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Proliferate and Commander Damage: A Deep Dive

The short answer is a resounding no. Proliferate only affects counters, and commander damage isn’t a counter. It’s a running tally of combat damage dealt by a specific commander to a specific player, kept track of for each player. Thinking proliferate interacts with it is a common misconception, so let’s break down why and explore some other frequently asked questions about proliferate and Commander.

Understanding Proliferate

What Exactly Is Proliferate?

At its core, proliferate is a powerful mechanic that lets you spread counters around. The comprehensive rules define it clearly: “To proliferate means to choose any number of permanents and/or players that have a counter, then give each one additional counter of each kind that permanent or player already has.” This means if a permanent has a +1/+1 counter, a loyalty counter, and a charge counter, proliferating it will give it one more of each of those counters. Similarly, if a player has a poison counter, proliferate adds another poison counter. It’s a very versatile ability, useful for boosting your own creatures, hastening the demise of your opponents, or even manipulating planeswalkers on the battlefield.

Why Doesn’t it Work on Commander Damage?

Commander damage isn’t represented by a counter placed on either the player taking the damage or on the commander dealing it. Instead, it’s a hidden game state, a piece of information tracked separately for each player relating to each opposing commander. You essentially make a note of how much damage each commander has dealt to each player. Proliferate can only interact with physically existing counters, not abstract values stored outside of the game pieces themselves. The interaction doesn’t work.

Commander Damage Deep Dive

What Constitutes Commander Damage?

Commander damage is combat damage dealt by a commander to an opposing player. The crucial rule is: “A player that’s been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the course of the game loses the game.” This is separate from regular life loss. You could have 40 life and still lose if you take 21 commander damage from a single commander.

How Important is Commander Damage?

Extremely. It presents an alternative win condition in Commander games, often serving as a quicker route to victory than reducing a player’s life total to zero. Decks built around powerful, evasive commanders often aim to win through commander damage, making the commander a dangerous threat that must be answered or avoided.

Proliferate Mechanic Spotlight: Phyrexia: All Will Be One

As this article highlights, Proliferate is a valuable mechanic featured in Phyrexia: All Will Be One. The set showcases how proliferate can amplify the effects of various counters, making it a potent tool for strategies focused on counter manipulation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

If I proliferate a planeswalker, does it speed up its ultimate ability? Yes! Planeswalkers use loyalty counters, and proliferate adds more loyalty counters. This can significantly reduce the number of turns needed to activate a planeswalker’s ultimate ability, making it a powerful synergy.
Does proliferate work on poison counters? Absolutely. If an opponent has poison counters, proliferate will add more. This is a common strategy in decks that focus on infecting and poisoning opponents for a quick win.
Can I proliferate my own negative counters, like -1/-1 counters on my creatures? Yes, proliferate doesn’t discriminate. If you have permanents with negative counters, proliferate will add more. You need to carefully consider the consequences before proliferating in such situations.
Does Hexproof protect against proliferate? No. Proliferate doesn’t target, it chooses. Hexproof only prevents targeting, so proliferate will bypass hexproof with ease. The same goes for shroud and ward.
If I copy a commander, does the copy deal commander damage? No. Only the original commander has the property of being a commander. Copies will not deal commander damage.
Does commander damage reset if my commander is destroyed? No. The damage is tracked per commander, per player, across the entire game, even if the commander leaves the battlefield.
Can I proliferate indestructible creatures with -1/-1 counters to kill them? No. Indestructible creatures can still have -1/-1 counters placed on them, but they aren’t destroyed by having their toughness reduced to zero or less. If the indestructible creature has enough -1/-1 counters to equal it’s toughness and there is a state based action on the battlefield removing -1/-1 counters, the creature will die.
If my commander is also a planeswalker, does damage dealt to it as a creature count as commander damage? No. Planeswalkers take damage as planeswalkers, not as creatures, unless they have been animated into creatures. The commander damage rule only refers to combat damage dealt by a commander creature to a player.
What happens if I steal someone else’s commander? Does it still deal commander damage to them? The stolen commander deals commander damage to other players (except it’s original owner), but does not increase the original owner’s commander damage total against anyone.
Does Fog prevent commander damage? Yes, Fog and similar effects prevent all combat damage that turn, including commander damage. However, it’s a temporary solution.
If I proliferate a commander with +1/+1 counters, does it make the commander damage faster? No, it does not directly make commander damage faster. It simply enhances the commander’s power and toughness, potentially leading to more damage per attack, but the damage is still applied as combat damage.
Does infect or toxic count as commander damage? No. Commander damage is only combat damage. Infect gives -1/-1 counters and toxic gives poison counters. Those don’t count toward commander damage.
Can I have more than one commander? Yes, in specific situations. Certain cards, like those with the partner ability, allow you to have two commanders. In such cases, each commander is tracked separately for commander damage purposes.
What happens to commander damage if a player leaves the game? Commander damage is no longer relevant to a player once they leave the game. It doesn’t transfer or affect other players.
Are there any ways to reset commander damage without resetting the entire game? The card Karn Liberated can reset a game, however, there is no way to remove commander damage from a player without that card.

Conclusion

While proliferate is a versatile and potent mechanic in Magic: The Gathering, it doesn’t interact with commander damage because commander damage isn’t a counter. Understanding this distinction is crucial for effective deckbuilding and gameplay in the Commander format. By knowing the rules and interactions, you can better strategize and build a powerful Commander deck. Consider exploring more on strategic game play and learning through games at the GamesLearningSociety.org. Games Learning Society is a great resource for understanding the intersection of games and education.

Does proliferate work on commander damage?