So what happens when you copy something with Clone, or Evil Twin, or Phyrexian Metamorph? Does it copy counters? Does it copy abilities the card gained? Whenever you use something to get a copy of something else, what it copies are the copiable values. These things, and only these things, are what get copied.

The copiable values are Name, Mana Cost [including color!], Color, Types (Supertypes, Card Types and Subtypes), Expansion Symbol, Rules Text, Power/Toughness, and Loyalty. This is why your Evil Twin copying my Diregraf Captain can destroy creatures named Diregraf Captain rather than creatures named Evil Twin, since the name was copied.

Unless you’re copying a copy of something, the rule is simple as, “You get the card as printed.” If I have a Runeclaw Bear with two Sword of War and Peace equipped to it, 5 +1/+1 counters on it, and a Spectral Flight enchanting it, and you copy it with Phyrexian Metamorph, you get… a 2/2 green Artifact Creature – Bear with no abilities. It doesn’t have the +6/+6 from the enchantment and equipment, or the +5/+5 from the counters, or the protection from the Swords, or Flying from the aura. It’s just a regular old Bear. The only difference between our Bears is that the copy effect on mine says it’s also an artifact. Changes made by copy effects are the only ‘weird’ thing that will transfer. For example, if you used Phantasmal Image to copy my MetaBear, it’d tack on the subtype of Illusion and the “Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.” ability, but also copy the fact that it’s an artifact. So YOU would have a 2/2 Artifact Creature – Bear Illusion with the ability, “Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.”

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Trevor Nuñez, Level 1 judge from Roswell, NM