Spread the Sickness
{4}{B}Sorcery
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Destroy target creature, then proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
What it does
Tagged as Removal · Proliferate — the jobs the deck report counts it toward.
Keyword reminders
Proliferate. Choose any number of permanents and/or players with a counter, then give each another counter of a kind already there. · CR 701.27 Read more →
Official rulings
- If the creature is an illegal target when Spread the Sickness tries to resolve, the spell doesn't resolve. You won't proliferate. (2011-06-01)
- If the creature regenerates or has indestructible when Spread the Sickness resolves, you'll still proliferate. (2013-07-01)
- You don't have to choose every permanent or player that has a counter, only the ones you want to add another counter to. Since "any number" includes zero, you don't have to choose any permanents at all, and you don't have to choose any players at all. (2023-02-04)
- If a permanent ever has both +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it at the same time, they're removed in pairs as a state-based action so that the permanent has only one of those kinds of counters on it. (2023-02-04)
- Players can respond to a spell or ability whose effect includes proliferating. Once that spell or ability starts to resolve, however, and its controller chooses which permanents and players will get new counters, it's too late for anyone to respond. (2023-02-04)
- If a player or permanent has more than one kind of counter on it, and you choose for it to get additional counters, it must get one of each kind of counter it already has. You can't have it get just one kind of counter it already has and not the others. (2023-02-04)
- An ability that triggers "Whenever you proliferate" triggers even if you chose no permanents or players while doing so. (2023-02-04)
- To proliferate, you can choose any permanent that has a counter, including ones controlled by opponents. You can choose any player who has a counter, including opponents. You can't choose cards in any zone other than the battlefield, even if they have counters on them. (2023-02-04)
Printings & prices
Every set Spread the Sickness has been printed in, with the art, the finishes and the market price of each — the headline price above is the cheapest of these.
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