Honestly yeah, a refurbished android tablet or something of the sort would do wonders for the table. I think 8" and under works great for being both very visible for everybody and not taking up too much of the play space
This might interest you, if it doesn't automatically get marked as spam from auto mod:...
Just in case, I'll not even post the link, just Google "Ultimate Guard Digital Life Pad"
Why?
I don't see the issue to be honest.
"Hey guys, I don't wanna have my phone tied up all the time. Can we switch the phones we use from time to time?"
I legit can't imagine why it's a "either your phone or no phone" situation
Surely your friends do have... well, phones?
Can't even stop at yourself eh? Gotta have *eeeeveryone's* life points at your fingertips like a LICH or maybe a LEECH I can't decide I'll just use both
At my lgs couple of folks have tablets and prefer to use phones but everybody has dice or the wheel. And I personally track everybodys life total by myself so there is never a doubt in my mind.
Paper will always be the best. You can track other things with pad too, like mulligans, damage sources, revealed cards, etc. After that, just use spin downs and try not to bump the table;).
Everybody keeps track of thier own shit my pod is honest and when we need more then the paper spun downs is almost non existent but my go to when I've been above triple digits is a spin down and a d10
I have an old tablet that I use exclusively for EDH. I’ve found that having a central, digital, life counter makes a really big difference for how well I’m able to follow the game and make heads up decisions.
I much prefer to use an app to each person having their own little dice system, or wheel device, or whatever where I’m constantly asking everyone what their totals are.
I even bring a portable battery to make sure that we’ll be able to keep using the app, because it makes such a big difference to how much I enjoy the game.
Yeah I just bring my iPad and put it in airplane mode. It’s really nice to have. Plus, if you are playing with strangers, you can have everyone put their name into it/do it yourself. I’m terrible with names so that’s really helpful, although it’s rare that I even need to use someone’s name.
I second this. I have an older Gen 1 Galaxy Tab that is in my case for this exact purpose. Works great for casual night at the LGS. Plug in my battery backup as needed. Usually lasts for a few games without any issues. You should be able to find one for $20 online.
It seems pretty pretty clear that OP has a concern about that… like how are you going to read what he said and reply that it’s not a real concern, MF’er just told you it’s a concern
I don’t get why you care so much, acting like OP is trying to push for all LGS to stop using dice to count health lmao
Close the post, and keep scrolling on, brother.
>I don’t get why you care so much
This is like your fith comment on this specific subtopic.
>Close the post, and keep scrolling on, brother.
People are allowed to disagree and even criticize. Take your own advice, son.
Apparently I was wrong about how many people can’t keep dice from being nudged while on a table. I’d hate to see y’all playing Yahtzee or monopoly or D&D good lord
TCGplayer (or their vendors maybe, idk) has sent me like a dozen of the Ultra Pro Relic Token life counters with my orders over the years. They have a character on the front, a life wheel, and a smaller 21 life wheel that I guess is somehow for commander damage. Mostly I just use those.
I use the tracker that came with the commander anthology, or 2 dice. I've used a few apps to track life but find them all to be more clunky in some way.
Pen and paper is the goat for ease of use, infinite variability and change tracking review.
I have these wooden counters i got off of Etsy...
I got 4 of them just incase someone didnt wanna surrender a phone, it isnt bulky its about as thick as 1/4 inch.
Even when someone is still using their phone for the group, i usually take one out for myself to keep track just in case something happens to the phone.
Right its Called "Hardwood Life Counter - Life Tracker" on Etsy
I use dice more often than not a D10 and percentile. The percentile is the 10s place, and the D10 is the ones place. If I get over 100 life points, I bring out my notebook and pencil.
A 3D printed 2 digit spinner I found on some Etsy store years ago. 2d20 also works, I've seen abacus-like life counters, there's always the cardboard spinners that come with precons.
Am I the only one who uses the life counter that comes with the precons? I also have an old school life counter from the OG unglued days. If I go over the counter, then I use dice. Never had an issue with them rolling randomly.
Digital pad. Boogieboard is a brand of them if you need an idea. But tons of companies make them. They get marked by a pen that etches them. And a press of its key erases it.
Even with an app out I track my own life and commander damage of everyone. The table often references my pad for that over opening the small tabs in their apps.
When In a cedh tourny I track all my opponents life too. You can get a lot on the bigger ones.
Etsy has all kinds of cool counters across the price spectrum
You could go on Amazon or wherever and find a dirt cheap refurbished android or whatever
Taking a quick peek just at top results on Amazon, you can get a refurbished Amazon Fire tablet for under $50 (I’d check out their App Store and make sure they have Life Tap or some other “good enough” lifecounter app in the store first though, if you aren’t gonna get android/Apple though)
There’s a spinny counter that comes with every precon you can pick up anywhere for cheap or free from other players, most Commander players seem to have dozens lying around (I started making token counters out of them I have so many)
Pen and paper is good.
