All 22 Counter Doublers in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 6, 2024

Doubling Season (Ravnica City of Guilds) | Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Counters on creatures and players are the love of many Johnny and Timmy players since you can do ingenious stuff with them and have a lot of powerful creatures. We get more options on cards that hold counters along with different counters to put on your cards with each new set.

But is doubling the counters effectively doubling the fun? I’ll answer that question today and rank the best cards that double counters on your permanents.

Let’s go!

What Are Counter Doublers in MTG?

Biogenic Upgrade (Ravnica Allegiance) | Illustration by Tomasz Jedruszek

Simply put, counter doublers are cards that let you double the number of counters already on a permanent. This ranges from +1/+1 counters on a creature you control to -1/-1 counters on a creature you (ideally) don’t control to planeswalker loyalty counters, charge counters on artifacts, level-up counters, etc.

It seems like Wizards is always giving us new counters to play with these days, like flying and lifelink counters, or even ghost counters (though not all are worth doubling). Most cards on this list let you double the number of +1/+1 counters, like Kalonian Hydra, they’re the most common kind, while others let you double any type of counter.

With that in mind, it’s time to rank the best cards that double counters in Magic. I’m also considering cards that say ”if you would put a +1/+1 counter on a certain creature, put double the amount of counters instead” for these rankings.

#22. Hydra's Growth

Three mana for an enchantment – aura that puts a single counter on a creature is bad, even for Limited, so Hydra's Growth is really bad if you don’t have synergy. The aura and enchanted creature both need to survive a turn to double the counters.

Definitely plan on skipping this.

#21. Invigorating Surge

You get at least two +1/+1 counters at instant speed with Invigorating Surge, and much more if you’re doubling counters that are already on the creature.

#20. Evolution Vat

You basically spend seven mana to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature and then double the number of counters. Or pay 10 mana for a repeatable Invigorating Surge that’s really slow, but Evolution Vat does the trick if you have infinite mana. It can even be used as a bad tapper.

#19. Biogenic Upgrade

You get a lot of power with Biogenic Upgrade provided that you have at least one creature that already has some +1/+1 counters.

You get lots of counters overall, but six mana and sorcery speed is usually in the “good for Limited” range.

#18. Sword of Hours

You can double the number of counters on equipped creatures with Sword of Hours depending on your dice-rolling skills. The card is good, but you unfortunately have a 1-in-12 chance to double counters. That’s why the card has such a low ranking.

#17. Corpsejack Menace

Here you have your first counters build-around card on the list. Corpsejack Menace was designed to work well with scavenge in Limited and Standard, and it’s a good card to play in your Golgari () or Sultai () counters deck.

#16. Branching Evolution

Branching Evolution is the same effect as Corpsejack Menace but on an enchantment, which is harder for your opponents to deal with. Not to mention that its color identity is only green, so it can be used in more EDH decks.

#15. Visions of Dominance

Casting Visions of Dominance gives you the same effect as Invigorating Surge except it can be cast twice. The flashback is cheaper if you have an expensive commander, though.

#14. Tanazir Quandrix

Tanazir Quandrix, besides being a 4/4 flier for 5-mana and a possible Simic () commander, doubles the number of +1/+1 counters on a creature when it enters the battlefield.

#13. Solidarity of Heroes

There are a lot of things helping Solidarity of Heroes be good. It’s instant speed, targets multiple creatures, and gives you a powerful force on offense or defense.

#12. Fractal Harness

Fractal Harness works better than Sword of Hours for counter-doubling purposes even if it's more expensive. It also gives you a big creature already attached, so it’s tempo-positive.

#11. Primal Vigor

Primal Vigor is almost like Doubling Season except it won’t work for planeswalkers entering the battlefield. That said, a lot of green decks are interested in this for doubling tokens and +1/+1 counters, like Selesnya () and Simic.

#10. Gilder Bairn

Gilder Bairn has a strange line of text, but let’s read it together: “For each counter on target permanent, put another of those counters on that permanent.” This basically means doubling the number of counters on one permanent. The effect still applies if the permanent has different counters. You mainly need to figure out a way to safely tap it, maybe an Ocular Halo.

#9. The First Tyrannic War

The First Tyrannic War is a Temur () saga that the Warhammer EDH decks brought us. You put a creature on the battlefield for free and then double the number of counters on a creature you control twice.

#8. Kalonian Hydra

Kalonian Hydra is a bomb card that saw play in its Standard format. You can set up a huge attack in a counters-heavy deck with this, and it’s best friends with Rhythm of the Wild-style cards.

