Dice rolling
Dice are used to create a random effect in game play. This mechanic is momentarily not part of the official Magic rules for the regular game, but has been used in supplemental sets and was considered for Battle for Zendikar.[1][2]
History
Unglued
The rolling of a regular six-sided die as a mechanic was used on Magic cards in Unglued, and proved to be unpopular.[3][4] Ever since, bringing six-sided dice to black border is something R&D has consciously chosen not to do.[5]
Planechase
Planechase introduced the six-sided planar die, that features the planeswalker symbol 
on one face, the chaos symbol 
on another and four blank faces.[6]
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)
- Planar Die
- A specialized six-sided die needed to play the Planechase casual variant. See rule 901.3.
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)
- Chaos Ability
- An ability of a plane card that triggers “Whenever chaos ensues” in the Planechase casual variant. See rule 311.7.
Battle for Zendikar
One of the mechanics that was considered for the Eldrazi in Battle for Zendikar was hedronize. Hedronize was a keyword action where the player rolled an hedron-shaped (eight-sided) die to get an effect. Thus, hedronize had eight abilities – you roll a dice and you do one of eight things (gain life, produce a spawn, etc.). The rules card that would have come in the pack would list them. The mechanic didn’t really play well because was a little too chaotic.[7][8][9] Nonetheless, there were 8-sided Hedron dice given out at PAX.[10]
Amonkhet
Players who attended Amonkhet prerelease were rewarded pyramid-shaped (four-sided) "lazotep" dice for each trial they completed. These were also awarded in the Magic League. The dice (or counters) could be used to keep track of -1/-1 counter on their cards.[11]
Unstable
Sword of Dungeons and Dragons from Unstable makes a cross-over with Dungeons & Dragons and uses a D20 (twenty-sided die). Other cards again used dice rolling with regular dice. Mark Rosewater had reevaluated dice rolling en had decided that it could be popular if R&D was careful about how the cards were designed.[12][13] In Unstable, blue manipulates dice. Black magnifies dice. Red rolls the most dice. And green cares about what is rolled. White has a little dice rolling but doesn’t mechanically interact with it. What colors you draft affects how you may interact with dice rolling.[14]
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 05, 2015). "I was under the impression that black border doesn't roll dice.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 05, 2015). "Do you see it happening anytime soon?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 04, 2009). "Kind Acts of Randomness". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 15, 2016). "What has kept die rolling out of black border Magic?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 08, 2017). "Do you think Jumbo Imp could get black bordered in some form?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ magicthegathering.com staff (August 10, 2009). "Planechase Rules Revealed". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 31, 2015). "What were some mechanics for BFZ that just floundered?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 05, 2015). "What IS the hedronize mechanic?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 01, 2015). "What kind of things hedronize could do?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 05, 2015). "I'd still really love to get some Hedron dice.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Preview Your AKH Event Kits
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 20, 2017). "The Un-Ending Saga, Part 3". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 22, 2017). "Unstable FAQAWASLFAQPAFTIDAWABIAJTBT". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 11, 2018). "How do you keep each color from feeling monotonous with every deck doing everything". Blogatog. Tumblr.