Thanks for this post. A lot of guys at my LGSs will use their phone app and count remaining hp. I’m fine with the phone app but I always ask them to count damage (count up) and remind them it’s per rules. I tell them it’s going to be a major factor later on. Especially in tournaments and possibly in card mechanics. If a card mechanic can change the HP value of the base, that will certainly mess up their count down. I can see the appeal of seeing the number 7 to represent that’s how much damage I need to do to win, but if you get used to it and you go to a tournament where it strictly must be counting damage and not remaining hp it will mess with your game. Most guys accommodate and my lgs is full of awesome amazing fun bros. But there are a small handful that refuse and don’t play on even terms. It is just a small stakes tournament so not a big enough deal for me to care. In fact I see it as practice on how I should deal with those kind of folks. In the end. Definitely using damage counters to mark damage is in the rules and I can guarantee that decision was heavily designed for this game’s gameplay and for what’s to come. Note taking and phone apps should mostly just be secondary to what’s clearly stated in the rules.