The 37 Best Mutants in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 8, 2026

Sliver Overlord | Illustration by Justine Jones

Mutants have exploded as Magic ventures into Universes Beyond. Once a quirky creature largely reserved for Simic () creations on Ravnica, the creature type picks up more and more steam as we travel beyond Magic’s borders.

But the identity remains largely the same: Mutations, which often come with advantages in a fantasy setting, are tracked with +1/+1 counters. Let’s figure out which mutants are worth adding to your decks.

What Are Mutants in MTG?

Mutalith Vortex Beast | Illustration by Kekai Kotaki

You may or may not be shocked to know that mutants as a creature type have predated the MTG Fallout set by more than 20 years! The first official mutant was Mistform Mutant in Onslaught, although Goblin Mutant from Ice Age was mutated (errata’d) with the creature type mutant later on. The majority seem to be in Simic colors (), especially because mutation is kind of the world of the Simic Combine on Ravnica, which leads to a lot of cards in that space.

Note that this is totally different from the mutate mechanic introduced in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths. Using the mutate ability does not make the creature type of the mutated creature into a mutant.

The collective became viable as a typal strategy with the release of the Mutant Menace precon, though it's also been the focal point of other sets like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

#37. Hancock, Ghoulish Mayor

If zombie +1/+1 counters is ever a thing, watch out for Hancock, Ghoulish Mayor! I mean, there’s a bit. Carrion Feeder, Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, even Champion of the Perished, but this is not quite a thing. Yet.

#36. Jason Bright, Glowing Prophet

And Jason Bright, Glowing Prophet is trying to show us the way to that bright future! It Jason and Hancock both got a boost in playability with the release of TMNT, but by just a smidge.

#35. Feral Ghoul

Feral Ghoul could actually end the game in a deck where you’re sacrificing a lot of zombies. It's fun space for zombie decks, and complements The Wise Mothman well enough.

#34. Cloudfin Raptor

Cloudfin Raptor is a nice 1-drop for a birds deck that’ll evolve and get swole, but it's hardly the Constructed player it used to be.

#33. Vexing Radgull

Another Thrummingbird is already great for the decks that want that! And dishing out rad counters is nice. The trouble is that this only proliferates in a rad counters deck, which downgrades it to another Shriekgeist sort of card in those cases.

#32. Roalesk, Apex Hybrid

Roalesk, Apex Hybrid is a big, hard-to-cast flier, and it’s one of the few creatures that can proliferate twice for you. But it has to die to do so, so keep reading to find the newer, better, alpha version of the effect.

#31. Mutalith Vortex Beast

Coin flip decks want Mutalith Vortex Beast. That’s all I have to say about that.

#30. Strong, the Brutish Thespian

In a fight deck, like Neyith of the Dire Hunt, isn’t Strong, the Brutish Thespian just good? Maybe a bit vanilla but the damage potential is real.

#29. Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid

Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid is a good fight commander with colors that allow all your deathtouch fun, as well as Phyrexian Obliterator. I don’t know if that’s a deck I want to play, but this is here if you do.

#28. Raph & Leo, Sibling Rivals

Raph & Leo, Sibling Rivals is remarkably efficient for a creature that offers extra combats. It’s rivaled by Combat Celebrant, also 3 mana, but the 2/4 body is much more likely to survive combat, and the lack of exert means you can get extra combats turn after turn out of the command zone—or with an Imperial Recruiter.

#27. Slash, Reptile Rampager

Slash, Reptile Rampager challenges Purphoros, God of the Forge as a big Impact Tremors effect and… it comes up short. Making mutant tokens to fuel itself is very powerful, but not better than indestructible. This is still a perfectly respectable card, and the correct answer for decks interested in Slasher v Purphoros might be to ditch the comparison and run them both.

#26. Raul, Trouble Shooter

Ghoulcaller's Bell in the command zone, anyone? Raul, Trouble Shooter is a nice synergy piece as long as you’re on the self-mill train, and doesn't require the hoops of a card like Conduit of Worlds to cast things out of the graveyard

#25. Indominus Rex, Alpha

People are building this Indominus Rex, Alpha deck, which looks like a Sultai beatdown deck with loads of creatures and some recursion. Could be fun. Kind of unplayable in the 99, though?

