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I have a card called Wake Thrasher. It says:

Whenever a permanent you control becomes untapped, Wake Thrasher gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Does this mean when I untap my lands at the beginning of my turn would put counters on him till the end of my turn?

On my previous turn I summoned him with his 2 generic and 1 blue mana, coming from 3 lands. At the beginning of my next turn, since I'm untapping a total of 3 lands, will he be a 1/1 + 3 * +1/+1 so a 4/4 creature?

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    Why does this not seem right to you? If you can expand on that, it will help someone give you an answer that is more useful to you. – David Z Jan 14 '18 at 23:21
  • @DavidZ I'd wager counters versus continuous effect; If it were counters, the card would certainly be too good. – Drunk Cynic Jan 14 '18 at 23:38
  • Sam, Wake Thrasher does not involve counters. – Andrew Jan 15 '18 at 1:47
  • @Sam as a bonus, Freed from the Real on something that makes blue mana is an easy way to get untaps in blue. Or 2 Myr Galvanizers and any mana myr (for your color likely Silver Myr) would give you untaps for 0 total mana, since the silver myr pays for the cost to untap silver myr and the other galvanizer. making your Thrasher as big as you want it to be. – Andrew Jan 15 '18 at 5:18
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Yes, Wake Thrasher would be a 4/4 at the end of your untap step and remain that way until the end of turn. However these are not counters, not all sources of +1/+1 are counters, I'd wager most aren't, this is a +1/+1 to end of turn as a result of a triggered ability's resolution. You do not put counters on and then remove them at end of turn. What happens is this:

  1. Your turn begins with the untap step, in that untap step you have three lands tapped, they all untap.
  2. Untapping your lands triggers Wake Thresher three times, putting his ability on the stack three times in the next step, the upkeep step, since nothing can go on stack during untap. He is still a 1/1.
  3. The first of Wake Thresher's abilities on the stack resolves and it gets +1/+1. It is now a 2/2.
  4. The second of Wake Thresher's abilities on the stack resolves and it gets +1/+1. It is now a 3/3.
  5. The third of Wake Thresher's abilities on the stack resolves and it gets +1/+1. It is now a 4/4.

Note that these can all be responded to, if any opponent wants to kill it as a 1/1 before the untap effects resolve, they can, the abilities will be on stack and will fizzle.

The fact that they are not counters matter for several reasons, mostly other cards and effects such as:

  • Kulrath Knight: These are not counters, so Kulrath Knight does not prevent Wake Thrasher from attacking.
  • Proliferate: Proliferate lets you copy counters on permanents or players, since these are not counters they cannot be duplicated. The same goes for effects like Gilder Bairn and Vorel of the Hull Clade
  • -1/-1 counters: +1/+1 counters on a permanent and -1/-1 counters on that same permanent at the same time will cause N of both to be removed, where N is the lower number of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters. Since these are not +1/+1 counters they do not remove -1/-1 counters, these remain at end of turn and will likely kill the Thrasher if there are no other effects.
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  • Nice summation, but your answer is flawed. Since neither player gets priority during the untap step, the triggers aren't added to the stack until the beginning of the upkeep step, with other "at the beginning of upkeep" effects. Recommend inserting this between 2 and 3, than combining the last three into a single bullet. – Drunk Cynic Jan 15 '18 at 3:06
  • @DrunkCynic Fair point, I should specify they go on stack in upkeep, though a bit of a distinction without a difference, it is important to be precise. The last three points were left separate to illustrate they are separate, that they are three triggers not one, and that responses can go between the resolution of any of them. Matters particularly if a card cares about P&T (though I admit I can't think of any that would care about it being some specific number off hand) – Andrew Jan 15 '18 at 3:11
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Wake Thrasher is a Rare 1/1 merfolk with a converted mana cost of 3. The value of the card is he gains power and toughness when you untap permanents you control.

From the oracle rulings:

If permanents you control become untapped during your untap step, Wake Thresher’s ability will trigger that many times. However, since no player gets priority during the untap step, those abilities wait to be put on the stack until your upkeep starts. At that time, all your “beginning of upkeep” triggers will also trigger. You can put them and Wake Thresher’s abilities on the stack in any order.

Lands are permanents. They untap during your untap step. This would cause the ability to trigger, and "wait to be put on the stack until your upkeep starts." For the three lands you untap, Wake Thrasher will get a total of +3/+3.

This is right.

Edited to add: A second reading of the question highlights the possible consternation. If you are under the impression that the triggered ability of Wake Thrasher puts +1/+1 counters on the creature, which have a measure of permanence, dissuade yourself of that idea post haste. Counters are not put on the creature. Instead, it is temporarily granted +1/+1 untill end of turn. There is a distinction between the concept of +1/+1 counters (MCR 121), and the continuous effect of +1/+1 (MCR 612).

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  • "dissuade yourself of that idea post haste." Interesting choice of vocabulary to respond to the query and quandary proposed by the original poster. – Andrew Jan 15 '18 at 3:02

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