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Vesuvan Shapeshifter

Creature — Shapeshifter

As this creature enters or is turned face up, you may choose another creature on the battlefield. If you do, until this creature is turned face down, it becomes a copy of that creature, except it has "At the beginning of your upkeep, you may turn this creature face down."
Morph {1}{U}

CMC
5
Mana cost
{3}{U}{U}
Color identity
U
Rarity
rare
Set
Time Spiral Remastered
Price
$0.31
EDHREC rank
#7023
Buy on TCGplayer
Vesuvan Shapeshifter card art
Vesuvan Shapeshifter is the engine piece that makes the Brine Elemental lock work — morph it face-down, flip it as a copy of Brine Elemental, turn it face-down again, repeat every turn until opponents never untap. The cost is that it does almost nothing without a worthwhile target in play, which means Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer decks carry it as a two-card combo piece rather than a flexible threat.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer

Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer

89.3% of decks · synergy 0.87

Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer is the primary home for Vesuvan Shapeshifter because the morph-centric shell already runs Brine Elemental, turning the Shapeshifter from a cute trick into a game-ending lock backed by free card draw off Kadena's trigger.

02
Missy

Missy

27.3% of decks · synergy 0.27

Missy's ability to copy spells and creatures from outside the game creates redundancy for the morph package, and Vesuvan Shapeshifter slots in as a reliable lock piece that Missy can tutor or recur to close games.

03
Vannifar, Evolved Enigma

Vannifar, Evolved Enigma

26.4% of decks · synergy 0.25

Vannifar, Evolved Enigma cares about casting spells face-down and generating value from morphs, making Vesuvan Shapeshifter a natural inclusion that doubles as both a morph synergy piece and a potential combo finisher.

04
Zimone, Mystery Unraveler

Zimone, Mystery Unraveler

16.5% of decks · synergy 0.15

Zimone, Mystery Unraveler decks pick up Vesuvan Shapeshifter as a high-value clone effect that can impersonate the best creature on any board while still feeding the morph and facedown-card synergies Zimone rewards.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Commander is the correct format for Vesuvan Shapeshifter — the Brine Elemental lock is a known, feared two-card package that can end games on the spot, and the singleton rule means you build around it rather than flood on it. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but sees essentially no play; a five-mana morph creature that requires a specific partner to do anything broken can't compete with those formats' velocity and disruption. Modern legality is similarly academic — the card has never found a shell there, and nothing in the current Modern landscape changes that calculus.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.31 bulk tier

At $0.31, Vesuvan Shapeshifter is pure bulk despite being the combo-active half of a hard lock that appears in nearly 90% of Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer decks. That price is stable — casual demand keeps it from hitting zero, but it's not a card that spikes on speculation, so pick it up whenever and don't overthink it.

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Sources

Mentioned

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