage sources since you get two copies or extra value when discarding or self-milling. Cackling Counterpart has an edge since it doesn’t shrink your creatures, but it costs significantly more mana for both sides than our froggy friend. Making the creatures into 1/1s doesn’t matter much given the high-quality enters abilities running around the game today. Do you really care if your Archon of Cruelty or Etali, Primal Conqueror lose some power when you get those busted abilities two more times?

#19. Machine God’s Effigy

A clone that makes a creature into a noncreature artifact seems suspect at first, but the trick lies in avoiding creatures that have to attack. Devoted Druid is an obvious choice due to the infinite mana combo, but copying cards like Orcish Bowmasters and Drannith Magistrate that aren’t swept away by a Wrath of God is incredibly useful. There are enough interesting plays with Machine God's Effigy to warrant its inclusion.

#18. Callidus Assassin

What happens if you staple a Clone to Ravenous Chupacabra? You get an absolute banger. Warhammer 40K‘s Callidus Assassin is a baseline 2-for-1 that often gets stronger once you factor in whatever abilities it steals from the creature it copies.

#17. Double Major

Double Major is super efficient, except it comes with a wonky timing restriction.

This Simic card‘s () real charm comes from that sneaky line of text that makes the copy nonlegendary. That’s huge in Commander and a common theme among better clone effects. Legendary creatures are incredibly powerful, especially in our modern era of Commander-centric card design. If you thought one copy of Koma, Cosmos Serpent was bad, wait until you see the second…. 

#16. Quasiduplicate

There are plenty of 2-for-1 clone variants but Quasiduplicate is the best because it costs the least amount of mana to cast both halves. Sure, jump-starting this requires discarding a card, but you should have an extra land at that point in the game. It’s cheap and you get the full value of whatever creatures you copy.

#15. Helm of the Host

Though most of Helm of the Host’s press comes from its infinite combos with Godo, Bandit Warlord and Combat Celebrant, it’s a perfectly fine, fair card. A little mana-intensive, but a hasty copy of anything makes up for it. I love it with cards like Alibou, Ancient Witness and Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain that scale well with multiple copies.

#14. Clever Impersonator

Clever Impersonator has no restrictions on what it copies outside lands. Do you want your own Liliana, Dreadhorde General? Perhaps an Anthem of Champions of your own? The appeal to this card is stealing permanents that are outside your blue deck’s slice of the color pie for incredible value.

#13. Quantum Misalignment

My criteria for running Quantum Misalignment is simple: Does my deck actively benefit from two additional copies of my commander? It doesn’t matter with some commanders, but commanders with powerful abilities like Omnath, Locus of Creation and once-per-turn triggers like Rashmi, Eternities Crafter that stack? Sign me up!

#12. Spark Double + Irenicus’s Vile Duplication

Spark Double and Irenicus's Vile Duplication are Quantum Misalignment but easier on the mana.

Spark Double’s additional counter opens the door to various synergies with proliferate and other counter shenanigans; it plays particularly well in midrange decks with a planeswalker or two.

Irenicus's Vile Duplication works best with decks that care about instants and sorceries and/or ones that have a commander that benefits from evasion, like Kalamax, the Stormsire.

#11. Sakashima of a Thousand Faces

You could argue that Sakashima the Impostor belongs on this list too, but it's really Sakashima of a Thousand Faces that gives the name its pedigree. Axing the legend rule lets you double up on your commander, which is all the easier when your clone is already sitting in the command zone next to your partner of choice.

#10. Deceptive Frostkite

What sets Deceptive Frostkite apart is that it gives you an efficient clone with built-in evasion. At just 2 mana, it asks you to already have a creature with power 4 or greater, but in return it delivers a flying copy that can immediately pressure life totals or planeswalkers. The restriction is the only real drawback, but at 2 mana, copying a huge threat with flying feels closer to cheating than a downside.

#9. Glasspool Mimic / Glasspool Shore

Glasspool Mimic’s more restrictive than your average Clone since it only copies one of your creatures, but the versatility of a modal double-faced card vastly outweighs that. One card giving you the option of a second copy of your best creature late in the game versus a land early is absurd enough that this often makes the cut in my blue deck regardless of whether my strategy cares about clones.

#8. Impostor Syndrome

Impostor Syndrome is the engine behind a ridiculous spiral of clone copies. Decks with evasive creatures or extra combat steps can flood the board with nonlegendary copies in just a turn or two.

#7. Imposter Mech

Imposter Mech does most of that cool stuff I mentioned with Machine God's Effigy except for half the price. This card is almost always above rate for anything worth copying. Having the option of turning your random value artifact into an attacker gives it a greater breadth of “targets” since it can copy things that want to attack as well as cards with strong static abilities.

#6. Naga Fleshcrafter

Few clone effects offer as much raw upside as Naga Fleshcrafter. On entry, it can copy any creature on the battlefield, which already makes it a flexible card; however, the truly scary part comes from the renew ability, which turns your entire board into copies of your best nonlegendary creature for a brutal, game-ending swing.

#5. Mythos of Illuna

Mythos of Illuna wins the reward for the least restrictive copy effect with the most upside. The dream scenario is paying Temur mana () to copy something like It That Betrays and fighting something else for a clean two-for-one, but swiping any permanent can be powerful, especially since Simic+ is the perfect color pair to exploit token doublers.

#4. Mockingbird

Mockingbird scales beautifully throughout the game, making it one of the most flexible clones available. Early on, it can copy small utility creatures, while later turns let it become a flying version of the best threat on the board. Decks with strong mana production get the most out of it, since spending more mana expands its range of targets, and adding evasion on top of a copied creature often turns value into a legitimate win condition.

#3. Phyrexian Metamorph

A 3-mana Clone would be perfectly fine; Phyrexian Metamorph, one of blue's best artifacts, takes that one step further by borrowing an idea or two from the artifact player and copying their Bolas's Citadel. Your copy becoming an artifact comes with upsides and downsides. On the one hand, it sucks when this becomes collateral damage to a Vandalblast; on the other, being an artifact makes this far easier to cheat into play.

#2. Superior Spider-Man

Superior Spider-Man stands out as a clone that operates from a different angle, copying creatures from graveyards instead of the battlefield. This makes it a strong fit for Dimir () decks that focus on mill, discard, or sacrifice to naturally stock powerful targets. What really makes it shine is that it functions as a 4-mana reanimation effect in the command zone. Pairing it with cards like Entomb lets it enter as a copy of a massive creature such as Griselbrand in Brawl or any other top-end threat your Commander deck is built around, while also exiling the original card to prevent recursion.

#1. Phantasmal Image + Flesh Duplicate

Phantasmal Image and Flesh Duplicate absolutely have a weak spot since neither can stick around for long. A sneeze can blow out Phantasmal and the Duplicate has a horribly restrictive lifespan.

But these are by far the most efficient Clones you can play, which comes in handy. Commander tables are littered with creatures worth copying. Doing so at a cheap rate is great for copying little things like Skyclave Apparition and Baleful Strix since you aren’t down on mana, and it’s astounding when you get some of the bigger battlecruisers. The trick to making these creatures work is ensuring you copy something worthwhile; getting in a hit with an annihilator Eldrazi is game-warping enough that losing the clone a turn or two later doesn’t matter.

Best Clone Payoffs

The best clone payoff tends to be enters abilities since you get those straight away. Having your creatures impact the board immediately is good, who knew? They’re excellent additions to commanders like Yarok, the Desecrated and Brago, King Eternal since they let you retrigger your best creatures, like Ravenous Chupacabra and Cloudblazer.

When playing with the token copy cards specifically, token doublers are incredible. Cards like Anointed Procession and Doubling Season spin out of control, especially if those are the permanents you copy.

Cards that stack well also synergize well with clones. For example, creating three Rhystic Study copies makes it almost impossible for your opponents to play the game without feeding you cards, multiple Archangel of Tithes shuts down attackers, and so on. You can get really spicy with Biovisionary.

There are very specific commanders or strategies that actually want to run as many clone effects as possible. For example, I recently built a version of Aang, at the Crossroads, where the entire game plan was to resolve it and then copy it repeatedly to keep retriggering its ETB ability. By stacking three or four differently named copies, you can bypass the legend rule and keep all of them on the battlefield at once in Brawl.

It might sound overly cute at first, but depending on the build, this approach can be a very solid and effective way to close out games.

Does Cloning Target?

The typical clone doesn’t target, but copy effects like Quasiduplicate do target. If a Clone says it enters “as a copy of any creature on the battlefield,” you simply choose a creature without targeting it, which lets you copy creatures with hexproof, shroud, or ward with no issues.

That also means you don't have to declare what the creature's going to copy while it's on the stack, since there's no targeting involved.

Do Clones Copy Color?

Unless otherwise specified, yes. Some clones might change color when they do their copying; one example is Vizier of Many Faces, which becomes white when you embalm it.

Do Clones Copy Counters?

No. Clones only copy the printed text of a card, so they won’t copy any counters, equipment, or auras attached to a creature. The only exception is a card like Fertilid that specifies that it enters with a set number of +1/+1 counters.

Do Clones Copy Creature Types?

Yes! Some clones might add a creature type, like Mirrorhall Mimic becoming a spirit in addition to its other types, but clones copy everything on the printed card.

Do Copies Enter the Battlefield?

Yes! Clones and cards that make token copies all enter the battlefield, so you get all those juicy ETB triggers.

Do Copies Have Summoning Sickness?

Any creature that comes under your control has summoning sickness, which applies to clones or copies. If a card that's already been on the battlefield for a full turn becomes a copy of something else, it'll still be unaffected by summoning sickness.

Do Copies Have Mana Values?

Yes. Any effect that copies a permanent has a mana value. Whether it's a card or a token, the clone will have the mana value of the card it copied.

Can You Create a Copy of a Copy?

You can! This can be a really useful trick in conjunction with nonlegendary copies. For example, if you control an Omnath, Locus of Creation and make a nonlegendary copy of it with Irenicus's Vile Duplication, you can use regular copy effects on the new token to skirt the legend rule.

What Happens When You Clone a Clone?

A clone copies the complete text of whatever its cloning, so the second clone becomes a copy of what the original clone copied. Let’s break it down into an example.

Your opponent controls a Ravenous Chupacabra. You play Clone, which copies the Ravenous Chupacabra. For all intents and purposes, you now control a Chupacabra until it changes zones. Another clone enters and copies the cloned Chupacabra, which results in another Chupacabra entering the battlefield.

Can You Copy a Legendary Creature?

You can, but the legend rule comes into effect if your copy effect doesn’t make the copy nonlegendary. This doesn’t always matter; but if you plan on the copies sticking around, you need something that makes them nonlegendary.

Are All Copies Tokens?

The clone effect always specifies when it makes a token. If you’re using a Clone variant that’s a creature, it won’t count as a token. It’s just a creature. But copies made with cards like Riku of Two Reflections and Double Major are tokens.

Did You Copy That?

Phantasmal Image | Illustration by Nils Hamm

I love modal cards, and that’s essentially all a clone is, right? You have the option of everything on the table, which becomes real spicy once it’s turn 10 in a Commander pod. Whether you set up a crazy combo with Gyruda, Doom of Depths or just get some honest value, Clones have a home in many blue decks.

Do you prefer the creature clones or the token copies? What’s your favorite card to clone? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and keep cloning!