Recently I took apart all of my commander decks. After taking stock, I realized that I had multiple decks that were serving the same purpose but in different colors. I had a few Artistocrats decks, 2 different Lands Matter decks and tons of other decks that just went unplayed for months at a time. What struck me as the most odd was the fact that I had 3 decks that all cared about +1/+1 counters. All three decks were basically the same, just in different color combinations.

The three decks were Tidus, Yuna's Guardian, Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan and Felisa, Fang of Silverquill. As I broke down Tidus and Felothar, I didn't really feel anything, but as I took apart Felisa, I got relatively emotional. Needless to say, it was the deck I felt most attached to and I instantly put it back together with some upgrades from the freed up pile of staples I had accrued. Let's take a look at the cards that made those decks tick and give you some ideas for your +1/+1 counter decks.

Getting Counters

First, we have to get counters on our creatures. Creatures like Good-Fortune Unicorn will give every creature that enters a counter. Innkeeper's Talent gives us some crazy benefits as we level it up, but at Level 1 we get a counter every combat step during our turn. The other effects are just gravy on top! My favorite card that gives creatures counters, by far, is Felidar Retreat. Whenever a land enters we can either make a 2/2 or give our whole board a +1/+1 counter and vigilance. If Felidar Retreat sticks on the board, your creatures will get out of control and you will become the problem at the table.

Buffing Our Creatures

All those counters aren't going to get us anywhere if our opponents have pesky creatures to put in the way. Creatures like Abzan Falconer, Mer-Ek Nightblade, and Duskshell Crawler will give us valuable evasion abilities to ensure we get in for tons of damage. Other creatures to consider in this slot are Sapphire Drake and Hagra Constricter. Envoy of the Ancestors is my favorite card that fits this category. Giving all of our already buffed creatures Lifelink has the potential to swing the game into almost unwinnable territory for our opponents.

Generating Value

There are no 3 words more powerful in MTG than "Draw a Card." Drawing cards will put us ahead, provide interaction to protect our board and push us into the long game. Cards like Benthic Biomancer and Fathom Mage will generate incremental value as they get larger with our counters and let us see more cards in our deck. Inspiring Call works double duty as it gives us a way to protect our board and fill our hand in one go. It's critical to keep the value train going! Choo Choo!

Double Down

There are countless cards that let us multiply the amount of counters on our creatures. Hardened Scales, a must include in any Green +1/+1 counter list, and Ozolith, the Shattered Spire will provide us an extra counter every time we add one. Branching Evolution doubles the number of counters we put on. If we stack our triggers correctly, we'll take the meekest of creatures and turn them into something monstrous and mighty.

Proliferate Shmo-liferate

With its release in Scars of Mirrodin, proliferate has become a staple in all +1/+1 counter strategies. Every time we get a proliferate trigger we are given the opportunity to add additional +1/+1 counters to our creatures. As the game goes long, it's more common for players to double and triple spell every turn, so we'll see consistent creature growth with a card like Dreamtide Whale. Evolution Sage cares about lands entering under our control, so any fetchland will give us double the proliferate power. Grateful Apparition and Thrumingbird give us proliferate triggers every time they deal combat damage. They will serve double duty as valuable creatures that can carry counters and value engines as the game goes on.

Utility

If our deck is a delicious plate of buttery mashed potatoes, then utility spells are the gravy we pour on top. That little extra flavor that rounds out the deck and brings us a victory. Herald of Secret Streams makes all of our creatures with +1/+1 counters unblockable; while Ripples of Potential serves double duty as it proliferates and protects our board from any potential interaction. Damning Verdict is the perfect board wipe for our lists as it only blows up creatures without counters, it will be one sided more often than not.

Counter synergies are amongst some of my favorite strategies in Magic. +1/+1 counters can make our meekest creatures mighty and make our monsters even more monstrous. Support is ubiquitous across the entire color pie and the build potential is enormous! Thanks for reading!