To proliferate in MTG, you choose any number of permanents and players that already have at least one counter on them, and you give each of them one more counter of every kind it already has. The Comprehensive Rules state it in one sentence: "To proliferate means to choose any number of permanents and/or players that have a counter, then give each one additional counter of each kind that permanent or player already has" (rule 701.34a of the Comprehensive Rules). Three rules follow from that sentence and answer almost every proliferate question: it never creates the first counter on anything, it never doubles anything, and you choose what to include, so you can always leave your opponents and your own bad counters out. Mana Grove, a free MTG deck builder for Commander, publishes this guide to the proliferate keyword and reads every card in it from its own card database.
This guide is part of our MTG keywords and mechanics glossary, the index of every mechanic guide on Mana Grove.
Below: the rule broken down, every counter type proliferate can add, the traps that catch new proliferate players, how "proliferate twice" works, and the proliferate cards Commander decks actually run, read from our card database.
How does proliferate work, step by step?
Proliferate is a keyword action, not an ability, so it does exactly what rule 701.34a says wherever it appears.
Rule 701.34a
To proliferate means to choose any number of permanents and/or players that have a counter, then give each one additional counter of each kind that permanent or player already has.
Read it as three decisions in order.
- Eligibility. Only permanents and players that already have a counter can be chosen. A creature with no counters cannot be proliferated onto, and no amount of proliferating will put a first +1/+1 counter on anything.
- Choice. "Any number" includes zero, and the choice is entirely yours. You are never forced to proliferate an opponent's planeswalker, and you are never forced to include your own creature that is carrying a bad counter.
- One of each kind. Each chosen thing gets exactly one more counter of every kind it already has. A creature with three +1/+1 counters gets one more, for four. A creature with a +1/+1 counter and a shield counter gets one of each.
The word to watch is "kind". Proliferate is generous across kinds and stingy within them. A planeswalker sitting on six loyalty gets one loyalty, not six.
Which counters can you proliferate?
Proliferate works on any counter the rules recognise, and rule 122 lists what the common ones do. This is the whole reason proliferate is stronger than it first reads: one word covers a dozen different engines.
| Counter | Rule | What proliferating it does |
|---|---|---|
| +1/+1 and -1/-1 | 122.1a | Adds to power and toughness, or subtracts from them |
| Keyword | 122.1b | Adds another instance of a keyword such as flying, deathtouch or menace, which is usually redundant |
| Shield | 122.1c | One more use of "if this would be destroyed, remove a shield counter instead" |
| Stun | 122.1d | One more turn the permanent fails to untap, so this one is a weapon, not a gift |
| Loyalty | 122.1e | One more loyalty on a planeswalker, which is the classic use |
| Poison | 122.1f | One more poison counter on a player, and ten of them ends the game |
| Defense | 122.1g | One more defense on a battle, making it harder to beat |
| Finality | 122.1h | No second effect: one or more finality counters create a single exile-instead-of-graveyard replacement, though the spare counter keeps it if one is removed |
| Rad | 122.1i | One more rad counter on a player, so the trigger at their precombat main phase bites harder |
| Hone | 122.1j | Another +1/+0 for the creature an Equipment is attached to |
Players can carry counters too, so proliferate reaches beyond the battlefield. Poison and rad counters live on players by rule, and energy counters do as well: rule 107.14 defines the energy symbol as one energy counter, and paying it removes one from yourself. Experience counters, which only exist because certain cards create them, are ordinary counters on a player as well, so proliferate adds one of those too once you have your first.
The counters proliferate cannot help with are the ones that are not counters at all. A permanent that is merely tapped, or has damage marked on it, or is under an effect until end of turn, has nothing for proliferate to find.
The three traps
It never starts a counter. Proliferate on an empty board does nothing at all. Every proliferate deck needs a reliable way to place the first counter, which is why cards such as Contagion Clasp pair a counter-placing trigger with a proliferate ability on the same card.
It never doubles. This is the most common misreading. Proliferate adds one counter of each kind, regardless of how many are already there. A creature with eight +1/+1 counters becomes a creature with nine.
