Energy Counters in MTG PCM
[Image description: A screenshot of a comment from @asiaheartman asking "Yeah, I know that and I already did read a lot of your posts, but this does not answer the question I was asking. What I was asking is: when working with spells inspired by a card, and that card has an energy counter mechanic, do you just discard the effect, or do you do anything else with it? Both coloured energy (what is usually called mana in game) and energy counter mechanic now have the same name, how do you discern them?" End image description.]
Oh, the energy counters! Well, see, I don't work with translating cards that have energy counter effects. I haven't had to think much about it because of that. However, I'll take a meander down for ya. Sorry if this is a little incomprehensible, I have the mother of all headaches, and that impacts my ability to explain things clearly.
Let's start with some backstory and information for those of y'all who have no idea what I'm talking about. Energy counters are a type of player counter that was introduced in the Kaladesh block. Typically, you get them when some things enter the battlefield (though gaining them when they attack is also possible), and you can use them for boosting creatures or creating tokens, among other things. There are only 70 cards in print (as of writing this post) that use these sorts of counters.
Since these counters go on the player, they can't be wiped out by murdering creatures, like what happens to +1/+1 counters, -1/-1 counters, or keyword counters. They can be saved up and used for cards that they didn't originate from.
Since most of these energy counters come from a Creature (often used in my craft as the bases for servitors/thoughtforms) and the casting of these spells requires energy that doesn't always come back, I would change how I would approach this.
Instead of focusing on the creature part, I would simply gather the energy in some way (maybe from a Colorless source?) and save it to cast the energy counter part as its own separate spell.
Let's use Consulate Surveillance as an example. It's an Enchantment rather than a Creature, but it has a handy energy counter ability. If you pay two energy counters, you can prevent all damage that would be dealt to you from a specific source for a turn. Using this, you could use your gathered energy to handle protection from a particular problem, such as an anti-deer spell on your car ride to work or a ward against a spell you know is coming for you.
Some Creature-based energy counter abilities deal with buffing the Creature in question, which you could turn into a strength/power spell for yourself. Others buff your other Creatures, which could still apply to you or any other entities you work with for magic stuff.
Overall, energy counters are pretty damn lenient, I might have to start using them. I hope this helped give you some ideas!
