This scenario is a bundle of edge cases, but it lets us work in a silver-bordered but manageable way. A Bloodspore Thrinax that has no counters on it (maybe it was Aether Snapped) makes sure your creatures enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it, because it would give them 0 +1/+1 counters, which gets bumped up to one +1/+1 counter. Lifecraft Awakening cast for X=0 puts a +1/+1 counter on something. Ezuri, Claw of Progress puts one +1/+1 counter on something when you have 0 experience counters. If a creature with 0 power dies with Death's Presence out, you put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control, and similarly Kresh the Bloodbraided would gain one +1/+1 counter from his own ability. Endless One cast for enters with a +1/+1 counter.Ĭards that put counters on things. If you devour no creatures for Bloodspore Thrinax, it enters with a +1/+1 counter. If Academy Elite enters while there's 0 cards in graveyards, it enters with a +1/+1 counter. This primarily affects two kinds of effects:Ĭreatures that enter with a number of counters: if that amount would work out to zero, they enter with a +1/+1 counter. Put some number on a specific permanent or set of permanents, but that number works out to be zero, Hardened Scales at "zero or more" makes it one +1/+1 counter instead for those permanents. Method 3, things that put zero counters on stuff: I don't recommend this because it's messy. Each turn through the game would put an arbitrary number of +1/+1 counters on everything, and make everything arbitrarily huge (but not infinitely huge). Depending on how wide you cast the net, it's fairly awesome but also proportionately unmanageable. The trouble with this method is "things" here can be anything based on what your group works out, from spells and abilities to even rules for progressing through phases and steps, to the several dozen state-based actions we check constantly. Things which have nothing at all to do with putting +1/+1 counters on a permanent are recognised as putting zero counters on that permanent by Hardened Scales, which makes that thing put a +1/+1 counter on that permanent. Method 2 below hardly works method 3 I think works well. There's two silver-bordered ways I think we can handle this. If something wants to care about zero +1/+1 counters being put on things, we can decide that must now be a thing that can happen. However, we're dealing with the silver-bordered world, and in that case we should seek out more awesome options. If no counters were put, no counter-putting has occurred. Putting zero counters on something isn't a thing that happens it's a non-event.
There's a few clear options to handle Hardened Scales at "zero or more". Is that really how it works?Īnd furthermore, if that's how it works, does the replacement effect only apply to spells and abilities, or are there other game objects that the replacement effect would apply to, so that I would need to put +1/+1 counters on my creatures at times I might not have expected? But are there any rules that cover zero +1/+1 counters being placed? If not, conceivably I would put one +1/+1 on each creature I control each time a spell or ability doesn't put any +1/+1 counters on a creature I control. When will this replacement effect apply? I know that when 0 damage would be dealt, the game treats that as no damage being dealt. I choose the number word "one" in the condition of the replacement effect to change the text from "if one or more" to "if zero or more".
#Lifecraft awakening rules plus#
If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, that many plus one +1/+1 counters are put on it instead.
Suppose I use More or Less targeting Hardened Scales, which has the text: