The Bodyguard {4}
Identity — Guardian
Undercover
Unveil {4}
When The Bodyguard is unveiled, until your next turn, prevent all damage that would be dealt to target player and each creature and planeswalker they control.
TRE · 003/062 · U
Role guide
GuardianThe Guardian
Sworn to protect a Leader who doesn’t know you exist.
- Team
- Leader team
- Starts
- Face down, Undercover.
- Per game
- 0–2 at 4–8 players
- Identities
- 18 in the set
Your goal
Keep the Leader alive until every Assassin and Traitor is gone. You win or lose with the Leader, so your life total matters only as long as theirs does.
You win when
- The Leader team wins: every Assassin and every Traitor has left the game while a Leader is still in it.
You lose when
- The last Leader loses. You lose with them, even with life to spare.
Strategy
- Your unveil is usually a defensive trick, and it is instant speed. Hold the mana for it on dangerous turns, especially when an opponent swings at the Leader.
- Undercover means you can’t unveil until someone else has attacked the Leader or another non-Leader identity has been revealed. Count on the first threat getting through before you can answer.
- Don’t unveil just to be trusted. Once you are face up, every Assassin knows which player to remove first.
- Protect the Leader’s life total, not their board. A Leader with no creatures can still win; a dead Leader can’t.
- Keep the Traitor in mind. They may help you early, but they need the Leader dead in the end.
- You can attack the Leader yourself to unlock Undercover for other Guardians. Risky, but sometimes exactly right.
How to bluff
- Act like an Assassin who hasn’t made up their mind. It keeps the real Assassins guessing about how many enemies they face.
- Pressure players who look like Assassins without tipping your hand. Attacks speak louder than claims.
- If you must claim Guardian, do it when it helps the Leader make a decision, not when it makes you feel safer.
What to watch for
- The turn an Assassin unveils. Many Assassin effects only work on their own turn, so their main phase is when your answer matters most.
- Board wipes and big attacks aimed at the Leader. Those are what your unveil exists for.
- Players who “help” the Leader only against the Assassins. That is probably the Traitor.
- Your own life total, but only as far as staying alive lets you keep protecting.
Rules worth knowing as a Guardian: TR5.2, TR6.3, TR3.11. Undercover is explained in full in TR5.
All 18 Guardians
Sorted from simplest to wildest. Tap a card for its full text and rulings.
Uncommon 7
- The Bodyguard uncommon ·
- The Cathar uncommon ·
The Cathar {5}, Pay 5 lifeIdentity — GuardianUndercover Unveil—{5}, Pay 5 life. When The Cathar is unveiled, exile up to three target nonland permanents until you lose the game. (Those permanents return under their owners’ control.)TRE · 004/062 · U
+ - The Flickering Mage uncommon ·
The Flickering Mage {4}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {4} When The Flickering Mage is unveiled, exile up to four target nonland permanents. Return those cards to the battlefield tapped under their owner’s control at the beginning of the next end step.TRE · 006/062 · U - The Golem uncommon ·
The Golem {6}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {6} When The Golem is unveiled, target Leader player loses 6 life and you gain 6 life. Leader players have hexproof and can’t be attacked. (Until you lose the game.)TRE · 007/062 · U
- The Immortal uncommon ·
The Immortal {3}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {3} When The Immortal is unveiled, up to one target player gains 15 life and up to one target player shuffles their graveyard into their library.TRE · 009/062 · U
- The Inquisitor uncommon ·
The Inquisitor {X}{1}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {X}{1} When The Inquisitor is unveiled, choose X other target players. They each reveal their hand. For each of those players, choose a card from their graveyard or hand and exile it.TRE · 010/062 · U
- The Mirror Maestra uncommon ·
The Mirror Maestra {X}{X}{2}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {X}{X}{2} When The Mirror Maestra is unveiled, choose a player and X target permanents. For each of those permanents, that player creates a token that’s a copy of it.TRE · 012/062 · U
Rare 7
- The Ætherist rare ·
The Ætherist {3}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {3} When The Ætherist is unveiled, counter target spell. At the beginning of target player’s next main phase, they gain life and add an amount of {C} equal to that spell’s mana value.TRE · 001/062 · R - The Augur rare ·
The Augur {X}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {X} When The Augur is unveiled, target player shuffles, scries X, then exiles the top card of their library. They gain life equal to twice that card’s mana value, then they may cast it without paying its mana cost.TRE · 002/062 · R - The Cryomancer rare ·
The Cryomancer {X}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {X} When The Cryomancer is unveiled, tap X target permanents and remove them from combat. If it’s your turn, distribute X stun counters among any number of those permanents. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)TRE · 005/062 · R - The Marshal rare ·
The Marshal {X}{4}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {X}{4} When The Marshal is unveiled, choose a color and a creature type. Target player creates X plus four 1/1 creature tokens of the chosen color and type. If X is 3 or more, destroy all other creatures.TRE · 011/062 · R - The Quellmaster rare ·
The Quellmaster {9}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {9}. This cost is reduced by {1} for each creature controlled by non-Leader players. When The Quellmaster is unveiled, tap all creatures controlled by non-Leader players and put a stun counter on each of them. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)TRE · 014/062 · R
- The Spellsnatcher rare ·
The Spellsnatcher {4}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {4} When The Spellsnatcher is unveiled, counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner’s graveyard. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost for as long as it remains exiled.TRE · 015/062 · R - The Summoner rare ·
The Summoner {X}{Y}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {X}{Y}. X and Y can’t be 0. When The Summoner is unveiled, target player creates X 0/0 colorless Shapeshifter creature tokens with changeling and reach. Put Y +1/+1 counters on each of them.TRE · 016/062 · R
Mythic 4
- The Great Martyr mythic ·
The Great Martyr {2}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {2} When The Great Martyr is unveiled, until end of turn, if a source an opponent controls would deal damage to a Leader player, that damage is dealt to you instead. The same is true for losing life, discarding cards and sacrificing permanents. Whenever you are dealt damage or lose life this way, draw half that many cards, rounded up. Whenever you discard a card or sacrifice a permanent this way, you gain 2 life.TRE · 008/062 · M - The Oracle mythic ·
The Oracle {2}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {2} When The Oracle is unveiled, until end of turn, Leader players have protection from everything and their life totals can’t change. (They can’t be targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything and their life totals can’t change.)TRE · 013/062 · M - The Supplier
The Supplier Discard a nonland cardIdentity — GuardianUndercover Unveil—Discard a nonland card. When The Supplier is unveiled, you get {m}{m}{m}{m}{m}{m} (six gem counters). {1}, Pay {m}: Target player chooses a card from their graveyard or an exiled card they own and puts it into their library third from the top. {2}, Pay {m}{m}: Target player reveals the top seven cards of their library. They put two of them into their hand and the rest on the bottom of their library in a random order.TRE · 017/062 · M - The Warlock mythic ·
The Warlock {3}Identity — GuardianUndercover Unveil {3} When The Warlock is unveiled, end the phase if it isn’t the ending phase. (Exile all spells and abilities on the stack. Remove all creatures from combat. Then, the active player begins their next phase.)TRE · 018/062 · M