Stun counter

Stun counters are a counter type in Magic. They were introduced in Dominaria United. Stun counters prevent tapped permanents from untapping.
==Description==
Stun counters act similar to a Freeze mechanic. They keep permanents out of the action for an extended period. Freeze effects restrain themselves to prevent the next untap during the untap step, but using stun counters lets the freeze persist beyond the first turn of effect. This is most pertinent for instants and sorceries as opposed to Auras.
If a tapped permanent with a stun counter on it would become untapped, a stun counter will be removed from it instead. This is a replacement effect. The use of counters makes for better memory tracking, if the source that "froze" is no longer apparent. It also allows for compounding, whereas multiple freeze effects will overlap on itself.
Stun counters are considered to be evergreen. Applying stun counters to other permanents is considered primarily in blue and secondary in white. They are not expected to be used by other colors. By the beginning of 2025, Mark Rosewater had noted that on the Storm Scale stun counters fall somewhere between evergreen and deciduous.
==Rules==
122.1d defines how stun counters work:
==Rulings==
*Stun counters can be put on permanents that are already tapped.
*A single stun counter will be removed if the permanent tries to untap for any reason, including its controller's untap step, a spell or ability trying to untap it, or even its controller trying to untap it to pay a cost.
*If a permanent has more than one stun counter on it, only one will be removed each time it would become untapped.
*Abilities that trigger when a permanent “becomes untapped” won’t trigger if a stun counter is removed instead.
*If untapping a permanent is part of a cost (such as that of <c>Halo Fountain</c>’s first ability), you may pay that cost by “untapping” a tapped permanent with a stun counter on it. The stun counter will be removed and the creature will remain tapped. However, the cost will still be paid.
*On the other hand, if untapping multiple permanents is part of a cost (such as that of Halo Fountain’s last two abilities), you can’t “untap” the same permanent more than once to pay that cost.
*Stun counters exist independently of the effects that created them. If a permanent has no stun counters on it, it will untap as normal. 
*Stun counters are not keyword counters, and they don’t cause the permanents they’re on to gain any abilities. They won’t be affected by effects that cause permanents to lose all abilities
==Trivia==
*In Magic Online, the counter is colored yellow as it’s considered a negative effect.
*<c>Pugnacious Hammerskull</c> is currently the only card to put on stun counters on a creature without explicitly tapping it first, instead leaving it to an attack trigger. If it was granted vigilance, it could accumulate stun counters indefinitely.
*<c>Fear of Sleep Paralysis</c> and <c>Floodpits Drowner</c> are the first cards to care about stun counters. Fear of Sleep Paralysis prevents their removal and Floodpits Drowner can shuffle a creature with a stun counter into its owner's deck.
==References==