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Reluctant Role Model

Creature — Human Survivor

Survival — At the beginning of your second main phase, if this creature is tapped, put a flying, lifelink, or +1/+1 counter on it.
Whenever this creature or another creature you control dies, if it had counters on it, put those counters on up to one target creature.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{W}
Color identity
W
Rarity
rare
Set
Duskmourn: House of Horror Promos
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#4694
Buy on TCGplayer
Reluctant Role Model card art
Reluctant Role Model puts a +1/+1 counter on itself every end step, making it a persistent counter-generator that feeds token engines like Felisa, Fang of Silverquill the moment it dies. The real pull is its combo potential with Basking Broodscale — together they form an infinite-counter loop that closes games, and neither piece costs more than a few cents.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Felisa, Fang of Silverquill

Felisa, Fang of Silverquill

45.1% of decks · synergy 0.44

Felisa, Fang of Silverquill converts the counters Reluctant Role Model accumulates into a swarm of 2/2 Inklings on death, which is exactly the engine Felisa decks are built to exploit — the longer Reluctant Role Model survives, the bigger the payoff when it finally trades.

02
Athreos, Shroud-Veiled

Athreos, Shroud-Veiled

35.8% of decks · synergy 0.34

Athreos, Shroud-Veiled puts coin counters on opposing creatures and steals them when they die, and Reluctant Role Model slots in as a low-cost, self-sufficient body that accrues value while Athreos sets up the theft loop.

03
Tidus, Yuna's Guardian

Tidus, Yuna's Guardian

22.9% of decks · synergy 0.21

Tidus, Yuna's Guardian cares about creatures with counters and rewards repeated combat, so Reluctant Role Model's automatic end-step growth makes it a reliable trigger piece that gets bigger every turn without any additional investment.

04
Breena, the Demagogue

Breena, the Demagogue

20.9% of decks · synergy 0.19

Breena, the Demagogue distributes +1/+1 counters whenever opponents deal combat damage to each other, and Reluctant Role Model fits naturally into that counter-dense shell while also growing independently to compound the board presence.

05
Black Panther, Wakandan King

Black Panther, Wakandan King

21.6% of decks · synergy 0.18

Black Panther, Wakandan King loads counters onto creatures and wants a wide array of counter synergies to maximize its effect, making Reluctant Role Model a clean addition that grows on its own and triggers any counter-matters payoffs in the 99.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Reluctant Role Model actually matters — the Basking Broodscale loop is a legitimate infinite-combo line, and the counter synergies it plugs into are dense enough in the format to justify a slot in multiple archetypes. In competitive non-rotating formats like Legacy and Vintage, Reluctant Role Model is legal but has no foothold; the combo is too slow and too easily disrupted against the interaction density those formats demand. Modern and Pioneer are theoretically available but present the same problem — the payoff requires too much scaffolding for a two-card creature combo to be reliable in a faster environment. Standard is its natural limited window, where the self-contained counter growth is more meaningful and synergy density is lower, making it easier to build around.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Pricing data for Reluctant Role Model isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the latest number. Given that it's a combo piece in a Standard-legal set with Commander crossover appeal, expect it to sit somewhere between bulk and a modest few dollars depending on how much constructed play it sees.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.