A 4/4 that hits as an 8/8 is usually good before you even consider its all-natural trample and permanent mass pump effect.

#7. Aragorn, Hornburg Hero

Not only does Aragorn, Hornburg Hero gives you the opportunity to repeatedly double the counters on your creatures, but it also helps your creatures win in combat. On top of all that, it is also a 3-color commander. Perfect!

#6. Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener

Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener is another Naya commander that can double counters on specific creatures. It also comes with backup, which fits super nicely with the counter-doubling ability.

#5. Vorel of the Hull Clade

Vorel of the Hull Clade is a popular Simic commander. It’s cheap to cast and very versatile in what you can do with it. You can build it as a merfolk or hydra tribal commander, even just as a general +1/+1 counters commander.

#4. Deepglow Skate

Deepglow Skate doubles any number of counters on the battlefield when it enters. The effect is only applied once, but it’s likely going to be very relevant depending on the battlefield.

This is basically the same effect as untapping Gilder Bairn but applied to everyone and blinkable.

#3. Court of Garenbrig

Court of Garenbrig not only gives you a way to repeatedly double the number of +1/+1 counters on a creature but also gives you the monarch, drawing you more cards so you can draw even more counter-doublers!

#2. Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider is similar to Doubling Season but on a 6/6 with haste. And the fact that it’s the opposite for your opponents is very powerful.

Suddenly your opponent’s sagas aren’t advancing, and their planeswalkers aren’t upticking.

#1. Doubling Season

Finally, the doubling godfather. There’s a lot of stuff that Doubling Season does from doubling tokens, counters in general, and even +1/+1 counters. One of the best applications is to cast a planeswalker and ultimate on the first turn since the counters are doubled on ETB.

Best Counter Doubler Payoffs

Even Mark Rosewater is a fan of doubling since putting counters on creatures is a well-supported mechanic, so there’s no shortage of cards that benefit from doubling counters. The best examples are in the Ravnica Simic cards, which usually have a theme that benefits from manipulating counters.

The first place to look is on creatures that gain +1/+1 counters and benefit from getting them, like Fathom Mage. You draw that many cards whenever you put counters on it. Benthic Biomancer is a similar card that also allows you to loot.

Champion of Lambholt makes it so that your creatures are extra hard to block as long as it’s a pile of +1/+1 counters.

Creatures that hold lots of +1/+1 counters like Stonecoil Serpent and Walking Ballista are prime candidates to have their counters doubled.

Sage of Hours is a card that’s very interesting to double counters on because it accelerates you toward extra turns.

Simic Ascendancy is a card that cares about counters being placed on permanents you control. It’s very synergistic and can be your win condition if you double them a lot.

Strionic Resonator can copy the triggered ability if you’re doubling counters all around.

Zaxara, the Exemplary lets you make gigantic hydras if you have the means to double the +1/+1 counters on creatures.

Not every permanent with counters is a creature. Planeswalkers benefit greatly from extra counters, and there’s a reason why Doubling Season and similar cards are seldom reprinted in Standard-legal sets. Every single planeswalker that has a powerful ultimate is deadly with Doubling Season.

Artifacts with charge counters are also a good idea. Everflowing Chalice and Astral Cornucopia produce lots of mana as long as you can double the number of counters on them.

Does Doubling Counters Count as Putting Counters On a Permanent?

Yes. If you have a creature with two +1/+1 counters on it and you double the number of counters with Vorel, the Hull Clade, you basically put two +1/+1 counters on the creature, which matters for cards like Simic Ascendancy.

Does Doubling Season Double Loyalty Counters?

Yes, but only if you cast the planeswalker when you already have Doubling Season in play. The rules say that when you cast a planeswalker, say, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, you put three loyalty counters on it as it enters play. Doubling Season says that you put double the counters whenever you would put counters on a permanent. So, Jace enters the battlefield with six loyalty counters.

But what happens if you use Jace’s +2? You add just two counters on your blue planeswalker because activating a planeswalker’s ability isn’t the same as putting counters for Doubling Season. When you use a planeswalker ability it gains or loses counters, but Doubling Season only doubles the number of counters that the planeswalker enters the battlefield with.

Wrap Up

Zaxara, the Exemplary (Commander 2020) | Illustration by Simon Dominic

That’s all for today on counter doubling. I think counter doublers are double the fun indeed, and it’s a fun theme to build an EDH deck around, be it a Simic Vorel of the Hull Clade, or mono-green Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider deck.

What’s your favorite doubling counters card? What card are you most inclined to double counters? Let me know in the comments section below or in the Draftsim Discord.

That’s all from me for now. Stay safe, stay healthy, and wash your hands!