Shapeshifter
Artifact Creature — Shapeshifter
As this creature enters, choose a number between 0 and 7.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a number between 0 and 7.
Shapeshifter's power is equal to the last chosen number and its toughness is equal to 7 minus that number.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Antiquities
- Price
- $8.97
- EDHREC rank
- #28047
Shapeshifter is a curiosity from Magic's earliest days — a creature that lets you set its power to any number at the start of your upkeep by paying colorless mana, with no inherent abilities otherwise. The setup cost is too steep and the payoff too conditional for any competitive context, making Shapeshifter a card that belongs in a collection binder rather than a tuned 99.
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 |
Shapeshifter is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but legality and playability are different conversations. In Commander, the format where slow, expensive effects get the most rope, Shapeshifter still asks too much — paying mana every upkeep to set a power stat on a vanilla body is not a game plan. Legacy and Vintage move too fast for a creature this passive to matter. Oathbreaker follows the same logic as Commander: even at slower tables, Shapeshifter competes against creatures that simply do more for less.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Any creature with a static or enters-the-battlefield power-setting effect does what Shapeshifter attempts without the recurring mana tax. Shapeshifter's core fantasy — a creature whose power you control — is executed cleanly and cheaply by cards like Triskelion or Clockwork Beast, both of which at least come with built-in counters and don't demand upkeep payments to function.
Price Context
Current price
$8.97 mid tier
At $8.97, Shapeshifter sits in a mid-price tier driven almost entirely by age and collector demand for Alpha and Beta printings rather than play value. The card does not hold functional value — you're paying for the artifact of history, not for what it does on the battlefield.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.