Poison -1/-1 Counters

Asked by KillerQueen98 4 years ago

Say if I had Erebos, God of the Dead on the field. My friend runs an Infection deck that deals damage in the form of -1/-1 counters. Would my Erebos eventually be milled down to 0/0 and be destroyed?

StupidDroid says... #1

The official reminder text for Indestructible is "(Damage and effects that say 'destroy' don't destroy this)". Even though Erebos, God of the Dead has Indestructible, he will still die if his toughness is zero or less. This can be caused by your opponent's infect creatures, or effects like Death Wind that otherwise reduce his toughness.

April 30, 2019 7:33 p.m.

dragonstryke58 says... Accepted answer #2

If Erebos, God of the Dead takes damage from a creature with infect, it will accumulate that many -1/-1 counters. When it accumulates enough -1/-1 counters to have its toughness equal 0 while it's a creature, it will be moved to the graveyard as a state-based action.

Some things to note:

1) If a creature has a toughness of 0 (or less), it is put into its owners graveyard. It doesn't get destroyed.

704.5f If a creature has toughness 0 or less, it's put into its owner's graveyard. Regeneration can't replace this event.

2) If a permanent with -1/-1 counters is not a creature (though it has power and toughness), it will not be affected until it becomes a creature.

208.3a If an effect would be created that affects the power and/or toughness of a noncreature permanent, that effect is created even though it doesn't do anything unless that permanent becomes a creature.

Number 1 is important for triggered abilities which apply to destroy effects. Its also important because indestructible permanents are immune to destroy effects.

Number 2 is important in the case that Erebos, God of the Dead has 6 -1/-1 counters on him, ceases to be a creature (most likely due to you not having enough devotion), and then someone proliferates. Though Erebos, God of the Dead would have enough -1/-1 counters to bring his toughness to 0, he will not go to the graveyard as a state-based action until he becomes a creature again.

April 30, 2019 7:51 p.m.

Caerwyn says... #4

In the future, please remember to hit the "Mark as Answer" button once your question has been resolved. Not only does this signal to other users that you have no follow-up questions, but it also helps keep the unanswered questions list clear of resolved questions and helps future users quickly identify the correct answer.

As this has been resolved for several days, I have gone ahead and marked an answer on your behalf.

May 6, 2019 2:30 p.m.

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