Poison counter

Poison counter

 

List of cards

 

Poison counter
Counter
Use	Winning/Losing; Poisoning
Placed on	Players
Introduced	Legends
Last used	New Phyrexia
Scryfall search
oracle:"Poison counter"

A poison counter is a counter that, unlike most other counters, is placed on players rather than objects. When a player has ten or more poison counters, that player loses the game. A player with at least one poison counter is considered poisoned.

Poison is intended to be a fundamentally different win condition from life totals because poison counters cannot be removed. Leeches, from Homelands, is the only exception to this rule. That exception is seen as a severe mistake, and the card would never be reprinted, even if it were not on the Reserved List. This is something the Mystery Booster test card Puresteel Angel teases.

However, a player may use Karn Liberated to restart the game and remove the poison counters in the process. Another way to counteract poison counters is to play Melira, Sylvok Outcast. While functionally unusable, Suncleanser also has the ability to remove poison counters, albeit only for your opponents.

Cardboard versions of poison counters, similar to tokens, were printed as part of the marketing cards in Scars of Mirrodin block.

History

Poison Counter marker as printed in the Scars of Mirrodin block

The poison mechanic was introduced on the Legends cards Pit Scorpion and Serpent Generator. The mechanic appeared in sets up until Visions, and was planned as the main theme of Tempest, before it was retired from the game. It was next considered for Unglued 2 prior to that set's cancellation.

Poison appeared in a limited capacity in Future Sight, on a pair of futureshifted "preprint" cards with the keyword poisonous. It finally saw print as a major mechanic in Scars of Mirrodin block, which supported the poison counter-granting infect keyword with proliferate. The second set of that block, Mirrodin Besieged, expanded the concept by defining players as "poisoned" if they had one or more poison counters, and including cards that referenced that term.

Rules

Players with at least ten poison counters, and Two-Headed Giant teams with at least fifteen poison counters, immediately lose the game.

In the Comprehensive Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)

Poison Counter

A counter that may be given to a player. See rule 122, “Counters,” and rule 704.5c.

104.3d defines the how poison counter works:

From the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)

• 104.3d If a player has ten or more poison counters, that player loses the game the next time a player would receive priority. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

122.1d defines the term "poisoned":

From the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)

• 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.”

704.5 and 704.6 define the various state-based actions, of which two relate to poison:

From the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)

• 704.5c If a player has ten or more poison counters, that player loses the game. Ignore this rule in Two-Headed Giant games; see rule 704.6b instead.

From the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)

• 704.6b In a Two-Headed Giant game, if a team has fifteen or more poison counters, that team loses the game. See rule 810, “Two-Headed Giant Variant.”

810.10 and 810.11 specify how poison works in Two-Headed Giant and with "further heads":

From the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)

• 810.10. Effects that cause players to get poison counters happen to each player individually. The poison counters are shared by the team.
  • 810.10a If an effect needs to know how many poison counters an individual player has, that effect uses the number of poison counters that player’s team has. If an effect needs to know how many poison counters a player’s opponents have, that effect uses the number of poison counters opposing teams have.
  • 810.10b If an effect says that a player loses poison counters, that player’s team loses that many poison counters.
  • 810.10c If an effect says that a player can’t get poison counters, no player on that player’s team can get poison counters.
  • 810.10d If a rule or effect needs to know what kinds of counters an individual player has, that effect uses the kinds of counters that player has and the kinds of counters that player’s team has. A player is “poisoned” if that player’s team has one or more poison counters.

From the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)

• 810.11. The Two-Headed Giant variant can also be played with equally sized teams of more than two players. For each player a team has beyond the second, that team’s starting life total is increased by 15 and the number of poison counters required for the team to lose is increased by five. (These variants are called Three-Headed Giant, Four-Headed Giant, and so on.)

Mechanics

Poison counters are granted by two keyword abilities.

• Infect
• Poisonous

Older cards

Many older cards referencing poison counters use a wording very similar to the poisonous keyword, but trigger on any damage, rather than just combat damage. To avoid changing functionality, no errata were made for these cards when the poisonous keyword was introduced.

• Crypt Cobra
• Marsh Viper
• Pit Scorpion
• Sabertooth Cobra
• Serpent Generator
• Suq'Ata Assassin
• Swamp Mosquito
• Leeches