Your own stun and minus counters come along. Because proliferate adds one of each kind already there, a creature of yours carrying both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter gets one of each, which leaves it exactly where it started. Worse, a permanent of yours with a stun counter gets another stun counter if you choose it. The fix is simply not to choose it: the rule says "any number", so leave it out. One detail is genuinely in your favour here: rule 122.3 removes +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters in pairs as a state-based action, so a creature that ends up with one of each sheds both rather than keeping a confusing pile.
What happens when you proliferate twice?
Two well-played cards change the count rather than the effect. Contagion Engine says to proliferate twice on its activated ability, and Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus reads "If you would proliferate, proliferate twice instead", which upgrades every proliferate in the deck.
Two proliferates is not the same as adding two counters. Each proliferate is a separate set of choices, so you may pick a different group of permanents and players the second time, and anything you choose twice ends up with two more counters of each kind it already had. What does not happen is anything new becoming eligible in between. Rule 701.34a only ever lets you choose permanents and players that already have a counter, and it only ever adds one more counter of each kind already there, so no proliferate places a first counter or introduces a new kind of counter. Both proliferates also happen inside a single resolution, and rule 704.4 says state-based actions pay no attention to what happens during the resolution of a spell or ability, while rule 704.3 puts waiting triggered abilities on the stack only when a player would get priority. Nothing can acquire its first counter between the two. That is why a doubler is worth most in a deck that has already solved the other half of the job, which is putting the counters there in the first place.
The best proliferate cards in Commander
Our card database holds 94 Commander-legal cards whose rules text proliferates. These are the ones Commander players run most, ordered by how often they appear in Commander decks.
| Card | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Karn's Bastion | Land | Taps for colourless, and proliferates for {4} and a tap. A land slot that any counters deck can run |
| Evolution Sage | {2}{G} | Proliferates on every land you play, which turns a normal land drop into an engine |
| Cankerbloom | {1}{G} | A one-mana body that later sacrifices for an artifact kill, an enchantment kill or a proliferate |
| Yawgmoth, Thran Physician | {2}{B}{B} | Places -1/-1 counters and draws, then proliferates them for {B}{B} and a discard |
| Thrummingbird | {1}{U} | A two-mana flier that proliferates every time it connects |
| Tezzeret's Gambit | {3}{U/P} | Draws two and proliferates, and the Phyrexian mana lets any deck cast it |
| Inexorable Tide | {3}{U}{U} | Proliferates on every spell you cast, creature spells included |
| Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus | {2}{U}{U} | Turns every proliferate in the deck into two |
| Flux Channeler | {2}{U} | Proliferates on every noncreature spell, which suits a spell-heavy list |
| Staff of Compleation | {3} | A colourless artifact that proliferates for three life, alongside three other modes |
| Contagion Clasp | {2} | Places the first -1/-1 counter on arrival, then proliferates repeatedly |
| Atraxa, Praetors' Voice | {G}{W}{U}{B} | The four-colour commander that proliferates at every one of your end steps |
Reading the list as a deck-building brief: the cheap repeatable sources (Karn's Bastion, Evolution Sage, Thrummingbird, Flux Channeler) are what make proliferate a plan rather than a trick, and one doubler is worth more than a fourth one-shot proliferate spell. Every one of them needs counters already on the board, so budget roughly half the deck for permanents that arrive with counters or place them.
Looking for proliferate cards in colours these do not cover? Ask Scry for cards that add another counter to things that already have counters, and it searches on what the card does rather than on the keyword, so it also finds the cards that place the first counter for you.
Frequently asked questions
What does proliferate do in MTG?
You choose any number of permanents and players that already have at least one counter, then each chosen one gets one more counter of every kind it already has (Comprehensive Rules 701.34a). You choose, so you can include only your own permanents, and you can choose none at all.
Does proliferate double all counters?
No. It adds exactly one counter of each kind already present. A planeswalker on five loyalty goes to six, not ten, and a creature with four +1/+1 counters goes to five.
Can you proliferate without counters?
You can perform the action, but nothing happens. Rule 701.34a only lets you choose permanents and players "that have a counter", so with an empty board there is nothing eligible to choose and proliferate does nothing.
Can you proliferate twice?
