So what happens if you have multiple Scales on the battlefield? Good things! Let’s say you have two Scales on the battlefield, and you cast Hangerback Walker with X=3. Both Scales will get to apply when it enters the battlefield, so instead of entering the battlefield with three counters, it enters the battlefield with five counters. This works because when a creature enters the battlefield with counters, that qualifies as having counters “placed” on it according to the rules.
But wait, it gets even better! If you activate the Walker’s ability to add a +1/+1 counter, the Scales will apply to that counter as well. If we assume we still have those two Scales on the battlefield, each time we activate the Walker’s ability, the Walker would get not one, not two, but three new +1/+1 counters! I bet your opponent is going to have a hard time keeping up with that (and even if they manage to kill it, you’ll get a flood of flying thopter tokens).
It’s not all upside, however. Let’s say you cast the Walker with X=0. In that case, the Scales won’t apply and won’t give the Walker any counter and the Walker will die. The Scales only get to apply if the creature would enter with one or more counters. If X is 0, then it’s entering with 0 counters, and the Scales won’t get to apply and the Walker will die.
That’s all I have for today. See you all tomorrow!
Today’s Rules Tip written by Nathan Long