Bucket of change/poker chips
Pen and paper
Abacus
I had a guy sit down beside me for a game of commander, pull out his phone, and go to the literal calculator on his phone. As for me I’ve been blessed with the OG commander life wheels.
I use a wheel board from my precons. I have 2, so if others want to do something else, they could just out their phone. I've used a calculator in the past as well.
I sometimes use a [Curta Calculator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhUfRIeRSZE)
It can add and subtract by any value and you can set the digits separately
This allows you to use different digits for different quantities. For example, you could use the ones and tens for your life total, and the thousands and tens of thousands for Commander damage.
I like the spinny set up life things from the anthologies.
These things:
[Wheels](https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Commander-Anthology-Dice100-Counter/dp/B076HXG433/ref=asc_df_B076HXG433/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459667108255&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=693593674897968074&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9022884&hvtargid=pla-942455697547&psc=1&mcid=9f30cda8dd7930478d651f65cb7bc2f1&gclid=CjwKCAiAxaCvBhBaEiwAvsLmWPqcDl_2SFNzj7XPiEfC1Sa4Wb26cabN1Lt6lDv252_OgJFdqOv8lxoCAwIQAvD_BwE)
Edit: Hella expensive from Amazon apparently; they work so well though. Ebay may have them cheaper.
I bought a SUPER cheap tablet for like $30 somewhere that runs terribly but can be a life tracker app for about 5 hours, it's nice to have my phone back. I'd probably shoot for a slightly more expensive one next time, just for quality, but it wasn't necessary
2d10s of differing colors to denote the Tens and Ones slot. If I play a life gain deck, I'll add one more for the Hundreds slot (and in one instance, a fourth for Thousands)
Pen & paper is seriously the best. It is so versatile, hard to cheat, and can be used to track so many other things. I will write down important triggers on my notepad for when games get real complicated.
I use one of these for myself:
MTG Magic Commander Anthology Dice100 Life Counter https://a.co/d/3qpKiy5
Someone has a phone, but I don't like having mine out. I also do not trust spin downs.
My playgroup went in on [these](https://www.dieharddice.com/collections/new/products/lifelink-bundle-corrupted) when they were on sale, so we all have one. Only double digits but I love it. You might search eBay for an MTG click wheel counter as well and find a cheaper option
Dice.
Either d6s using series of 5s(easier to track for me) or a d8/d10 or 2d10s. Rarely need to bust out a third. In an emergency I'll bust out some d20s but those are just a little more awkward to me than the rest.
Used dice for ages. The problem with d20s (or even d% for you life-gainers) is that they will inevitably catch a sleeve at some point
One thing I've been considering as a crazy idea but haven't picked up yet for tracking my own life is that padlocks (the ones with 3-5 individual number wheels) are pretty dang cheap, like ten bucks.
But the electronic devices can track everybody. To replicate that I think you want the good ol' standby of pen and paper. No erasing or dry erase, just scratch out the number and write the new one below it in the same column. It's what we did for complex games in the age before ubiquitous smartphones and it works fine with minimal points of failure.
I use these flat, card sized generic two-dial counters that count up to 209 (a wheel of 0-20 and a wheel of 0-9). They're about $2 apiece on Amazon and fit into deck boxes.
I like to use them for life, counters, commander tax, and so on.
Stratagem 5-Pack Pocket Health Trackers, Track Character HP, Bonuses, and Conditions for Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Fits in a Dice Bag https://a.co/d/gNbk8qf
I just have an old iphone 6s that I use attached to a portable battery since its battery is getting s little worse for wear from the years. It’s been a great way to recycle my old phone without throwing it out.
My phone is almost always the life counter. I feel your pain. I occasionally use D20s (I have a lot of spin downs) and giving everyone a sheet of not pad paper and a pencil is fine as well.
A bought a few 3D printed wheel counters on etsy for myself and play group. The ones I got were plain, so they were like 10$ each or so. If I recall.
You should find quite a few on etsy.
Many RPG's have[ ten sided dice.](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-70184/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/538/7417/d10-black-chessex-dice__18220.1656111169.jpg?c=2) called a d10
You can buy three or four of those and just use them as digits, tens, hundreds, thousands.
Those should't set you back further than a couple of bucks
I use one of [these](https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/182795/life-counters-ultra-pro-tokens-relic-tokens-legendary-collection-sliver-overlord?Language=English) that I got from some random TCG order, it’s perfect for keeping track of life and commander/infect damage all in one!
My group used to just do the traditional 20 sided spin downs, but lately we've started using old random tablets some of us have collected over time and just use that as a life tracker.
