How good is mutate in Commander. With so many mechanics in Magic: The Gathering, it can be hard to even remember them all, let alone judge them and weigh them against one another. One of our favorites though, comes from Ikora: Lair of Behemoths. The set has a lot of fun stuff within it, including the likes of Godzilla, but we really want to hone in on one specific mechanic.
We are, of course, talking about the mutate mechanic, which allows you to constantly change up the rules of your own creatures as you see fit, just as long as you’re not using Humans in your deck. We’re not sure why you’d use Humans anyway, they’re a bit dull from a flavor perspective, even if they are powerful. Anyway…
What is mutate in MTG?
Mutate is a mechanic that changes how you cast your creatures. It reads, “If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.” Often, the mutate cost for a creature will differ from the standard cost, and more often than not, the cards with this mechanic will have triggers that occur every time they mutate.
Just take
Nethroi, Apex of Death
Nethroi, Apex of Death
Mutate {4}{G/W}{B}{B} (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Deathtouch, lifelink
Whenever this creature mutates, return any number of target creature cards with total power 10 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
as an example, which has this ability: “Whenever this creature mutates, return any number of target creature cards with total power 10 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.” In short, you’re going to want to stack your deck full of mutate cards and then have them all interacting with one another.
There are two limitations to this mechanic. For starters, there are only 39 cards that include the word mutate on them, and one of those is silver-bordered. Plus, they’re across all five colors, which leads to the other issue, which is that there is no one single commander that can have all of the cards in, or at least not one that has mutate on it itself. As long as you’re fine with running, let’s say
Morophon, the Boundless
Morophon, the Boundless
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
As Morophon enters, choose a creature type.
Spells of the chosen type you cast cost {W}{U}{B}{R}{G} less to cast. This effect reduces only the amount of colored mana you pay.
Other creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1.
, then you can pick and choose from the mutate cards on offer.
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What are the best mutate cards?
Vadrok, Apex of Thunder
Vadrok, Apex of Thunder
Mutate {1}{W/U}{R}{R} (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Flying, first strike
Whenever this creature mutates, you may cast target noncreature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard without paying its mana cost.
,
Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt
Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt
Mutate {2}{B/R}{W}{W} (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Double strike
Whenever this creature mutates, it deals 4 damage to target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls and you gain 4 life.
,
Otrimi, the Ever-Playful
Otrimi, the Ever-Playful
Mutate {1}{B}{G}{U} (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Trample
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, return target creature card with mutate from your graveyard to your hand.
,
Nethroi, Apex of Death
Nethroi, Apex of Death
Mutate {4}{G/W}{B}{B} (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Deathtouch, lifelink
Whenever this creature mutates, return any number of target creature cards with total power 10 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
,
Illuna, Apex of Wishes
Illuna, Apex of Wishes
Mutate {3}{R/G}{U}{U} (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Flying, trample
Whenever this creature mutates, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland permanent card. Put that card onto the battlefield or into your hand.
, and Bokkos, Apex of Forever are probably the best of the bunch, but that’s no surprise given that they’re all mythic rare cards, and kind of the face of Ikoria.
Aside from those, we’re huge fans of
Chittering Harvester
Chittering Harvester
Mutate {4}{B} (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Whenever this creature mutates, each opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice.
, which makes foes sacrifice creatures whenever you mutate it and
Dirge Bat
Dirge Bat
Mutate {4}{B}{B} (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Flash
Flying
Whenever this creature mutates, destroy target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls.
, which kills things off when it mutates. Being able to kill off pesky problems is a huge boon, and doing it with a creature that has 100 triggers (hyperbole) when you mutate it, is wonderful.
You’ve also got cards that don’t have mutate themselves, but do give you bonuses when doing so.
Pollywog Symbiote
Pollywog Symbiote
Each creature spell you cast costs {1} less to cast if it has mutate.
Whenever you cast a creature spell, if it has mutate, draw a card, then discard a card.
, for example. makes it so that you can cast your mutate creatures for cheaper, and you can even draw and discard when doing so.
Essence Symbiote
Essence Symbiote
Whenever a creature you control mutates, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature and you gain 2 life.
is also good, because it makes your mutations bigger, and even gains you life.
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