The 36 Best Ability Copying Cards in Magic Ranked

Panharmonicon | Illustration by Volkan Baga

Copying spells and permanents has become pretty common in modern Magic, but there’s a smaller group of cards that work differently — they copy abilities instead. So what does that actually mean? And does it even matter at the table? The short answer is yes… and the long answer is way more exciting. Ability copiers can turn small effects into huge plays, push value engines over the top, and even enable unexpected combos.

Intrigued? Let’s dive in and take a look at the best cards that copy abilities!

What Are Ability Copiers in MTG?

The Peregrine Dynamo | Illustration by Zoltan Boros

Ability copiers in Magic: The Gathering are cards that let you duplicate another card’s activated or triggered ability, giving you extra value without paying the full cost again. Instead of copying an entire creature or spell, these cards simply repeat certain abilities—like drawing cards, making tokens, or dealing damage. For this list, we’re only looking at cards that explicitly say “copy” an ability, which means cards like Yarok, the Desecrated that cause abilities to trigger an additional time won’t be included. We have covered what we call “ability doublers” in another list, though.

#36. Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor

Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor shines in decks that love pumping creatures and getting value out of ability activations. It brings a mercenary token along for the ride, and that token can buff attackers to swing combat in your favor. Pairing this with cards that have strong activated abilities like Jaxis, the Troublemaker that spiral into a winning board state when you get them twice.

#35. Return the Favor

Sometimes a little misdirection is all you need, and Return the Favor excels at twisting spells and abilities to benefit you. Whether you want to reuse a burn spell, shift a removal spell onto a more deserving enemy target, or double up on a loyalty activation from a planeswalker like Chandra, Torch of Defiance, it gives you options at the exact right moment. Red decks that love stack interaction will get a kick out of how flexible this can be.

#34. Wyll's Reversal

Wyll's Reversal adds a dose of unpredictability to tricky stack battles. Sometimes it simply reassigns a harmful effect to a more deserving target, but rolling high means you get extra firepower out of the event. Aggressive decks with strong power-based threats can tilt the odds in their favor, turning an enemy removal spell or combat trick into something that bites back even harder.

#33. Pit Automaton

Pit Automaton might look like a simple defender, but it’s secretly a powerhouse for exhaust-driven strategies. It generates mana strictly for activations, giving you more chances to fire off impactful effects from cards that tap, sacrifice, or trigger on demand. When paired with something like Loot, the Pathfinder, those once-per-turn exhaust abilities become far more explosive.

#32. Magus Lucea Kane

Building around creatures that scale with X feels amazing when Magus Lucea Kane is on the field, because every bit of mana you spend turns into even bigger results. Ravenous creatures like Mawloc or Aberrant become incredible threats since they enter larger, draw cards more often, and hit harder right away.

#31. Rowan Kenrith

Rowan Kenrith brings battlefield chaos with forced attacks and damage-based control, and, once that emblem arrives, things truly spiral. Activating abilities becomes far more impactful, especially in decks that rely on tricky loyalty plays. Partnering with Will Kenrith lets you tailor the deck to a more spell-heavy or creature-triggered strategy, depending on your playstyle.

#30. The Enigma Jewel / Locus of Enlightenment

The Enigma Jewel starts as a mana rock that helps you activate abilities, but things get way more interesting once you craft it into Locus of Enlightenment. Now it picks up a collection of abilities from whatever you used to transform it, letting you do all kinds of cool tricks every turn.

#29. Unbound Flourishing

Unbound Flourishing  pushes any spell or permanent with X in its cost to the next level. Instead of hoping you spent enough mana, your biggest plays automatically hit harder and feel way more impactful. It pairs especially well with commanders like Marath, Will of the Wild, since scalable abilities get even stronger every time you use them.

#28. Virtue of Knowledge

Whether you cast the enchantment or start with the adventure spell, Virtue of Knowledge doubles up your best triggers. Enter-the-battlefield decks especially love it when their engines fire off multiple times for extra control or value. It’s a subtle but powerful enhancement piece, turning routine plays into larger swings as your board expands throughout the game.

#27. Aboleth Spawn

Flash and ward make Aboleth Spawn tough to remove, but the real fun begins when opponents rely on enter-the-battlefield triggers for value. Instead of letting them enjoy those effects alone, you piggyback on their best plays and turn their strengths into your own.

