General Abzan "Put -1/-1 Counters On Your Own Stuff"

[LadyMapi]

This archetype showed up in Amonkhet, and I've always kinda been fond of it.

Ways to get -1/-1 counters onto your creatures:


Creatures that want -1/-1 counters on them:


Rewards for nerfing your stuff:


Ways to spend those tasty counters:


Cleaning Up Extra Counters:


Generic Counter Payoffs:

 

[Jason Waddell]

Strangleroot Geist

 

[Dom Harvey]

This is cool in theory but hard to do in practice I think. The strongest example for this theme overpowers everything else at the power level where the rest of the -1/-1 counters stuff can comfortably flourish:



The best payoff rewards you for sticking -1/-1 counters on their stuff:

 

[LadyMapi]

This is definitely not for a high power environment - there's a reason I didn't bring up those cards

I also didn't bring in Vizier of Remedies, because random infinite combos is a bit excessive.

 

[Rusje]

Maybe this old beauty?

 

[shamizy]

You can definitely pull this off at a lower power level, but it's always been pretty niche even with AKH block providing a bunch of support. The support cards that made the archetype work in Limited are just really really narrow to deploy. It's just way easier (and support is more frequent) to build around +1/+1 counters as a theme. We've had what two blocks that had some -1/-1 counters archetype in them? Separated by a decade plus?

If you're deadset on making it a thing by all means go for it, but options for innovation are just real slim pickings currently.

 

[Brad]

BG -1/-1 your stuff
UB -1/-1 their stuff
GU +1/+1 your stuff
Proliferate

Is that maybe something?? I remember a Modern Masters set had UB -- their stuff and UG? ++ your stuff.

This theme seems pretty sketchy, so I'm just throwing it out there in case it sticks.