-1/-1 counter

-1/-1 counter
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Minus.svg}}|70x70px]]
Counter
Use	Power and toughness alteration
Placed on	Creatures
Introduced	Arabian Nights
Last used	Amonkhet
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oracle:"-1/-1 counter"

-1/-1 counters are the second most common counter type in Magic, following +1/+1 counters. They were introduced on the Arabian Nights card Unstable Mutation.

Description

Punch card from Amonkhet with -1/-1 counters

-1/-1 counters appear in all five colors, but are primarily in black and secondarily in green. Flavorwise, putting -1/-1 counters on a creature usually indicates a character being scarred or infected.

For ease of comprehension, blocks tend to focus on only a single type of counter on creatures. -1/-1 counters are used less often than +1/+1 counters because they have less available design space, due to their similarity to +1/+1 counters and their capacity to kill creatures and thereby simplify the game state.

As a further concession to mitigate complexity, +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters are the only power/toughness altering counters used in new products. Additionally, they are never used in the same block, to minimize confusion in limited play. A small handful of cards from the earliest sets still use other, obsolete counters.

At least one set between 2015 and 2022 was expected to use -1/-1 counters. That set was later revealed to be Amonkhet, which features creatures that come into play with -1/-1 counters and shed them off each turn for an effect. -1/-1 counters are currently ranked at a 2 on the Storm Scale.

Cancellation with +1/+1 counters

When both +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters are present on the same creature, they are immediately removed in matched pairs until only one or the other remains.

From the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

• 121.3. If there are no cards in a player’s library and an effect offers that player the choice to draw a card, that player can choose to do so. However, if an effect says that a player can’t draw cards and another effect offers that player the choice to draw a card, that player can’t choose to do so.
  • 121.3a The same principles apply if the player who’s making the choice is not the player who would draw the card. If the latter player has no cards in their library, the choice can be taken. If an effect says that the latter player can’t draw a card, the choice can’t be taken.

Mechanics

Because +1/+1 counters are the default creature counter, -1/-1 counters have been used by far fewer mechanics. There are currently three keyworded mechanics using -1/-1 counters, all of them from Lorwyn–Shadowmoor block or Scars of Mirrodin block:

• Infect
• Persist
• Wither