Poisonous
Poisonous is a keyword ability that allows the use of multiple poison counters. It was introduced in Future Sight but was first designed for Tempest.
From the Comprehensive Rules (November 8, 2024—Edge of Eternities)
- 702.70. Poisonous
- 702.70a Poisonous is a triggered ability. “Poisonous N” means “Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player gets N poison counters.” (For information about poison counters, see rule 104.3d.)
- 702.70b If a creature has multiple instances of poisonous, each triggers separately.
- If all damage that a poisonous creature would deal to a player is prevented, the poisonous ability won’t trigger (see rule 119.8).
- The player will get the stated number of poison counters each time the poisonous creature deals combat damage to them, regardless of how much damage that creature dealt.
- If a player has ten poison counters, that player loses the game.
- Although several older cards give players poison counters, none of those cards have abilities that trigger on combat damage.
History
The poison mechanic was introduced on the Legends cards Pit Scorpion and Serpent Generator. The mechanic appeared in sets up until Visions, and was planned as the main theme of Tempest,[3] before it was retired from the game. [4] It was next considered for Unglued 2 prior to that set’s cancellation.[5]
Poison appeared in a limited capacity in Future Sight, on a pair of futureshifted “preprint” cards with the keyword poisonous. It finally saw print as a major mechanic in Scars of Mirrodin block, which supported the poison counter-granting infect keyword with proliferate. The second set of that block, Mirrodin Besieged, expanded the concept by defining players as “poisoned” if they had one or more poison counters, and including cards that referenced that term.[6]
Poison counters reappeared twice as one-offs in Kaldheim (Fynn, the Fangbearer) and Dominaria United (Ajani, Sleeper Agent), the latter using poison to represent the planeswalker’s compleation. These one-offs act like independent Alternate-win or -loss cards, where if something is completed five times the player wins. Phyrexia: All Will Be One followed that up with heavy use of poison counters, including a successor to the poisonous keyword ability, toxic, which grants a set amount of poison to the opponent like its predecessor. Proliferate was also used in the set to synergize with poison, as was a new corrupted ability word similar to the earlier “poisoned” terminology. Etali, Primal Sickness would be the last poison card for this arc, being a call-back to Blightsteel Colossus.
Another one-off poison card appeared in Murders at Karlov Manor, Persuasive Interrogators.
Poisonous in practice
Poisonous is the grandparent of Infect, though its present in older cards in nonkeyword format, its only found in niche scenarios and only used maybe in the Sliver archetype as a mean to defeat life gain decks.