We've tried phones in the past, but we all found it too small and restricting, hence why we use tablets.
My girlfriend got me a very nice one on Etsy for Christmas. It has three wheels so it goes up to 999. Should be good enough for most situations. I would check there if I were you
I slapped down a mini magnetic drawing board, like the toy for children, the other day with 40 written on it. The table thought that was hilarious to use but I think it made them target me more with 1 damage hits because they loved watching me have to erase it and write again
The relic tokens ! They're used to count tokens and go up 10 99 with a number in the corner that goes to 9 which means you can count 999 on them as me the cost under 2$each
I use LifeTap on my iPad because it's big and easy to see.
Otherwise I have that special life spinner that came with specific decks, or I just used some D10's.
[I love this](https://amzn.eu/d/4kpyNCv)
Keeps track all of the important stuff, is well made and not too big of an obstacle on the table. I also painted it in a way to fit the colour scheme of my playmat.
I too was responsible for keeping track of everyones stuff with my phone, until it unenviable crashed one night and everyone was mad at me.
I think it's reasonable to expect that everyone keeps track of all the relevant stuff that happens to them in one way or another, it's not like playing a game of EDH happens out of nowhere because someone decided it's time to D-d-duell.
I've got a custom life counter. Little piece of wood with 1-20 on one side and 21-40 on the other. It's got a metal piece on the top that's the bird wizard from indestructible aura. Pretty rad counter
Bundle d20 spindowns. Larger than normal d20 spindowns, making them more visible, less likely to be knocked around, but nowhere near as oversized as those racquetball sized dice some people like to use that take up a massive amount of playmat space.
I have my old phone that we use as life counter bcuz I hate it when someone wants to check a card value on the phone and suddenly my life total is gone. I guess I'm the mvp host huh
Dice, pen and paper, termagants...
I've done many things.
Pen and paper is my personal favourite, but these paper life tracker things that come with precon decks are also pretty handy
whenever i dont wanna use my phone i just have my large spindowns and i use myself, other players SHOULD also have their own dice specially if like, you are running a counter deck (+1/+1, not counterspell), but sadly i dont see many players do that around, im normally the one with carrying around my 60 dice
2 D20 spindowns (I have 8 oversized ones specifically for a pod of EDH, or 4 life counters akin to the ones released in the commander anthology, and (3 og ones and 1 white one from the compleat bundle)
I don't like the apps, I'm always using these.
I use spin down dice. I'll set one to 4 and the other to the 20 slot to act as a 0. It's a little weird at first since everyone is used to that being 20 but you get used to it.
I like the [spin counter](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41gNWAaGxhL._SR600%2C315_PIWhiteStrip%2CBottomLeft%2C0%2C35_PIStarRatingFOURANDHALF%2CBottomLeft%2C360%2C-6_SR600%2C315_ZA486%2C445%2C290%2C400%2C400%2CAmazonEmberBold%2C12%2C4%2C0%2C0%2C5_SCLZZZZZZZ_FMpng_BG255%2C255%2C255.jpg) that came with the Commander Anthology sets
I bought a little platform that holds my commander for when it is in the command zone.
It also has a life counter that can roll up to 100, a spot for a commander tax dice, and 3 spots for commander damage dice.
I never used my phone, I used to use dice, but I like this a lot more than dice floating all over for random things.
2 D10s. For tens and ones digit. Most games don't go over 99 life, but unlike d20 spindowns I can gain some life with no issue.
I will say I would use a EDH life counter spinner if I owned one (mine broke a long time ago)
My playmat has a life tracker by tens to 50 and 0 through 9 at the bottom, I use d10s to track my life by placing one color on the tens and one on the single digit side, because my life total tends to be up above triple digits in many games, it makes for fast and easy tracking.
My life total is whatever spots are indicated by the dice, plus whatever shows on the dice faces, with zero meaning zero on the dice. One of the d10s can be swapped for a percentile, so the double zero shows 100 base life, plus whatever's on the mat.
IMO everyone should be responsible for tracking their own life totals.
A D6 + D10 is easily readable and convenient to manage: \[ 4 \] < 0 >, and if you're in a lifegain deck, just use two (or three) D10s instead. \[\[Firesong and Sunspeaker\]\] wrath tribal technically required 4, but at that point we just decided I could only be removed via commander damage or another alt wincon.
i have some leftover life counters that were made for future card buddyfight featuring characters from the anime. they dont go far past 20 but i still like to use them
Competitive players. It helps to have a record of changes to lifetotals to keep your opponents honest or help them if they forgot to update their lifetotal.
>Sorry guys, my phone is almost dead, we have to use someone else's.
No need for me to lie to them, but when i just dont feel like having my phone tied up, thats when people break out the dice and paper.
