Corpse counter

Corpse counter
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Skeleton.svg}}|70x70px]]
Counter
Use	Various
Placed on	Creatures, Artifacts
Introduced	Alpha
Last used	Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
Statistics
4 counter creation cards 100%
Scryfall search
oracle:"Corpse counter"

Corpse counters are a type of counter introduced in Alpha. All instances of corpse counters are created from Black cards and their creation is either related to a creature dying during a given turn or related to tracking a creature that returned from the graveyard. The counters are then used for various effects ranging from token creation, regeneration, or tracking whether a creature should be exiled upon death.

Description

Corpse counters first appeared on Scavenging Ghoul in Alpha as an unnamed counter which was later errated to be a corpse counter. At the end of each turn, the Ghoul would gain a corpse counter for each creature that died that turn. It could then exchange a corpse counter to regenerate itself.

Corpse counters were seen once again in Core Set 2019 on Isareth the Awakener. It can return creatures from the graveyard with corpse counters on them which are then exiled if they go anywhere other than exile. From the Catacombs, a sorcery from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate does the same thing. In these cases, the corpse counter is intended simply as reminder: The exile effect of Isareth or Catacombs will still take place even if the reanimated card has had its corpse counter removed from it, and will not take place on a card which acquired the corpse counter by other means, such as The Ozolith. However, if a corpse counter is put on Scavenging Ghoul by either Isareth or Catacombs, that counter could be used to regenerate the Ghoul, just like its other corpse counters.

The Crowded Crypt artifact from Midnight Hunt Commander saw the third type of corpse counter. This type is generated similarly to the Ghoul's, building up whenever a creature under the control of the player dies. Its use is very different: the Crypt can sacrifice itself to create zombie tokens for each corpse counter on it.

Thus far, all instances of corpse counters do not typically interact with each other, though there are sideways methods to exploit them, by either transferring counters among permanents, or using Isareth the Awakener or From the Catacombs directly on a Scavenging Ghoul to give it an extra corpse counter.

Trivia

In Magic Online, the counter is colored green as its considered a positive effect and it shares an icon with Blood, Carrion, Eyeball, Infection, and Plague counters.