> Wait a sec, isn’t this backwards?

No, if you push and pop RCX it's fast again. I mentioned this in the blog post, `mov rcx, 1` is slow but `mov rcx, 1; push rcx; pop rcx` is fast.

I think I missed that one in the pile of options. That’s bizarre. I wonder if MOV from memory is like POP.

The slow state is when rcx has a special "hidden immediate" attached it, from the `mov rcx, 1` or `add rcx, 1`. If the last option on the register doesn't fit that narrow template, it is fast, so loading from memory in any way, like pop, xrestor, plan load, etc, will be in fast mode.