Vesuvan Doppelganger
Creature — Shapeshifter
You may have this creature enter as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it doesn't copy that creature's color and it has "At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have this creature become a copy of target creature, except it doesn't copy that creature's color and it has this ability."
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Foreign Black Border
- Price
- $93.99
- EDHREC rank
- #16752
Vesuvan Doppelganger enters as a copy of any creature on the board and then reassigns every upkeep — that persistent re-copy ability is what separates it from every static Clone effect in the game. The cost is five mana for a 0/0 base that dies to a stiff breeze if it copied nothing, and unlike Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, it produces no tokens, so your value is locked to what's already in play.
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 |
Commander is where Vesuvan Doppelganger earns its keep — multiplayer boards are wide and ever-changing, and the ability to re-copy a new creature each upkeep means it adapts to every power shift at the table. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but effectively a curiosity; cheaper, faster Clone variants exist, and five mana with no protection attached is a liability in those formats. Oathbreaker is legal but faces the same speed problem — the re-copy ability shines over a long game, and Oathbreaker rarely runs long enough to cash in multiple reassignments.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror BreakerVesuvan Doppelganger
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Princess YueWormfang NewtVesuvan Doppelganger
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite landfall triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Princess YueAstral DragonVesuvan Doppelganger
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite creature token copies of all noncreature permanents; Infinite creature tokens; Infinite death triggers; Infinite landfall triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Princess YueWormfang TurtleVesuvan Doppelganger
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite landfall triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Sakashima's Student and Phantasmal Image both copy creatures for two or three mana and cover most of what Vesuvan Doppelganger does on entry, though neither can reassign targets on subsequent upkeeps. If the re-copy clause is the draw, Phyrexian Metamorph at three mana (plus one life) gets closest to the flexibility at a fraction of the price, accepting the trade-off that it stays locked to its first copy for the rest of the game.
Price Context
Current price
$93.99 premium tier
At $93.99, Vesuvan Doppelganger sits firmly in premium territory — this is old-border collector demand more than competitive ubiquity, and functional reprints exist at a fraction of the price. The price holds as long as collector appetite for the original printing stays high, but anyone building to win rather than to showcase the card should run a modern printing or a cheaper functional analog instead.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.