MTG Tokens Explained: Treasure, Food, Clue, Blood and More

Tokens in MTG are permanents that a spell or ability creates and that no card represents. They exist only on the battlefield. A token counts as a permanent, and as a creature, artifact or enchantment if it is one. It is not a card. If a token goes to any other zone, including the graveyard, exile or a player's hand, it ceases to exist. The Comprehensive Rules (effective 6 November 2026) cover tokens in rule 111. Rule 111.10 lists 22 predefined tokens, such as Treasure, Food, Clue, Blood and Map, so a card only has to say "create a Treasure token".

This guide covers the token rules, every predefined token with its exact rules text, creature tokens, what you can use as a token at the table, the most-played token cards in Commander, and what token cards are actually worth.

What Is a Token in MTG?

The rules definition is one sentence. Comprehensive Rules 111.1: "A token is a marker used to represent any permanent that isn't represented by a card."

Everything else follows from that. A Saproling made by a spell, a Treasure made by Smothering Tithe, and a copy of your opponent's best creature made by Spitting Image are all tokens. On the battlefield they are permanents in every sense. They can attack, block, be tapped, be sacrificed, be destroyed and be targeted. Cards that say "creature", "artifact" or "permanent" see them.

What they lack is a physical card. Rule 111.6 says this directly: "A token isn't a card (even if represented by a card that has a Magic back or that came from a Magic booster pack)." The token card you pulled from a Play Booster is just a reminder of what's on the battlefield. Under the rules, the token itself has no card.

How Tokens Work: The Rules That Come Up Most

Tokens die, and dies triggers work. When a creature token is destroyed, it goes to the graveyard like a card. Anything that says "whenever a creature dies" triggers. Then it ceases to exist the next time state-based actions are checked (rule 704.5d). This is why Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat work with token armies.

Bounce, exile and flicker remove a token for good. A token sent to your hand, to exile or to your library ceases to exist. Rule 111.8 says a token that has left the battlefield can't come back, so blinking a token with a "return it to the battlefield" effect just removes it. Phasing is the exception: phasing doesn't move a permanent to another zone, and rule 702.26d says "Tokens continue to exist on the battlefield while phased out."

Creature tokens have summoning sickness. Rule 302.6 applies to every creature, token or not. A creature token can't attack or use a {T} ability on the turn it arrives unless it has haste. Noncreature tokens such as Treasure don't have this restriction, so you can tap a Treasure for mana on the turn you made it.

Tokens have a mana value of 0. A token created from scratch has no mana cost, and rule 202.3a gives anything without a mana cost a mana value of 0. A token copy of a card copies that card's mana cost (rule 707.2), so a token copy of a five-drop has mana value 5.

"Nontoken" means a permanent represented by a card. Cards like Mimic Vat ("whenever a nontoken creature dies") and Duplicant ("exile target nontoken creature") ignore tokens completely. Effects that say "token" only count tokens.

Copies of permanents can be tokens. Spitting Image, Kiki-Jiki and Second Harvest create tokens that copy another permanent's copiable values, including its name. The legend rule still applies, which is why token copies of legendary creatures usually need a workaround. A copy of a permanent spell also becomes a token as it resolves, but rule 111.13 says it isn't "created", so Anointed Procession and similar effects don't double it.

A token copy of your commander is not your commander. Rule 903.3 says the commander designation is "an attribute of the card itself", and a token has no card.

Our guide to state-based actions explains when the game checks for tokens in the wrong zone. The stack guide explains why a dying token's triggers still go on the stack after the token is gone.

Every Predefined Token in the Comprehensive Rules

A predefined token is one the rules define in advance, so a card can say "create a Food token" without spelling out what Food does. The list in rule 111.10 of the 6 November 2026 Comprehensive Rules has 22 entries, lettered a through x. The rules skip the letters l and o, so 111.10k is followed by 111.10m. Rule 111.10 also lets the creating effect add to the definition. A "tapped Treasure" is still a Treasure, for example.

