Magic: the Gathering has a ton of different mechanics in the game. There are evergreen mechanics that show up in nearly all Magic sets, but there are also some that come from specific sets. One of the newest mechanics to be introduced to the game is “Modified”, which came from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. But what is “Modified”?
What is Modified?
Modified is a new keyword that refers to a creature. For a creature to be considered “modified”, it needs to have one or more of the following 3 things on it.
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- Equipped with an Equipment
- Enchanted with an Aura
- Have a counter on it
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The first two are pretty easy enough, but there are many counters that people may not think about.
Counters to Modify
When it comes to different counters, there’s definitely a few that people don’t think about. The main one that people will think about, for good reason, is +1/+1 counters. These are the easiest counter type to add to a creature, as there are many cards that give them.
But that isn’t the only kind. Conversely, -1/-1 counters are also considered modifications, but you are rarely going to want to put these on your own creatures. Additionally, charge counters are another type but are also rare.
Another kind of counter that was introduced in Ikoria, Lair of Behemoths and is very beneficial to our creatures are “ability counters”.
There’s a host of different types of “ability counters”, 11 of them to be exact and they are all Evergreen Keywords as well. Here are the 11 types
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- Deathtouch Counter
- Double Strike Counter
- First Strike Counter
- Flying Counter
- Hexproof Counter
- Indestructible Counter
- Lifelink Counter
- Menace Counter
- Reach Counter
- Trample Counter
- Vigilance Counter
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Now let’s be clear, the ability counters mechanic is deciduous, meaning that it appears every so often in sets. This means that while you wont see if every set, but you will see this mechanic in the future.