#26. Abstruse Archaic

Abstruse Archaic stands ready to enhance the abilities of any colorless source under your control. Vigilance lets it stay active on both offense and defense, and suddenly, every useful activation you already had becomes more efficient. It’s a great tool for machine-like artifact builds or any deck that uses abilities to shape the battlefield turn after turn.

#25. Adric, Mathematical Genius

Adric, Mathematical Genius likes playing around with activated and triggered abilities, letting your utility cards hit harder each time they're used. In a pinch, Adric can sacrifice itself to counter a key play, shutting down a powerful effect right on the stack.

#24. Agrus Kos, Eternal Soldier

Agrus Kos, Eternal Soldier rewards you for abilities that usually only help one creature at a time. With vigilance keeping it ready both offensively and defensively, Agrus can turn a single-target boost into an entire team upgrade. Pairing it with something like Thundering Raiju putting counters on an attacker or Duke Ulder Ravengard handing out myriad turns those effects into huge board-wide swings. If you want a strategy where your creatures support each other and scale together, Agrus is the ideal general.

#23. Battlemage's Bracers

Equipping a creature with Battlemage's Bracers gives your strongest activations extra impact. Your board will feel faster, hit harder, and translate utility effects into something much more influential. If your deck includes creatures that love tapping for meaningful abilities, these bracers make every activation pull double duty.

#22. Bill Potts

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery or activate an ability that targets only Bill Potts, you copy that effect and can choose new targets, doubling the value of your buffs or tricks. This only triggers once each turn, but still creates efficient plays. As a Doctor’s companion, it can sit in the command zone with any Doctor, giving you excellent deckbuilding flexibility.

#21. Chandra's Regulator

Perfect for Oops, All Chandra decks, Chandra's Regulator gives every Chandra activation more depth and versatility. Rummaging when needed keeps your hand healthy while enhancing your core strategy. It’s a natural inclusion for any build revolving around the fiery pyromancer and adds consistency without needing tons of setup.

#20. Dynaheir, Invoker Adept

Dynaheir, Invoker Adept encourages decks to use abilities that cost real mana to activate, giving you the green light to push them faster and harder. Granting pseudo-haste to your other creatures’ abilities means they’re useful the moment they hit the field. It's one of the prestige commanders that care about activated abilities.

#19. Firebender Ascension

Once Firebender Ascension hits the battlefield, all it asks is that your creatures keep triggering powerful on-attack abilities. The quest counters build up over time, and eventually, those repeated triggers start swinging combat and value heavily in your favor. Aggressive decks that love firebending and chaining attack-based synergies will appreciate how this enchantment turns routine combat into a burning path toward victory.

#18. Leori, Sparktouched Hunter

Flying and vigilance already make Leori, Sparktouched Hunter a solid threat in the air, but it really shines in superfriends decks. When it deals combat damage, your loyalty activations from your chosen planeswalker type become way more explosive — so teaming it up with favorites like Jace, the Mind Sculptor can swing a game completely in your favor. It’s a fun build-around for players who want their planeswalkers to take center stage while Leori keeps pressure steadily applied.

#17. Jaya's Phoenix

With both flying and haste, Jaya's Phoenix jumps right into combat and rewards you for leaning into planeswalker-based builds. When it connects, it supercharges your next loyalty activation, turning a normal turn into a high-impact play. Anytime you deploy a new planeswalker, the phoenix comes back ready to fight again, making it a persistent air threat and loyalty accelerator in one card.

#16. Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient

Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient transforms artifact abilities into true engines. You’ll get more out of every tap, sacrifice, or mechanical trick you’ve set up on the battlefield. Kurkesh squeezes a surprising amount of value from interactions your opponents might underestimate, like something as simple as getting two lands from a single Wayfarer's Bauble.

#15. Peter Parker's Camera

Those film counters give Peter Parker's Camera some useful early activations, helping your abilities push just a little further each time you use them. The value looks subtle at first, but it steadily adds up and keeps your game plan moving. It’s especially strong with a commander like Magda, Brazen Outlaw, where extra activations mean even more Treasures or double the access to big payoffs.