#24. Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers

If you want a Timmy commander, you can’t argue with Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers. It’s a Timmy card that finds Timmy cards—what’s not to love? Its aggressive cheat ability makes it one of the more popular TMT commanders, despite the high cost.

#23. Mirelurk Queen

Drawing a card off mill is not a common thing. And in a deck that mills people on their turns, this draws a lot of cards, as the limitation doesn’t matter as much if it triggers each turn. So, Mesmeric Orb? This is a hard effect to get even with the limitation, so this card has a definite place. Finally, Mirelurk Queen just feels obnoxious next to a suite of Psychic Corrosion kinds of enchantments.

#22. Screeching Scorchbeast

In a dedicated mill deck, I’ll usually have effects that mill for dribs and drabs, which only makes me one zombie. But look what happens if I’m doing Maddening Cacophony types of things! Screeching Scorchbeast triggers off of self-mill, and there’s a lot of cards that do that for 2-3 mana at instant speed. I’m not saying this is Field of the Dead, but this is a powerful payoff for decks that’ve been looking for just this kind of thing!

#21. Marcus, Mutant Mayor

Every Toski, Bearer of Secrets or Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor saboteur effect is valuable in Commander. Marcus, Mutant Mayor is more expensive and limited to creatures with counters, but it’s Simic, so it should be fine. And don’t underestimate Marcus’ ability to dish out counters. Useful for a lot of synergies.

#20. Groundchuck & Dirtbag

Mana doublers are extremely powerful, even when limited by color. Groundchuck & Dirtbag enables nasty turns after it comes down—maybe even the same turn if you cheat it into play for no mana with Kona, Rescue Beastie or a similar effect. This is probably as close as we’ll get to Nyxbloom Ancient in the command zone.

#19. Mona Lisa, Ever Adaptable

Cards that reward you when your opponents do something are always powerful in Commander because you have three opponents doing things. Mona Lisa, Ever Adaptable produces Mutagen tokens, which serve a variety of uses—they produce +1/+1 counters, of course, but they also sacrifice themselves, provide artifacts, and are tokens. This probably plays best in green+ decks where you can pair it with cards like Marionette Master and Urza, Lord High Artificer to maximize the potential of Mutagens.

#18. Tato Farmer

You can keep milling yourself with your rad counters use Tato Farmer to get some extra lands. This will get you 4 rad counters a turn after you start the cycle, which is pretty efficient for the decks that want that. But if you’re milling opponents’ cards or you’re playing against another mill deck, well, buckle up and look out for power.

#17. Experiment Kraj

A classic Simic commander that’s been eclipsed by the power creep of ETB triggers over activated abilities, Experiment Kraj is definitely aboil in Agatha's Soul Cauldron.

#16. Agent Frank Horrigan

There’s not that many cards that let you proliferate twice, and Agent Frank Horrigan does this on ETB and on attack, which makes Frank a solid proliferate commander.

#15. Benthic Biomancer

You have to respect 1-drops. Benthic Biomancer will let you loot a lot in a deck where you’re dishing out counters. That’s not quite Fathom Mage, but it can still do a huge amount for you.

#14. Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order

Simple payoffs are often the most consistent. Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order does away with the dictionary for a simple textbox that fits perfectly in Selesnya. Since it cares about counters in general and not just +1/+1 counters, it even has spice; that counts lore counters on saga creatures, loyalty counters on planeswalkers that become creatures, even the distribution of shield and keyword counters.

#13. Watchful Radstag

This card is going to make a LOT of elk if you just keep casting creatures on curve, which is kind of what green does. Next turn two. Then four. Then eight. Then it gets really bad! Note that the new Watchful Radstag token copies come in as 2/2s without counters, so even if you start falling off on creature power and toughness, you’ll still get bodies. There are definitely uses for these!

#12. Harold and Bob, First Numens

This is a sweet design. A 3/3 for 3 is pretty meh. But it uses the Old-Growth Troll return-as-an-aura trick for multicolor decks. Harold and Bob, First Numens is easy to cast and then ramps and fixes. I think this card will find a lot of homes.

#11. The Master, Transcendent

The Master, Transcendent has an awesome activated ability, especially for graveyard decks, but in an everybody-mills environment, it can just start grabbing value each turn. Very powerful.

#10. The Wise Mothman

The face commander of the Mutant Menace Fallout precon, The Wise Mothman efficiently dishes out mill and then +1/+1 counters. And if you’re milling at instant speed, whether with Brain Freeze, Syr Konrad, the Grim, or even the dozens of Corpse Churn variants, it makes combat math super tricky for your opponents.

#9. Sliver Overlord

The second most popular Sliver commander behind The First Sliver (which is its own deck) is Sliver Overlord with an activated ability that tutors so well in its deck!

#8. Biomancer’s Familiar

The adapt text is largely flavor in EDH, but this is one of the few cards that provides this kind of discount for activated abilities. And Biomancer's Familiar is in better colors for that, compared to a card like Zirda, the Dawnwaker.

#7. Ursine Monstrosity

Ursine Monstrosity is a wonderful, aggressive Cube card. Attacking random opponents can be a downside in Commander but it becomes irrelevant in 1v1 formats. This just becomes a big bruiser with indestructible part of the time, forcing your opponents to find a quick answer or get to chumping.

#6. Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11

Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 is just a Hardened Scales that comes with a +1/+1 counter in the form of a Mutagen token. It has an incredibly solid floor because of this; it even provides a body to carry the counters!

#5. Alpha Deathclaw

Most cards with the destruction effect of Alpha Deathclaw specify “nonland.” But Deathclaw hits anything. With 13 mana lying around you can destroy two things. And if you’re somehow in blink colors, yikes!

#4. Rampaging Yao Guai

I think people are still sleeping on this excellent bear! Rampaging Yao Guai comes down for 3 mana as a 2/2 that wipes all artifact and enchantment tokens, as well as artifact lands and a little thing called Urza's Saga. If you cast this for 5, it wipes a key mana rock or ramp enchantment. And you scale up from there.

Please note that you destroy any number of targets, which means this is an asymmetrical effect! This is a totally underplayed mutant from Fallout.

#3. Storm, Force of Nature

Storm, Force of Nature puts Magic’s most broken mechanic on any instant or sorcery of your choosing, which makes it a fantastic storm commander. In storm decks, the actual Tendrils of Agony or Grapeshot can be one of the weakest cards in the deck because it doesn’t actually help you to storm off (Brain Freeze is an exception when paired with Underworld Breach/Lion's Eye Diamond). This Temur legend lets you run burn spells like Lightning Bolt that can be removal or your win condition, leading to a more flexible deck in the long run.

#2. Irma, Part-Time Mutant

Baseline, Irma, Part-Time Mutant is a 3-mana Clone that can copy your commander since it keeps its name. Three mana is a fantastic rate for a clone that breaks the legend rule. Sure, it doesn’t copy enters abilities since it copies in combat, but that’s an easy enough restriction to sidestep. Just copy creatures like Rashmi, Eternities Crafter and Kykar, Wind's Fury with strong non-enters abilities.

#1. Deadpool, Trading Card

One of the most obnoxious commanders ever printed, Deadpool, Trading Card swaps textboxes with another creature for an extremely odd stax piece. You can swipe the powerful abilities of, say, Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy and leave your opponent both without their commander and with a card that drains life until they sacrifice it. Deadpool decks are often chaos decks, or powerful stax brews that focus on killing and reanimating or otherwise flickering Deadpool to steal all relevant abilities.

Best Mutant Payoffs

Mutants have received drips of support as Universes Beyond fleshes them out beyond Simic cards. Many of them come from Fallout, with cards like Hancock, Ghoulish Mayor and Vault 12: The Necropolis buffing mutants, plus Jason Bright, Glowing Prophet and Vault 87: Forced Evolution providing card draw.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has introduced decent commanders, namely Heroes in a Half Shell as a generic catch-all that makes your mutants better and Mikey & Don, Party Planners providing a more focused typal Future Sight.

Looking beyond that, mutants broadly care about +1/+1 counters, a theme present among Simic and Fallout mutants and emphasized with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Great counter support cards like Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11, Danny Pink, and Innkeeper's Talent are worthy inclusions to your mutant deck, as are proliferate effects. Proliferate also works nicely with Fallout mutants, which care about rad counters.

Wrap Up

Harold and Bob, First Numens | Illustration by Andrea Piparo

Mutants are a real force to be reckoned with in Magic, in large part because the +1/+1 counters they adore make them much stronger than their base form suggests. As the creature type expands in future sets, they’re sure to grow even more!

Which mutants are your favorite? Do you like how many we’re getting? Let me know in the comments below and on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!