Pointed Discussion

once this is in play, another good creature to pop out would be say phyrexian dreadnought...

Volrath's Shapeshifter probably has massive potential as a combo card. I could see it used perhaps with a creature that has an ability on the field as well as in the graveyard, or maybe just as a second shot at a giant beatstick; say your opponent feels all warm and fuzzy inside after somehow beating your turn 5 Progenitus, you could sling one of these out and watch as your opponent gets frustrated. The problem with this is that it's inconsistent and would probably need some black graveyard exiling to make sure the creature you want is on top. For this reason, it doesn't make much sense as just a casual addition to a deck. 3.5/5

This card got much better now that you can rearrange your graveyard. Or is that rule just valid in standard?

One card that is to be played with this one is- Phage the untouchable. Declare attacks, With a not so great monster on top of the graveyard. Attack goes through, after blockers are declared discard Phage from your hand. Victory!

Where are more cards like this?

very fun with tortured existence

@The day the music died: You can rearrange your graveyard order in any format where cards like Volrath's Shapeshifter aren't legal. So if you have Volrath's Shapeshifter in your deck, you can't rearrange your graveyard :)

Emrakul's appearance is too slippery for him to hold on to. . .

I give this card a 5 just for fun factor, and that more cards should have graveyard effects like his.

@ DacenOctavio

There's always everyone's favorite 1 mana counterspell, Stifle, which would allow him to become Emrakul, or any other triggered self-shuffler for that matter e.g. DsC or Serra Avatar.

That is AWESOME!!! Madness booster, plus a cool ability! 5/5 for sheer fun factor

So, if the top card were a Necrotic Ooze...

What about planeswalkers?

@Mike-C: What about planeswalkers? Have they ever been creatures?

@niceguygreensboro: So if the top card of your graveyard is Necrotic Ooze has nothing more happening than when you have a Necrotic Ooze on play and in graveyard. Necrotic Ooze doesn't gain its own ability from graveyard because its ability is not activated ability.

Well, it's not like an Elvish Piper, but we are not so far...

This thing might be the champion of weird creature states, particularly on MTGO. Just produced in the same turn: from 0/1 to upside-down, 15/15 Chancellor of the Dross (first, being Nezumi Graverobber that flipped; then a Sphinx of Magosi that drew three cards; then a Mind Shrieker that milled the Chancellor and thus had base stats 6/6, 3 +1/+1 counters, +and 7/+7. Standing on its head. Probably whistling the Marseillaise, too.)

That's...an unusual shapeshifter.

My brother uses this to cheat Phage into play. You can't play her from anywhere but your hand, but if you make a permanent that has already been in play into a copy of her, you don't lose the game.

Volrath's Shapeshifter is a great way to get around attacking drawbacks and even turn them into advantages, since you can transform it mid-combat for cheaps. To illustrate what I mean:

1) Discard Invisible Stalker.
2) Attack with the shapeshifter.
3) Wait until after your opponent declares blockers (oh noes, they couldn't block it!)
4) Discard Rakdos the Defiler.
5) Rakdos connects with effective unblockability and without his first ability triggering.
6) Ouch.

Tricks like that are inordinately difficult to pull off with other shapeshifters, while Volrath's here does it without breaking a sweat. Best of all, a single cast of Disentomb gets you ready to go again, and if you can drop it at instant speed (Quicken, many other flash solutions, any instant speed versions of the effect), you can use it to save your shapeshifter from removal by suddenly making him hexproof! (Although the effect is tricky to use since Disentomb being on top of your 'yard spoils everything: Luckily, there are plenty of "exile target card from a graveyard" once per turn artifacts such as Relic of Progenitus that you should probably be running for the manipulation value anyway)

...*looks at the post below*

Wow. I can't believe I suggested Rakdos instead of Phage. That was kind of silly :p

Fun with Jarad's Orders!

You know, I think Wizards should maybe be talked into changing their minds about graveyard orders.
Ashen Ghoul is a good example of a card that uses the mechanic badly and isn't really worth the trouble of trying figure out when or how to even make him worth it, let alone try playing the deck against someone, when we have better Black Graveyard Recursion cards in the form of Disentomb and Reanimate and a host of others in between at appropriate points on the power scale.

Skill Borrower, The Mimeoplasm, and Volrath's Shapeshifter though, all do things that are just a bit wonky, and asking specifically 'what is the top card of your graveyard or library' is Design space that I think is worth using to make these slightly offbeat effects more fun. It's kind of like the fun feeling playing Ponder gives you: you get to look at more zones and hold more cards, but really what you are doing is exceedingly simple so even someone just learning the game from an Mxx-Core Set Booster Pack Wars should be able to totally grok and have fun doing it, and I don't see how it would be too complex or slow to perform as a game action in large tournaments the way Sensei's Diving Top is....

That is obviously the Thing...