Coin counter
| Coin counter | |
|---|---|
| Counter | |
| Use | Returns creature from death or exile under Player's control; Resource for Treasure tokens. |
| Placed on | Creatures, Artifacts |
| Introduced | Theros: Beyond Death |
| Last used | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate |
| Statistics | |
|
2 counter creation cards  50%  50% | |
| Scryfall search | |
| oracle:"Coin counter" | |
Coin counters are a type of counter introduced in Theros: Beyond Death placed on creatures to thematically represent the Ancient Greek practice of placing coins in with the deceased for payment to be carried to the afterlife. In a later set, they had a different distinct usage on artifacts allowing for exchange into Treasure tokens.
Description
Coin counters first appeared on Athreos, Shroud-Veiled in Theros: Beyond Death. They were placed on a creature at the end of the Player's turn giving it the effect of returning to the battlefield under the player's control whenever it died or was exiled in exchange for the coin counter. This represents the God bringing the creature back to life under its control. Thus it acts as either protection for creatures on its side or a way to steal an enemy's creatures upon their death.
Coin counters later appeared again on Noble's Purse in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate though in this case they were placed on the artifact and behaved differently. The artifact started with 3 coin counters and could exchange one for creating a Treasure token that could be sacrificed for mana. This acted as if the coins are being used to buy a treasure.
While the use of coin counters on creatures seems to be unrelated to their use on artifacts the two can affect each other. Multiple effects can cause artifacts like Noble's Purse to become creatures, which would allow Athreos to "steal" such an artifact if it were destroyed with coin counters on it. Athreos could also supply extra coin counters to such an artifact beyond its initial supply.