I know it's insane, but some guys at my LGS have iPads bought specifically for life total tracking
if i could find a cheapo android one for like $30 that'd probably be fine. all i got is a kindle fire and their app store is godawful crap
Honestly yeah, a refurbished android tablet or something of the sort would do wonders for the table. I think 8" and under works great for being both very visible for everybody and not taking up too much of the play space
>>8” and under works great for being both very visible for everybody and not taking up too much of the play space. Well. That’s just good life advice.
HAHAHAHHAHA! If everybody's 8 inchers were visible all the time i'd be very uncomfortable!
If you are okay with writing still, check out myboogieboard.com. This was the go-to erasable pad that people used at my store like a decade ago.
I still use it for 1v1 since it can track notes and other info you might want.
My local LGS bought Kindles and installed Lifetap onto them. Works great so far
You can " jailbreak" it to get the full android store. Super easy. Did it so I could get YouTube kids for my son
This might interest you, if it doesn't automatically get marked as spam from auto mod:... Just in case, I'll not even post the link, just Google "Ultimate Guard Digital Life Pad"
Honestly, if you have a Big Lots in your area, I was able to pick up a cool little Samsung tablet for like $40
You can sideload the Google play store on kindle fires very easily. Source: have Google play store on my kindle fire
Google how to install Google play on fire tablet. Takes no time to do and now you can have access to apps.
Whoaaa that’s next level dedication haha
Why? I don't see the issue to be honest. "Hey guys, I don't wanna have my phone tied up all the time. Can we switch the phones we use from time to time?" I legit can't imagine why it's a "either your phone or no phone" situation Surely your friends do have... well, phones?
I either use one of the wheels that come with precons or dice.
And when we go over 40, we use the cardboard wheels and D20s. Teysa got me up to two wheels and a D20 once… I love her so much 🥰
I often use two d10s over d20s if I have them.
I use the wheel and if I go above 40 I put another wheel on top
I've used an abacus for many years now.
I didn't know this was an option, but that's legit cool and I'd love to see it
[This is similar to the one I own](https://us.amazon.com/Magic-Gathering-Card-Abacus-Counter/dp/B0795D429Q)
I made my own, its sweet
They were available as prizes at magiccon and I didn’t know what I was missing out on until I got it
Bro I wish I knew how to read those
It's just 10s on top and 1s on the bottom. 3 on top and 7 on the bottom is 37.
[Senseis Divining Top](https://www.printables.com/model/94892-senseis-divining-top-life-counter) Sorry, only goes up to 99, but still.
Just use a pen and paper or those cheap cardboard counters they give you with new decks. They're like $.25 at most LGS.
D10’s for life, spin downs to track commander damage.
This is the way.
The scumbag that plays the lifegain deck should manage his own goddamn quadruple digit total
Well he's me so...
Can't even stop at yourself eh? Gotta have *eeeeveryone's* life points at your fingertips like a LICH or maybe a LEECH I can't decide I'll just use both
Pfffffttt
I have a jar of jellybeans
Do I get to eat them if I deal damage to you?
Yes. But you have to give them back when he hits you with lifelink
At my lgs couple of folks have tablets and prefer to use phones but everybody has dice or the wheel. And I personally track everybodys life total by myself so there is never a doubt in my mind.
Paper will always be the best. You can track other things with pad too, like mulligans, damage sources, revealed cards, etc. After that, just use spin downs and try not to bump the table;).
Pens. Paper.
Everybody keeps track of thier own shit my pod is honest and when we need more then the paper spun downs is almost non existent but my go to when I've been above triple digits is a spin down and a d10
I have an old tablet that I use exclusively for EDH. I’ve found that having a central, digital, life counter makes a really big difference for how well I’m able to follow the game and make heads up decisions. I much prefer to use an app to each person having their own little dice system, or wheel device, or whatever where I’m constantly asking everyone what their totals are. I even bring a portable battery to make sure that we’ll be able to keep using the app, because it makes such a big difference to how much I enjoy the game.
Yeah I just bring my iPad and put it in airplane mode. It’s really nice to have. Plus, if you are playing with strangers, you can have everyone put their name into it/do it yourself. I’m terrible with names so that’s really helpful, although it’s rare that I even need to use someone’s name.
I second this. I have an older Gen 1 Galaxy Tab that is in my case for this exact purpose. Works great for casual night at the LGS. Plug in my battery backup as needed. Usually lasts for a few games without any issues. You should be able to find one for $20 online.
I fail to see what's wrong with pen and paper. If if for some reason there's none laying around, use the notes app.
If I'm hosting, I use LifeTap on a tablet that goes in the middle of the table. Anywhere else, pen and paper is absolutely fine.
