+1/+1 counters vs. -1/-1 effects?
Deck Help forum
Posted on Dec. 2, 2012, 5:58 p.m. by ardilly
So I currently have a conceptual deck: deck:golgari-wtf, which utilizes Heartless Summoning to speed things up and kill off any remaining Slitherhead s for scavenging.
What I want to know is, with creatures like Primordial Hydra , Desecration Demon , and Lotleth Troll , how do -1/-1 effects and +1/+1 counters interact?
If I have, say, a Primordial Hydra with 4 +1/+1 counters on it, and 2 Heartless Summoning out as well. Will my hydra be a 4/4 or 2/2? Similarly, if I also have a Lotleth Troll out with 2 +1/+1 counters on it, will it be a 2/1, 4/3, or put in my graveyard?
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #3
The Primordial Hydra would be a 2/2 and the Lotleth Troll a 2/1
+1/+1 counters don't stop -1/-1 effects
zandl says... #2
If your Primordial Hydra has 4 +1/+1 counters on it, it would be a 4/4. However, if you had a Heartless Summoning out, it would be a 3/3.
Casting Primordial Hydra with a Heartless Summoning out essentially gives you 2 free mana to use with X. If you paid 2G with Heartless out, it would enter with 4 +1/+1 counters, then be a 3/3.
+1/+1 counters will balance out -1/-1 static effects.
Similarly, +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters cancel each other out. If a creature has both types at the time state-based actions are check, equals amounts of both are removed from the creature.
December 2, 2012 6:03 p.m.