How Many Poison Counters to Win in MTG

In Magic: The Gathering, a player is usually out of the game if they accumulate ten or more poison counters. The only exception is in Two-Headed Giant, where a team loses after fifteen poison counters.

Standard Poison Counter Rules

Poison counters have been around for a long time, though not every deck uses them. In most formats, including Commander, the threshold for losing is ten poison counters. If you ever hit ten, you lose on the spot, regardless of your life total. This approach to the game adds a different layer of strategy. You might think you’re safe at 40 life in Commander, but a dedicated poison deck can sneak in those counters surprisingly fast.

Unlike regular damage, poison doesn’t go away at the end of your turn. It clings to you. If you somehow gain one or two poison counters early in the game, you carry them with you for the rest of that match. This sense of permanence makes poison a bit intimidating because you can’t simply heal or remove it with standard life-gain effects.

How Infect Adds Poison

The most common way to give poison counters is through the Infect mechanic, found on certain creatures or spells. Infect modifies the way these creatures deal damage to players. Instead of reducing an opponent’s life total, Infect damage translates into poison counters. So if a 3/3 Infect creature hits you, you get three poison counters. If you were at zero poison counters before, now you’re almost a third of the way to losing.

Infect creatures also handle combat differently against other creatures. They assign damage in the form of -1/-1 counters, which weaken and potentially kill blockers more permanently. This makes Infect a double threat. It can rapidly stack poison on a player and cripple enemy creatures as the game goes on. Many Infect decks mix aggression with ways to protect their key Infect creatures. Cards that grant evasion, like flying or trample, or those that boost power can speed up how fast poison accumulates.

Commander and Poison

Commander (also known as EDH) follows the ten-poison-counter rule, just like most other formats. In a multiplayer setting, a player who reaches ten poison counters loses and is removed from the game. This can create moments where one person is knocked out while the others continue. It sometimes leads to uneasy alliances, where opponents team up to handle the Infect player before they can spread too many counters around.

Because Commander is often a 40-life format, Infect can feel even more potent. If you’re used to having lots of life to buffer against normal damage, facing Infect can be a shock. You might see decks that rely on Infect as a quick way to deal with unsuspecting opponents. But Infect isn’t always easy to pull off, either. If the rest of the table knows you’re playing poison, you can become a target pretty early.

Two-Headed Giant Exception

The only exception to the ten-poison-counter rule is Two-Headed Giant. In that format, you have teams of two players each, sharing a life total. But you don’t share poison counters in exactly the same way as life. If your team ever reaches fifteen total poison counters, you lose together. This higher threshold is meant to balance the fact that there are two players working on defense and offense. Some Infect strategies still thrive in Two-Headed Giant, but they need a bit more effort to push the opposing team to fifteen.

House Rules in Playgroups

Not everyone likes to lose so quickly to poison, especially in casual or multiplayer settings. Some groups will adjust the poison counter limit. They might bump it to 15 or even 20 for longer games. House rules are unofficial, so they only work if everyone at the table agrees. Maybe your friend hates Infect and wants more time to respond, or your group just wants a more drawn-out experience. That’s fine if it makes sense for you. But if you step into a store or a tournament, the official rules of ten poison counters (and fifteen for Two-Headed Giant) apply.

If you decide to use house rules, it’s best to be transparent before the game starts. There’s nothing worse than knocking someone out at ten counters, only to hear, “Oh, but we play at 12 poison counters around here.” Avoid confusion by stating all modifications up front, so every player knows what they’re getting into.

Tips for Facing Poison Decks

If you’re worried about facing Infect or another source of poison, consider running more removal spells that can handle key creatures. Spot removal is a straightforward way to kill an Infect creature before it hits you. Board wipes can also keep the battlefield clear, though Infect decks may hold back or protect their creatures. Another trick is to include cards that lower an opponent’s power during combat or remove abilities from their creatures. That can slow down Infect enough for you to establish a better position.

Sometimes, you can race an Infect deck by knocking out its pilot first. This isn’t always the most friendly approach, but it’s a common multiplayer tactic. If you can’t neutralize the Infect threat through removal, you might try to eliminate the person who’s running it. It’s a ruthless way of dealing with the problem, but poison strategies can be ruthless too.

Proliferate and Other Poison Mechanics

Some cards let you proliferate counters on players or permanents. Proliferate means you add one more counter of each kind that’s already on something. If a player has one poison counter and you cast a proliferate spell, now they have two. This can ramp up poison faster than Infect damage alone, especially in decks that stack multiple small counters and then amplify them.

There are also older cards that simply say, “Target player gains a poison counter,” without using Infect. These are less common but can catch an opponent off-guard if they think they’re safe from Infect. If you already have Infect creatures in your deck, these extra ways to generate or increase poison can help close out a game.

Final Thoughts

Poison counters add a unique twist to Magic: The Gathering. You can lose at full life if those counters stack up to ten, and it feels very different from typical damage-based combat. In a casual setting, it can be fun to see Infect or poison-based strategies now and then. If the pace of poison is too fast, you might try house rules that change the limit. But if you’re in a tournament or an official event, be ready to face Infect on its default terms. Ten poison counters end your game, and in Two-Headed Giant, fifteen will take down your team. It’s a small rule that can change the entire flow of a match, so keep it in mind the next time you shuffle up and might wonder if your life total is really the safest measurement of all.