Aether Mutation
Sorcery
Return target creature to its owner's hand. Create X 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens, where X is that creature's mana value.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GU
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Vintage Masters
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #18856
Aether Mutation bounces a nonland permanent and replaces it with a swarm of 1/1 Saproling tokens equal to its converted mana cost — raw board presence for four mana. The catch is sorcery speed and the token count being tied to the target's CMC, so it punishes expensive permanents and shrugs at cheap ones; pair it with Esix, Fractal Bloom and those Saprolings become copies of whatever you want.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Esix, Fractal Bloom
Esix, Fractal Bloom turns every Saproling Aether Mutation produces into a copy of any creature on the battlefield, meaning a single four-mana spell aimed at a six-drop can flood the board with six copies of your best threat.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Aether Mutation is a Commander card through and through — the combination of tempo disruption and token generation fits a 100-card singleton format where bouncing a commander or game-winning permanent while building a board state can swing a multiplayer game decisively. In Legacy and Vintage, it's technically legal but never sees play; four-mana sorceries that don't close games immediately don't compete in those formats. Oathbreaker is the only other realistic home, where the lower starting life total and faster clock make the token output matter more.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Aether Mutation isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the latest. Given its narrow Commander niche and older printing, it tends to sit in bulk-rare territory — pick it up cheaply if you're building the right deck.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Esix, Fractal Bloom
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.