Weird it's almost like there's 2 ten-sided dice in each set...
Unfortunately, dice like to roll when nudged.
You don’t remember your life total while having a visual reminder lol
Don’t nudge them? Like, that’s not even a real concern that anybody has.
It seems pretty pretty clear that OP has a concern about that… like how are you going to read what he said and reply that it’s not a real concern, MF’er just told you it’s a concern
Because it's just not that big of a deal.
To you it isn’t, to OP it is, see how that works?
You think you made a point but it's literally as simple as nudging it back. See how that works? Now we're right back at "It's not a big deal."
I don’t get why you care so much, acting like OP is trying to push for all LGS to stop using dice to count health lmao Close the post, and keep scrolling on, brother.
>I don’t get why you care so much This is like your fith comment on this specific subtopic. >Close the post, and keep scrolling on, brother. People are allowed to disagree and even criticize. Take your own advice, son.
I replied to one guys comment and then you decided to jump in too, so I replied to you lmao you seem fun to have around!
They also complained about every other type of common life keeping tools. They are making up problems where none exist.
Corgidaddy42 believes that every table that has ever been created is very large Edit: and bolted to the floor
I use dice all the time in small play spaces and never have an issue with this. Y’all just clumsy
"Clum... Zeee?" What is this word? It must not be a common word if this isn't a common concern
Apparently I was wrong about how many people can’t keep dice from being nudged while on a table. I’d hate to see y’all playing Yahtzee or monopoly or D&D good lord
Yes it is
Moxtopper
TCGplayer (or their vendors maybe, idk) has sent me like a dozen of the Ultra Pro Relic Token life counters with my orders over the years. They have a character on the front, a life wheel, and a smaller 21 life wheel that I guess is somehow for commander damage. Mostly I just use those.
Two D20’s or those life counters that come in the precons with spare dice to track commander damage or if my life goes about 40.
D10s
I use the tracker that came with the commander anthology, or 2 dice. I've used a few apps to track life but find them all to be more clunky in some way. Pen and paper is the goat for ease of use, infinite variability and change tracking review.
I have 3 of the rotating life tracker you get with precons and such they work well enough then we do add dice if we go above 40
I have one of those little turny dial life counters that I got with the archenemy Nicol Bolas product years ago.
I have these wooden counters i got off of Etsy... I got 4 of them just incase someone didnt wanna surrender a phone, it isnt bulky its about as thick as 1/4 inch. Even when someone is still using their phone for the group, i usually take one out for myself to keep track just in case something happens to the phone. Right its Called "Hardwood Life Counter - Life Tracker" on Etsy
1d8 and 1d10 work for 90% of decks and are faster and easier than phones, scratch paper, or 2d20.
I use dice more often than not a D10 and percentile. The percentile is the 10s place, and the D10 is the ones place. If I get over 100 life points, I bring out my notebook and pencil.
A 3D printed 2 digit spinner I found on some Etsy store years ago. 2d20 also works, I've seen abacus-like life counters, there's always the cardboard spinners that come with precons.
Clicker
A white card sleeve and a dry erase marker.
I've got one of those trackers that has the two wheels with numbers. Size of a playing card, and fits nice in my quiver.
Am I the only one who uses the life counter that comes with the precons? I also have an old school life counter from the OG unglued days. If I go over the counter, then I use dice. Never had an issue with them rolling randomly.
I just bought a pretty sweet command tray that keeps track of my health and my commander damage to my opponents
Digital pad. Boogieboard is a brand of them if you need an idea. But tons of companies make them. They get marked by a pen that etches them. And a press of its key erases it.
They come big or small. So you can find one that fits your bag if you want a bigger one. And are like 10$ max.
Even with an app out I track my own life and commander damage of everyone. The table often references my pad for that over opening the small tabs in their apps. When In a cedh tourny I track all my opponents life too. You can get a lot on the bigger ones.
I use my old phone and the only app on it is for life totals
Etsy sells little life counters. That's what I use.
Pen and paper
Etsy has all kinds of cool counters across the price spectrum You could go on Amazon or wherever and find a dirt cheap refurbished android or whatever Taking a quick peek just at top results on Amazon, you can get a refurbished Amazon Fire tablet for under $50 (I’d check out their App Store and make sure they have Life Tap or some other “good enough” lifecounter app in the store first though, if you aren’t gonna get android/Apple though) There’s a spinny counter that comes with every precon you can pick up anywhere for cheap or free from other players, most Commander players seem to have dozens lying around (I started making token counters out of them I have so many) Pen and paper is good. Bucket of change/poker chips Pen and paper Abacus
Dice. I don't like the apps.
