Gogo, Master of MimicryGogo, Master of Mimicry | Art by Thea Dumitriu

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Oi! Not so loud. You'll scare them away! Glad ya caught up to the rest of the caravan. I'm wildlife researcher Michael Celani, and I lost the ability to talk to animals after I summoned the Giant of BabilGiant of Babil.

Cast your gaze across the horizon; ain't they beauts? That's a full box of mimes out there. Yes, it's called a box of mimes, like a murder of crows or a Ford-F150 of divorced dads. We've been tracking them for five days now, and we've learned so much about their social hierarchy, methods of communication, and mating rituals.

Look there: that's the leader. Their name is GogoGogo, and they're absolutely fascinating. For , GogoGogo can perfectly copy any activated or triggered ability you control X times, which we only learned after our hunter, Johnny, attempted to shoot them for scientific study (God rest his soul). Let's look at how these magnificent creatures have evolved to take advantage of this incredible feature!

Finding Their Stomping Ground

Unlike most other creatures out here in the wild jungles of San Francisco, mimes don't keep to a small amount of territory; they migrate, and expand as far and wide as they can. Expert projections say that, if left unchecked, the entire landmass of Eurasia will fall under mime control by 2036. Isn't that interesting?

But how do they brew do it? Well, mimes conquer more land by copying the abilities from fetchlands. Most mammals use fetchlands to fix their mana with dual lands like Hallowed FountainHallowed Fountain, or to trigger landfall multiple times in a turn.

But that's crap compared to GogoGogo. They use it to ramp, because for every they sink into their activated ability, they get to search for another IslandIsland. It's a repeatable Rampant GrowthRampant Growth that can scale as many times as necessary!

It's not just lands that mimes can mimic to expand their territory, though. When introduced to other methods to fetch out more basics, such as copying Wayfarer's BaubleWayfarer's Bauble, they picked up on them with alarming speed.

Among our tests, we found most success with Dreamscape ArtistDreamscape Artist. One of GogoGogo's most powerful attributes is that, even though they have to pay for as many times as they want to copy an ability, they don't have to pay anything related to the original cost of the ability again. That means no matter how many times they'd like to search out two basic lands, they only ever have to discard one card and sacrifice one land.

The Snowball Effect

But why go to all this trouble? Well, in the wild, mimes expand their territory so that they can continue to expand their territory, just like how the rich use their money to make more money, or how I use my problems to make more problems. Every additional IslandIsland on the field means more mana for GogoGogo's ability, which means more IslandsIslands the next time they can copy a fetchland.

But mimes are never satisfied. Even with enough floating landmasses to make Indonesia blush, they're still not quite as powerful as they'd like. That's why they seek out (and jealously guardjealously guard) artifacts like Caged SunCaged Sun and spells like High TideHigh Tide. With those, each IslandIsland now taps for — and that's enough to make each land pay for an additional copy of an ability.

Among these doubling effects is Extraplanar LensExtraplanar Lens, which always exiles an IslandIsland. However, because Extraplanar LensExtraplanar Lens is symmetrical, we've noticed that mimes prefer to live upon Snow-Covered IslandsSnow-Covered Islands, so they can hog all the benefits to themselves. Our scientists have deemed this adaptation "The Snowball Effect," and we'll look at its implications in just a second.

Foraging for Invisible Sustenance

To continue to conquer territory, the mime (Homo imitator) must find sustenance. As they have been known to mimic the photosynthesis of plants, mimes don't need to stop to eat, but if they run out of new and interesting things to copy, they will spontaneously explode into a giant pile of rainbow-colored confetti. This has been known to be especially common if they're near a couch and doing so would be a giant pain to clean.

With access to so much mana, the mimes have been known to find new sources of mimables by copying cycling abilities. For every pumped into copying a cycling ability, that's another card, and since GogoGogo can be activated at instant speed, they can wait until just before their turn to refresh their hand.

The mimes have a few backup plans in case they can't get a cycling card in hand. Utility lands like War RoomWar Room and Arch of OrazcaArch of Orazca aren't quite as efficient, but they can be useful in a pinch, and if they can find Arcanis the OmnipotentArcanis the Omnipotent, whom they have a symbiotic relationship with, then they can fill their hands with no effort at all.

In fact, we've noticed some specimens copying the wizardcycling from Step ThroughStep Through to find this creature, as well as others like Wonderscape SageWonderscape Sage and Aether ChannelerAether Channeler.

Apex Predators

It's no surprise that with all this power, the mime is at the top of the food chain. As mentioned earlier, they don't have to eat, but they sure do love to hunt. Isn't that interesting? Anyway, let's take a look at how they capture prey.

Defensive Mechanisms

With access to far more lands than their competitors, mimes are the best positioned to bounce back from an unexpected calamity. Since only nonland permanents are washed away by mass-bounce spells like Devastation TideDevastation Tide and Coastal BreachCoastal Breach, a mime on the back foot will often tap all their mana, let loose a board-clearing haymaker like this, and then rebuild before their prey can respond.

Flash of Brilliance

Mimes also revel in being tricky, and nothing sets their prey on edge like keeping their mana up. Flash-enablers allow the mime the flexibility to react to dangerous enemies with the aforementioned board-clearing spells while giving them the opportunity to find more lands or copy a draw ability if it's safe.

Unending Performances

Once an opportunity presents itself, the mime will ensnare its prey by beginning a hypnotic performance that never ends until everyone gets bored and quits. Whether it be by taking an absurd amount of turns via abilities on Magistrate's ScepterMagistrate's Scepter or Magosi, the WaterveilMagosi, the Waterveil, or by simply starting tons of beginning phases as with Sphinx of the Second SunSphinx of the Second Sun, they will get access to so many resources (if not an outright infinite amount of them) that they can bowl over their enemies.

This is especially effective if they're capable of using one of their board wipes to reset the entire field after confirming their extra turns, and of course, access to flash helps when taking many beginning phases.

All of this is possible because the mime has the mana to do it, and that's a natural result of their fetchland copying.

Mind Control

If the mime is thwarted by a well-prepared foe — the kind who actually blows up the extremely-telegraphed extra turn outlets instead of just sitting there like a dunce — then they will go to their next trick: outright mind control. Copying MindslaverMindslaver's ability twice gives the mime the power to play all three of their opponents' turns before it loops back around to theirs, and that should be enough sabotage to impress the Beastie Boys.

Horrible Abominations

If all else fails, then be prepared to face the terrifying, dark abominations that every mime has the power to summon from the depths of Hell. No CounterspellCounterspell will save you if you find yourself on the opposing end of one of these, since Eldrazi trigger when they're cast, and not when they enter.

You must, of course, be prepared for the CrabCrab, as well. Not only will it trigger multiple times when the mime puts lands onto the field; a mime that's simply playing a basic may instead opt to flip the script and copy the landfall trigger multiple times, which will rapidly run their prey out of resources.

Glass Case of Emotion

So that's all we've learned about these incredible specimens, and — wait, why do you look so terrified? It might be a little hardcore, but that's just how it is in nature. And besides, the mimes aren't really that bad once you get to know them. After all, you've been talking to one for the past half-hour.

Like How They Brew It? Come join the community on my Discord and discuss your jank decks with a group of like-minded individuals. We're always looking for new members, so we hope to see you there!

Gogo, Master of Mimicry Commander Deck List