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Aurora Shifter

{1}{U}

Creature — Shapeshifter

M3CModern Horizons 3 Commander#45rare
Extended ArtRipple Foil
Finishes
Nonfoil · Foil
Border
black
Security stamp
oval
Frame
2015
Pull rate
about 1 per booster–1 in 192
Illustrator
Justyna Dura
Found in
Modern Horizons 3 Commander Deck Creative Energy Collectors Edition · Modern Horizons 3 Collector Booster Pack · Modern Horizons 3 Collector Booster Sample Pack
Printings2EDHREC rank#7,605
CommanderLegalModernNot legalStandardNot legal
Format legality

Constructed

StandardNot legal
PioneerNot legal
ModernNot legal
LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
PauperNot legal

Commander

CommanderLegal
Pauper CommanderNot legal
Duel CommanderLegal
PreDHNot legal
OathbreakerLegal
Tiny LeadersLegal

Arena

AlchemyNot legal
HistoricNot legal
TimelessNot legal
BrawlNot legal
Standard BrawlNot legal
Competitive BrawlNot legal
GladiatorNot legal

Other

PremodernNot legal
Old SchoolNot legal
Penny DreadfulNot legal
Future StandardNot legal
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you get that many {E}. At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may pay {E}{E}. When you do, this creature becomes a copy of another target creature you control, except it has this ability and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you get that many {E}."
1/3
Plays as:
Combat Damage TriggerEnergy Payoff
Market · per finishspark updated 1h ago · prices as of 2026-08-30
Nonfoil+21.3%
$0.57
$0.18 low$0.12 gapTCGplayer
Foil
$0.99 low$0.84 gapTCGplayer
Cheapest playable copy$0.32· across 2 printings· view the cheapest printing ›

Rulings

14 · latest Jun 7, 2024
  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    Aurora Shifter copies exactly what was printed on the original creature and nothing else, with the listed exception (unless that permanent is copying something else; see below). It doesn't copy whether that creature is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it or Auras and Equipment attached to it, and so on.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    Because Aurora Shifter isn't entering the battlefield when it becomes a copy of another creature, any "When [this creature] enters the battlefield" or "[This creature] enters the battlefield with" abilities of the copied creature won't apply.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    Energy counters are a kind of counter that a player may have. They're not associated with any specific permanents.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    Energy counters aren't mana. They don't go away as steps, phases, and turns end, and effects that add mana "of any type" can't give you energy counters.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    If a spell or ability with one or more targets states that you "may pay" some amount of {E}, and each permanent that it targets has become an illegal target, the spell or ability won't resolve. You can't pay any {E} even if you want to.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    If an effect says you get one or more {E}, you get that many energy counters. To pay one or more {E}, you lose that many energy counters. You can't pay more energy counters than you have. Any effects that interact with counters a player gets, has, or loses can interact with energy counters.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    If the copied creature has {X} in its mana cost, X is 0.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    If the copied creature is copying something else, then Aurora Shifter becomes a copy of whatever that creature copied (with the listed exception).

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    Keep track of how many energy counters each player has. Potential ways to track this include writing theme down on paper or using dice, but any method that is clear and mutually agreeable is fine. (At higher levels of tournament play, dice may not be allowed for tracking counters that players have.)

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    Some spells and abilities that give you {E} may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't get any {E}.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    Some triggered abilities state that you "may pay" a certain amount of {E}. You can't pay that amount multiple times to multiply the effect. You simply choose whether or not to pay that amount of {E} as the ability resolves.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    Some triggered abilities that state that you "may pay" a certain amount of {E} describe an effect that happens "If you do." In that case, no player may take actions to try to stop the ability's effect after you make your choice. If the payment is followed by the phrase "When you do," then you'll choose any targets for that reflexive triggered ability and put it on the stack before players can take actions.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    You don't choose a target for Aurora Shifter's last ability at the time it triggers. Rather, a second "reflexive" ability triggers when you pay {E}{E} this way. You choose a target for that ability as it goes on the stack. Each player may respond to this triggered ability as normal.

  • WotCJun 7, 2024

    {E} is the energy symbol. It represents one energy counter.