The rules text comes from rule 111.10 of the Comprehensive Rules effective 6 November 2026. "First appeared" is the earliest set with a card that creates that token, according to Scryfall's card search. Some tokens appeared on cards before the rules added them to 111.10. The first Treasure cards in Ixalan spelled out the whole ability in their own rules text.

Below is a short section on each one, starting with the tokens you will see most.

Treasure Token

A Treasure token is a colorless Treasure artifact token with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color." It is the most common predefined token by a wide margin. On 13 November 2026, a Scryfall search for cards whose rules text says "Treasure token" returned 375 cards.

Three details matter:

• It's a mana ability. It adds mana, doesn't target and isn't a loyalty ability, so rule 605.1a makes it a mana ability. It doesn't use the stack, and you can use it any time you could pay mana, including on your opponent's turn.
• It has to tap. A Treasure that is already tapped can't be used until it untaps. Gold, below, has no tap cost.
• It's an artifact the whole time it sits there. An unused Treasure counts for artifact sacrifice costs, affinity and "artifacts you control" effects. That's why Treasure decks run sacrifice outlets alongside their Treasure makers.

Treasure first appeared in Ixalan in September 2017. EDHREC tags 30,852 Commander decks as Treasure decks (13 November 2026), led by Mr. House, President and CEO, Magda, Brazen Outlaw and Prosper, Tome-Bound.

Food Token

A Food token is a colorless Food artifact token with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life." It came from Throne of Eldraine (October 2019). On 13 November 2026, 158 cards on Scryfall mentioned a Food token.

On its own, Food is slow lifegain. Most decks make Food for other reasons. Gilded Goose turns Food into mana, Peregrin Took draws cards by sacrificing three Foods, and forage from Bloomburrow lets you sacrifice a Food instead of exiling three cards from your graveyard. The life is the floor, not the point.

Clue Token

A Clue token is a colorless Clue artifact token with "{2}, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card." Cards that investigate create Clues. Rule 701.16a: "'Investigate' means 'Create a Clue token.'" Clues started in Shadows over Innistrad (April 2016). More than 140 cards investigate.

A Clue has no tap symbol in its cost, unlike Treasure, Food, Blood and Map. You can crack three Clues in one end step if you have six mana, and a Clue that's tapped for some other reason can still be sacrificed. Tireless Tracker, which investigates on every land drop and grows when you sacrifice Clues, is the most-played Clue engine in Commander.

Blood Token

A Blood token is a colorless Blood artifact token with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card." It arrived with the vampire set Innistrad: Crimson Vow in November 2021.

Blood is a rummage you can save for later: you discard first, then draw. That costs you a card in exchange for a better one, so it doesn't give you extra cards. It's useful for getting rid of extra lands late in a game or putting a creature in the graveyard for a reanimation deck. Some cards also count your Blood tokens. Bloodtithe Harvester, for example, gives a creature -X/-X, where X is twice the number of Blood tokens you control.

Map Token

A Map token is a colorless Map artifact token with "{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: Target creature you control explores. Activate only as a sorcery." Maps came from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (November 2023). Get Lost, a two-mana removal spell that destroys a creature, enchantment or planeswalker and gives its controller two Maps, is the most-played Map card in Commander by EDHREC rank.

Exploring (rule 701.44a) reveals your top card. A land goes to your hand. Anything else gives the exploring creature a +1/+1 counter, and you choose whether to put the revealed card in your graveyard. So a Map gives you either a land or a counter and a look at your top card. It works only on your own creatures and only at sorcery speed. Our guide to explore in MTG covers explore in full.

Gold Token

A Gold token is a colorless Gold artifact token with "Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color." It's a Treasure with no tap symbol, which makes it slightly better. You can use a Gold token even when it is tapped. Gold is the oldest named mana token on this list: Gild in Born of the Gods (February 2014) created one. Very few cards make Gold. Curse of Opulence is the most-played Gold card in Commander.

