Polukranos, Unchained

two generic mana one black mana one green mana Legendary Creature — Zombie HydraPower and toughness0/0

Polukranos enters with six +1/+1 counters on it. It escapes with twelve +1/+1 counters on it instead.

If damage would be dealt to Polukranos while it has a +1/+1 counter on it, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from it.

one generic mana one black mana one green mana : Polukranos fights another target creature.

Escape— four generic mana one black mana one green mana , Exile six other cards from your graveyard.

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15 printings · up to 4.61 $

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Polukranos, Unchained rulings

2020-01-24
If an amount of damage would be dealt to Polukranos greater than the number of +1/+1 counters on it, all of that damage is prevented, and all of those counters are removed. In most cases, this will result in Polukranos having 0 toughness, so it will be put into its owner's graveyard.
2020-01-24
If damage that can't be prevented is dealt to Polukranos, the damage is dealt and you'll simultaneously remove that many +1/+1 counters from it, all before the game checks for lethal damage.
2020-01-24
If the target creature is an illegal target when Polukranos's activated ability tries to resolve, the ability doesn't resolve. If Polukranos is no longer on the battlefield, the target creature won't deal or be dealt damage.
2020-01-24
Escape's permission doesn't change when you may cast the spell from your graveyard.
2020-01-24
To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying (such as an escape cost), add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was and no matter whether an alternative cost was paid.
2020-01-24
After an escaped spell resolves, it returns to its owner's graveyard if it's not a permanent spell. If it is a permanent spell, it enters the battlefield and will return to its owner's graveyard if it dies later. Perhaps it will escape again—good underworld security is so hard to come by these days.
2020-01-24
If a card has multiple abilities giving you permission to cast it, such as two escape abilities or an escape ability and a flashback ability, you choose which one to apply. The others have no effect.
2020-01-24
If you cast a spell with its escape permission, you can't choose to apply any other alternative costs or to cast it without paying its mana cost. If it has any additional costs, you must pay those.
2020-01-24
If a card with escape is put into your graveyard during your turn, you'll be able to cast it right away if it's legal to do so, before an opponent can take any actions.
2020-01-24
Once you begin casting a spell with escape, it immediately moves to the stack. Players can't take any other actions until you're done casting the spell.

Polukranos, Unchained keyword rules

Fight Rule 701.12

A spell or ability may instruct a creature to fight another creature or it may instruct two creatures to fight each other. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other creature.

If one or both creatures instructed to fight are no longer on the battlefield or are no longer creatures, neither of them fights or deals damage. If one or both creatures are illegal targets for a resolving spell or ability that instructs them to fight, neither of them fights or deals damage.

If a creature fights itself, it deals damage to itself equal to twice its power.

The damage dealt when a creature fights isn’t combat damage.

Escape Rule 702.138

Escape represents a static ability that functions while the card with escape is in a player’s graveyard. “Escape [cost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost.” Casting a spell using its escape ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules and –h.

A spell or permanent “escaped” if that spell or the spell that became that permanent as it resolved was cast from a graveyard with an escape ability.

An ability that reads “[This permanent] escapes with [one or more of a kind of counter]” means “If this permanent escaped, it enters with [those counters]” That ability may have a triggered ability linked to it that triggers “When it enters this way.” (See rule .) Such a triggered ability triggers when that permanent enters the battlefield after its replacement effect was applied, even if that replacement effect had no effect.

An ability that reads “[This permanent] escapes with [ability]” means “If this permanent escaped, it has [ability].”