Best Clone & Copy Effects in MTG Commander, Ranked

A clone is the most powerful card in your deck on the right turn and a useless 0/0 in the graveyard on the wrong one. That swing is the entire conversation. Copy the table's best commander, the busted artifact, the planeswalker that's about to ultimate — and you've spent two to four mana for the single best permanent in the game right now. Cast it into an empty board and you've got nothing.

Commander is the format where clones are at their absolute best, and it's not close. You're sitting across from three other decks, each running its own pile of bombs, and a clone lets you steal the strongest one without paying its build-around cost. The longer the game runs, the more targets pile up, and a clone only gets better. So ranking clones isn't about raw stats — it's about flexibility, what they can legally copy, and whether they dodge the rule that quietly kills half of them. Every card here is real, correctly costed, and Commander-legal, checked against Scryfall.

Why clones are secretly the best cards in your deck

The pitch on a clone is asymmetry of effort. Someone at the table spent their whole deck assembling a payoff — a value engine, an evasive beater, a planeswalker. You spent one card to get a second copy of it, and you didn't have to build around anything. That's the cleanest form of "let other people do the work" the format offers.

Clones also dodge a real deckbuilding tax. Want a second Smothering Tithe, a second token-doubler, a second mana rock that taps for a billion? A clone is a flexible copy of whatever's best in play, which means one slot covers a hundred different "I wish I had another of those." That versatility is why a generic clone outperforms most narrow value creatures over a long Commander game.

The catch is the floor. A clone with nothing good to copy is a do-nothing. The best clones in the format are the ones that protect against that floor — the ones that can copy your own stuff, hit any permanent type, or replicate a creature you already control so they're never truly dead.

What makes a clone good

Three levers, and they constantly trade against each other.

Mana cost. Most clones sit at three or four mana. Cheaper is better when the rate is otherwise even, because you want clone mana to be a fraction of what the target cost to assemble. Phantasmal Image copying a five-drop for two mana is a blowout on rate.

What it can legally copy. This is the biggest divider. A creature-only clone (Clone, Phantasmal Image, Spark Double) can only target creatures. A copy-any-permanent card (Clever Impersonator, Phyrexian Metamorph, Mirage Mirror) can also snag artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers — which is a massive flexibility upgrade in a format full of busted noncreature permanents.

The rider — and whether it dodges the legend rule. The best modern clones tack on something that fixes the clone's worst-case scenario. Spark Double and Sakashima both ignore the legend rule, so they can copy a legendary commander and stick around. A drawback like Phantasmal Image's "sacrifice it when it becomes targeted" caps the price but adds fragility.

The format weighting in Commander: flexibility wins. A clone that can copy any permanent and survives the legend rule is worth more than a slightly cheaper creature-only clone, because the games are long, the boards are full of legends, and the best target on the table is often a noncreature permanent.

The legend rule problem

Here's the trap that quietly ruins half of all clone copies in Commander, so let's settle it before the rankings.

Most of the best creatures on a Commander board are legendary — every commander is, and so are most of the format's chase mythics. When you copy a legendary creature, your clone becomes a creature with that same name. The legend rule then forces you to choose one to keep and put the other into the graveyard. So a plain Clone copying someone's commander makes you choose between two copies of their commander, you keep one, fine — but if you copy something you also control a legendary version of, one of them dies instantly.

This is why "ignores the legend rule" is the single most valuable rider a clone can have. Spark Double and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces both have a clause that lets them keep a legendary name without triggering the rule, which means they can copy your own commander and you get to keep both. That turns a clone into a redundant copy of your best card — the highest-value thing a clone can do.

The rule of thumb: in a format defined by legendary creatures, a clone that sidesteps the legend rule is in a different tier than one that doesn't. Track which of your targets are legendary before you copy.

The best clones and copy effects, ranked

Ranked on overall power in Commander — flexibility, copy range, and legend-rule interaction baked in. This is the headline list.

1. Spark Double — 3U. Copies a creature or planeswalker you control, enters with an extra +1/+1 counter (or extra loyalty), and ignores the legend rule. The best generic clone in Commander. It can copy your commander and keep both, double up your best value creature, or clone a planeswalker — and the legend-rule clause means it's never a dead copy of your own stuff.
2. Clever Impersonator — 2UU. Becomes a copy of any nonland permanent — creature, artifact, enchantment, or planeswalker. The most flexible copy target range in the format at four mana. The double-blue cost is the only knock; the upside is you can copy literally the best permanent on the table.
3. Phyrexian Metamorph — 3{U/P}. Copies any artifact or creature, and you can pay 2 life instead of the blue mana. Castable in any deck thanks to Phyrexian mana, copies the busted mana rock or the best creature, and enters as an artifact copy so it can grab a Sol Ring or a token-doubler artifact. A staple far outside blue decks.
4. Sakashima of a Thousand Faces — 3U. A legendary clone that copies any creature, keeps its own "Sakashima" name (so it dodges the legend rule and can copy your commander), and can be exiled-and-recast tricks aside, it's the premier "copy my own best legend" piece. Pairs with any deck whose commander you'd love a second of.
5. Phantasmal Image — 1U. The cheapest real clone in the game. Two mana, copies any creature, with the drawback that it's sacrificed when it becomes the target of a spell or ability. Copying a five- or six-drop for two mana is an enormous tempo swing; the fragility is a fair price at the cost.
6. Mirage Mirror — 3. A colorless artifact that, for 2, becomes a copy of any artifact, creature, enchantment, or land until end of turn. Repeatable, every-color, and a tricky combat and utility tool — copy a removal-proof creature to block, copy a land for ramp, copy the best artifact when you need it. The temporary nature is the cost of the flexibility.
7. Clone — 3U. The original. Copies any creature, four mana, no rider. It's the baseline every other clone is measured against and still perfectly fine — a clean copy of the best creature with no strings. Outclassed only because newer clones do more for the same or less.
8. Vizier of Many Faces — 2UU. Copies any creature and has embalm 5UU, letting you exile it from the graveyard to make a token copy a second time. Two clones in one card. The embalm cost is steep, but a clone that comes back is exactly what a grindy Commander game rewards.
9. Stunt Double — 3U. A flash clone of any creature. The flash is the whole pitch — copy the best attacker as a surprise blocker, or clone a creature with an end-of-turn or attack trigger at instant speed. Flexibility through timing rather than copy range.
10. Bramble Sovereign — 2GG. Not a clone itself — a green payoff that lets you pay 2 to copy each creature entering under your control as a token. In a green creatures deck it copies your own best drops every turn. A build-around, but a powerful one, and proof copy effects aren't blue-locked.