Powerstone Token

A Powerstone token is a colorless Powerstone artifact token with "{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell." Unlike Treasure, Powerstones aren't sacrificed. They stay, and they produce mana every turn. The restriction applies to casting nonartifact spells: Powerstone mana can still pay for artifacts and for activated abilities, including the abilities of artifact creatures.

Karn, Living Legacy in Dominaria United and The Mana Rig in its Commander decks (both September 2022) created the first Powerstones. The Brothers' War (November 2022) built a whole set around them.

Incubator Token

An Incubator token is a double-faced token. The front is a colorless Incubator artifact with "{2}: Transform this token." The back is a 0/0 colorless Phyrexian artifact creature named Phyrexian Token. Cards create them with incubate N (rule 701.53a), which makes an Incubator with N +1/+1 counters on it. When you pay {2} to transform it, those counters make it an N/N creature.

Incubators came from March of the Machine (April 2023). The Incubator sits as a noncreature artifact, so creature removal can't hit it, and it becomes a creature when you choose to pay.

Role Tokens: Cursed, Monster, Royal, Sorcerer, Virtuous, Wicked, Young Hero

Role tokens are Aura enchantment tokens with the Role subtype, introduced in Wilds of Eldraine (September 2023). All seven Roles are in the predefined table above. Monster gives +1/+1 and trample, Royal gives +1/+1 and ward {1}, and Cursed sets a creature's base power and toughness to 1/1, so it works as removal you put on an opponent's creature.

The rule specific to Roles is rule 303.7a: a creature can only have one Role from each player. If you put a second Role on a creature that already has one of yours, the older one goes to the graveyard as a state-based action (rule 704.5z). Two different players can each have a Role on the same creature.

Because Roles are tokens, a Role that leaves the battlefield ceases to exist. You can't return it from the graveyard with an Aura recursion effect.

Junk Token

A Junk token is a colorless Junk artifact token with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery." Junk came from the Fallout Commander decks (March 2024), where Rose, Cutthroat Raider is the most-played Junk maker. The card you exile has to be played that turn, so use Junk when you have the mana for whatever you might hit.

Shard Token

A Shard token is a colorless Shard enchantment token with "{2}, Sacrifice this token: Scry 1, then draw a card." It's the only predefined token that is an enchantment and not an Aura. Shard is also among the rarest. Only two cards make Shards: Niko Aris from Kaldheim (February 2021) and Niko, Light of Hope from Duskmourn (September 2024).

Walker Token

A Walker token is a 2/2 black Zombie creature token named Walker. It has no abilities. Walkers came from the Secret Lair x The Walking Dead drop (October 2020). They are also the only predefined token that is a creature when created. Only three cards make Walkers. On Scryfall they go by their Universes Within names, which put them in a Magic setting: Hansk, Slayer Zealot, Enkira, Hostile Scavenger and Gisa's Favorite Shovel.

Lander Token

A Lander token is a colorless Lander artifact token with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle." Landers came from Edge of Eternities (August 2025). Lander tokens have no sorcery-speed restriction, so you can crack one at the end of an opponent's turn. Horizon Explorer, from the Edge of Eternities Commander decks, is the most-played Lander card.

Mutagen Token

A Mutagen token is a colorless Mutagen artifact token with "{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Activate only as a sorcery." Mutagen came from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (March 2026). It can target any creature, including an opponent's, though you will almost always target your own. Our TMNT Commander deck guide covers the Mutagen cards in the precon.

Vibranium Token

A Vibranium token is a colorless Vibranium artifact token with indestructible and "{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell." It's a Powerstone with indestructible, so "destroy all artifacts" effects don't remove it. Vibranium came from the Marvel Super Heroes Commander decks (June 2026). Five cards make it, among them T'Challa, the Black Panther, Shuri's Fabricator and Dora Milaje Elite. It's covered in our Marvel MTG guide.

Heartwood Token

A Heartwood token is a red and green Heartwood artifact token with "{T}: Add {R} or {G}." It's the newest predefined token. It came from Reality Fracture (2 October 2026), and it's the only multicolored predefined token. Walker, which is black, is the only other one with a color.

