Counter (marker)

This page is about markers on cards. For the mechanic, see Counterspell and Counter (keyword action). For a method of tracking life totals, see Life counter.

See also: Counter (marker)/List of Counters.

A counter can be used to represent different effects on a card, especially those that last beyond the current turn. Examples include +1/+1 counters, charge counters, and time counters. Richard Garfield created counters for Alpha to designate an increase in power and/or toughness, to track the gaining of resources, and to mark a permanent change.

Rules

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

• 122. Counters
  • 122.1. A counter is a marker placed on an object or player that modifies its characteristics and/or interacts with a rule, ability, or effect. Counters are not objects and have no characteristics. Notably, a counter is not a token, and a token is not a counter. Counters with the same name or description are interchangeable.
    • 122.1a A +X/+Y counter on a creature or on a creature card in a zone other than the battlefield, where X and Y are numbers, adds X to that object’s power and Y to that object’s toughness. Similarly, -X/-Y counters subtract from power and toughness. See rule 613.4c.
    • 122.1b A keyword counter on a permanent or on a card in a zone other than the battlefield causes that object to gain that keyword. The keywords that a keyword counter can be are flying, first strike, double strike, deathtouch, exalted, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, shadow, trample, and vigilance, as well as any variants of those keywords. See rule 613.1f.
    • 122.1c One or more shield counters on a permanent create a single replacement effect and a single prevention effect that protect the permanent. These effects are “If this permanent would be destroyed as the result of an effect, instead remove a shield counter from it” and “If damage would be dealt to this permanent, prevent that damage and remove a shield counter from it.” See rule 614, “Replacement Effects,” and rule 615, “Prevention Effects.”
    • 122.1d One or more stun counters on a permanent create a single replacement effect that stops the permanent from untapping. That effect is “If a permanent with a stun counter on it would become untapped, instead remove a stun counter from it.”
    • 122.1e The number of loyalty counters on a planeswalker on the battlefield indicates how much loyalty it has. A planeswalker with 0 loyalty is put into its owner’s graveyard as a state-based action. See rule 704.
    • 122.1f If a player has ten or more poison counters, that player loses the game as a state-based action. See rule 704. A player is “poisoned” if they have one or more poison counters. (See rule 810 for additional rules for Two-Headed Giant games.)
    • 122.1g The number of defense counters on a battle on the battlefield indicates how much defense it has. A battle with 0 defense is put into its owner’s graveyard if it isn’t the source of an ability that has triggered but not yet left the stack. This state-based action doesn’t use the stack. See rule 704.
    • 122.1h One or more finality counters on a permanent create a single replacement effect that stops the permanent from going to the graveyard. That effect is “If this permanent would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield, exile it instead.”
    • 122.1i One or more rad counters on a player cause a triggered ability to trigger at the beginning of that player’s precombat main phase. See rule 725, “Rad Counters.”
  • 122.2. Counters on an object are not retained if that object moves from one zone to another. The counters are not “removed”; they simply cease to exist. See rule 400.7.
  • 122.3. If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, N +1/+1 and N -1/-1 counters are removed from it as a state-based action, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it. See rule 704.
  • 122.4. If a permanent with an ability that says it can’t have more than N counters of a certain kind on it has more than N counters of that kind on it, all but N of those counters are removed from it as a state-based action. See rule 704.
  • 122.5. If an effect says to “move” a counter, it means to remove that counter from the object it’s currently on and put it onto a second object. If either of these actions isn’t possible, it’s not possible to move a counter, and no counter is removed from or put onto anything. This may occur if the first and second objects are the same object; if the first object doesn’t have the appropriate kind of counter on it; if the second object can’t have counters put onto it; or if either object is no longer in the correct zone.
  • 122.6. Some spells and abilities refer to counters being put on an object. This refers to putting counters on that object while it’s on the battlefield and also to an object that’s given counters as it enters the battlefield.
    • 122.6a If an object enters the battlefield with counters on it, the effect causing the object to be given counters may specify which player puts those counters on it. If the effect doesn’t specify a player, the object’s controller puts those counters on it.
  • 122.7. An ability that triggers “When/Whenever the Nth [kind] counter” is put on an object triggers when one or more counters of the appropriate kind are put on the object such that the object had fewer than N counters on it before the counters were put on it and N or more counters on it after.
  • 122.8. If a triggered ability instructs a player to put one object’s counters on another object and that ability’s trigger condition or effect checks that the object with those counters left the battlefield, the player doesn’t move counters from one object to the other. Rather, the player puts the same number of each kind of counter the first object had onto the second object.

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

Counter

1. To cancel a spell or ability so it doesn’t resolve and none of its effects occur. See rule 701.5, “Counter.”

2. A marker placed on an object or player that modifies its characteristics or interacts with a rule or ability. See rule 122, “Counters.”

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

Placed

(Obsolete) Some spells and abilities previously referred to a counter being “placed” on a permanent. These cards have received errata in the Oracle card reference to use the term “put” instead. Due to a rules change, these cards continue to function as they did before. See rule 122, “Counters.”

=Move

= To move means to remove a counter from one object and put it on a different object. Some older cards used “move” with respect to Auras; those cards have received errata in the Oracle card reference and now use the word “attach.”

The ability to move counters is primary in blue.

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

Move

To remove a counter from one object and put it on a different object. See rule 122.5.

Some older cards used “move” with respect to Auras; those cards have received errata in the Oracle card reference and now use the word “attach.”

Remove

Black is the color that gets removes counters, but only from permanents on the battlefield and not players.

Trivia

• The Alpha Cyclopean Tomb, while trying to refer to counters, does in fact call them tokens.
• The effect to increase the number of counters as they're being made, or making more after they've already been made, is primary in blue and green (e.g.Doubling Season. White is secondary.
• Counters were featured as rules card 4 of 9 in the Magic 2011 set.