Spitting Image MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityRare
TypeSorcery
Abilities Retrace

Key Takeaways

  1. Spitting Image guarantees board presence by cloning vital creatures, tipping the scales in your favor.
  2. Retrace ability of Spitting Image turns extra lands into ongoing threats, maximizing late-game utility.
  3. While not instant-speed, careful timing of Spitting Image leverages battlefield conditions effectively.

Text of card

Put a token into play that's a copy of target creature. Retrace (You may play this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)

Spitting is the customary greeting between a creature and its magical impostor.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Crafting a copy of any creature on the battlefield, Spitting Image can tilt the board presence in your favor, effectively doubling the value of your most substantial threats or replicating an adversary’s advantageous creature.

Resource Acceleration: Thanks to its retrace ability, Spitting Image enables you to cast the spell from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its mana cost, offering a repeatable way to use excess lands late in the game and maintain pressure on opponents.

Instant Speed: Although not castable at instant speed itself, Spitting Image lets you hold onto it until just the right moment, ensuring you can make the most impactful play by copying the most powerful creature that hits the board.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Spitting Image necessitates forfeiting a card from your hand to capitalize on its retrace ability. This could be detrimental when your hand size is already dwindling, making it a potentially costly way to duplicate your most influential creatures.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a precise combination of colors with its hybrid mana cost, which might limit its inclusion to decks that can reliably generate both green and blue mana. Its adaptability is thus restricted, which can be problematic in mono-colored or less mana-flexible decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total cost of six mana, Spitting Image is on the upper end for creature copying effects. This can make it less appealing compared to lower-cost alternatives, especially in faster-paced games where efficiency is paramount to staying competitive.


Reasons to Include Spitting Image in Your Collection

Versatility: Spitting Image shines with its adaptability in various deck builds, especially those seeking value from creature copying. With its reusability through the Retrace mechanic, it provides ongoing utility throughout the game.

Combo Potential: This card has significant synergy with strategies that capitalize on enter-the-battlefield effects or require creature tokens, multiplying the impact of powerful creature abilities.

Meta-Relevance: Spitting Image holds its ground in environments where creating copies of key creatures can disrupt your opponent’s game plan or strengthen your board presence, making it a savvy choice for current and evolving metas.


How to beat

Spitting Image is a unique and potent card in the world of Magic the Gathering, offering players the ability to create a copy of any creature on the battlefield. This clone not only includes power and toughness but also any abilities that creature possesses. Such flexibility can turn the tides of a game, making Spitting Image a tricky card to play against.

To effectively counter this card, one must consider the removal of prime targets from the opponent’s side, which often means handling strong creatures before Spitting Image can be used. Utilizing instant-speed removal spells can disrupt your opponent’s plans, particularly if they are aiming to copy a creature with a powerful enter-the-battlefield effect. Graveyard hate cards can also be valuable, as Spitting Image has a retrace ability, allowing it to be played from the graveyard by discarding a land. Cards like Rest in Peace or Scavenging Ooze can help mitigate this recursive threat.

Understanding that Spitting Image can replicate any creature means maintaining vigilance over the board state and being ready to act when your opponent reaches for their graveyard. By managing your removal resources wisely and keeping tabs on potential retrace actions, you can neutralize the impact of Spitting Image in your matches.


BurnMana Recommendations

Wrapping up, Spitting Image represents a potent option for players seeking to harness the strategic depth of MTG. Its clone-creating capability extends your board influence and turns the tide of battles in imaginative ways. Whether you’re conjuring duplicates of your most formidable creatures or an opponent’s game-changers, this card continuously nudges you towards board dominance. Embrace the recursive power of Spitting Image to fortify your deck and remain a force in evolving metas. Dive deeper with us to unlock the full potential of your collection, optimize your strategies, and secure your standing as a skillful MTG enthusiast.


Cards like Spitting Image

Spitting Image holds its unique charm in the realm of creature copying spells in Magic: The Gathering. It stands shoulder to shoulder with cards like Clone, which also creates a copy of any creature on the battlefield. Nonetheless, Spitting Image brings added versatility with its retrace ability, allowing players to cast it from the graveyard by discarding a land card. Clone lacks this feature, offering a single occurrence unless further recursion tools are employed.

Diverging paths take us to Cackling Counterpart, another illustrious doppelganger in the game. This card boasts an instant speed advantage over Spitting Image’s sorcery pace. With Cackling Counterpart, players can whip up a surprise blocker or duplicate a creature with a handy enter the battlefield effect on an opponent’s turn. Still, it doesn’t enable the repeated use that Spitting Image’s retrace provides, making it more of a one-time affair.

Analyzing these options, Spitting Image emerges remarkably versatile within creature mimicking magic, gaining traction through its potential for repeated casting. Its blend of flexibility and sustainability edges it out as a formidable choice for players valuing long-term board presence.

Clone - MTG Card versions
Cackling Counterpart - MTG Card versions
Clone - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Cackling Counterpart - Innistrad (ISD)

Cards similar to Spitting Image by color, type and mana cost

Body of Research - MTG Card versions
Give // Take - MTG Card versions
Reason // Believe - MTG Card versions
Body of Research - Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos (PSTX)
Give // Take - Dragon's Maze (DGM)
Reason // Believe - Amonkhet Remastered (AKR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Spitting Image MTG card by a specific set like Eventide and Commander 2016, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Spitting Image and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Spitting Image Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2008-07-25 and 2021-04-23. Illustrated by Jim Nelson.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12008-07-25EventideEVE 1622003normalblackJim Nelson
22016-11-11Commander 2016C16 2362015normalblackJim Nelson
32018-06-08Commander Anthology Volume IICM2 1662015normalblackJim Nelson
42020-11-20Commander LegendsCMR 4532015normalblackJim Nelson
52021-04-23Commander 2021C21 2292015normalblackJim Nelson

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Spitting Image has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Spitting Image card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2008-08-01 A retrace card cast from your graveyard follows the normal timing rules for its card type.
2008-08-01 As the token is created, it checks the printed values of the creature it's copying — or, if that creature is itself a token, the original characteristics of that token as stated by the effect that put it onto the battlefield — as well as any copy effects that have been applied to it. It won't copy counters on the creature, nor will it copy other effects that have changed the creature's power, toughness, types, color, or so on.
2008-08-01 Casting a card by using its retrace ability works just like casting any other spell, with two exceptions: You're casting it from your graveyard rather than your hand, and you must discard a land card in addition to any other costs.
2008-08-01 If the active player casts a spell that has retrace, that player may cast that card again after it resolves, before another player can remove the card from the graveyard. The active player has priority after the spell resolves, so they can immediately cast a new spell. Since casting a card with retrace from the graveyard moves that card onto the stack, no one else would have the chance to affect it while it's still in the graveyard.
2008-08-01 When a retrace card you cast from your graveyard resolves, fails to resolve, or is countered, it's put back into your graveyard. You may use the retrace ability to cast it again.

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