Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Mirror Mockery: Side-by-Side on Similar Keyword Abilities
Blue magic loves a good riddle, and Mirror Mockery wears its riddle on a delicate enchantment thread. This Dragons of Tarkir bounty costs just {1}{U} and slides onto a single creature as an Aura, promising a fleeting, tactical duplicate of the target with every attack. The flavor text—"Who you are constantly runs toward who you will be"—nudges us toward the clever psychology of copying and identity in combat. 🧙🔥💎 It’s a card that rewards you for thinking about the attack step not as a single strike, but as a choreography where each push creates a temporary echo of your best creature. ⚔️
What the card actually does
On the surface, Mirror Mockery is a straightforward aura: “Enchant creature.” But its true charm emerges during combat. Whenever the enchanted creature attacks, you may create a token that's a copy of that creature. That copied clone sticks around just long enough to swing or block, then is exiled at end of combat. It’s the kind of effect that invites you to plan a sequence where tempo, combat damage, and risk-reward judgments all hinge on a single attack trigger. The token copy inherits the original’s power and abilities, but it’s a temporary visitor—an echo that vanishes as the dust settles. 🪞🎲
“Enchant creature. Whenever enchanted creature attacks, you may create a token that's a copy of that creature. Exile that token at end of combat.”
Blue decks love the tempo play here: you attach Mirror Mockery to a creature that’s already earning its keep, then tax the opponent with an extra threat or two—without flooding the board with long-lived copies. The aura itself is part of the puzzle, because you’re committing to a risk-reward dynamic: your payoff arrives only if your creature swings, and your token’s survival is strictly tied to the length of the encounter. In the best turns, Mirror Mockery turns one attacker into a small army that disappears as quickly as it appears, leaving behind a clean battlefield and a sharpened edge for the next plan. 🧙♀️⚡
Side-by-side with similar copy-oriented abilities
- General copy effects (Clone-like ideas): Cards that copy a creature often enter the battlefield as a clone of a target creature or switch to another form upon entering play. Mirror Mockery flips the script by keeping the copy tied to an attacking trigger rather than a static timestamp. The token is a temporary shadow of the original, not a perpetual duplicate that lingers on the battlefield.
- Token copies from combat triggers: Some effects generate copies tied to combat or spell interactions, but Mirror Mockery uniquely anchors the token to the enchanted creature's attack. This makes the decision to attach the aura a deliberate step in your combat plan, not just a late-game tempo play. The temporary nature also means you don’t have to worry about state-based actions piling up from a dozen copies; the token exits the stage with the end of combat. 🧳
- ETB copies vs attack copies: Copy-on-entry cards (ETB copies) enter as a snapshot of another creature, while Mirror Mockery’s token is a live, on-attack snapshot. The difference matters in how your board state interacts with redirection removal effects, removal spells, and timing windows. The attack-triggered copy encourages you to think two steps ahead about how your creature will behave once it’s in the fray. 🎨
- Legendary considerations: If the enchanted creature is legendary, the copy copy-pastes another familiar problem: the legendary rule can force you to choose between duplicates when a token joins the battlefield. Since the copy is temporary and exiled at end of combat, you still navigate the legend rule’s quirks with care. It’s a reminder that even tiny rules can tilt big decisions in moments like the attack step. 🛡️
Strategic implications and deck-building notes
Mirror Mockery shines in blue-centric strategies that love control tempo and punishing early plays. If you’ve got an attacker with a reliable pump or a suite of activated abilities, mirroring that creature on attack can push through extra damage or unlock additional value in the same combat phase. The token’s temporary nature invites you to lean into “bold gambits” rather than lock yourself into a long-term board presence. It’s a perfect fit for aristocrat-adjacent or tempo-focused builds that trade inevitability for explosive moments. 🧙♂️💎
When you plan ahead, you can pair Mirror Mockery with creatures that have powerful attack-triggered abilities. For example, a creature with a solid attack trigger can give you a rush of extra options—grants you a second attacker, or copies a finisher you’re counting on. The challenge? If your aura is removed or your creature is silenced before or during combat, you lose access to the token opportunity. That risk, however, is part of the elegant tug-of-war that blue decks love to choreograph. 🎲
Lore, art, and the flavor of identity
Dragon-spell lore in Tarkir often toys with the tension between who you are and who you will become. Mirror Mockery embodies that tension: a physical enchantment that invites you to glimpse a version of your creature that could exist, briefly, if you push hard enough in combat. The artwork by Ryan Alexander Lee captures that moment of reflection—where a spell’s ripple moment becomes a literal echo on the battlefield. The line “Who you are constantly runs toward who you will be” resonates with players who love building decks around growth, risk, and the artistry of misdirection. 🎨🌀
Collector value, playability, and accessibility
As a rare from Dragons of Tarkir, Mirror Mockery sits in a sweet spot for sleeves-ready nostalgia while remaining approachable in standard drafting histories. The card is legal in Modern, Legacy, and Commander formats, with sensible foil and non-foil iterations. If you’re chasing a blue aura with a well-defined combat punisher, Mirror Mockery delivers; it’s not a game-ending card, but it’s a clever engine that rewards thoughtful timing and precise attack sequencing. Contemporary market data places it at a modest but respectable value tier, complemented by the charm of a rare from a beloved era of Tarkir’s dragon-infused vibes. 💎⚔️
For builders who crave both tactile aesthetics and practical play, the flavor meets the fundamentals: a small investment in tempo that pays out in memorable moments across many games. And if you’re setting up your desks for streaming or long night games, you might want to keep your surface crisp and ready—hence the neat cross-promo opportunity below. 🎨🧙♀️