Past the top ten, the copy spells — Cackling Counterpart, Spitting Image, Sublime Epiphany — are situational blowouts rather than reliable staples, and they get their own section below.

The best permanent clones

These are the clones you main-deck as creatures: they stick around, they copy the best thing in play, and they keep generating value as long as they live.

• Spark Double — the gold standard. Copies creatures and planeswalkers, ignores the legend rule, enters bigger. If you run one clone, run this one.
• Clever Impersonator — the widest copy range. When the best permanent on the table is an enchantment or planeswalker, this is the only top-tier clone that can grab it.
• Phyrexian Metamorph — the colorless-friendly pick. Phyrexian mana means it slots into non-blue decks, and copying artifacts lets it grab the format's busted mana rocks and doublers.
• Sakashima of a Thousand Faces — the "second commander" clone. In any deck built around a strong commander, a legend-rule-dodging copy of it is a huge swing.

The pattern: the permanent clones you want all either copy any permanent type or dodge the legend rule. A creature-only clone with no rider (plain Clone) is fine, but it's the floor of this tier, not the ceiling.

The best flexible copy effects

These bend the rules of what and how often you can copy, which is worth a premium in a format that rewards adaptability.

• Mirage Mirror — the every-turn toolbox. It's a colorless artifact in every color identity, and "become the best thing on the table until end of turn" is absurdly flexible — copy a hexproof blocker, a ramp land, a doubler, whatever the turn demands.
• Vizier of Many Faces — the recurring clone. Embalm means it's a clone now and a token clone later, which is exactly the kind of two-for-one a long Commander game pays off.
• Bramble Sovereign — the green engine. It's not a one-shot copy; it's a standing effect that copies your creatures as they enter, turning every creature drop into a potential two-for-one in a go-wide green deck.

The honest read: flexible copy effects ask you to have something worth copying and the mana to do it. They're not "win the game" cards on their own, but in a deck that can feed them, they generate more total value than a single fixed clone ever could.

Copy spells: the instant-speed blowouts

Copy spells don't make a permanent clone — they put a temporary token copy onto the battlefield, usually at instant speed, or they copy a spell on the stack. They're situational, but the situations they hit are game-defining.

• Cackling Counterpart — 1UU, with flashback. Make a token copy of target creature you control at instant speed, then do it again from the graveyard. Best as a combat trick or to double an enters-the-battlefield trigger on your own creature.
• Spitting Image — 4{G/U}{G/U} with retrace. Copy any creature as a token, and you can recast it from your hand by discarding a land — a repeatable copy engine in a land-heavy deck.
• Sublime Epiphany — 4UU. A modal blowout that can, among other modes, copy a spell or copy a creature you control. Overcosted as a pure clone, but the "counter a spell and copy my creature" line wins games.

The trade-off with copy spells is the same across the board: a token copy that often has summoning sickness and dies to a board wipe, in exchange for instant-speed flexibility. Run them when your deck wants combat tricks and trigger-doubling, not as your primary clone package.

Quick Action Checklist

Apply this when adding clones and copy effects to a Commander deck:

• Run Spark Double first — it copies creatures and planeswalkers, ignores the legend rule, and can clone your own commander
• If your best target is often a noncreature permanent, run Clever Impersonator for the wide copy range
• In non-blue or artifact-heavy decks, Phyrexian Metamorph slots in via Phyrexian mana and grabs the best mana rock
• Track which targets are legendary — only legend-rule-dodging clones (Spark Double, Sakashima) can safely copy your own commander
• Use cheap clones like Phantasmal Image for tempo: copying a five-drop for two mana is a blowout
• Treat copy spells (Cackling Counterpart, Sublime Epiphany) as combat tricks and trigger-doublers, not your main clone slot
• Remember a clone is only as good as the board — don't run more clones than your meta gives you targets for
• Double-check copy range on Scryfall: "creature" clones can't grab artifacts, enchantments, or planeswalkers