#14. Radiant Performer

Sneaking in at instant speed, Radiant Performer can completely change the outcome of a turn. When a spell or ability is aimed at a single target, this wizard jumps in and spreads that same effect across multiple targets. It might seem a bit overpriced, but with the right spell or ability, it can turn something small into a huge swing.

#13. Repeated Reverberation

Casting Repeated Reverberation before your next big moment ensures it lands with triple the force. Whether it's a spell or a loyalty activation, this instant turns your best play into a fireworks display that can end games. Control and spellslinger strategies love how it allows one key turn to rewrite the entire board state.

#12. Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice

Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice is a fast little artifact helper with haste, so it can get involved right away. Its ability lets you pay and tap it to copy an activated or triggered ability from one of your artifacts, doubling your best effects for a low cost. Pair it with cards like Thought Monitor to draw even more cards or Unwinding Clock to get double the instant-speed activations from your artifact arsenal.

#11. Rowan's Talent

Rowan's Talent takes any planeswalker and gives them even more battlefield presence. The +1 ability is a strong combat enhancer, and multiplying loyalty activations makes that planeswalker feel like the centerpiece of your strategy instantly. Auras on walkers normally feel risky but the reward here is explosive enough to tempt players to go for it.

#10. Weaver of Harmony

Weaver of Harmony gives enchantment creatures more power on the battlefield while boosting the impact of your enchantment-based triggers and abilities. It’s especially exciting with sagas since copying their chapter effects turns a slow drip of value into something explosive.

#9. Sunken Palace

Sunken Palace takes time and setup to use effectively, but when the moment hits, that bonus mana can fuel some dramatic plays. Blue decks often fill their graveyards naturally, so exiling seven cards is an achievable milestone. Once activated, the effect gives a surprising spike in power, helping you turn a key spell or ability into something that creates a real tempo swing or a nice value pivot.

#8. The Peregrine Dynamo

The Peregrine Dynamo loves working alongside legendary cards, so long as they're not your commander. Because it has haste, you can start boosting your best effects the moment it hits the field. It works especially well with something like Planar Bridge, letting you repeat powerful activations that cheat huge threats right onto the battlefield.

#7. Verrak, Warped Sengir

Even before you look at its abilities, Verrak, Warped Sengir is already scary in the air thanks to lifelink, flying, and deathtouch. But things get way more interesting when you start paying life to activate abilities. Verrak doubles the payoff, letting you get more out of every ability you use. Pairing it with something like Font of Agonies turns all that life-payment into a steady stream of removal, and it has a great baseline of doubling up on fetch land activations.

#6. Strionic Resonator

Strionic Resonator quietly sits on the battlefield until it turns a good turn into a great one. Doubling your strongest triggered abilities keeps your engines running faster than everyone else’s, whether you’re making tokens, drawing cards, or draining life. With a commander like Brago, King Eternal, you can even create infinite blinks if your mana rocks make 2 or more mana when they re-enter, letting you repeat your best effects over and over until your opponents concede.

#5. Rings of Brighthearth

Ramp, card draw, and battlefield control all become more impactful the moment Rings of Brighthearth is on the field. It’s also infamous for big combos, Basalt Monolith, which can turn repeated untap activations into infinite mana. Since so many decks rely on abilities to run their strategy, the Rings fit in easily and always deserve attention.

#4. Ashnod the Uncaring

With deathtouch and a love for sacrifice synergies, Ashnod the Uncaring rewards players who like turning artifacts and creatures into fuel for big payoffs. Think about pairing this with cards like Clues or self-sacrificing constructs to get multiple bursts of value off each activation. It turns a small advantage into something your opponents will struggle to keep up with.

#3. Gogo, Master of Mimicry

Instead of sitting back and letting triggers do their thing, Gogo, Master of Mimicry makes every ability feel like it’s pulling double duty. In the right setup, tapping into something like Magosi, the Waterveil means you’re not just getting a bonus turn — you’re looping the effect for infinite turns and taking over the game at your own pace.

#2. Illusionist's Bracers

Illusionist's Bracers takes activated-ability creatures from useful to ridiculous. Getting a second helping without extra cost can tilt games quickly. It becomes a staple with commanders like Krenko, Mob Boss or a similar key creature that does heavy lifting through an activated ability.