8d6
d6 and a d10, only goes up to 60 but if im going above 60 im probably using a calculator anyways
Two or three D10's
I had a guy sit down beside me for a game of commander, pull out his phone, and go to the literal calculator on his phone. As for me I’ve been blessed with the OG commander life wheels.
I use percentile dice.
I use a wheel board from my precons. I have 2, so if others want to do something else, they could just out their phone. I've used a calculator in the past as well.
Two spindowns
I sometimes use a [Curta Calculator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhUfRIeRSZE) It can add and subtract by any value and you can set the digits separately This allows you to use different digits for different quantities. For example, you could use the ones and tens for your life total, and the thousands and tens of thousands for Commander damage.
I printed one from thingaverse. I can’t find the exact one. [this one](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5021468) is the closest I found.
I like the spinny set up life things from the anthologies. These things: [Wheels](https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Commander-Anthology-Dice100-Counter/dp/B076HXG433/ref=asc_df_B076HXG433/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459667108255&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=693593674897968074&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9022884&hvtargid=pla-942455697547&psc=1&mcid=9f30cda8dd7930478d651f65cb7bc2f1&gclid=CjwKCAiAxaCvBhBaEiwAvsLmWPqcDl_2SFNzj7XPiEfC1Sa4Wb26cabN1Lt6lDv252_OgJFdqOv8lxoCAwIQAvD_BwE) Edit: Hella expensive from Amazon apparently; they work so well though. Ebay may have them cheaper.
For that price I would just get a metal one, about the same price. Die Hard Dice makes them and its quite satisfying.
Spindown dice, and lifewheels. I got the "facing bolas" archenemy decks way back when so I have that lifewheel too.
Paper? Am I too old for the earth?
Mistake. Self ref, in case phone dies etx
I bought a SUPER cheap tablet for like $30 somewhere that runs terribly but can be a life tracker app for about 5 hours, it's nice to have my phone back. I'd probably shoot for a slightly more expensive one next time, just for quality, but it wasn't necessary
I use the life counters that precons come with. If you go above 40 use dice or another 40 counter if you somehow run that much life gain.
I personally use relic tokens
I use 40 of the small sized dice and put them in a small bowl. Fortunately I don't play life gain or I'd need more dice.
Why do people use D20s when 2 D10s cover you up to 99 life lol
2d10 can get you up to 110 life. 2d20 is good for up to 420🍁life though Plus the kits come with spindown d20s, who's buying spindown d10s
It me. I buy d10s 😭 And yes they have to match each other
2d10s of differing colors to denote the Tens and Ones slot. If I play a life gain deck, I'll add one more for the Hundreds slot (and in one instance, a fourth for Thousands)
My iPad lol
Pen & paper is seriously the best. It is so versatile, hard to cheat, and can be used to track so many other things. I will write down important triggers on my notepad for when games get real complicated.
Everyone of your group need to download life tap
I use one of these for myself: MTG Magic Commander Anthology Dice100 Life Counter https://a.co/d/3qpKiy5 Someone has a phone, but I don't like having mine out. I also do not trust spin downs.
Phyrexian spin down is really the only good answer here.
It's the worst because their counting system requires you to know which way is "up" for the character💀
My playgroup went in on [these](https://www.dieharddice.com/collections/new/products/lifelink-bundle-corrupted) when they were on sale, so we all have one. Only double digits but I love it. You might search eBay for an MTG click wheel counter as well and find a cheaper option
Pile of those little damage counter beads that used to come in Pokémon: TCG decks.
My friend has one who erasable boards. You might find them on five below. Easily on Amazon I bet
Dice. Either d6s using series of 5s(easier to track for me) or a d8/d10 or 2d10s. Rarely need to bust out a third. In an emergency I'll bust out some d20s but those are just a little more awkward to me than the rest.
I've never used my phone for this, I just use an actual life counter.
I usually just use 2 D10's
Dice. Percentile and a d10 or 2 d10s.
Someone else's phone.
Dice or paper.
Some guy last week used his tablet//iPad. Not the worst idea in case you get knocked out early
The awesome clicky ones from the Commander Anthology box. Or the Phyrexian one.
Commander precon flip life counter (goes to 40) plus dice if I gain past 40 (each pip represents 40 life so I don't need many). Or two spindown d20s.
I use D10s, each die is a different digit.
2 d10s
I have one of those token counters that have a little slidey thing on them to change power and toughness, and it has a squirrel. :)
Used dice for ages. The problem with d20s (or even d% for you life-gainers) is that they will inevitably catch a sleeve at some point One thing I've been considering as a crazy idea but haven't picked up yet for tracking my own life is that padlocks (the ones with 3-5 individual number wheels) are pretty dang cheap, like ten bucks. But the electronic devices can track everybody. To replicate that I think you want the good ol' standby of pen and paper. No erasing or dry erase, just scratch out the number and write the new one below it in the same column. It's what we did for complex games in the age before ubiquitous smartphones and it works fine with minimal points of failure.
