Hardened Scales

Enchantment

If one or more +1/+1 counters would be placed on a creature you control, that many plus one +1/+1 counters are placed on it instead.

Discussion (36)

wallisface on Modular Scales

6 days ago

ThisIsMyAccount gotta disagree on the “too many legendary” thing. Scales wants as many copies of The Ozolith (& Hardened Scales ) that it can run, cause we want at least one of these out turn 1 so our deck can function - running 4 copies of The Ozolith is great for us as it gives us less dead draws.

I don’t think running multiple copies of Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp hurts us either, the second one just effectively adds at minimum 2 counters to the boardstate. Also remember the deck thrives off being able to sacrifice our own stuff to Throne of Geth and Arcbound Ravager .

I don’t think the deck wants Lodestone Golem in it at all either. 4 mana is steep, and against the decks this effect would usually aim to stop (storm, burn etc), its already too late. Not to mention, Hardened Scales decks should be aiming to win by the time they have 4 mana, not playing this stuff

mobizque on $75 1-Up Green

2 weeks ago

Gotta say, zapyourtumor, don't overlook Simic Initiate . Over the course of a few turns he cranks out value when his grafted counters multiply due to Hardened Scales . Things get out of hand quickly if you have a couple initiates and one hardened scales in your opening hand.

Pelt Collector is a legit one drop though.

nUKe13 on nUKe13 Mardu Pyromancer

2 weeks ago

JacenSolo29 as far as the next update goes, I’m waiting to see if there is anything else that drops from MH2, but I think we have the complete list now.

My first impressions are:

1) Faithless Salvaging - this works better than Thrill of Possibility since it can be cast on an empty hand and the rebound can’t be caught by hand disruption. Instant is nice if we really do want to cast on opponent’s end step. Then, if we draw an instant, we can cast with rebound on the stack to get full value.

2) Prismatic Ending - I personally really REALLY like this. Great against aggro, Humans, Jund, Ponza, Death's Shadow (minus Gurmag Angler ). See (https://strategy.channelfireball.com/all-strategy/home/is-prismatic-ending-the-new-swords-to-plowshares/)

3) Damn - again, LOVE IT! Definitely love the versatility, but I don’t know if it would replace Dreadbore (hits PWs), Fatal Push (instant and cheaper), or Engineered Explosives (can be triggered at instant speed and can be cheaper). Definitely a consideration for spots that previously included Damnation or Wrath of God .

4) General Ferrous Rokiric - I personally really like this. Immune to most removal (specifically EFFICIENT removal) such as Lightning Bolt , Path to Exile , Fatal Push , and Cryptic Command bouncing it. If you play a lot of multicolor spells, like Kolaghan's Command , Kaya's Guile , Kaya, Orzhov Usurper , Nahiri, the Harbinger , Dreadbore / Terminate , and Lightning Helix , then you definitely benefit from having this.

5) Dragon's Rage Channeler - this has a Magmatic Channeler feel to it and couples well with the graveyard-centric focus. If you opt for utility ARTIFACTS, like Mishra's Bauble , Damping Sphere , or Engineered Explosives , ENCHANTMENTS, like Blood Moon , or PLANESWALKERS, like Liliana of the Veil or any of the previously mentioned PWs, then you have an even easier time to activate Delirium. You do have to attack every turn, but having flying as evasion is really nice. Surveil is good if we start running more Flashback spells, like more Lingering Souls or Smiting Helix .

6) Void Mirror - TRON HATE FTW! This would compete with Damping Sphere as far as utility goes, but still really REALLY nice.

7) Obsidian Charmaw - OMG there are SO many Tron hate cards in this set, and I LOVE it. If Tron or Eldrazi Tron get more popular through all the hate from this set, then this would be great to add create a clock.

8) Vindicate - old EDH tech being added to Modern. I like the idea of destroying anything, but sorcery speed and 3 cmc, with everything else that has come into the game (and power creep), makes me unsure of its power. Could be what we need, but 3cmc is already crowded in the list.

