Spark DoubleSpark Double | Art by Eric Deschamps

I was driving in the car with my partner the other day when we started toying with an idea. It was a two-hour drive to see his parents so naturally we were talking a lot to fill the time and Magic: The Gathering is both of our hyperfixations. He was building a Teval, the Balanced ScaleTeval, the Balanced Scale deck, put some cards together and play tested it a handful of times.

He had come to the conclusion that what the deck needed was a Spark DoubleSpark Double. Then came what he was convinced by on our drive: If you're playing blue in Commander, it just makes sense to play Spark DoubleSpark Double.

I thought this would be an interesting point of thought. Should we all be playing the same card in every deck? Everyone wants to play Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne, The One RingThe One Ring, and/or Sol RingSol Ring in any deck they can afford to have them in, right?

I agreed with him at first, but then I started to feel some resistance to this idea.

It made so much sense, but on second thought it might be lazy deck building. I'd wondered something similar before in my article, Is Optimization Ruining Commander Deck Building?, where I toyed with the idea of playing the same few cards in every deck. I wondered if it would lead to less interesting decks just to make sure the play patterns were optimized.

So I wondered if this insistence on this card as a staple of any deck playing blue was the reason I paused.

History of Clones in Commander

Before we can get into the pros and cons, I wanted to explore some of the history of clones, to see if that gives this whole argument context. From my meager research I believe the first ever "clone" effect like Spark DoubleSpark Double is Vesuvan DoppelgangerVesuvan Doppelganger. It came out in Alpha with a casting cost of .

It reads, "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.'"

It's an effect that starts at the very beginning of Magic. I only really say this to show that the very fabric of Magic makes a space for Clone effects.

Another huge iconic face for clone effects is Sakashima the ImpostorSakashima the Impostor which came out with Saviors of Kamigawa. This is a legendary creature that allows a new copy that doesn't die to the legendary rule because it keeps it's name as Sakashima. For four mana, which is the good standard rate for a clone effect, you could copy any creature, notably your commander. It's also a cool commander you could run to head up a clone heavy deck.

There are many other clone effects are good cards, but not so good for commander copying, like Clever ImpersonatorClever Impersonator and Wall of Stolen IdentityWall of Stolen Identity, which would give you access to commander abilities, but would struggle with the legendary rule.

Clever ImpersonatorClever Impersonator is a little more flexible like Phyrexian MetamorphPhyrexian Metamorph as both can copy any permanent, which has a little more utility. Phyrexian MetamorphPhyrexian Metamorph is even more flexible because it can copy something you don't control.

Spark DoubleSpark Double, which came out in War of the Spark, is the next notable good clone effect. It reads, "You may have this creature enter as a copy of a creature or planeswalker you control, except it enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it if it’s a creature, it enters with an additional loyalty counter on it if it’s a planeswalker, and it isn’t legendary."

It does so much for so little. It can copy any creature including your commander, making any of them nonlegendary. Imagine if you could make a token copy of the clone; you could have more and more. It stands out here because of its cost and mana pip investment. It might be the best clone effect for Commander.

Auton SoldierAuton Soldier is the next notable one. It's , which is a ton, but it isn't legendary and has myriad which could mean many copies of the commander's effect, depending on whether combat could take advantage of its ability. It's a little expensive and situational, which isn't as good as Spark Double or Sakashima, but it's interesting.

Lastly, in Spider-Man there is Chameleon, Master of DisguiseChameleon, Master of Disguise which is the rate of Spark DoubleSpark Double. It keeps its own name so the legendary rule doesn't affect it. Additionally because of it's mayhem cost it could potentially be cast for even less than Spark DoubleSpark Double at .

There are tons of really cool clone effects in blue that I haven't mentioned, but there aren't a ton that are good at cloning legendary creatures. The point is that these effects don't disproportionately affect commander.

Spark Double in Every Blue Commander Deck

The reason I mention the amount of clone effects that can copy a commander is because I want to toy around with this idea. Why wouldn't we, in this format, want endless ways to trigger our commander? We want to get the most out of commanders while they're out, so we run cards like Lithoform EngineLithoform Engine and Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator to get multiple triggers for their abilities.

And removal for commanders is rampant. If we lose them we want to have another way trigger effects.

Cards like Spark DoubleSpark Double or Sakashima of a Thousand FacesSakashima of a Thousand Faces make two targets when removing a commander. It's multiple abilities, like two Miirym, Sentinel WyrmMiirym, Sentinel Wyrm's copy triggers, that can be back breaking. But notably for my partner it meant multiple Teval, the Balanced ScaleTeval, the Balanced Scale triggers: more ramp, more Zombies, more mill.

Cards like Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne are typically believed to be must-play cards in Commander decks because they give not only your commander double triggers but any creatures sharing a specific type. Because of the lack of color restriction on Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne, it's become a Commander staple and ubiquitous in typal decks.

Why wouldn't you give your deck an additional target for removal, a backup plan for you commander? Why wouldn't a player want double triggers, additional attacks, additional activated abilities? If you're able to play Spark DoubleSpark Double at the bare minimum - the in Sakashima might be tougher in three colored decks and can't be copied - in a blue deck, why shouldn't you? That's the question.

Lack of Creativity

We have to talk about the traps of redundancy. In deck building, we want the consistency of our commander, but having two commanders isn't beneficial to you in every situation. Neera, Wild MageNeera, Wild Mage typically doesn't want double triggers with Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne or a Spark DoubleSpark Double. Most times the spells are really hoping to go from one small one for one big one.

Additionally, not having a card you need to remove a problem impeding your deck's game plan or furthering your board state might be a better slot than a clone effect. This doesn't mean a clone deck can't exist, if that's the theme, but running a subtheme of clones in your Ovika, Enigma GoliathOvika, Enigma Goliath deck might not be the best use of the space in your deck.

Additionally, some of the spice of the game in Commander is the singleton format. We want redundancy in cards, but not necessarily straight copies of the commander. It feels like it defeats the purpose a little.

It's good to get a copy of your commander or their effect from a power perspective, but in a creative sense, it's a bit lazy. It takes the spice and fun out of the singleton format.

I'm not saying this is necessarily always bad. Decks like Marrow-GnawerMarrow-Gnawer love having tons of Rat ColonyRat Colony's and even benefit off of cards like Thrumming StoneThrumming Stone, but imagine every deck you play with blue having Spark DoubleSpark Double. It takes some of the fun out of curating a unique deck every time you run them.

Conclusion

This is tough for me as usual because both aspects here make some sense. We want to build decks that are consistent, and we run various staples like Sol RingSol Ring or /el]Arcane Signet[/el] and that doesn't take the fun out of the building process. However, for some reason Spark DoubleSpark Double in every blue deck feels like it should take the fun out of things.

I've known players who only run one copy of any card across all of their decks to keep deck building spicy and interesting. I'm not suggesting anyone get that extreme, but the desire for that creativity is there.

We've seen the merits of Spark DoubleSpark Double and the question is left up to you, ultimately. What kind of player do you want to be? Do you want to trade efficiency for creativity? It's a small thing. It's one card, but I think it speaks a little to the fundamentals of the player and the deck builder.

Would you put a suboptimal card in your deck to flex a creative itch? I'm not sure I would. I think I find myself reaching for Spark DoubleSpark Double more and more, but that's my two cents.

I want to hear yours. I'm @strixhavendropout at Blue Sky.

Read More: