I have 3 x Plains and 1 x Forest in play. I cast Wall of Resurgence. I target the Forest with the Wall's triggered ability. Does my untapped Forest become 3/3 elemental creature with haste?
Asked by RAMaddock 8 years ago
Wall of Resurgence says it becomes 0/0 with 3 x +1/+1, so what is the point of counters otherwise?
Thanks, I've been playing Magic since 1995, but this threw me into a flat spin. It seemed so ambiguous, and it at least appears that you end up with 0/0 with 3 x +1/+1 counters reading the card directly.
February 26, 2016 7:22 a.m.
merrowMania says... #3
Yeah, Magic can be weird. Just think of it as a throwback to the awaken mechanic, which, for rules simplicity, used counters to adjust the level of awakening.
February 26, 2016 8:15 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #6
Just a few more thoughts on the subject:
Using counters in this way is mainly a way to avoid problems related to memory issues. There have been other effects in the past that permanently turn a creature into a land of a given size without using counters (Hunting Wilds, etc.), but in the sets/blocks they were printed in, they weren't competing for brainspace with any other cards doing the same thing. It was easy to remember how big the land creature was because there's only one card that could have made them that way.
Awaken, however, can create land creatures of variable size. If it didn't use counters then a player might start to forget what creatures are what size as the turns pass and multiple Awaken effects have been used. The player would probably start to use dice or something similar to keep track of the size of each creature anyway, so it just makes sense to have Awaken work with counters. Because Wall of Resurgence is sharing brainspace with Awaken, it's easier to have it work the same way.
Notice that there are a few effects in the block that turn creatures into lands without using counters (Elemental Uprising, Embodiment of Fury, Embodiment of Insight, the creature lands), but that's okay because they only do so temporarily. You only have to remember what size they are for as long as the current turn.
February 26, 2016 9:27 a.m.
Thanks also for your input Rhadmanthus, this has given me some more ideas to mull over.
merrowMania says... Accepted answer #1
Yes. It becomes a 0/0 with 3 counters, making it a 3/3 creature. The Awaken mechanic was not reprinted in OGW (eg Clutch of Currents), but Wizards tends to reprint the effect of abilities as reminders/throwbacks (for lack of a better term).
February 26, 2016 7:14 a.m.