Welcome to the Daily Dose of Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths. Today I’m not only going to show you three new Mutate cards for your upcoming Simic Mutate deck, but also talk about some of the best creatures you will need to be playing to Mutate onto. There are a ton of Mutate creatures in Ikoria, but the ones that intrigue me the most are the creatures that have a Mutate cost that is less or equal to their casting cost. Mutate costs can range from two mana up to six mana, so if you want to take advantage of any Mutate abilities, you want to have a creature on the battlefield as early as turn one. Before I preview some cards from the new set, I want to focus on what I think are some of the best creatures for Simic to Mutate onto.
Arboreal Grazer – This is one of the best targets to Mutate onto, as the best part about the card is getting to put an extra land onto the battlefield. This allows you to have 3-casting cost Mutate costs on turn two.
Chamber Sentry – You can play this on turn 1 or 2 and have it so whatever Mutates onto it will have some +1/+1 counters to boost its stats.
Fblthp, the Lost – You’ve already drawn the card from it, but be careful if your opponent targets your Mutated creature, it’s going to be shuffled back into your library.
Gilded Goose – Another creature in which you can cast a 3-mana Mutate creature on turn two. The Mutated creature will even have flying to boot.
Pelt Collector – Mutating on to this, will allow your newly Mutated creature to have a lot of potential +1/+1 counters on it.
Stonecoil Serpent – A great flexible creature with some great stat lines for whatever you Mutate it with. Reach, trample and protection from multicoloured will help your new creature keep safe against certain spells.
Don’t worry though, Ikoria is providing you a new 1-mana creature that is ready-made for Mutating. Here is Mysterious Egg.
Mysterious Egg
Here is another 1-mana creature that will give any creature Mutated with it +1/+1. Not bad for an 0/2 Egg. Unlike other creatures that come with +1/+1 counters, this will continue to get multiple +1/+1 counters, each time you Mutate. Although this seems like a great answer to “What can I Mutate onto?”, overall I would prefer any of the options listed above if possible.
Now that we have some nice creatures to Mutate onto, we need some Mutate creatures. Here is one that is going to see some Standard play. Here is Gemrazer.
Gemrazer
There is so much to love about this card. Just playing this out as a normal creature, still gives you a 4/4 creature with reach and trample. I’d be happy with just that on the battlefield. With cards like Fires of Invention and Witch’s Oven being cast by opponent’s these days, why not Mutate this and knock off one of their key cards. The best part about this card though is its wonderful Mutate cost of only three mana. This means that you can put it on an Arboreal Grazer on turn two. How about a turn three 6/6, when you Mutate it onto your 2/2 Stonecoil Serpent you just cast on turn two? I think this card will see some consistent play in Standard and it might shape the metagame away from artifacts and enchantments being used in decks.
Finally, I want to talk about one of my picks for the standout card of the set. Here is Sea-Dasher Octopus.
Sea-Dasher Octopus
I love cards that can replace themselves and this one can replace itself multiple times. The fact that it has Flash and Mutate, almost makes it seem like it has Ninjitsu. Your goal will be to always flash this onto an unblocked creature. That way you can make sure you get to draw a card on that first attack. Imagine the confusion on your opponents’ face when you attack with your 0/3 Arboreal Grazer or your 0/2 Gilded Goose only to see Sea-Dasher Octopus Mutated on top of it for 2 damage and a sweet card draw. Even if you can’t Mutate it onto a creature, you can cast it at the end of your opponents’ turn and basically give it a haste attack during your turn. I have no problem playing 4 of this creature in my deck as they even stack well if you want to Mutate one on top of another for a double card draw.
If these cards don’t get you excited about Mutate creatures, I’m not sure what will! Thanks again for joining me on the Daily Dose of Ikoria. Join me again tomorrow as I delve more into what this set brings to the table.