#1. Lithoform Engine

You can get a ton of extra value out of your deck with Lithoform Engine, since it boosts almost anything you put on the stack. It naturally fits into spell-heavy strategies or builds that love multiplying ETB effects, keeping its impact growing throughout the game. If you really want to go big, pairing it with something like Teferi, Temporal Archmage can turn repeated untaps into infinite mana, giving you all the fuel you need to take over games.

Best Ability Copying Payoffs

There are tons of great payoffs for copying abilities in MTG, but the strongest ones usually come from enter-the-battlefield triggers and planeswalker loyalty abilities. When you copy abilities from cards like Primeval Titan, you get double the lands for free. Copying the ETB of Avenger of Zendikar means way more plant tokens on entry, and copying Eternal Witness can return multiple cards from your graveyard right back to your hand.

Planeswalkers offer just as much power. Copying the +1 on Teferi, Temporal Archmage to untap extra permanents gives you huge mana swings, and copying the −X from Tezzeret the Seeker can fetch multiple artifacts in one turn. Even a simple +1 from Chandra, Torch of Defiance can mean more cards and more damage.

Big-mana creatures like Kozilek, Butcher of Truth benefit too — copying its cast trigger draws you extra cards. The death trigger on Wurmcoil Engine creates twice the token payoff. Damage engines such as Drakuseth, Maw of Flames or Inferno Titan become absurd when their attack triggers resolve multiple times. Decks that love tokens can go wild, copying Goblin Rabblemaster abilities.

When you start doubling these kinds of abilities, even budget ability-copier cards become genuinely scary win conditions.

How Does Copying an Ability Work?

To copy an ability in MTG, the ability must already be on the stack. Then your copying effect creates a new copy of it, usually by targeting it, and the new copy also goes on the stack and resolves like a normal ability. This timing matters a lot — if the original ability is removed from the stack before the copier resolves, such as with something like Stifle, the copy effect will no longer have a legal target and will simply fizzle.

Does the Copy of an Ability Resolve First?

Copies follow normal stack order. Whichever ability was added to the stack last resolves first. So if you copy an ability after the original goes on the stack, the copy resolves before the original.

Do Copies of Abilities Use the Stack?

Yes. The copy goes right onto the stack, just like the original ability. That means players can still respond to the copy with spells, abilities, or more interaction.

What Does “Choose New Targets for the Copy” Mean?

This line simply means the copy doesn’t have to use the same targets as the original ability. You can send the copy at a different creature, player, or permanent, if the ability says it targets and the new choice is legal.

Can You Copy Loyalty Abilities on Planeswalkers?

Yes, you can copy a loyalty ability as long as it’s already on the stack. Copying doesn’t count as activating the ability again, so it doesn’t break the “one loyalty ability per turn” rule. You still need to legally activate the original ability first, but once it’s on the stack, any effect that copies abilities can duplicate it and give you the same effect again.

Some effects like Repeated Reverberation will create a delayed trigger that copies a loyalty ability late that turn, which means it doesn't have to actually target anything on the stack.

Does Copying an Ability Affect Loyalty Counters on Planeswalkers?

No, copying a planeswalker’s ability doesn’t change loyalty counters. Adding or removing loyalty is part of the cost to activate the ability, not the effect itself. When you copy the ability, you’re only copying the effect, not the cost you originally paid. The copy still gives you the same effect, but you won’t add or remove more loyalty counters from the planeswalker.

Can You Copy an Ability that Triggers Only Once Each Turn?

Yes. “Triggers only once each turn” refers to how many times the ability can trigger—not how many times it can resolve. If you copy the ability, the copy goes on the stack and resolves normally, even though the original trigger has already happened.

What Happens If You Copy an Ability with X in its Cost?

When you copy an ability that uses X in its cost, the copy keeps the exact same value of X that was chosen for the original activation. You don’t get to pick a new number, and you don’t have to pay the cost again. For example, if you activate Crypt Rats and pay X=5, then copy that ability, both resolutions of the ability will deal 5 damage.

Wrap Up

Locus of Enlightenment | Illustration by Martin de Diego Sadaba

It might not seem very important at first, but copying the right abilities can be downright powerful!

What do you think? Did you already know about these tricks, or are you now tempted to add a few ability copiers to your next decks? Let us know in the comments! Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this breakdown, follow us on social media so you never miss a new article.

Take care, and we’ll meet again in the next one!