There's a misprint to know about. Wizards' Reality Fracture token article (18 September 2026) says "early printings of the Heartwood token use the colorless artifact frame but are red and green artifacts per reminder text." If your Heartwood token card has a gray frame, the token on the battlefield is still red and green.

Creature Tokens: The Basics

Most tokens in a typical game are creatures, and most creature tokens are not predefined. The card that makes them gives every detail: "Create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token", "Create two 2/1 red Dwarf Berserker creature tokens". Rule 111.3 says the token has exactly those characteristics and nothing else. A Saproling from Jade Mage has no mana cost, no rules text and no abilities.

Things that follow from that:

• Color comes from the effect. If the card says "1/1 green Saproling", the token is green. If it says "colorless", the token has no color.
• Name comes from the subtypes. A 1/1 Soldier is named "Soldier Token" (rule 111.4) unless the card names it. Some tokens are named and legendary, such as Minsc's hamster, Boo. Those follow the legend rule like any legendary permanent.
• A token can be created by name. Rule 111.11: if an effect says "create a Tarmogoyf token" and gives nothing else, the token uses the Oracle text of the card named Tarmogoyf.
• Tokens count for everything that counts creatures. Convoke can tap them, sacrifice effects can use them, and counters can go on them. Myriad creates token copies that attack each opponent.

How Do You Represent Tokens at the Table?

Official token cards. Wizards prints token cards for each set. Most come double-sided, with a different token on each face. In Reality Fracture, according to Wizards (18 September 2026), "each Play Booster contains a non-foil double-sided token". Each Collector Booster has "a traditional foil double-sided token or an art card", and the Multiverse Reforged Commander deck has 10 non-foil double-sided tokens. A Reality Fracture Play Booster box has 30 packs and costs $119.93 (TCGplayer market price, 13 November 2026)Updates daily · TCGplayer market price, 13 November 2026 on TCGplayer today, so one box gives you 30 tokens. Our Play Booster vs Collector Booster guide covers the other slots.

Anything clear, in casual play. Dice, glass beads, a proxy printed at home, a coin or a card turned sideways all work. The only test is whether everyone at the table knows what each one is and whether it is tapped. A d6 or d20 on top of a token is the usual way to show a big pile of identical Treasures.

Tournaments: the Magic Tournament Rules are equally relaxed. MTR 3.3 (effective 27 February 2026) says: "Wizards includes additional game material in packs, intended as game aids and not as traditional cards. Examples include tokens, title cards, dungeons, and art cards. These are not required for play and players are welcome to use any representation that is clear to both players when they are needed in the game."

Two other MTR rules apply. Section 1.10 requires every player to bring "A physical, visible, and reliable method to maintain and record game information (tokens, score counters, pen and paper, and so on)." Section 4.7 requires players at Competitive and Professional REL to lay out "their cards, tokens, and other accessories" in a standard layout. So use anything you like, as long as it's clear, and bring your own. MTR 3.4 covers proxy cards. Tokens aren't cards, so section 3.3 is the rule that covers them.

Best Token Cards for Commander

Tokens are one of the most popular strategies in Commander. EDHREC tags 208,811 decks as Tokens decks (13 November 2026). Their most-played commanders are Baylen, the Haymaker, Chatterfang, Squirrel General, Caesar, Legion's Emperor, Krenko, Mob Boss and Edgar Markov.

These are the token cards that appear in the most Tokens-tagged decks. "Share" is the percentage of Tokens decks that could play the card, based on color identity, and actually do. Prices are for the cheapest nonfoil printing on Scryfall on 13 November 2026. Skullclamp's cheapest printing is the new Star Trek Commander reprint, released the same day, so expect that price to move.

The list falls into three groups:

1. Doublers. Doubling Season, Anointed Procession, Parallel Lives and Mondrak each double every token you create. Three of the four most expensive cards on the list are doublers, because every token deck wants one.
2. Payoffs. Skullclamp, Impact Tremors, Mirkwood Bats and Idol of Oblivion turn many small tokens into cards or damage.
3. Treasure engines. Smothering Tithe, Pitiless Plunderer and Deadly Dispute provide mana and card draw.

Smothering Tithe is on the Commander Game Changers list, so it moves your deck into a higher bracket. Our Game Changers guide explains the brackets.

To start with a ready-made deck, our Commander precons guide and best Commander decks list both include token-focused precons.

What Are MTG Tokens Worth?

Almost nothing, with a few exceptions. On 13 November 2026, Scryfall listed 2,938 token printings. 1,517 had a USD price in at least one finish (nonfoil, foil or etched). Going by each printing's cheapest finish, 1,176 of those were under $1. Only 153 were priced at $5 or more, and 56 at $15 or more.

The common predefined tokens cost a few cents to a few dimes:

The tokens with real value are promos, not tokens from regular packs. Some of the most expensive token printings on Scryfall on 13 November 2026:

• Treasure, Lunar New Year 2018 promo (foil): $207.50
• Construct, The Brothers' War Southeast Asia token: $165.24
• Beast, Dominaria United Japanese promo token (foil): $129.95
• Elf Warrior, Secret Lair #7170 (foil): $107.29
• Angel, Dominaria United Japanese promo token (foil): $104.97
• Elephant, Magic Player Rewards 2001: $95.00
• Treasure, March of the Machine Japanese promo token: $69.00
• Clue, 30th Anniversary Edition token: $33.83

These have a few things in common. They were never sold in normal booster packs: they had small regional or event print runs, came from rewards programs of the early 2000s, or were Secret Lair exclusives. A token you pulled from a Play Booster is not one of them. If you are sorting a collection, our guide to which MTG cards are worth money covers what to set aside. The token pile can usually go in a bulk box.

Common Misconceptions

"Tokens can't go to the graveyard." They do, briefly. A creature token that dies is put into the graveyard and triggers dies abilities, then ceases to exist (rule 111.7).

"A token is a card if it came in a pack." Rule 111.6 rules this out explicitly.

"I can blink my token and get it back." No. A token that leaves the battlefield can't return (rule 111.8). Phasing is the one exception, because a phased-out token never left the battlefield.

"Treasure can only be used on my turn." It is a mana ability, so you can use it whenever you could pay mana.

"Tokens don't have summoning sickness." Creature tokens do. Noncreature tokens such as Treasure and Clue don't, because summoning sickness only applies to creatures.

"Doubling Season doubles a copied spell's token." A copy of a permanent spell becomes a token without being "created" (rule 111.13), so token doublers don't apply.

"I need official token cards in a tournament." You don't. MTR 3.3 allows any representation that is clear to both players.

Conclusion

---

Citations & Resources

• Wizards of the Coast: Comprehensive Rules, effective 6 November 2026 (rule 111, Tokens)
• Wizards of the Coast: Magic rules page, current Comprehensive Rules downloads
• Wizards of the Coast: Magic Tournament Rules, effective 27 February 2026 (sections 1.10, 3.3, 4.7)
• Wizards of the Coast: Reality Fracture Tokens and Art Cards (18 September 2026)
• Wizards of the Coast: The Tokens of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (20 February 2026)
• EDHREC: Tokens tag, deck counts and top cards (13 November 2026)
• Scryfall: Every token printing, sorted by price
• Scryfall: Every card that creates a Treasure token

---

Related Guides

• The Ultimate MTG Keywords Glossary: every keyword and keyword action, including investigate, incubate and explore
• MTG Counters Explained: the counters that go on tokens, and how Doubling Season doubles both
• MTG State-Based Actions: the check that removes tokens from every zone but the battlefield
• The Legend Rule Explained: why token copies of legendary creatures cause problems
• What Explore Means in MTG: the action a Map token performs
• MTG Commander Precons: every current preconstructed Commander deck, including the token decks
• Best MTG Commander Decks: where token strategies rank
• MTG Dice Guide: the dice most players use to track tokens and counters