Last updated on February 6, 2026
Mr. House, President and CEO | Illustrated by Joseph Meehan
Dice-rolling in Magic started as a joke, mainly with silver-bordered sets like Unglued, Unhinged, or the few MTG videogames of the ‘90s. After all, players hate variance and luck in their competitive games, and so dice were relegated to a niche, casual, second plane. WotC’s other successful IP, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), however, has dice as a core mechanic.
With Magic sets like Adventures in the Forgotten Realms and Unfinity coming in the early 2020s, thanks to the influence of D&D, we now have dice-rolling cards with black borders, and many of them are good enough to run in your Commander decks.
Today we take a look at the best ones. And who knows? Maybe you’ll start rolling some dice in your decks, too.
What Are Dice-Rolling Cards in MTG?
Clown Car | Illustration by Ralph Horsley
Dice-rolling cards are Magic cards that ask you to roll dice when you play them, or when they’re on the battlefield and a certain trigger happens. These dice enhance your card based on the value, and usually the higher you roll, the better.
Many of these dice-rolling cards are creatures that make you roll a die when they enter, when they attack, or when they deal combat damage. Other possibilities include instants and sorceries that have a “kicker effect” tied to dice or artifacts that allow you to roll dice and gain benefits.
It’s worth noting that rolling dice was initially mostly relegated to Un-sets, like Unglued and Unfinity. From 2021’s Adventures in the Forgotten Realms on, cards that require you to roll a d20 have been printed in black border, and thus the mechanic became legal for a time in Standard as well as in Eternal formats.
A Note on Dice Rolling and Statistics
Cards that require you to roll a die use the traditional dice from D&D. There are dice with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 20 faces. The minimum value you can get is 1, and the maximum is, of course, the number of faces a die has.
But what about the average value?
When I roll a d20, I can get any number from 1-20, and I’ll get the average by calculating min + max / 2, so (1+20)/2 = 10.5. Rolling a d6 will give you 3.5 on average, while rolling a d10 nets you 5.5. It’s useful information to think about what you’ll “usually” get by rolling a die and compare it to already existing cards that do similar things.
A Short Note on Attractions
Attractions are a special type of card from Unfinity that can be opened by certain other cards. These also require rolling dice to work properly. They can be used to get the most out of your dice-rolling cards, or cards that care about rolling dice. Back in March of 2024, WotC banned sticker and attraction cards from multiple formats, so although some are still allowed in Commander, in this list, I’ll focus mainly on black-bordered cards from sets like Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, AFR Commander, and Unfinity.
Honorable Mentions
GO TO JAIL
GO TO JAIL sees some play in casual formats and Pauper/Peasant Cubes as an interesting Journey to Nowhere variant for only 1 mana.
As Luck Would Have It
As Luck Would Have It is a riff on Helix Pinnacle, and once you’re rolling several d20s a turn, it becomes very possible to get to 100 counters, especially considering cards that let you roll more than one die and consider the highest roll.
Dungeon Master
I confess I didn’t know about this card before, and being a Heroes of the Realm card means it isn't technically a real card. A Dungeon Master planeswalker filled with abilities that make sense in D&D. I love that you’ll give them a skeleton but you’re rewarded to destroy said skeleton. You can draw a card here and there, or ultimate and get a “full party” going.
#24. Celebr-8000
Celebr-8000 gives you two dice rolls each turn, and you don’t know what you’ll get, but it’s a 3/3 with some abilities that’ll sometimes be a 4/4 with double strike.
#23. Velukan Dragon
Velukan Dragon is worse than Shivan Dragon most of the time, a classic card that already sees little to no play nowadays. Could it win you games from your Mystery Booster 2 draft, absolutely, but including it in other decks is more of a flavor choice.
#22. Clay Golem
Clay Golem isn’t the end of the world as a 4/4 creature that you can monstrous to destroy something. It’s going to be a 7/7 or 8/8 on average, and it’s a good way to spend your mana late game.
#21. Arden Angel
Arden Angel was printed in Mystery Booster 2, and it originally came from the Sega Dreamcast MTG game. The age of this card shows as a 4/4 flying for 6 mana, which isn’t a good card by today’s standards. That said, you've got a 25% chance to get it back each turn by rolling 1 on a d4.
#20. Pair o’ Dice Lost
You can get nice value if you have a filled graveyard and play Pair o' Dice Lost. Two six-sided dice usually give you 4-6 mana worth of cards, and that includes all the lands and 0-mana spells as well. Or two big cards, who knows?
#19. Component Pouch
Component Pouch reminds me of Coalition Relic in the sense that you’ll charge it on a turn and use it on a later occasion. You can roll d20s to add counters to this colorless card or remove them to generate mana. It’s very similar to a 3-mana signet of any color pair.
