Mutagenic Growth
Instant
(
can be paid with either 
or 2 life.)
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $1.39
- EDHREC rank
- #8996
Mutagenic Growth puts +2/+2 on the table for free — paid in life instead of mana, which means it functions at any point in the game regardless of what's in your pool. It's the most efficient pump spell in formats where it's legal, and Sergeant John Benton decks run it specifically because free spells trigger his damage-doubling engine without spending a resource.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Sergeant John Benton
Sergeant John Benton rewards you for casting spells and dealing combat damage, and Mutagenic Growth fits because it's a free trigger — pay 2 life, grow your attacker, and let Benton's doubling effect close the gap without tapping a single land.
The Howling Abomination
The Howling Abomination cares about spell count and often wants its creatures to survive combat long enough to generate value; Mutagenic Growth slots in as a zero-mana way to push through a blocker or protect an attacker without interrupting the gameplan.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Mutagenic Growth is a niche inclusion — most decks don't need pump spells, but creature-combat decks that want free spell interactions, particularly those led by Sergeant John Benton, treat it as a genuine engine piece. In Legacy and Vintage, it sees real play in infect and Delver strategies where the game ends before the 2-life cost matters. Pauper infect runs it as a core piece of the combo, where free pump on an unblocked Glistener Elf is simply game over. Modern infect also uses it, though the format's faster removal makes the window tighter.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.39 cheap tier
At $1.39, Mutagenic Growth sits in the cheap tier but punches above its price — it's a multi-format staple with a small but consistent demand floor from infect players across Legacy, Modern, and Pauper. That combination of cross-format relevance and low ceiling keeps the price stable rather than volatile.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.