All 30 Scientists in Magic Ranked

Jackal, Genius Geneticist (Druneth, Reviver of the Hive) | Illustration by Arif Wijaya

As Magic brewers, we can all be called scientists, in a way. Sometimes we slap together a bunch of cards and find neat interactions we didn’t previously think of. Other times, the experiments we conduct blow up in our faces. Hey, nobody said it was easy.

Scientists in Magic are a weird bunch. They almost all come from Universes Beyond tie-ins, which makes sense when you consider the flavor of most Magic planes. There are other creature types that are more fitting: Just look at Laboratory Maniac’s wizard typing.

Don your Proper Laboratory Attire, my friends, because today we’re going to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy.

What Are Scientists in MTG?

Shaun & Rebecca, Agents | Illustration by Gintas Galvanauskas

Scientist is a creature type in Magic. Scientists are often in blue and blue-adjacent colors, and most scientists as of Marvel’s Spider-Man are in Universes Beyond products. Scientists are often legendary creatures, since many of them represent major characters from their respective UB properties.

Since most of these scientists are from Universes Beyond products, this list is mainly weighted toward Commander play.

Unranked: Un-set Scientists

Two scientists come to us from Un-sets, Unstable to be precise. You can only play these in non-tournament settings if your tablemates are willing, so I’ll keep them separate. Teacher's Pet lets you sacrifice it to tutor for an augment for a total of 5 mana between the mana value and the cost to activate it.

Willing Test Subject doesn’t have any abilities that we don’t have in regular Magic thanks to Forgotten Realms, Baldur’s Gate, and Unfinity, so it should be easier to get your opponents to agree to play against it. It has the same templating as Mr. House, President and CEO that’s close to a guaranteed trigger when you roll 20-sided dice.

#30. Oscorp Research Team

Oscorp Research Team is basically an invoker card, like Tymora's Invoker, but more expensive to cast and with a bigger butt (defense stat). Cue A Lost People.

#29. Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist

Well, it’s certainly a common commander. I’d only use Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist to pad out my villain total in a pure typal deck, and even then, it’s occupying a slot that could be better filled by a Spark Double or a Clone.

#28. The Spot, Living Portal

The Spot, Living Portal gives Ketramose, the New Dawn some more abilities that exile cards, and Ardbert, Warrior of Darkness and Ratadrabik of Urborg get another Orzhov legend () to consider. The Spot can be a slow recursion effect if you target something in your own graveyard, or a way to reuse some of your enters abilities. But I dunno. I’m not sold.

#27. Doc Ock, Evil Inventor

My instinct is to either build Doc Ock, Evil Inventor as a vehicle commander or use it in support, but the problem is that it costs a whopping 7 mana. If it had artifact typing to benefit from the Foundry Inspector and other artifact cost reducers I’d use in those decks, that would be great. I really like the potential of a card that can permanently animate my vehicles into 8/8s. You can use it with nonvehicle artifacts, of course, and you’re in the right colors to use Their Name Is Death as a one-sided sweeper, but I just think that this Doc Ock comes down too late without help from Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge, and it does too little to pique my curiosity.

#26. Shaun & Rebecca, Agents

I want to like this more because I’ve been playing through The Ezio Collection lately. Shaun & Rebecca, Agents can’t exist in a vacuum since it tutors for The Animus. Shaun & Rebecca’s self-mill fuels your graveyard for The Animus, or even Ellie and Alan, though The Animus and the Paleontologists would compete for exile fodder. I don’t hate the design, but you’re almost forced to take up two slots if you play this assassin scientist.

#25. Uthros Psionicist

Uthros Psionicist is definitely useful as a second-spell cost reducer. The issue is the sequencing. This ability might force you to cast spells in a different order than you would otherwise, and most decks that want to cast multiple spells in a turn have 1- or 2-mana spells anyway.

#24. Seedship Agrarian

Useful in many decks, outstanding in none. Seedship Agrarian fits into landfall decks, and its Lander tokens can help to fuel that ability. Vehicles, mounts, station, and convoke are some of the safer ways to tap it consistently. It’s fine but it lacks a “wow” factor.

#23. Morbius the Living Vampire

You really want your other villain payoffs on the field if you plan to cast Morbius the Living Vampire. It’s such a glass cannon, though one that’ll stick around to block thanks to vigilance. Not the worst, since its activated ability only works from the graveyard, which also makes it decent discard fodder.

#22. Jackal, Genius Geneticist

A well-planned curve is necessary to take advantage of Jackal, Genius Geneticist’s copy ability, and Karn's Bastion will help you get extra counters to maximize your triggers. The question is whether you want counter adders and doublers like Hardened Scales, or whether you want to climb the ladder one rung at a time.

#21. Biotech Specialist

Solid, if niche. Biotech Specialist finds homes in decks that crack artifact tokens like Treasures and Clues, but they have to play some combination of red and green, too. Jolene, the Plunder Queen is the most obvious home, though I’m most likely to slot it into a Jenny Flint and Madame Vastra deck myself. Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy and Kibo, Uktabi Prince are respectable homes, too.