#18. Bag of Tricks
The good part of Bag of Tricks is that you won’t whiff. Ever. The bad part is that you can search your whole deck and tutor a Llanowar Elves. That said, you should be getting a 3- or 4-drop very consistently with this green artifact.
#17. Bag of Devouring
Bag of Devouring gives you a nice sacrifice outlet, and once the bag has devoured some cards, you can even retrieve them back. Just getting two or three cards is already a good deal, let alone six or seven.
#16. Vedalken Squirrel-Whacker
Vedalken Squirrel-Whacker’s power and toughness are 1d6/1d6. While it’s not guaranteed that this blue creature will have a high power and toughness, the ability to change the value of the dice rolled is at least an insurance for bad rolls. Sometimes you’ll even get a beefy 4/5. The problem with this card is that you can’t use its ability for d20’s.
#15. Netherese Puzzle-Ward
With Netherese Puzzle-Ward, you’ll roll a d4 each turn, scry something like 1-2 for free, and sometimes even draw a card. The turns when you get a scry 4 and draw a card for free are amazing.
#14. Clown Car
Clown Car is a very nice vehicle, able to create its own crew pilots. When you cast it, you get to either make more tokens or strengthen the vehicle, so you should get a 3/3 vehicle and two 1/1’s by paying 4 mana, or a 4/4 car and three tokens by paying 6 mana. Vehicle commanders or artifact commanders will have an interesting and reliable artifact maker, too.
#13. Revivify
Revivify is the perfect follow-up to a wrath effect, be it yours or your opponents. You can also play it after sacrificing your whole board in an Orzhov () aristocrats deck, and sometimes even combo-kill your opponents with drain effects.
#12. Neverwinter Hydra
Cards that let you roll X d6 replay that awesome feeling of casting a fireball in a D&D game and dealing, say, 7d6 damage. Sometimes it whiffs hard, but when it doesn’t, it’s amazing. That’s the case with Neverwinter Hydra. Paying something like 8 mana for a 9/9 green creature with trample and ward 4 is a good rate, and the dice results can be much higher than that.
#11. Ebony Fly
At worst, Ebony Fly is like a Mind Stone that enters tapped. You can then have it become around a 3/3 flier and also jump another creature when attacking. That’s not bad at all for a mana rock. Also, some decks like the “roll dice on demand” aspect.
#10. Luck Bobblehead
With Fallout‘s Luck Bobblehead, you have a mix between a 3-mana rock and an alternate win condition. Combine this with cards like Strionic Resonator and cards that allow you to roll more dice, and suddenly “Luck” can be in your favor.
#9. Simon, Wild Magic Sorcerer / Mathise, Surge Channeler
You want to build around the group hug nature of forcing your opponent's to draw cards before you jump in with Simon, Wild Magic Sorcerer / Mathise, Surge Channeler. There is a lot of power in a clean cantrip with the exception of the copy spell roll. Just remember that Simon's trigger won't care about those cheap instants and sorceries you love to run.
#8. Diviner's Portent
Diviner's Portent is a strong card draw spell, especially in draw-go decks. Scrying before drawing makes a huge difference, but the worst case here is just having an overpriced draw spell.
#7. Danse Macabre
I like these card designs like Danse Macabre where you can change the dice variance with in-game aspects. If you sacrifice a big creature, there’s a higher chance that you’ll get it back. Since each player sacs a nontoken creature, you know that they’re losing something good and you’ll get the best creature sacrificed back, at least.
#6. The Endeavor Cycle
This cycle of Commander cards lets you roll two dice and choose which result applies to one of two effects. Note that the value of the dice changes between d4 and d12. Red and black have the most consistent ones, in my opinion. The best aspect of Reckless Endeavor is that you can choose the value of the die to deal damage and to create Treasures. You get a mix of a sweeper and a ritual that can adapt to the boardstate, your die rolls, and more.
#5. Chaos Dragon
Chaos Dragon is a 4/4 flier with haste that needs to attack every turn – hardly a downside since you want to, anyway. It’s a very good red creature, indeed. The thing is, sometimes you’ll be forced to attack a certain player depending on the dice roll.
#4. Comet, Stellar Pup
Of course, we must have a planeswalker in black border whose ability is tied to rolling dice. The idea of Comet, Stellar Pup is that you’ll roll a d6 and get progressively better abilities the higher you roll. The thing is, this Boros card () is indeed very strong. Yes, not being able to control the outcome is bad, but you’ll either get tokens, deal direct damage, or even use its activated ability twice more, and that’s on a 4-mana card.
#3. Delina, Wild Mage
Delina, Wild Mage is one of the most consistent dice cards at what it does. You’ll attack with it and create a token that’s a copy of another creature. Sometimes you’ll do that a lot if you have a good roll. The problems arise when you realize that attacking with a 3/2 is hard, but sometimes you’ll get enough value. If Delina is your red commander, it’s easier to build around it since having this copy ability in the command zone is very strong.