9) Flame Blitz - UW/x, Jund, and maybe Tron typically run more PWs, so if we forgo running PWs, ourselves, then this serves as an extremely cheap PW hate card. Cycling is nice if we draw it and the opponent has side boarded out a majority of their PWs.

10) Harmonic Prodigy - if we bring back Young Pyromancer , add in Dark Confidant , and focus on Prowess, then I think this would rather have a home in a Feather, the Redeemed /spell-slinger deck. Still, it would be ok here, with the high spell count we run.

11) Sanctifier en-Vec - I don’t think we want to use this... definitely expect it in Burn or D&T lists against us.

12) Dauthi Voidwalker - now THIS we can use. Basically Sanctifier en-Vec , but unilateral hate and can help against Dredge or other recursion based decks. I like that we can sac on targeted removal and cast one of their spell(s). can conflict with our spells, but we are usually ok. If we get Blood Moon ed, we can usually laugh it off and power through it.

13) Bone Shards - in the primer, I’ve indicated that Mardu Pyro has different variants (spells/grave, PW, and Aristocrat/tokens). I feel this would slot nicely into an token deck, along with Village Rites , Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger , and Afterlife creatures.

14) Fury - at first glance, I’ve been conflicted. Seems ok as protection from aggro strategies, but I wish it had either 1 more toughness, did more damage, hit players, or cost less. It just seems... meh... I’m skeptical, but I’ve definitely been proven wrong before, so I’ll keep my mind open.

15) Mine Collapse - great if we run a bit more heavy on lands and run late. Too bad it doesn’t hit players though... a common theme from cards this set.

16) Arcbound Whelp / Esper Sentinel /Knighted Myr - another idea that has come to fruition from this set is Mardu Affinity. No, we won’t tech for Hardened Scales , but the removal suite that we run, in addition to these new artifact creatures (and lands!) is tempting enough to test some brews.

I hope this gives an idea of what we could change for the deck. The list was roughly done in the order of what we would tech in to the current build, but anything is possible! Let me know what you all think.

Edit: some of the cards (Knighted Myr, Mine Collapse, and Bone Shards) did not have the links set up in TappedOut as of the time of this post, so I do apologize for that.

Coward_Token on Modern Horizons 2 Spoilers

3 weeks ago

Zabaz: Did they put those abilities on it to make it a boros commander? Because it really seems underwhelming in EDH. (Wow! Hardened Scales for all of 13 cards!)

Chef's Kiss: Okay calling it now, RB Asmor incoming! Anyway, red Imp's Mischief isn't bad for protecting your commander

(Oh, and important thing about Grist I missed)

Beginner-Budget-Builder on $75 1-Up Green

1 month ago

A little late to the discussion, but I really like this budget-casual deck. There is a lot of cards when it comes to +1/+1 counters, and I recommend looking at EDH decks for inspiration. A budget alternative to Hardened Scales could be Solidarity of Heroes , for example. Tuskguard Captain can give some tribal effects to your creatures, and you can get tons of value with Hornbash Mentor . For more of those effects, .

BrassLord on Imaginary Friends!

1 month ago

I've been on the receiving end of my friend's Pir and Toothy deck many a time! Some food for thought!

I've seen some good plays come from cards that move around +1/+1 counters, things like Nesting Grounds , Forgotten Ancient get nutty when you have doubling season or anything like Hardened Scales around. Spike Weaver is another card that I don't see getting a lot of love, particularly if you have ways to give it +1/+1 counters, can help stall creature based swarm decks to get you to the late game!

Also, not sure if budget is an issue, but Hydroid Krasis is like a Nimbus Swimmer with benefits!

TheVectornaut on Simic Ascendancy

1 month ago

Do you find you have enough creatures out to make Might of the Masses better than something that applies counters? I think I'd prefer Hardened Scales .

Nickosis on Marath, the Poisonous

1 month ago

Or also, something that doubles counters or something like Hardened Scales because then you can remove a counter, to out 2 on Marath. It's a lot of annoying shenanigans, but it does work, even something like Essence Warden and Archangel of Thune for when you make a dude you gain a life and put a counter back on Marath. Like I said, lots of silly interactions.