Hello folks! I hope your day is going swimmingly well! I am heading out to the West African island nation of Cape Verde for Spring Break, and I'm flying out today and will be out next week. See you when I get back! (As I've done top tens for my recent trips to Morocco and Iceland, I may also do a Top Ten Cape Verdean Cards when I come back after spending 10 days there.)

Let's do something that predicts the future. In honor of the upcoming set Ikoria and its mutate mechanic, I figured we should take a deep dive into the Mutants of Magic. What are the best ones? For this conversation, creatures like Mistform Ultimus or those with changeling won't count. I only want natural Mutants.

Ready? Here we go!

Honorable Mention #1 - Experiment Kraj

Experiment Kraj is a fun card, and one of only a handful that will copy abilities from others. All they need is a sexy +1/+1 counter to do so. And you can tap to give them that pretty counter! As a part of this combo, Kraj can copy several useful abilities, and can be a one card game-winning combo machine.

For example, you could combine the tapping for cards of Arcanis the Omnipotent with the untapping of Eater of the Dead. Both are free, and as long as there are dorks in the graveyard to eat, you can draw a ton of cards! There are many of combos to consider as well, and the Kraj is a powerful and fun card to kick off our Mutant list. What's next?

#10. Goblin Goliath

The first Mutant was back in Ice Age: Goblin Mutant. Ever since then we've seen mutated Goblins as a beefier side of Red. Here you have an ideal Goblin Mutant for your battlefield. Assuming a group of players in formats such as Commander, Goblin Goliath is a powerful body. It combines the going-widery of tokens with doubling damage. Note that this can be the Goliath itself should it be untapped when you deal damage with it. (Cough cough, vigilance, cough cough). Making three dorks in a four-way game is very reliable and yields four bodies with 8 damage across them. Is this a card that escaped your notice due to not being in booster packs? Get it on!

#9. Benthic Biomancer

There are a few cheaper Mutants in today's countdown as I value early drops at the kitchen table just as much as the tournament one. Hello, Benthic Biomancer. As a one-drop, this is a serviceable creature that can easily swing as a 2/2 on the second turn and loot a card at the same time. If you can find a way to keep layering on those counters, you can keep up the card flow. It will slide into many a deck that cares about counters, such as Simic or with Hardened Scales. It has mad synergy with those builds as well as a good early play that you don't want to ignore. Enjoy!

#8. Roalesk, Apex Hybrid

Roalesk, Apex Hybrid is another fun Mutant for your consideration. He's a fun proliferate-loving Simic leader for your Commander decks, and he can layer counters onto other dorks on arrival. I adore him! Roalesk heads out for some delights on the seashore and prints that free double proliferate when you crack him open for crab. From planeswalkers to Darksteel Forge, there are a number of ways to use and abuse that work. Enjoy!

#7. Merfolk Skydiver

Two mana for a 2/2 flyer has been useful in these two colors for a long time. Merfolk Skydiver has the added flexibility of being able to add one power to another creature. You can use it with the creature below at #6 quite nicely as well as with other good, useful one-drops, from Savannah Lions to Wild Nacatl. The best bonus though is the repeatable proliferate that can be used to add another counter on the dork you targeted, as well as other counters, loyalty counters on your planeswalkers, and many more. You can reduce this five-mana investment with other stuff on this list higher up as well. This card is thus good in the early game on turn two as well as mid-game.

#6. Cloudfin Raptor

The best one-drop Mutant is this beater. It was heavily played in Standard back when it was legal. You'll easily grow it over time as you drop more and more creatures. Evolve not only counts power, but toughness as well. Every two-drop you have can evolve one or the other. Drop it and swing for 1/2 in the air. I know you have a three-drop that's bigger on one side. Drop it and swing with your two-drop and a 2/3 in the air. You may even get it one bigger on turn 4 or 5. Cloudfin Raptor is one of the best evasive one-drops in Blue's history, as well as being a powerful Mutant too!

#5. Biomancer's Familiar

Hello, lover of activated abilities! Wow do I have a deal for you! For the low, low cost of just two mana, you can have this on-curve miracle making Familiar that can already swing for 2/2 on the ground. Not only that, but it'll drop the activated cost on your creatures by a whole two mana! Isn't that swell! And oh yeah, if you are playing in a deck with adapt like our Biomancer above, then you can tap use and adapt over and over and over and over again, growing your dorks! There is nothing not to love about this deal! Wowzers!!!

#4. Twisted Abomination and Elvish Aberration

Getting the right mana matters. I really enjoy the land cyclers as they don't require a colored mana. I can't tell you how many times I've been stuck with a green mana fetcher in my hand but without the green mana to cast it. But the Elvish Aberration will be used to grab the land I can drop on turn 3 for that Cultivate or cycled Krosan Tusker. Both are also good later on, especially the Twisted Abomination, whose regeneration is great in giving you confidence to swing at a busy board. Note that these will also net you a dual land like Bayou as well as a basic, so they will really help the mana out.

Oh, and a shoutout for the 7-mana cycler Wirewood Guardian, but it's not a playable at its generic 6/6 vanilla body.

#3. Bioessence Hydra

Five mana. 4/4. Trample. It can enter the battlefield with a ton of counters on it, and the longer the game goes on, he more likely you are to have planeswalkers to churn their loyalty to it. It really loves high loyalty dorks. It can easily be a singlehanded 11/11 trampler of love, arrogantly moving across the board without worry of a mere blocker to stop it. It's a game-winning mutant, and it brings chaos and power wherever it arrives. Don 't forget that it can also grow as you layer on more loyalty onto another planeswalker. It's a good card, but trample turned it into a powerhouse Mutant.

#2. Nantuko Vigilante

Removal matters. In any format, you need to have answers to things. The morph triggers of cards like Nantuko Vigilante and Shaleskin Plower can destroy key permanents on the battlefield. From non-black creatures to lands, you have a lot of great morph and megamoprh creatures out there that can trim the weeds from your delicious wheat. And this is in addition to the combat trick of morphing. If a creature with a three toughness blocks your Vigilante in combat, you can morph and take it out. It works on multiple angles.

#1. Sliver Overlord

Arguably the best five-color Sliver for your Commander desks is Sliver Overlord. It's hard to argue that it shouldn't be here, right? Right! I agree, it's obvious too. And if you are like me, then it's hard to talk about obviously obvious things.

And there you are! What did you think of my list? Did I miss any Mutants? Just let me know!