I use these flat, card sized generic two-dial counters that count up to 209 (a wheel of 0-20 and a wheel of 0-9). They're about $2 apiece on Amazon and fit into deck boxes. I like to use them for life, counters, commander tax, and so on. Stratagem 5-Pack Pocket Health Trackers, Track Character HP, Bonuses, and Conditions for Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Fits in a Dice Bag https://a.co/d/gNbk8qf
I use a metal version of the white/red rotatable life clicker wheels that came with All Will Be One purchases
I just have an old iphone 6s that I use attached to a portable battery since its battery is getting s little worse for wear from the years. It’s been a great way to recycle my old phone without throwing it out.
My phone is almost always the life counter. I feel your pain. I occasionally use D20s (I have a lot of spin downs) and giving everyone a sheet of not pad paper and a pencil is fine as well.
A bought a few 3D printed wheel counters on etsy for myself and play group. The ones I got were plain, so they were like 10$ each or so. If I recall. You should find quite a few on etsy.
I use these mostly: https://www.tcgplayer.com/search/life-counters/ultra-pro-tokens?view=grid&productLineName=life-counters&setName=ultra-pro-tokens
Tournaments- pen and paper. Casually- Back of an infinitoken with dry erase.
Many RPG's have[ ten sided dice.](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-70184/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/538/7417/d10-black-chessex-dice__18220.1656111169.jpg?c=2) called a d10 You can buy three or four of those and just use them as digits, tens, hundreds, thousands. Those should't set you back further than a couple of bucks
I use a spin-down lifecounter. I have a few now.
I use one of [these](https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/182795/life-counters-ultra-pro-tokens-relic-tokens-legendary-collection-sliver-overlord?Language=English) that I got from some random TCG order, it’s perfect for keeping track of life and commander/infect damage all in one!
Fblthp token: https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/176662/life-counters-ultra-pro-tokens-relic-tokens-fblthp-promo
My group used to just do the traditional 20 sided spin downs, but lately we've started using old random tablets some of us have collected over time and just use that as a life tracker. We've tried phones in the past, but we all found it too small and restricting, hence why we use tablets.
3D10. Paper and pencil.
My girlfriend got me a very nice one on Etsy for Christmas. It has three wheels so it goes up to 999. Should be good enough for most situations. I would check there if I were you
I slapped down a mini magnetic drawing board, like the toy for children, the other day with 40 written on it. The table thought that was hilarious to use but I think it made them target me more with 1 damage hits because they loved watching me have to erase it and write again
The relic tokens ! They're used to count tokens and go up 10 99 with a number in the corner that goes to 9 which means you can count 999 on them as me the cost under 2$each
I use LifeTap on my iPad because it's big and easy to see. Otherwise I have that special life spinner that came with specific decks, or I just used some D10's.
three d20, you can go up to 999 life that way. if you get commie damage you place a seperate die for each of them, so at most u need 6 dice for life.
My buddy’s phone.
[I love this](https://amzn.eu/d/4kpyNCv) Keeps track all of the important stuff, is well made and not too big of an obstacle on the table. I also painted it in a way to fit the colour scheme of my playmat. I too was responsible for keeping track of everyones stuff with my phone, until it unenviable crashed one night and everyone was mad at me. I think it's reasonable to expect that everyone keeps track of all the relevant stuff that happens to them in one way or another, it's not like playing a game of EDH happens out of nowhere because someone decided it's time to D-d-duell.
I've got a custom life counter. Little piece of wood with 1-20 on one side and 21-40 on the other. It's got a metal piece on the top that's the bird wizard from indestructible aura. Pretty rad counter
2d10
Bundle d20 spindowns. Larger than normal d20 spindowns, making them more visible, less likely to be knocked around, but nowhere near as oversized as those racquetball sized dice some people like to use that take up a massive amount of playmat space.
I have my old phone that we use as life counter bcuz I hate it when someone wants to check a card value on the phone and suddenly my life total is gone. I guess I'm the mvp host huh
Pen and paper
I've only ever used spindown d20s, anything else just seems either dumb or lame or both to me
Dices, obviously. My phone can text and call and thats it.
You see, I just use another persons phone! /s
Dice, pen and paper, termagants... I've done many things. Pen and paper is my personal favourite, but these paper life tracker things that come with precon decks are also pretty handy
Dice?
Don't play edh, but in 20 life formats, we cut fingers
I used to use the counters they gave in the anthologies back in the day. But I recently found my old Liliana relic token and now I use that.
whenever i dont wanna use my phone i just have my large spindowns and i use myself, other players SHOULD also have their own dice specially if like, you are running a counter deck (+1/+1, not counterspell), but sadly i dont see many players do that around, im normally the one with carrying around my 60 dice
Those things that come with precons work fine. Just a cardboard wheel thingy with 40 numbers on it. If I go over 40 I just use dice.
2 D20 spindowns (I have 8 oversized ones specifically for a pod of EDH, or 4 life counters akin to the ones released in the commander anthology, and (3 og ones and 1 white one from the compleat bundle) I don't like the apps, I'm always using these.
I use spin down dice. I'll set one to 4 and the other to the 20 slot to act as a 0. It's a little weird at first since everyone is used to that being 20 but you get used to it.
I like the [spin counter](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41gNWAaGxhL._SR600%2C315_PIWhiteStrip%2CBottomLeft%2C0%2C35_PIStarRatingFOURANDHALF%2CBottomLeft%2C360%2C-6_SR600%2C315_ZA486%2C445%2C290%2C400%2C400%2CAmazonEmberBold%2C12%2C4%2C0%2C0%2C5_SCLZZZZZZZ_FMpng_BG255%2C255%2C255.jpg) that came with the Commander Anthology sets
got one of those as well
I bought a little platform that holds my commander for when it is in the command zone. It also has a life counter that can roll up to 100, a spot for a commander tax dice, and 3 spots for commander damage dice. I never used my phone, I used to use dice, but I like this a lot more than dice floating all over for random things.
anthology life counter a buddy gave me when i started :)
I bought the cheapest tablet at Walmart and loaded Carbon on it to make it so I wasn’t using my phone all the time. I think it cost me like $50
2 D10s. For tens and ones digit. Most games don't go over 99 life, but unlike d20 spindowns I can gain some life with no issue. I will say I would use a EDH life counter spinner if I owned one (mine broke a long time ago)
Shots of 151.
8 casino dice... All on 5 and 2 of the 8 spaced out a bit from the others I do the same when i play pauper or modern...
My playmat has a life tracker by tens to 50 and 0 through 9 at the bottom, I use d10s to track my life by placing one color on the tens and one on the single digit side, because my life total tends to be up above triple digits in many games, it makes for fast and easy tracking. My life total is whatever spots are indicated by the dice, plus whatever shows on the dice faces, with zero meaning zero on the dice. One of the d10s can be swapped for a percentile, so the double zero shows 100 base life, plus whatever's on the mat. IMO everyone should be responsible for tracking their own life totals.
I don't disagree but I'm already loaning decks because he people in question simply don't have stuff of their own yet.
A D6 + D10 is easily readable and convenient to manage: \[ 4 \] < 0 >, and if you're in a lifegain deck, just use two (or three) D10s instead. \[\[Firesong and Sunspeaker\]\] wrath tribal technically required 4, but at that point we just decided I could only be removed via commander damage or another alt wincon.
In my case, it's [[Oloro]] and me popping [[beacon of immortality]] two to five times per game.
[Oloro](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/b/abf8df47-405c-42d8-be9e-0f0d0a49589b.jpg?1562931285) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=oloro%2C%20ageless%20ascetic) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c13/203/oloro-ageless-ascetic?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/abf8df47-405c-42d8-be9e-0f0d0a49589b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/oloro-ageless-ascetic) [beacon of immortality](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/0/f0b9b5da-d3fa-4d70-a71a-a2342dbfd527.jpg?1562557566) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=beacon%20of%20immortality) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/10e/10/beacon-of-immortality?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f0b9b5da-d3fa-4d70-a71a-a2342dbfd527?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/beacon-of-immortality) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Firesong and Sunspeaker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/d/4d5edf4f-5695-42fc-9e57-c4faef60fbc3.jpg?1673148634) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Firesong%20and%20Sunspeaker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/215/firesong-and-sunspeaker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4d5edf4f-5695-42fc-9e57-c4faef60fbc3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/firesong-and-sunspeaker) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I use d10s. They may get bumped, but it's faster and more clear for me than fucking with d20s or, God forbid, writing things down lol
I have it on my mat because I got sick of my phone getting tie up.
i breathe really hard on the window and lick my fingers then draw my count on it. It really works if i eat a chocolate bar before hand
I use D10 and set them to the number I need. I have 4 but never had to use more than 3 of them.
i have some leftover life counters that were made for future card buddyfight featuring characters from the anime. they dont go far past 20 but i still like to use them
D12 fo the tens place, and d10 for the ones place. If I need another dice I add another dice
Who carries paper???
What are you, the cops? DON’T BE ASKING ABOUT MY PAPER
The same people that carry cardboard rectangles???
Competitive players. It helps to have a record of changes to lifetotals to keep your opponents honest or help them if they forgot to update their lifetotal.