Squelch vs. Shadow of Doubt
Modern forum
Posted on March 25, 2015, 4:15 p.m. by tclaw12
What are your thoughts on Squelch vs. Shadow of Doubt? Which is better in Jeskai/UWRb Control?
Shadow of doubt is better. You can fire it off without a target to cycle it.
March 25, 2015 4:18 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #4
Why the hell are people playing Shadow of Doubt over Squelch.
JexInfinite Here I was thinking that Squelch didn't draw a card. Thoughts?
The most immediate noticeable advantages to Shadow are against Scapeshift and for your own Path to Exiles, but I'm not sure where else.
March 25, 2015 4:20 p.m.
If going Jeskai, Squelch has the color advantage in that you don't need 
to cast it. I'd probably give a slight edge to Squelch since it also can stop things like Twin, Tasigur and Lili, whereas SoD cannot. That said, I'm not sure either is mainboard material, but I don't have a ton of experience with modern so take what I say with a grain of salt.
March 25, 2015 4:22 p.m.
@GlistenerAgent Shadow has lots of great early plays over squelch, But that could just be me.
Shutting down a land drop or tutor is much better than just countering a trigger imo.
Mind you squelch is good for twin? But Shadow is better overall I would say. Shuts down bloom titan pretty hard too.
March 25, 2015 5:01 p.m.
asasinater13 says... #7
being able to cycle it in matchups where it's irrelevant is probably significant for Shadow of Doubt. Squelch is good at doing other things though, it can stop Splinter Twin which is probably worth mentioning. amulet bloom gets stalled by stopping Slayers' Stronghold activations. can counter Inkmoth Nexus/Blinkmoth Nexus which is, also pretty good and unexpected. I think squelch gets the edge, because shadow only really stops fetches, scapeshift, and path triggers.
March 25, 2015 5:04 p.m.
@asasinater13 It stops anything that tutors. ANYTHING. It also stops Bloom Titan cold.
March 25, 2015 5:26 p.m.
asasinater13 says... #9
Shadow of Doubt only stops bloom titan for a turn, next turn they get to swing and search for combo pieces unless you have a path in hand, and if you've got the path you don't care about their titan whether if has a buff or not.
there's not a large amount of relevant tutors in modern, is what I'm saying. there's much more activated abilities than there are tutors, and the most common tutors (fetch lands) are an activated ability anyways.
also against abzan Squelch has value late-game vs Gavony Township
March 25, 2015 5:30 p.m.
Blizzicane says... #10
You guys are aware that Squelch also stops fetch lands as well because you can counter activated ability when it sacrifices itself and fetch lands don't count as a mana ability. :3
March 25, 2015 5:49 p.m.
I feel like most of the time, the correct answer is ultimately neither. The number of gotcha wins is not worth the strenuously situational usages. There are too many other good cards worth running and taking off a turn, or part of a turn, to cycle away or use on poor value isn't free.
March 25, 2015 5:57 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #14
Shadow of Doubt can stop annoying search bullshit like Scapeshift, fetchlands, Gifts Ungiven and Amulet Bloom. As previously mentioned, you can Path to Exile + Shadow of Doubt , which is a legit strategy. Double U is no problem.
Squelch is just activated abilities, which may seem alright, but you're not going to beat Amulet Bloom with that any time soon. It's good in principle, but in practice, you want to fight the better fight.
March 26, 2015 7:48 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #15
Another downside to Squelch is that you can't cast it just as a cantrip. There must be an activated ability for you to counter, making it an ineffective cantrip against decks with run nothing you can hit.
canterlotguardian says... #2
Shadow of Doubt because fetch lands are things and it's funny to do that on the back of a fetch crack or a Path to Exile.
March 25, 2015 4:18 p.m.