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Top 5 Counters in Modern

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Honorable Mention: -1/-1 Counters. There are tons of combos in modern involving cards that produce -1/-1 counters, but those combos are usually predicated on removing them for free or stopping them from being placed, e.g. with Vizier of Remedies or Melira, Sylvok Outcast. This desire to keep the -1/-1 counters off the field means it only gets an honorable mention, as having them is usually bad. 5. Charge Counters.
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Charge counters are a Modern metagame mainstay. Most commonly seen on Aether Vial and sideboard Engineered Explosives, there are also some more obscure examples (did you know Lightning Storm gets charge counters when discarding lands?). Chalice of the Void, Pentad Prism, and Shrine of Burning Rage round out a few more examples, so you’re very likely to see quite a few of these at any tournament you play. 4. +1/+1 Counters.
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These are the most prolific counters in Magic history, and the ones that inspired me to make this list, so it’s no wonder they finish strong. The only reason they aren’t higher on the rankings is because it’s somewhat unfair to the other counters considering how many cards use these counters. The power of +1/+1 counters forms the foundation of an entire archetype in Modern: The Hardened Scales deck. This deck is capable of producing truly absurd amounts of counters via its namesake card, Arcbound Ravager, and Steel Overseer. This is my favorite deck in Modern and the one I’ve chosen to play at my last few tournaments. 3. Loyalty Counters.
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Planeswalkers have been consistently powerful cards to play in Standard, and even after graduating to Modern many ‘walkers manage to stick around and see play. The old guard of Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Liliana of the Veil, Karn Liberated, and Ugin the Spirit Dragon made some appearances in the top 16 of GP: Portland last weekend, but some newcomers arrived as well. The younger versions of Jace and Liliana, Telepath Unbound and the Last Hope respectively, showed up in a few copies, but the most surprising was three copies of Ral, Izzet Viceroy in three UR Phoenix decks and two copies of Nissa, Vital Force in a single BG Midrange deck. 2. Poison Counters.
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The Phyrexian infection is also responsible for an entire Modern Archetype, and has been a powerful strategy since the format’s very beginning. No Infect decks managed to grace the top 16 of Portland, but the poison strategy has undeniably experienced a resurgence recently thanks to good matchups like KCI gaining popularity. Affinity and Hardened Scales are also no strangers to putting Poison counters on their opponents, and Inkmoth Nexus is definitely one of the very best lands in Modern. The rise in popularity of Gut Shot makes me want to shy away from Infect, but there’s no doubt that its diehard fans will continue to play it and continue to kill their opponents on turn two. 1. Ice Counters.
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The breakout deck of the last several modern tournaments has been UR Phoenix, which leverages Thing in the Ice better than any deck before it. Leveraging the shared synergy between Thing and Phoenix, it’s amazing how much damage the deck is capable of putting out very fast. In the final round of GP Portland I died on turn four to an interactive UR deck! The ability to attack with Phoenix in the same turn as flipping Thing and bouncing all other creatures is very impressive. Thing is a massive trump against the creature decks, undoing all of their hard work in the early game and getting you a huge mana advantage. The card was always powerful but looking for a home (Blue Moon just didn’t really cut it), and it’s finally found one. What are your favorite counters? Did I miss any good ones? Let me know below and stay tuned for more Magic content from Massdrop MTG!
(Edited by moderator Duncan)
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MonsterCC
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Dec 24, 2018
Personal favorite is Yisan, the Wanderer Bard with verse counters.
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