Yes, when a card says so. Contagion Engine proliferates twice on its own ability, and Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus replaces every proliferate you would do with two. The two proliferates are separate, each with its own choices, so you may choose a different group the second time and anything you choose twice gains two more counters of each kind it had. Nothing new becomes eligible in between: rule 701.34a never places a first counter, and rules 704.3 and 704.4 keep state-based actions and waiting triggers out of the middle of a single resolution.
What are the best cards to proliferate?
The counters that compound. Loyalty on a planeswalker you want to ultimate, poison counters on the way to ten, defense counters on a battle you are trying to keep, and shield counters on a creature you cannot afford to lose. The counters worth proliferating onto an opponent are the punishing ones: stun counters to keep a permanent tapped down, and rad counters, which bite at the start of their main phase.
Does proliferate affect my opponents' counters?
Only if you choose to include them, and you rarely should. The choice is entirely yours under 701.34a. The exception is when their counters hurt them: a stun counter on their mana rock, or a poison or rad counter on the player.
Does proliferate work on planeswalkers and battles?
Yes to both. Loyalty counters (rule 122.1e) and defense counters (rule 122.1g) are ordinary counters, so a planeswalker with loyalty or a battle with defense is a legal choice and gains one more.
Can proliferate add poison or energy counters?
Yes, provided the player already has at least one. Poison counters live on players by rule 122.1f, and energy counters do too: rule 107.14 defines the energy symbol as one energy counter that a player removes from themselves to pay it. Proliferate can therefore add an energy to yourself or a poison counter to an opponent, but only if that counter is already there.
What happens if my creature has a +1/+1 and a -1/-1 counter?
Proliferating it adds one of each, which cancels out. Rule 122.3 then removes +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters in equal pairs as a state-based action, so the creature ends up where it began rather than holding a growing pile of both. In practice you simply leave that creature out of the choice.
Does proliferate target?
No. Proliferate tells you to choose, not to target (701.34a), and only the word "target" makes something a target (115.10a), so you can choose a permanent with hexproof or shroud (702.11b, 702.18a).
Can you proliferate time counters on a suspended card?
No: proliferate chooses only permanents and players (701.34a), and a suspended card is a card in exile (702.62b), not a permanent on the battlefield. Time counters on a permanent, such as one with vanishing (702.63a), can be proliferated like any other counter.
Can you proliferate experience counters?
Yes, once you have at least one: experience counters sit on you, and proliferate can choose any player who has a counter (701.34a). It adds one more experience counter, exactly as it does for energy.
Does proliferate work on tokens?
Yes. A token on the battlefield is a permanent (110.1), so a token with counters on it can be chosen like any other permanent (701.34a).
Build a counters deck that actually proliferates
A proliferate deck is really a counters deck with a multiplier bolted on. Get the counter sources right first, then add the proliferate engines.
Open a list in the deck builder and go through your permanents: if fewer than a third arrive with counters or place them, your proliferate cards are dead cards. Grover can take a plain-language brief such as "a green and blue counters deck that wants to proliferate every turn" and draft the list, and the Suggestions tab, powered by Tutor, scores further picks against what you have already built. If you are new to Commander, start with the deck builder basics and how many lands your deck needs.
Create a free Mana Grove account to build with the full deck builder and format legality checks, see plans and pricing for more time with Grover, Scry and Tutor, browse the Commander hub for more guides, and find every keyword we have explained in the MTG keywords and mechanics glossary.
Sources
- Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules, effective August 7, 2026: https://magic.wizards.com/en/rules. Read on September 16, 2026. Rule 701.34 (Proliferate), rule 122 (Counters), including 122.1a to 122.1j and 122.3, rule 107.14 (the energy symbol), and rule 704 (State-Based Actions), including 704.3 and 704.4, are quoted above.
- Mana Grove card database, MTGJSON build of September 14, 2026: the proliferate keyword, the Commander legality, the mana cost and the rules text of every card named above, and the count of 94 Commander-legal cards that proliferate. Commander play frequency is the deck-inclusion popularity rank carried in the same data.
This article is updated when the Comprehensive Rules change the proliferate entry or the counter list, or when a set adds a proliferate card worth listing. The date at the top is the last revision.
