Role Tokens in MTG: Rules, FAQ, and Best Cards

Timothy Zaccagnino August 29, 2023 Collecting, MTG Cards, MTG Rules

Last updated on March 5, 2024

Conceited Witch | Illustration by Anna Pavleeva

We all have a role to play in life. Like how I’ve taken up the mantle of being the voice of reason in my friend group, or how my little brother’s adopted the role of being the one who ruins every family reunion. Great job Brandon. Thanks to a new mechanic from Wilds of Eldraine, your creatures can play roles now, too! Just don’t let them be like Brandon.

I’ll be enchanted with my “L1 Judge” role to walk you through the intricacies of this mechanic, at least as long as another role doesn’t come along and change that. Hmm… I’ve always thought of myself as something of a Young Hero….

Table of Contents show

How Do Role Tokens Work?

Twisted Fealty | Illustration by Mila Pesic

Role tokens are aura tokens that grant small bonuses or downsides to the enchanted creature. Six of the seven roles that currently exist have positive effects, with only one being a negative role.

When you create a role token, you attach it to a creature and put any other roles you already controlled on that creature into the graveyard. After that, they work like any other aura.

The History of Role Tokens in MTG

Royal Treatment | Illustration by Julia Metzger

Roles were introduced in and are currently exclusive to Wilds of Eldraine and the accompanying Commander decks. There are currently 38 cards that create roles and seven different types of roles that can be created. The Virtuous role is currently exclusive to Wilds of Eldraine Commander.

The following is a list of all seven roles that currently exist in Magic:

Can a Creature Have Multiple Role Tokens?

A creature can end up with multiple roles if each role is controlled by a different player. If you control a Wicked role on your creature and your opponent puts a Cursed role on it, they both remain on the battlefield enchanting that creature. Roles only “knock off” existing roles if they’re both controlled by the same player.

What Happens if a Creature With a Role Token Dies?

Roles function like any other aura when the enchanted creature dies, meaning they go to the graveyard, and then cease to exist since they’re tokens. If you want to get technical, the role sits on the battlefield until the next time state-based actions are checked then goes to the graveyard since it’s not enchanting anything. Would you look at that, the Judge role’s actually coming in handy!

Do Role Tokens Go to the Graveyard?

Roles go to the graveyard when they’re destroyed or when the enchanted permanent leaves the battlefield, just like any other aura. They cease to exist after that since they’re tokens, but they do hit the graveyard for effects like the end-step trigger on Kami of Transience. This is also relevant for the witch‘s favorite wicked roles, which have to hit the graveyard for their intended effect.

Can You Bargain a Role Token?

You can absolutely sacrifice roles for bargain, since they’re both enchantments and tokens. This is one of the key synergies in Wilds of Eldraine Limited.

You can also bring a bunch of role tokens to your nearest card dealer and attempt to bargain them for singles and boosters, but don't get your hopes up.

Do Token Doublers Work on Role Tokens?

Role tokens are doubled by effects like Doubling Season and Anointed Procession. If the effect creating those tokens specifies a target, all copies go onto the same target. Since most doubling effects are replacement effects, any extra tokens they make follow the same rules as the original.

If this results in multiple roles on the same creature, you’ll keep the most recent one and send the rest to the graveyard. If multiple roles become attached to the same creature at the same time, you choose which one to keep.

Long story short, you can double up role tokens, but it’s rarely useful due to the singleton nature of roles. It still matters for constellation triggers or anything that cares about permanents leaving the battlefield.

Are Role Tokens Auras?

Role tokens are enchantment auras. This isn’t explicitly mentioned in the reminder text, but it’s part of the comprehensive rules, and the card types are present on the reminder tokens. Welcome to the age of Magic where reading the card no longer explains the card.

Where Do You Get Role Tokens?

Physical role tokens are found in WOE draft and set booster. Three of the 15 tokens in WOE are role tokens, each with two different roles per token. Notably, Collector boosters do not have role tokens.

The Virtuous token is only present in the Virtue and Valor Commander precon, which includes some but not all other role tokens.

Gallery and List of Role Token Cards

Best Role Token Cards

Not only does Asinine Antics nerf all opposing threats, but it also floods the board with cardboard rectangles. It seems great for Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer as a mass token generator that sometimes saves a bunch of damage. Also, two thumbs up with this name attached to this art.

Virtuous roles can get out of hand quickly, so it makes sense that they’re limited to the Commander deck headed by Ellivere of the Wild Court. This ability amounts to sticking a free All That Glitters on a creature every turn, though limited to one per creature. They scale with one another, and Ellivere even draws extra cards when your enchanted creatures connect in combat.

Faunsbane Troll turns auras into removal, kind of like a reverse totem armor. It comes with its own role to fight with, but putting additional roles on it down the line gives it more fodder.

It doesn’t have the same raw power as Ellivere of the Wild Court, but Gylwain, Casting Director’s just as good for spitting out enchantments and triggering all your enchantress and constellation cards.

Lord Skitter's Blessing is a discounted Phyrexian Arena so long as you can keep an enchanted creature on board. It kicks off with a Wicked token, but you’ll likely have to back it up with other roles and auras.

Monstrous Rage is a fine combat trick, if you’re in the market for those. +3/+1 and trample is a good rate for a 1-mana trick, and some of that sticks around. Feather, the Redeemed decks rejoice.

Not Dead After All is another “scam” card for Rakdos Scam and other decks centered around the Modern Horizons 2 evoke elementals. A Wicked role isn’t meaningfully different than the +1/+1 counter from Feign Death or the flexibility of Malakir Rebirth, but it’s another option for decks looking to diversify these sorts of spells.

Snakeskin Veil sees occasional play in decks that either care about +1/+1 counters or building up one giant threat. Royal Treatment plays in the same territory, but with the enchantment twist instead of counters. Same overall effectiveness, but it's geared towards a different archetype.

Spellbook Vendor is a poor man’s Luminarch Aspirant on power alone, but you’ll prioritize it once you add enchantment and token payoffs into the mix. One mana a turn isn’t too much to ask for a guaranteed constellation trigger each turn.

Wrap Up

Gylwain, Casting Director | Illustration by Aurore Folny

And with that, my friends, my role as Judge comes to an end. If only it had been the Professional Food Taster role instead….

I’m very interested in roles and how they play out in the context of different formats. It’s a hybrid of enchantress elements and token generation, and I’ve come to love “tchotchke” artifacts like Food, Clues, Blood, and so on. The flavor seems harder to justify across most sets, So I doubt we’ll see them frequently, but I’ll be excited for more roles down the line.

Now comes the part where you take up the role of the commenter. How are you feeling about roles? How do you intend to use them, and which ones are your favorites? Let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

Thank you for making Draftsim your #1 stop for all things Magic!

Follow Draftsim for awesome articles and set updates:

Best role token cards MTG MTG best cards MTG cards MTG collection MTG FAQ MTG history MTG mechanic MTG role tokens MTG rules MTG top cards Role tokens FAQ Role tokens history Role tokens rules Top role token cards

Timothy Zaccagnino

Timothy has been a Magic enthusiast since picking up the game in 2012, with a love of Limited and Commander. He's the co-creator of Jank Diver Gaming and co-host of The Deep Dive podcast. These days you can find him at the draft table, brewing his 20th EDH deck or cubing with friends on Arena.