Corrupted

Corrupted
[[File:{{#setmainimage:MTGA Corrupted full.png}}|70x70px]]
Ability Word
Introduced	Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Last used	Alchemy: Phyrexia
Typical Text	Corrupted — If an opponent has three or more Poison counters, …
Statistics	26 cards 26.9% 7.7% 26.9% 19.2% 3.8% 3.8% 7.7% 3.8%
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keyword:"Corrupted"

Corrupted is an ability word that gives a card different or additional characteristics if an opponent has three or more Poison counters. It was introduced in Phyrexia: All Will Be One.

Description

Corrupted highlights abilities that make cards stronger if an opponent has three or more poison counters.

Some corrupted abilities are activated. If you have a corrupted opponent, you can activate the ability, and if you don't, you can't. Other corrupted abilities are static, and their effects are active as long as an opponent has three or more poison counters. In multiplayer games, you need only one opponent to have three or more poison counters, not all of them. However, some cards copy their effect for each corrupted opponent.

Corrupted can be found on permanents, but there are also instants and sorceries with corrupted abilities. Some of these abilities provide additional effects if you have a corrupted opponent as the spell resolves. Others affect what a spell costs or what it can target.

History

Poison counters were first introduced in Legends in 1994 and had been a long-time favorite for alternate-win conditions. But outside of a few individual cards, they were mostly all or nothing - if a player couldn't deliver the tenth poison counter, the first nine didn't matter much.

2011's Mirrodin Besieged added poisoned to the game rules, which only required one poison counter to enable various effects. However it was only used on four cards in that block, and was not used again for 12 years. Corrupted was created for Phyrexia: All Will Be One and can be thought of as a variation of poisoned, requiring three counters instead of one. Unlike poisoned, Corrupted is merely an ability word, so it is not defined in the game rules. Coinciding with the first usage of Corrupted, the Commander set for All Will Be One included one new card which brought back poisoned.

Rulings

• In multiplayer games, only one opponent is required to have three or more poison counters for corrupted abilities to take notice, not all of them.
• Some corrupted abilities are activated abilities that can be activated only if an opponent has three or more poison counters. Once such an ability has been activated, it doesn't matter if that condition is still true as the ability tries to resolve.
• Some corrupted abilities of instants and sorceries provide effects that happen in addition to the base effect of the spell if an opponent has three or more poison counters. Other corrupted abilities, indicated by the word "instead" provide alternative effects that happen instead of the base effect.

Examples

Example

Skrelv's Hive
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life and create a 1/1 colorless Phyrexian Mite artifact creature token with toxic 1 and “This creature can’t block.”
Corrupted — As long as an opponent has three or more poison counters, creatures you control with toxic have lifelink.