Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Palette Play: Colorless Identity and the Mirror’s Palette
In MTG, color is more than a shade on a card; it’s a storytelling tool that invites you to lean into a particular philosophy of play. Mirror of the Forebears, an artifact from Commander 2017, sits at a curious crossroads: it has no colors of its own, yet its ability invites you to borrow the hues of creatures you control. The card’s art and its text emphasize reflection, lineage, and the idea that identity can be redefined in an instant. 🧙🔥💎
The artwork, rendered by Kieran Yanner, leans into the metallic gleam of a device that could be mistaken for ancient glass or a modern tool—an artifact that exists to mimic what you already nurture on the battlefield. The colorless nature of Mirror of the Forebears mirrors a broader design philosophy in MTG: sometimes the strongest engines aren’t about color dominance, but about flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to pivot to the most relevant tribe or theme in the moment. This is why players talk about color palettes not just in terms of mana, but in terms of strategy—tribal synergy, tempo, tokens, and combo pieces all get a shade when you have a mirror that can wear any type you command. 🎨⚔️
Mana Cost, Rarity, and the Silvery Practicality
With a modest mana cost of {2}, Mirror of the Forebears is a two-mana investment that pays dividends by enabling a quick “copy the best you’ve already got” moment. It’s colorless, so it slots neatly into almost any deck that wants to amplify its tribal or token strategies without introducing color-masten constraints. The two-mana tempo also makes it a strong late-game lamp for midrange commanders who want a reliable, repeatable way to mimic a key creature type on demand. The card’s rarity is uncommon, which places it in that sweet spot where it’s rarely a slam-dunk inclusion, but when it lands, it often fuels memorable turns that swing a game’s momentum. 🧭
Mechanics as Symbol: Choosing a Type and Copying a Creature
The core of Mirror of the Forebears is elegantly simple: as this artifact enters, you choose a creature type. Then, for {1}, until end of turn, it becomes a copy of a target creature you control of the chosen type, except it remains an artifact in addition to its other types. That small line of text unlocks a universe of symbolic possibilities.
- Tribally aware play: pick a creature type that your deck already leans into, whether that’s Goblins, Elves, Knights, Spirits, or Pirates. The mirror then becomes your chameleon, wearing the color and traits of whichever creature you want to echo on a given turn.
- Artifact resilience: because the copy is an artifact, it can benefit from or synergize with other artifact-centric synergies, colorless accelerants, and ETB/attack triggers you’ve engineered around your tribe. It’s a perfect partner for boards that value repetition and trait-based advantage more than big, single-color power plays.
- Tempo and value: you don’t need mana ramps to fetch another copy; you simply pay {1} to replicate a trusted teammate. In games where creatures are the backbone of your plan, a single Mirror turn can yield exponential returns—especially when your chosen type has a variety of utility bodies on the field. 🧙♂️
Flavor and Lore: Reflection, Legacy, and the Forebears
The name “Mirror of the Forebears” invites a meditation on lineage and heritage. In many tribal decks, players think in terms of the elders and newest recruits who share a name, a trait, or a purpose. The mirror literalizes that idea: by selecting a creature type, you invite the echoes of your own deck’s ancestry to step forward as a temporary reflection. It’s a meta-flavor moment about how a community of creatures—your forebears—can be briefly reborn, reinterpreted, and redeployed with a little spellcraft and a dash of showmanship. The artifact frame reinforces the theme of craft and lineage, a tactile reminder that in this multiverse, a single device can be a doorway to dozens of possible identities. 🎭
Artistry, Design, and the Craft of Copying
Mirror of the Forebears demonstrates how card design can weave colorless utility with vibrant tribal potential. The art, fonts, and layout all serve to emphasize a mirror’s purpose: to reflect the best of what you’ve already assembled. It’s a design choice that rewards players who value synergy and planning. The ability to copy a creature you control of a chosen type—while keeping the artifact identity intact—makes it easy to slot into both artifact-heavy builds and classic tribal lists. The result is a piece that feels both timeless and perfectly at home in a Commander table where the room is filled with signatures of past and present. 🎲
Practical Deckbuilding: Where Mirror Shines
If you’re assembling a Commander 2017 cohort or any tribal-slanted deck, Mirror of the Forebears acts as a flexible amplifier. Consider these angles:
- Choose a type that your deck already exploits heavily. This ensures you maximize value on your turns and don’t waste the ability trying to copy something that doesn’t fit the game plan.
- Pair with token producers or tribal lords that benefit from the presence of multiple subtypes on the battlefield. The card acts like a tiny, temporary “sigil” you can raise when you need a specific body cavalry to push through for the win.
- In artifact-rich builds, Mirror’s transformation into an additional copy with artifact status can enable synergy with weaponized ETBs, Pylons, or relic-based effects that care about noncreature artifacts entering or leaving the battlefield.
For players who adore the tactile feel of their decks, a dash of colorless innovation like Mirror of the Forebears is often the spark that turns a well-tuned list into a memorable table experience. And if you’re planning the kind of road trip to your weekly game night that deserves a little retail flair, this neon card holder from Digital Vault’s lineup could be the perfect companion—your cards stay crisp, your phone stays charged, and your bragging rights stay bright. 🧙🔥🎲
Cross-Promotion Note: A Little Gear to Go with Great Games
While you fine-tune your tribal engine, consider keeping your play space organized and stylish with the Neon Card Holder Phone Case with MagSafe—an impact-resistant companion that travels as well as Mirror of the Forebears copies thrives on a crowded table. It’s a nice, practical tie-in for fans who treat their MTG setup like a ritual and a conversation piece. Check it out here: