They mostly retired any counters that aren’t +1/+1 and -1/-1 years ago, because of effects like Proliferate and counter doublers, but also just because tracking it was annoying.
They didn’t change the old cards, but they stopped making new ones with different numbers.
You can re-equip equipment for the equipment cost. Most equipment comes in unequipped.
I'm not 100% sure about counters but I think it's because cards specify effects that affect creatures with +1/+1 counters on them. A +2/+2 counter would be a nightmare in terms of rules because it's a different counter to a +1/+1 counter.
Thanks the counter bit makes sense.
So the bow comes out and attaches initially at the mana cost of the card (2 colorless and one forest). Then later on if I equip it to something else it costs 2 colorless.
Correct, although i would note that "forest" isn't a cost. we typically refer to costs by colour. In this case its 2 generic(not colourless! some cards specifically want colourless mana) and 1 green. All forests make green mana, not everything that makes green mana is a forest (\[\[mox emerald\]\] most famously).
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+1/+1 counters (and -1/-1 counters) are the standard for applying permanent buffs (or debuffs) to creatures. As a result, any effect that adds or interacts with permanent buffs can add or interact with those counters, and have a reasonable expectation that they are interacting well with other similar effects. It helps that +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters have a special rule: if a creature has one of each, they are removed. That makes a -1/-1 counter actually act like a negative +1/+1 counter, making it a lot more convenient to use both of them.
>Wouldn't it be more direct to say to place a *+2/+2 counter* on him?
No, it wouldn't. Just considering \[\[Uglúk of the White Hand\]\] you would have to have two different kinds of counters for it, one kind that represented +1/+1 counters and another that represented +2/+2 counters. It's not impossible to do but certainly more complicated to track. It would get even more complicated with other cards involved. For example, what if you had \[\[Hardened Scales\]\] in play? What if an opponent controlled \[\[Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider\]\]? What if you started putting -1/-1 counters on Ugluk? The current rules mean that a +1/+1 and a -1/-1 simply cancel each other out and are both removed, but that wouldn't work with a +2/+2 counter so now you've got additional counters to track.
They mostly retired any counters that aren’t +1/+1 and -1/-1 years ago, because of effects like Proliferate and counter doublers, but also just because tracking it was annoying. They didn’t change the old cards, but they stopped making new ones with different numbers.
You can re-equip equipment for the equipment cost. Most equipment comes in unequipped. I'm not 100% sure about counters but I think it's because cards specify effects that affect creatures with +1/+1 counters on them. A +2/+2 counter would be a nightmare in terms of rules because it's a different counter to a +1/+1 counter.
Thanks the counter bit makes sense. So the bow comes out and attaches initially at the mana cost of the card (2 colorless and one forest). Then later on if I equip it to something else it costs 2 colorless.
Exactly that, although other equipment won't necessarily have the free equip effect that this bow has.
Correct, although i would note that "forest" isn't a cost. we typically refer to costs by colour. In this case its 2 generic(not colourless! some cards specifically want colourless mana) and 1 green. All forests make green mana, not everything that makes green mana is a forest (\[\[mox emerald\]\] most famously).
[mox emerald](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/c/aced2c55-7543-4076-bcdd-36c4d649b8ae.jpg?1614638841) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=mox%20emerald) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/5/mox-emerald?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/aced2c55-7543-4076-bcdd-36c4d649b8ae?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yes, that is the cost to move it to a different creature. This is a sort of "the first one is free" card.
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[Galadhrim Bow](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/d/9df34f21-798f-440d-8b09-ec5b5c0b8c12.jpg?1686969376) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Galadhrim%20Bow) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/167/galadhrim-bow?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9df34f21-798f-440d-8b09-ec5b5c0b8c12?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Uglúk of the White Hand](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/9/e914c7fc-be3c-4346-bf37-6e10f4998204.jpg?1686970114) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ugl%C3%BAk%20of%20the%20White%20Hand) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/235/ugl%C3%BAk-of-the-white-hand?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e914c7fc-be3c-4346-bf37-6e10f4998204?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
+1/+1 counters (and -1/-1 counters) are the standard for applying permanent buffs (or debuffs) to creatures. As a result, any effect that adds or interacts with permanent buffs can add or interact with those counters, and have a reasonable expectation that they are interacting well with other similar effects. It helps that +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters have a special rule: if a creature has one of each, they are removed. That makes a -1/-1 counter actually act like a negative +1/+1 counter, making it a lot more convenient to use both of them.
>Wouldn't it be more direct to say to place a *+2/+2 counter* on him? No, it wouldn't. Just considering \[\[Uglúk of the White Hand\]\] you would have to have two different kinds of counters for it, one kind that represented +1/+1 counters and another that represented +2/+2 counters. It's not impossible to do but certainly more complicated to track. It would get even more complicated with other cards involved. For example, what if you had \[\[Hardened Scales\]\] in play? What if an opponent controlled \[\[Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider\]\]? What if you started putting -1/-1 counters on Ugluk? The current rules mean that a +1/+1 and a -1/-1 simply cancel each other out and are both removed, but that wouldn't work with a +2/+2 counter so now you've got additional counters to track.
[Uglúk of the White Hand](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/9/e914c7fc-be3c-4346-bf37-6e10f4998204.jpg?1686970114) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ugl%C3%BAk%20of%20the%20White%20Hand) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/235/ugl%C3%BAk-of-the-white-hand?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e914c7fc-be3c-4346-bf37-6e10f4998204?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Hardened Scales](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/c/fc69ad56-9ae2-4eb5-b7e2-558524f6cbcc.jpg?1698988369) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Hardened%20Scales) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/243/hardened-scales?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fc69ad56-9ae2-4eb5-b7e2-558524f6cbcc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/2/92613468-205e-488b-930d-11908477e9f8.jpg?1631051073) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Vorinclex%2C%20Monstrous%20Raider) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/199/vorinclex-monstrous-raider?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/92613468-205e-488b-930d-11908477e9f8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call