Hone Counters in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Sting, the Glinting Dagger | Illustration by Nino Is

Lord of the Rings is coming back to MTG, this time in the form of The Hobbit, and this time red and white are all about dwarves, their equipment, their stories, and their legendary craftsmanship skills. They’ve found a way to sharpen their battle axes to make them deal more damage, and that translates to Magic in the form of hone counters.

This equipment-only counter is an incentive to play more equipment pieces, and today we’re covering this it in detail. Let’s dive in!

How Do Hone Counters Work?

Stone Haven Outfitter | Illustration by Jason Rainville

Hone counters are a specific type of counter that goes onto equipment cards and improves them. Each hone counter on an equipment gives an additional +1/+0 to the equipped creature.

If you put a hone counter onto an equipment card like Short Sword, which naturally gives the equipped creature +1/+1, that equipment would give the equipped creature an additional +1/+0, or +2/+1 in total. If my opponent has three creatures and I flash in Sting, Bilbo's Sword, it enters play with three hone counters, and the equipped creature will get +3/+0.

An equipment can have any number of hone counters, and you can add more counters if you have cards that give hone counters or move them between equipment cards. That’s why it also works with proliferate if your equipment already has a hone counter.

The History of Hone Counters in MTG

The first card to have hone counters in MTG is actually Uvilda, Dean of Perfection from Strixhaven: School of Mages, a card that gives hone counters to an instant or sorcery as a kind-of “suspend counter”, but we’ll ignore that here. Those have since been changed to “refine” counters.

The “real” hone counters were released in 2026 in The Hobbit, and they’re present on only a few rare cards to boost the dwarves and equipment archetype in the set. Considering that many sets these days like Final Fantasy and Phyrexia: All Will Be One use equipment cards that produce creature tokens, spreading hone counters around is almost like a lord effect.

Sting, Bilbo's Sword and Dwalin, Weaponmaster showcase the mechanic, though they were the only cards in The Hobbit to use them. We should expect to see more of these in future sets.

Can You Proliferate Hone Counters?

Yes, you can proliferate hone counters. If you have a permanent with three hone counters and then proliferate, that permanent then has four hone counters, and so on. Proliferate in this scenario is especially useful if you have many equipment cards and a card like Dwalin, Weaponmaster that spreads hone counters.

Can Hone Counters Be Moved Around?

Yes, you can move hone counters around. For example, if you have a card like Nesting Grounds and you have two equipment cards, you can move a hone counter from one equipment card to the other one. You can even move hone counters to other permanents this way, but it wouldn’t be effective, since hone counters only enhance equipment cards.

What If a Hone Counter Ends Up on a Non-Equipment Permanent?

It’s possible for hone counters to be put onto non-equipment permanents, but they only do something useful on equipment cards, so it’s not going to be effective. But there isn’t a rule in MTG that only equipment cards can have hone counters placed onto them, and there are niche interactions like using a hone counter to make a creature count as modified.

Do Hone Counters Still Work If the Equipment Loses All Abilities?

Yes, they do. The ability that a hone counter provides is different from the abilities on the equipment card, and in this regard, it’s like how +1/+1 counters work on creatures. Regardless of the abilities and power/toughness boost an equipment provides, hone counters give the equipped creature a +1/+0 buff, even if the equipment loses its abilities.

Do Hone Counters Work with Reconfigure Creatures?

Yes, they do, but only if they’re equipped to another creature.

Let’s say I have Acquisition Octopus in play as a 2/2 creature and it has a hone counter. You’ll still have a 2/2 creature with no added bonus. However, if you pay to reconfigure it onto another creature, the equipped creature will gain the +1/+0 from the hone counter in addition to the equipment's other abilities.

Do Hone Counters Stick Around If You Blink the Equipment?

No, they don’t. Each time you blink a permanent, it loses all its counters. However, in the case of Sting, Bilbo's Sword, if you blink it, it’s going to enter with a fresh set of hone counters based on the state of the battlefield at that time, so sometimes it’s a good idea to do that.

Gallery and List of Hone Counter Cards

• Dwalin, Weaponmaster
• Sting, Bilbo's Sword

Best Hone Counter Cards

#2. Sting, Bilbo’s Sword

With only two hone counter cards, we have to make some direct comparisons. The thing I like the most about Sting, Bilbo's Sword is that you can play it in any deck, and it scales based on the number of creatures. But if your opponents don’t have any creatures, this card is quite useless. Of course, just paying 2 mana for a card that gives +2/+0 is okay, and anything beyond that is quite strong. This card has high variance, ranging from very good to very bad.

#1. Dwalin, Weaponmaster

Dwalin, Weaponmaster can be an interesting equipment-matters commander, or a good addition to one of them. It’s nice that each time you attack with Dwalin, your equipment cards get more hone counters, so your living weapon creatures and job select creatures get stronger. It’s good early because you can drop equipment later and put hone counters on them when attacking, or you can cast Dwalin when you already have equipment on the field. And sometimes it gets haste and hands out two hone counters right away. Nahiri, Forged in Fury just made a new friend.

Wrap Up

Hobbit's Sting | Illustration by Viko Menezes

And that’s about all there is to know about the new hone counters. They're an interesting innovation for equipment-related mechanics, and we’ve seen a lot of recent moves to make equipment more relevant in MTG. Although we only have two hone counter cards, the concept of the mechanic is a very good one, and it can be used as a larger part of a set someday, like oil counters in Phyrexia: All Will be One.

What do you think of hone counters? Do you think future sets will use them, or is it just another mechanic that won’t be supported anymore? Let me know what you think in the comments section below. And for more info on The Hobbit and its release, please check our YouTube Channel, The Daily Upkeep.

Thanks for reading, and until next time!