Force Spike

Instant

Counter target spell unless its controller pays {1}.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Oldschool 93/94	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

K4nkato on Tinkerbell says “No”

3 months ago

Weekly Results:

Boros Homebrew: ✅❌❌

UW Glitters: ✅✅

Golgari Gardens: ✅❌✅

Bind the Monster is the GOAT. I like this two Force Spike list but I miss Foil in longer games against Gardens. Then again, I didn't need it to win so maybe it's not an issue.

K4nkato on Tinkerbell says “No”

3 months ago

Force Spike is the way!

K4nkato on Tinkerbell says “No”

4 months ago

Some thoughts:

Moved Foil to one of my flex slots. Faeries is a deck that unique uses hidden information and cards in hand to force opponents to make uninformed decisions. The threat of Mutagenic Growth turns obvious blocks into potential risks. Brinebarrow Intruder and Saiba Cryptomancer make attacks and removal much more difficult for your opponent. Counterspell gatekeeps when your opponent can commit to an action. Foil adds an extra layer of stress by threatening an opponent even when you’re tapped out. The high MV and expensive alternative cost are notable downsides, but Faeries draws more cards than any other deck in the format. 3-for-1 trades are unprofitable for most decks but Faeries is fast enough and disruptive enough to make it work.

I only recommend running one copy of Foil. The card’s value comes from its scarcity. Opponents who play around Foil are intentionally slowing themselves down and making sub-optimal decisions to fight a card you might not have. Opponents who ignore Foil open themselves up to getting caught by it. This adds another layer of decision making for your opponent, increasing their odds of making a mistake. The more opportunities you give your opponent to mess up, the more games you can win to pilot error.

Foil occasionally puts you in a very difficult spot in mana-screwed games. If you have 2 Islands in play and 1 Island in hand + Foil, you have to ask yourself if you should keep the land for a free counterspell or play it for more mana. I welcome the difficult decision, but this opens you up to mistakes as well. It’s worth practicing these corner cases if you want to play Foil, but I think the risk is worth the reward.

Smoke Shroud is a promising card I decided to cut. This aura allows you to turn Ninja of the Deep Hours into the most jacked Delver of Secrets  ^Flip you could imagine, but there aren’t enough discard outlets for it. You never want to play it & Faeries doesn’t really mill or discard outside of Foil and Moon-Circuit Hacker. 5 situational sources just isn’t enough to enable this card. I’ll say though, if the Faerie mirror ever becomes a matchup in need of breaking, I think this card will do it. It’s very difficult to permanently answer and forces your opponent to block unprofitably.

I’m debating Force Spike over Spell Pierce in my flex slot, but only because I genuinely don’t know how good Force Spike is.

K4nkato on Tinkerbell says “No”

4 months ago

People are talking me into Force Spike & Dispel. Idk where I’ll find room for them, but if vans bring something promising then I can focus on that :)

FauxFaux on Card creation challenge

2 years ago

Ziusdra I don't know whats more Ban worthy....that passive, or the Emblem....lol

While yes, Tokens and +1/+1 counters are a fair bit more balanced, still think giving every +1/+1 counter that ability to Force Spike EVERY spell? I'd say maybe noncreature, or Non-artifact spells, but still lol

TriusMalarky on Veyran, Voice of Duality [Centurion]

2 years ago

Gitaxian Probe and Lava Dart will be really good here, Mental Misstep is probably solid too but you lose the targets of Sol Ring, Mystical and Vampiric Tutor, Top, Seal, Entomb and Tide, but there's tons of great 1 drops anyways that I'd still run it. 2 life to counter a mana dork, Brainstorm, Gamble, Wordly or Enlightened Tutor? Seems great.

Also, Storm. Grapeshot after a couple cheap or free spells can not only deal a solid chunk of damage, but it also can give you a lot of Magecraft triggers(and you can kill a commander with it).

Since this is a 1-on-1 format, I'd recommend Daze as well. 0 mana Force Spike is pretty good.

Isochron is best when paired with Dramatic Reversal , and Breach wants something like Brainstorm to combo off with.

You could definitely cut a couple of the higher CMC cards as they'll clog up your gameplan a bit -- run a few more cantrips and interaction such as Preordain , Serum Visions , Faithless Looting , Lightning Bolt , Spell Pierce and Miscast .

Also, a couple rituals -- Rite of Flame is the best one here, but Simian Spirit Guide also works. Pyretic Ritual and Desperate Ritual are also okay, but they don't help you cast Veyran so they're last in line for those slots.

0rc on Cheapskate Talrand (Competitive, Budget $75!!)

3 years ago

JJ108x, thank you for your interest in Cheapskate Talrand, in the early stages of building and playtesting, I included Telepathy in the deck to evade threats to the Thoracle combo such as Force of Will.

I found that with multiple counterspells in hand, even a well-timed Force Spike was sufficient to protect the combo.

That said, the combo is still vulnerable to split-second spells such Angel's Grace and Trickbind. It is very nice to know when an opponent has these in hand.

In fact, it is always very nice to know what an opponent has in hand. The issue with Gitaxian Probe is cost—- it dials in at a whopping $1.10!!! Given the cost, to be included, it must be a bomb in the deck. Peek and Clairvoyance are both also good—-but Peek is better. If I included these effects I would choose Probe and Peek, or maybe just Probe.

I would cut cantrips to make room (there are many to choose from, depending on your play style), however I would not cut any cantrips that require/allow me to shuffle a card from my hand back in to my library as THOSE ARE CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT TO THE OPERATION OF THE DECK!!!

Does that make sense?

Do you plan on building this deck?

If so, please tag me in it so I can take a look. I’d be very interested to see what changes you make (especially if you keep the same $75 budget).

I’d also be interested to read about how the deck as is, or with your changes, performs in your meta.

Thanks again!

dritchie, thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoy the deck, I hope you build it, and keep me up to date as to how it performs!

<3 0rc

0rc on Dime-store Derevi (Competitive, Budget $100!!)

3 years ago

Pikobyte, Don’t worry—-you can’t offend me! I’m just a prickly personality :)

You’d be surprised how easy it is to disrupt the most “powerful” cEDH game plans. (Or maybe you wouldn’t be!) For instance, something as simple as Glowrider puts a stop to most cEDH combos. They only have so many Force of Wills, but we have and endless supply of these little sh@its :)

I know those cEDH folks think they’re playing a higher order game and so forth... yawns It’s really just about money and elitism.

I’ll tell you with some confidence that my $75 Talrand cEDH deck also crushes in 1v1 cEDH, like it’s not even funny. Trollin’ with Force Spike and a gaggle of bad, bad cards :)

It’s a bit weak to aggression in multiplayer though. Most cEDH tourneys are 1v1.

Buy the Derevi deck tho, seriously. It’s only $100. If you play it at a casual table you’ll feel like a jerk.

Much love and thanks for all your comments!

<3 0rc