#20. Ian Chesterton

I was a lot higher on Ian Chesterton as a saga support piece before Final Fantasy gave us more saga payoffs. You’ll want cheaper sagas to take advantage of this scientist’s replicate ability, and even then, you need the mana to pay for those extra copies in the first place.

#19. Doctor Octopus, Master Planner

Okay, so it’s a villain typal commander. What else? You can use Doctor Octopus, Master Planner alongside Norman Osborn regardless of whether you’re building villains or not. It’ll give your commander its +2/+2 boost, plus it keeps your hand full of discard fodder. Though it sits high on the curve, almost any deck that needs that much card draw can use it to refill after a turn of heavy spellcasting.

#18. Henry Wu, InGen Geneticist

Henry Wu, InGen Geneticist can make an interesting aristocrats or pod commander. You’ll want self-recurring creatures and reanimation abilities, and Tribute to the World Tree can make your sacrifice fodder like Bloodghast or Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder’s Thrull tokens big enough to generate Treasure thanks to your exploit abilities.

#17. Nardole, Resourceful Cyborg

Blue mana dorks have their uses, though Nardole, Resourceful Cyborg is a bit limited. It only gives you mana if it has +1/+1 counters on it, so it’s basically a chump blocker until you trigger undying or get counters onto it somehow. It sees the most play in paradox decks led by The Thirteenth Doctor since both of that time lord’s abilities help Nardole; I could see Nardole in an adventures deck, too.

#16. Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor

Add ingenuity counters to the list of weird counters you can proliferate. Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor has the potential to grow a lot over the course of a game, which should make it a prime removal target. It has potential, but your opponent can reset it easily with bounce spells and flicker spells.

#15. Romana II

The Sixth Doctor is Romana II’s most common home, either as a doctor’s companion or in the 99. You can slot it into other decks that generate token copies of legendary creatures, like Ratadrabik of Urborg, Cadric, Soul Kindler, and more. You also don’t have to copy your tokens, so you can leave Romana II untapped to copy your opponent’s Marit Lage, Compy Swarm, or Giant Adephage.

#14. The Rani

The Rani can be an interesting goad commander, though you might be tempted to lean into Clue tokens given its second ability. I also like it in support of some other Grixis commanders (); Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor’s focus on curse auras feels like a fun, indirect synergy, and the Mark of the Rani tokens count as crimes for Marchesa, Dealer of Death.

#13. Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer

If you put Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer in the command zone, it’s just a card that spreads keyword counters around to your dinosaurs. It works better when you partner it with Blue, Loyal Raptor since you can target Blue to give those counters to your dinos as they enter, and the fact that it relies on its partner so much knocks it down a peg or two.

#12. Kate Stewart

Time counters or bust, but at least we have numerous commander combinations thanks to Doctor Who. In those decks, Kate Stewart gives you board presence in the form of Soldier tokens, then you can pay for its attack trigger as a mass pump spell to seal a victory. You won’t recruit this scientist for every deck that can play it, but it puts in solid work for those few decks that want it.

#11. Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists

Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists can be a fun commander to pair discard and cast-from-exile payoffs. You want to chuck expensive cards into your graveyard so that you can exile them to this scientist’s activated ability.

In support, Kellan, the Kid is the most common home since every activation lets you cast another spell for free or play an extra land. But, frankly, an Ellie and Alan deck needs Kellan more than Kellan needs these dino experts.

#10. Peter Parker / Amazing Spider-Man

Peter Parker can come in early as two bodies for 2 mana, but the fun really starts if you get to play Amazing Spider-Man. A fair number of Bant commanders () that lean into the legends-matter space, and you can slot in this scientist to support your 5-color good stuff decks. The web-slinging ability can act as cost reduction and a bounce enabler that lets you reuse your best enters abilities, or you can bring out legendary equipment and artifacts ahead of schedule.

#9. Nyssa of Traken

While you won’t use doctor’s companion to partner Nyssa of Traken much in the command zone, it’s an excellent payoff for Clue decks. Its activated ability is an artifact sac outlet that lets you tap down your opponents’ creatures, but you also draw cards. You pretty much bypass the need to pay mana to draw with your Clue tokens if you just sacrifice them to Nyssa. The Reliquary Tower text is a nice touch, too.

#8. James, Wandering Dad

James, Wandering Dad gives you an X-spell that generates a bunch of Clue tokens, which adds to your artifact count. As a creature, James is a mana dork that grants you the exact amount of mana you need to crack those tokens. It’s simple and efficient, the kind of card that you can play in multiple decks, even if it isn’t the most explosive.

#7. Dr. Eggman

I will not make a Beatles reference. I will not make a Beatles reference.

Dr. Eggman gives you three types to build around between robots, constructs, and vehicles. You can also support it with artifact creature payoffs and villainous choice synergies from Doctor Who. It has the potential to cheat in all of its on-color gearhulks, a protective construct like Cryptothrall, and big vehicles like Cybership or Reaver Titan. The flexibility is part of the appeal, since you and I and all our friends could each build decks with different takes on it.

