A new Magic: The Gathering mechanic called Roles was introduced on Aug. 15 for the Wilds of Eldraine set, featuring six unique Enchant creature Aura tokens in the main Standard-legal set.
For the first time in Magic’s history, Enchant creature Aura tokens will be played in the Standard format through the Wilds of Eldraine (WOE) set. Aura tokens have appeared in the Commander format before through Mask in Commander 2018 and Smoke Blessing in NEO Precons. The Roles Enchant creature Aura tokens in WOE are different from previous Magic versions, with six appearing in the main set and possibly more within the Wilds of Eldraine Commander Precon decks.
How the MTG Roles mechanic works
Each of the six Roles found in the main WOE set changes the stats of the creature they are attached to. The Cursed role reduces a creature’s power and toughness to 1/1 while the other five pump the creature’s stats +1/+1.
- Monster Role: Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has Trample
- Sorcerer Role: Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has “Whenever this creature attacks, Scry one.”
- Royal Role: Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has Ward one
- Young Hero Role: Enchanted creature has “Whenever this creature attacks, if its toughness is three or less, put a +1/+1 counter on it.”
- Virtuous Role: Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each Enchantment you control
- Cursed Role: Enchanted creature is a 1/1
- Wicked Role: Enchanted creature gets +1/+1. When this Aura is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, each opponent loses one life.
Roles in WOE are generated from permanents and players can’t attach more than one Role Enchant Aura token to a creature. Creatures like Faunsbane Troll create a Monster Role upon entering the battlefield while Living Lectern creates a Sorcerer Role upon the Artifact Construct getting sacrificed.
Should a creature already have an Aura a Role attached to it, players can remove it and put it in the graveyard to attach a different Role Enchant Aura creature token. All Roles are token Enchantments within the WOE set, featuring two on each MTG card.
Players can test out the new Roles mechanic at Wilds of Eldraine prerelease events that start on Sept. 1.
