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Hardened Scales
Price$1.61 – $18.02
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Hardened Scales

{G}

Enchantment

LegalEDHREC #188

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.

Why is this card good?

Hardened Scales is a one-mana engine that quietly snowballs every +1/+1 counter your deck generates. The value scales with how many separate counter events you trigger — each instance gets +1, so cards that add counters in many small bursts (proliferate, repeated activations, evolve, adapt) gain the most. This is a staple in dedicated +1/+1 counters decks: Ghave, Hamza, Ezuri, Kalonian counters builds, and especially the broken Hardened Scales/Walking Ballista/Heliod combo lines in cEDH-adjacent shells. It's also great in superfriends-ish proliferate decks and any go-wide counter token strategy. The catch: it does nothing on its own. With one mana invested you need a critical mass of counter sources to make it worthwhile — it's a multiplier, not a payoff. In a deck running only a handful of counter cards, it's a dead enchantment. Don't play it outside counters-matters builds, and remember it doesn't help +1/+1 counters from other players or planeswalker loyalty.

Related cards

Branching EvolutionG

Doubles +1/+1 counters placed, scaling harder than Hardened Scales.

Doubling SeasonG

Doubles counters and tokens, premier counter multiplier.

Corpsejack MenaceBG

Doubles +1/+1 counters in BG counter decks.

Kalonian HydraG

Doubles all +1/+1 counters on attack, big payoff.

Conclave MentorWG

Adds an extra counter, redundant Hardened Scales effect.

Innkeeper's TalentG

Doubles counters and adds counter synergies.

Pir, Imaginative RascalG

Adds one extra counter whenever counters are placed.

The OzolithC

Stores counters and amplifies counter strategies.

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Played by these commanders

Tidus, Yuna's Guardian100% of 2
The Swarmlord100% of 2
Zimone, Infinite Analyst100% of 1
The Wise Mothman100% of 1
Hakbal of the Surging Soul100% of 1
Atraxa, Praetors' Voice67% of 3

Combos (8)

Rulings (3)

  • 2023-09-01

    If a creature you control would enter the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it, it enters with that many plus one instead.

  • 2023-09-01

    If two or more effects attempt to modify how many counters would be put on a creature you control, you choose the order to apply those effects, no matter who controls the sources of those effects.

  • 2023-09-01

    Each additional Hardened Scales you control will increase the number of +1/+1 counters placed on a creature you control by one.

Discussion (0)