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Clever Impersonator

Creature — Shapeshifter

You may have this creature enter as a copy of any nonland permanent on the battlefield.

CMC
4
Mana cost
{2}{U}{U}
Color identity
U
Rarity
mythic
Set
Commander 2019
Price
$4.35
EDHREC rank
#1301
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Clever Impersonator card art
Clever Impersonator enters as a copy of any nonland permanent on the battlefield — creature, artifact, enchantment, planeswalker, all of it — at four mana, which is the honest price for that breadth. Where a card like Faerie Mastermind locks you into one creature type, Clever Impersonator just becomes the best thing in play, which is why it shows up in over 80% of Gyruda, Doom of Depths decks.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Gyruda, Doom of Depths

Gyruda, Doom of Depths

79.8% of decks · synergy 0.76

Gyruda, Doom of Depths mills four cards and puts an even-CMC creature from that pile onto the battlefield, so Clever Impersonator — an even-CMC creature that enters as a copy of Gyruda — immediately re-triggers the whole engine, enabling loops that end games on the spot.

02
Sakashima of a Thousand FacesVial Smasher the Fierce

Sakashima of a Thousand Faces // Vial Smasher the Fierce

56.2% of decks · synergy 0.54

Sakashima of a Thousand Faces // Vial Smasher the Fierce removes the legendary rule for creatures you control, which means Clever Impersonator can become a second copy of whatever bomb is already in play without either copy disappearing.

03
Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor

Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor

48.0% of decks · synergy 0.46

Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor cares about curses, and Clever Impersonator can land as a copy of any curse enchantment on the board — including ones your opponents control — which doubles the pressure or steals a trigger Lynde wanted.

04

Aang, at the Crossroads

46.6% of decks · synergy 0.44

Aang, at the Crossroads rewards flexibility, and Clever Impersonator is the most flexible clone in the format; copying whatever threats or value engines have resolved on a given board gives Aang decks the kind of reactive power they thrive on.

05
Braids, Conjurer Adept

Braids, Conjurer Adept

45.3% of decks · synergy 0.39

Braids, Conjurer Adept lets each player put a permanent from their hand into play for free, so Clever Impersonator cheating into play off Braids' trigger and immediately becoming the best permanent already on board is exactly the kind of asymmetric windfall the deck is hunting.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Clever Impersonator earns its reputation — three or four opponents means the best nonland permanent in play is almost always worth copying, and the absence of a restriction on permanent type gives it range that narrower clones lack. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but rarely played; those formats move too fast for a four-mana do-nothing-on-entry creature to compete with Phyrexian Dreadnought or anything riding on Force of Will. Pioneer is the same story — legal, essentially absent, because Clone effects need high-value targets to justify the mana and Pioneer's top tables don't give you the time. Oathbreaker is a genuine home for the same reason as Commander: the signature-spell constraint concentrates powerful permanents, and Clever Impersonator becomes one of them for free.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$4.35 cheap tier

At $4.35, Clever Impersonator sits at the low end of format staples — cheap enough that it doesn't require justification in any blue Commander deck that wants a clone. The price is stable; it's been reprinted enough to stay accessible without collapsing demand.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.