How many poison counters lose the game?

A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game immediately, as a state-based action. This is true in every format including Commander, where the 21-damage commander rule does not change the poison total of ten.

What is the difference between infect and poison?

Infect is a keyword on creatures that deal damage to players as poison counters instead of life loss. Poison counters are the counters themselves. Wither deals damage as -1/-1 counters to creatures but does not poison players, so it is tracked separately.

How does proliferate interact with poison?

Proliferate lets you add one more of each counter type already present. For poison, every player who has at least one poison counter gains one more. This tool's proliferate button does exactly that, skipping players still on zero.

Does infect combat damage also reduce life?

No. Infect changes all damage that source would deal, so a creature with infect deals its damage entirely as poison counters to players, with no life loss. Against creatures it deals -1/-1 counters instead. The two damage types never stack on the same hit.

Can a single counter be removed?

Some effects remove poison counters, though they are rare. Use the minus button to correct an over-count or to apply a removal effect. The tracker never lets a total fall below zero.

MTG Infect / Poison Counter Tracker

Infect decks win by stacking ten poison counters on an opponent rather than reducing life to zero, which means a separate threshold to watch. This tracker keeps each player’s poison total, supports proliferate, and shows the margin to the ten-counter loss at a glance.

How it works

The rule is simple and absolute: a player with ten or more poison counters loses as a state-based action. This tool models each player as a counter that only moves up or down, never below zero, and flags loss the moment a total reaches ten:

remaining to lose = max(0, 10 − poison)
lost = poison >= 10

Proliferate adds one counter to every player who already has at least one poison counter, matching the keyword’s wording that you choose any number of permanents and players that already have a counter of that kind.

Tips and notes

Remember that infect damage to players is poison, while infect damage to creatures lands as -1/-1 counters — only the poison side counts toward the loss tracked here. Wither also uses -1/-1 counters and never poisons players, so do not log it here. In multiplayer, proliferate is a strong finisher: with three opponents already poisoned, a single proliferate moves all three one step closer at once. Use the batch input to apply a big unblocked infect swing in one tap.