#2. Mr. House, President and CEO
Not having blue in its color identity is somewhat of a downside on a dice-rolling commander card, but here’s the deal: Mr. House, President and CEO makes a 3/3 token or that and a Treasure each time you roll 4 or greater on a die. That’s trivial if you surround it with cards that roll d12 or d20, and you can use its abilities to roll dice, further feeding the synergies.
To make a Mr. House EDH deck, it’s important to add cards that let you roll dice as well as the dice-rolling payoff cards, since these shine with its abilities. It helps further that red cards from AFR can roll dice to create Treasure, so that’s a double win for Mr. House.
#1. The Cycle of Ancient Dragons
- Ancient Brass Dragon
- Ancient Bronze Dragon
- Ancient Gold Dragon
- Ancient Silver Dragon
- Ancient Copper Dragon
These awesome ancient dragons are game-winning threats, and in all cases, you get to roll a d20 when you hit with these. Imagine creating 20 1/1 tokens, or 20 Treasures, and it’s all possible. These would be better with haste, and my rankings are in this order: green, black, white, blue, and red. Ancient Copper Dragon is the cheapest one and the most probable to have haste. That said, you can’t go wrong with any of these.
Best Die-Rolling Payoffs
Wyll, Blade of Frontiers grows over the course of the game as you roll dice, but you also always roll with advantage (the D&D term for rolling two die and taking the better result).
Barbarian Class is one of the stronger ones. Not only does this class enchantment pump your dice rolls by allowing you to roll two instead of one, but you also get a spell-like effect when you roll a die. Cards like Pixie Guide, Krark's Other Thumb, and Bamboozling Beeble have similar effects.
Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients is a nice Gruul commander () if you're taking dice rolls seriously. Getting a 5/4 dragon whenever you roll dice is a very solid incentive, and you also have other cards to play with it like Wyll, Blade of Frontiers, or The Space Family Goblinson. Another interesting payoff is Mr. House, President and CEO. It’s very easy to roll 6 or higher when you pair it with cards that roll a d20, and getting 3/3s alongside Treasure is a very good payoff indeed.
Farideh, Devil's Chosen is also an interesting payoff, allowing you to draw a card whenever you roll a 10 or greater (the base die is usually a d20, mind you). Netherese Puzzle-Ward gives you a card whenever you “crit”–that is, roll the maximum number. That’s of course easier to do on d4, and you get to try it at least once every turn.
You also get small payoffs here and there for playing cards that roll dice. Brazen Dwarf pings them for 1 each time you roll dice. Feywild Trickster gives you a 1/1 flying token, which is a solid enough payoff.
Are the Unsanctioned Dice-Rolling Cards Legal?
They are not. All Unsanctioned cards are silver-bordered and thus not legal in any competitive Magic format. You can only play them if your playgroup is okay with it during your Rule 0 conversation.
Where Are The Best Places to Find Dice?
MTG players already use dice regularly, be it a spindown counter, a die to roll and see who goes first, or even d6s to register +1/+1 counters or loyalty counters. However, if you’re looking for cool and shiny ones, or nice d20s for your cards, we have a helpful guide here for finding cool custom sets of dice, but I’ll quote some interesting ones:
Custom and Unique Dice
Chessex is one of the finest and best cost-to-benefit places to find dice for gaming. Here are some examples along with a few generic yet useful dice:
These ones from Misty Mountain Gaming are gorgeous if you’re into spellcasting:
Websites and Apps
You can also roll dice virtually in a pinch, should you run out of them or not have them in the right amount.
Google Roll a Die
Searching for “roll a die” on Google opens a quick, basic, and functional interface that allows you to quickly roll dice and even get the sum of the results.
Roll a Die.net
On this website, you can choose which dice you’ll roll and how many. There’s also a mobile app that you can check out. It’s possible to mix and match different dice via the menu and configurations. Here’s an example:
App: Mighty Dice
The app Mighty Dice was developed for D&D play sessions, so you can even customize that frequent dice roll (e.g. 1d4+3). Here are some pics of the app’s interface:
Wrap Up
Ancient Brass Dragon | Illustration by Johan Grenier
That’s about it for dice and dice-rolling in MTG, folks. What started as an Un-set-only feature, or an electronic game’s exclusive feature, is now present on lots of black-bordered cards. And I’d say we’ll get more dice-related cards in the future, especially given that MTG Arena exists, and WotC is pushing card design boundaries with Alchemy as the digital-only aspect of the client.
Have you ever built an EDH deck around rolling dice? Which were your favorite cards and synergies? Let me know in the comments section, or let’s discuss it over Draftsim Discord.
Thank you for reading folks, and avoid rolling those dreaded snake eyes!
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