commander · Ghave, Guru of Spores
Counterpunch (CMD).
An Abzan token and +1/+1 counters deck from the original Commander set, led by Ghave, Guru of Spores — spend mana to convert counters to tokens and back, building an infinite engine with Ashnod's Altar and Cathars' Crusade.
The Commander
Counterpunch is one of the five original 2011 Commander precons and Ghave is considered one of the most combo-flexible commanders ever printed. He enters as a 0/0 with five +1/+1 counters. Pay one mana and remove a counter from a creature to create a 1/1 Saproling token. Pay one mana to sacrifice a creature and put a +1/+1 counter on Ghave. The two abilities convert mana and creatures into each other — which means with a free mana source, the loop becomes infinite.
Ghave, Guru of Spores enables more infinite combos than almost any other commander. Ashnod's Altar plus Cathars' Crusade makes the token generation self-sustaining. Doubling Season doubles both counter placements and token creation. The deck is beloved by combo players precisely because Ghave's abilities are symmetric and mana-efficient.
Key Cards
Ashnod's Altar
Sacrifice a creature: add two colorless mana. The engine piece for Ghave's infinite combo: remove a counter from Ghave to create a Saproling (one mana), sacrifice the Saproling to Ashnod's Altar (two mana back). One mana net positive per cycle. Repeat infinitely, generating infinite mana, infinite Saprolings, and infinite death triggers. With Zulaport Cutthroat or Blood Artist in play, the infinite death triggers drain opponents to zero. Ashnod's Altar is the critical combo enabler.
Cathars' Crusade
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Each Saproling Ghave creates triggers Cathars' Crusade — putting a counter on every creature, including Ghave himself. That counter on Ghave is immediately another Saproling activation for one mana. Cathars' Crusade with Ghave generates cascading counter placements across the whole board while simultaneously providing more activation fodder.
Doubling Season
If an effect would place one or more counters on a permanent, it places twice that many instead. If an effect would create one or more creature tokens, it creates twice that many instead. Doubling Season with Ghave is exponential. Remove one counter to create two Saprolings instead of one. Each Saproling triggers Cathars' Crusade for two counters per creature instead of one. The entire system doubles — Ghave generates tokens at twice the speed and the counters fuel at twice the rate.
Slimefoot, the Stowaway
Whenever a Saproling dies, each opponent loses one life and you gain one life. Pay four mana to create a Saproling token. Slimefoot converts every Saproling death into a life swing. In Ghave's infinite loop — create infinite Saprolings and sacrifice them — Slimefoot drains infinite life from each opponent when paired with Ashnod's Altar. Even outside the combo, sacrificing twelve Saprolings per turn cycle drains twelve life per opponent and gains twelve for you. Slimefoot closes games through the attrition strategy when the Ashnod's Altar combo isn't assembled.
Hardened Scales
If one or more +1/+1 counters would be placed on a creature you control, place that many plus one instead. Ghave enters with five counters — with Hardened Scales, he enters with six. Each Cathars' Crusade trigger places two counters instead of one. Each sacrifice that places a counter on Ghave places two. Hardened Scales with Ghave generates more counter fuel per cycle than any other single card, compounding the already-explosive counter-to-token-to-counter loop.
How to Play
Get Ghave onto the battlefield by turn five and immediately start converting counters to tokens and back. The first few turns, deploy Cathars' Crusade to compound the token generation. Find Ashnod's Altar through black tutors or card draw — once it's in play with Ghave and any death trigger payoff (Slimefoot, Zulaport Cutthroat, Blood Artist), the infinite loop is assembled. With Doubling Season in play, the loop generates twice as many tokens and twice as many counters. Win through the infinite drain loop with Ashnod's Altar, or accumulate a critical mass of Saprolings after several turns of Ghave activations and close with an overwhelming wide attack boosted by Cathars' Crusade counters.