Hello and welcome back to another edition of "Cube Stuff Inc." Today we are discussing the +1/+1 Counter Archetype. Primarily supported in Selesnya Colors, this Archetype has a tremendous amount of payoffs and enablers in other colors that can allow you to give it a unique twist in your Cube. While this article will focus specifically on +1/+1 counters and the way they predominantly show up as Midrange or Combo decks, its core concepts shared in this article can be applied to many different types of counters, including -1/-1 counters, loyalty counters, and poison counters. Additionally, this Archetype shares several powerful payoffs with other Archetypes that improve its synergy rating. Felidar Retreat for instance is a cross Archetype allstar that will be wanted in Landfall, Token, and +1/+1 Counter decks.

Midrange

The Midrange version of a +1/+1 Counter Archetype is the easiest one to support. Simply include a variety of cards that give out +1/+1 Counters and the occasional card that provides them extra value. The core idea of this Archetype will be easy for your players to grasp and will always allow them to end up in a functional deck, no matter how many payoffs they get. I normally recommend an 80% to 20% ratio in favor of cards that apply +1/+1 Counters over cards that leverage them. Take (Travel Preparations) for instance, growing two of your creatures out of (Lightning Bolt) range is always good. It gets better if you have a (Branching Evolution) in play but the same is not true in reverse. The silver lining to this problem is that you can cheat the ratio considerably thanks to cards like (Bristly Bill, Spine Sower) that both provide +1/+1 Counters and give you a way to leverage them in one package. The real strength of this Archetype as opposed to others, is that the floor for these support cards is incredibly high. Again as long as you keep that the 80-20 ratio of cards that apply +1/+1 Counters to cards that leverage them, you'll find that this deck always comes together.

Combo

While the first version of this Archetype can be power adjusted to find a happy home in nearly every cube short of a Vintage power level, the Combo version is powerful enough to compete with the best of the best combos. Instead of viewing counters as a way to grow your creatures to above curve rates, these decks use them as currency much in the same way other combo decks attempt to generate vast amounts of mana in a single turn to win. There are three major payoffs for this Archetype worth mentioning. You can gain infinite life via cards like (Spike Feeder) and (Archangel of Thune). You can deal infinite damage with cards like (Heliod, Sun-Crowned) and (Walking Ballista). You can even make infinite creatures or grow infinitely large with (Ivy Lane Denizen) and (Scurry Oak). If you want to include an infinite combo in Selesnya, +1/+1 Counters is your premiere choice, due to the high level of redundancy of needed effects, and the fact that many of its key pieces already fit into other common Archetypes.

Additional Thoughts

Personally I encourage many Cube designers to include some level of support for +1/+1 Counters in their cube when they are just getting started off. It is easy to support for very little money and has a high ceiling in terms of upgrade potential. Additionally, I like the Archetype because of its design flexibility. The entire Archetype can be buffed or nerfed easily to meet your preferred playstyle. (Brokers Ascendancy) for instance is a powerful card that can either provide generic value to your board or create a brutal engine with cards like (Herd Baloth). Combos can be hyper efficient two card combos that win on the spot, or complicated combos that require 3 or more cards to win or slow payoffs like (Twenty-Toed Toad). Lastly I love the Archetype because it encourages other interesting design choices. (Assassin's Trophy) is a hyper efficient removal spell that any Golgari deck would be happy to include, (Atomize), while less efficient can have a much higher ceiling if you have a variety of creatures with +1/+1 Counters.

Wrap Up

+1/+1 Counters is one of the most pervasive themes in Selesnya, and you'd be hard pressed to build a Cube that doesn't include any number of cards that generate +1/+1 Counters, but that is not why it is worth discussing. As mentioned before, its pervasive nature is what makes it such a cross Archetype allstar. Whether you are creating human tokens with (Kylar, Sigardian Emissary) to grow your own gigantic army, or abusing landfall triggers with (Bristly Bill, Spine Sower) there are a number of ways for +1/+1 Counters to fit into other Archetypes.

Below is a list of Cross-Archetype Allstars worth checking out. As always, I can be reached on Instagram with comments and questions. Until next time, Happy Drafting!

Adam's Allstars