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Orvar, the All-Form

Orvar, the All-Form

Legendary Creature — Shapeshifter

Orvar wants a deck that casts lots of instant and sorcery spells. It also suits a deck that copies the best creature on the table.

  • Mana cost3 genericblue
  • Blue ()
  • Power / toughness3 / 3
  • RarityMythic

Changeling

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, if it targets one or more other permanents you control, create a token that's a copy of one of those permanents.

When a spell or ability an opponent controls causes you to discard this card, create a token that's a copy of target permanent.

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Cards That Fit Orvar, the All-Form

Picked for what they do in Orvar's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Orvar's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

Rulings for Orvar, the All-Form

explain how Orvar works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

Any enters-the-battlefield abilities of the copied permanent will trigger when the token enters the battlefield. Any “As [this permanent] enters the battlefield” or “[This permanent] enters the battlefield with” abilities of the copied permanent will also work.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

As the first triggered ability tries to resolve, the spell that caused it to trigger and that spell’s targets are checked again. Ignore any target of the spell that has left the battlefield by that point. If all of the permanents you controlled that were targets have left the battlefield by that point, the triggered ability will do nothing and no token will be created. If at least one permanent you control that’s a target is still on the battlefield, the triggered ability will resolve, even if that permanent is now an illegal target for the spell.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

Changeling is a characteristic-defining ability. It functions in all zones, not only while a card that has it is on the battlefield.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

For the first triggered ability, the instant or sorcery spell can target other things if it also targets one or more permanents you control; however, the token you create can copy only permanents you control that are targets of the spell. If the spell targets more than one permanent you control, you choose which permanent the token is copying as you create the token.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

For the second triggered ability, you can choose any permanent as the target, regardless of who controls it.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

If a spell or ability an opponent controls allows or instructs you to choose a card to discard, and you discard Orvar, its last ability will trigger.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

If an effect causes a creature with changeling to become a new creature type, it will be only that new creature type. It will still have changeling; the effect making it all creature types will simply be overwritten.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

If an effect causes a creature with changeling to lose all abilities, it will remain all creature types, even though it will no longer have changeling. This is because changeling applies before the effect that removes it.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

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

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

If the permanent being copied is copying something else, the token you create will use the copiable values of the that permanent. In most cases, it will be a copy of whatever the permanent is copying. If it’s copying a permanent or card with {X} in its mana cost, X is 0.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

If the permanent being copied is itself a token, the token created by the last ability copies the original characteristics of that token as stated by the effect that created it.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

If the spell itself has left the stack by that point, use the targets it had when it left the stack to perform the check described above.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

Orvar’s first triggered ability resolves (if it resolves; see below) before the spell or ability that caused it to trigger.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

The subtype Shapeshifter that appears on the type line is mostly there to reinforce the flavor. A creature card with changeling is just as much an Elf, a Dwarf, a Sliver, a Goat, a Coward, and a Zombie as it is a Shapeshifter.

Wizards of the Coast 5 Feb 2021

The token copies exactly what is printed on the permanent and nothing else (unless that permanent is a token or is copying something else; see below). It doesn’t copy whether that permanent is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it, whether it has any Auras and/or Equipment attached to it, or any non-copy effects that changed its power, toughness, types, color, and so on.

15 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Orvar, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.SpellslingerSpellslinger decks cast lots of instants and sorceries, one-time spells, and play creatures that reward every spell you cast. Instants and sorceries take effect once and then go to your graveyard, and an instant can even be cast during another player's turn.Open the Spellslinger pageSpellslingerRewards you for casting instants and sorceries, usually triggering each time you cast one. Storm-Kiln Artist, GuttersnipeOpen the Spellslinger pageSelf-DiscardDiscards your own cards as a cost or an effect. Filling your own graveyard on purpose is the point: it feeds cards that bring things back, madness and channel abilities, and some cards are worth more there than in hand. Faithless Looting, Boseiju, Who EnduresOpen the Self-Discard pageToken EngineMakes tokens again and again rather than once. A token is a creature or other permanent created by a card, with no card of its own. Something that makes one token gives you a body; something that makes them every turn gives you a board you can keep rebuilding after it is cleared. Grave Titan, Bitterblossom, OphiomancerOpen the Token Engine pageCloneCopies a creature or another permanent already on the battlefield. Copying the best thing on the table is often cheaper than casting something equally strong. Phyrexian Metamorph, Helm of the HostOpen the Clone pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageClonesClone decks copy the best creature on the battlefield, whoever owns it, so they always have one of the strongest things on the table. A copy also gets the original's 'when this enters' ability, so each clone can bring a fresh effect too.Open the Clones pageTokensToken decks fill the battlefield with small creatures made by their cards, then attack with all of them or make them all bigger at once. A token is a creature (or other object) that a card creates, not a card from your deck.Open the Tokens page