Adaptive Automaton
Artifact Creature — Construct
As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
This creature is the chosen type in addition to its other types.
Other creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Double Masters
- Price
- $1.91
- EDHREC rank
- #1740
Adaptive Automaton enters naming a creature type, pumps every creature you control that shares it, and counts as one of them — a lord that flexes to fit any tribal shell. At three mana with no color requirement, the only cost is a deck slot, and in the right tribe that slot is never in question. Magda, Brazen Outlaw decks run it in nearly two-thirds of lists because it's both a Dwarf lord and a Dwarf body that taps toward her treasure trigger.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Magda, Brazen Outlaw
Adaptive Automaton is a Dwarf the moment it enters, so it taps for Magda, Brazen Outlaw's treasure trigger while simultaneously pumping the rest of the board — two functions in one card that neither a generic lord nor a generic artifact could replicate alone.
Sethron, Hurloon General
Sethron, Hurloon General wants as many Minotaurs as possible entering with a boost already baked in, and Adaptive Automaton naming Minotaur fills both roles: it enters as a Minotaur to trigger Sethron and leaves every other Minotaur you control larger.
Ayula, Queen Among Bears
Ayula, Queen Among Bears cares about Bears entering the battlefield, and Adaptive Automaton naming Bear becomes a 2/2 Bear on arrival — triggering Ayula while acting as a permanent +1/+1 anthem for the rest of the board.
Mog, Moogle Warrior
Mog, Moogle Warrior leans on a tight Moogle creature type, and Adaptive Automaton naming Moogle is one of the few ways to add a counting member to that otherwise narrow pool while granting a board-wide pump.
Rendmaw, Creaking Nest
Rendmaw, Creaking Nest runs Insect synergies, and Adaptive Automaton naming Insect supplements the anthem density that tribal token strategies need to threaten lethal at scale.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Adaptive Automaton is legal in every major constructed format but sees virtually no play outside Commander — three mana for a lord is too slow and too low-impact when tribal synergies in Modern and Pioneer have access to far more powerful payoffs. In Legacy the bar is higher still, and colorless lords don't offset the tempo cost. Commander is where Adaptive Automaton earns every copy printed: the colorless cost means it slots into any tribe regardless of commander color identity, and the combination of self-identification as the chosen type plus the static pump is exactly the density tribal decks need to close games.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Magda, Brazen OutlawClock of OmensAdaptive Automaton
Infinite tapped Treasure tokens; Put all artifact cards and a subset of creature cards from your library onto the battleifeld
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$1.91 cheap tier
At $1.91, Adaptive Automaton sits firmly in the auto-include tier for tribal Commander decks — cheap enough that the question is never the price, only whether your tribe needs it. Demand is stable across hundreds of commander archetypes, so the floor is unlikely to drop further.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Magda, Brazen Outlaw
- Sethron, Hurloon General
- Ayula, Queen Among Bears
- Mog, Moogle Warrior
- Rendmaw, Creaking Nest
- Clock of Omens
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.