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


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.

Poison counters reappeared in a limited capacity in Kaldheim (Fynn, the Fangbearer).

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
undefined 104.3d defines the how poison counter works: undefined 122.1d defines the term "poisoned": undefined 704.5 and 704.6 define the various state-based actions, of which two relate to poison: undefined undefined 810.10 and 810.11 specify how poison works in Two-Headed Giant and with "further heads": undefined undefined

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</c>
 * Marsh Viper</c>
 * Pit Scorpion</c>
 * Sabertooth Cobra</c>
 * Serpent Generator</c>
 * Suq'Ata Assassin</c>
 * Swamp Mosquito</c>
 * Leeches</c>