#6. Professor Hojo

Professor Hojo comes in the Limit Break Final Fantasy Commander precon, and its role is rather straightforward. Its cost reduction applies to equip costs, and that extra card draw is also very useful. Plenty of other activated abilities target creatures, like The Pride of Hull Clade, Wayta, Trainer Prodigy, and Agatha of the Vile Cauldron. As Wizards prints more activated abilities and equipment, Professor Hojo should have more homes (until the 2-mana slot is power-crept to oblivion, of course).

#5. Shaun, Father of Synths

A Shaun, Father of Synths deck is rather fragile; you’re building around legends, but your synth copies all disappear if your opponents remove your commander. But it can be a fun side-piece in Izzet+ (+) decks that get aggressive with their commander. Imagine if you copy Obeka, Splitter of Seconds to have multiple extra upkeep triggers, or more 8/8 hasty, trampling, and vigilant copies of Liberty Prime, Recharged, or even multiple copies of Niv-Mizzet, Guildpact.

#4. Ian Malcolm, Chaotician

True to the card’s name and its inspiration, Ian Malcolm, Chaotician brings unpredictability to the board. Its abilities let everyone play with each others’ cards, which is both fun and infuriating. If it’s your commander, you can use symmetrical wheels to make sure that people fuel those exile zones. I like using it alongside commanders like Don Andres, the Renegade or Zedruu the Greathearted to add to the chaos theme.

#3. Davros, Dalek Creator

Whether in the command zone or in support, Davros, Dalek Creator is strong since its end step trigger gives you additional board presence and the potential for card advantage. The Valeyard pairs nicely either as a commander or in the same decks to double up on villainous choices, and I like Davros with Dr. Eggman since you can stack your triggers so that this alien scientist makes your opponent face those choices before Eggman’s. Someone who isn’t paying attention could give you just the card you need at exactly the wrong time.

#2. Dr. Madison Li

Dr. Madison Li is often used as a commander or as a support piece with Liberty Prime, Recharged, not to mention Satya, Aetherflux Genius. Basically, Jeskai () energy. With all those activated abilities and the built-in energy generation, I could even see it as the only energy card in an artifact deck, especially one that proliferates like Kilo, Apogee Mind.

#1. Norman Osborn / Green Goblin

Green Goblin’s abilities have led to some buzz in the cEDH space, and you can certainly build a Norman Osborn Commander deck that leans that way. The combination of cost reduction on spells you cast from the graveyard and the fact that Green Goblin also grants your nonland cards mayhem just gives you so many possibilities. Grixis is such a good color combination for both the character and these abilities.

Bonus points for the absolute goober that is Fleem, Goben’s Creation from Through the Omenpaths, a character that rivals Loot, Fblthp, and Tiny-Bones for fan favorite status (I need a Booger Days t-shirt).

Best Scientist Payoffs

If you’re looking to play a scientist-focused build, I recommend Henry Wu, InGen Geneticist. Many scientists that fit a Sultai () color identity are also humans to benefit from Henry Wu’s exploit ability. The Spider-Man scientists work well here; I especially like Jackal, Genius Geneticist since it can double up on your sacrifice fodder and your exploit triggers, since Jackal’s copies ignore the Legend Rule.

There’s also potential for scientist themes if you build around Dr. Eggman, Doctor Octopus, Master Planner, or Norman Osborn.

Nyssa of Traken and James, Wandering Dad are sometimes used in Clue token decks built around the partner with pairing of Jenny Flint and Madame Vastra. I like Biotech Specialist as a support piece here to burn an opponent for 2 damage whenever you sacrifice your artifact tokens.

Are Scientists Only in Universes Beyond Sets?

No. There are two scientists that appear in Un-sets (Teacher's Pet and Willing Test Subject), while Edge of Eternities introduced three non-Universes Beyond scientists to Magic: Biotech Specialist, Seedship Agrarian, and Uthros Psionicist.

Wrap Up

Henry Wu, InGen Geneticist | Illustration by Justin Cornell

Here concludes the experiment, and it’s such a shame for us to part. But I hope you weren’t blinded by all the science!

Scientists fit more in science fiction than fantasy, which is one of the reasons we’ve seen so few outside of sets that tie into non-Magic properties. These certainly won’t be the last scientists we see, but I hope that we get at least a few more from in-universe sets, although we’re more likely to see warlocks, wizards, and artificers on most of Magic’s planes. But if it has to be UB, I’m personally stumping for a Mass Effect Universes Beyond tie-in so that we can play Magic with our favorite scientist Salarian, Mordin Solus.

Which scientists do you think are the best? What would you want to see from future scientists, either in Universes Beyond sets or in-universe Magic sets? Let me know in the comments below, or submit your thoughts for peer review over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, remember: The only difference between science and screwing around is writing it down.