Cancel

Instant

Counter target spell.

Discussion (47)

plakjekaas on Would a White Version of …

5 days ago

Mcat1999 except that a corrupt emperor who oppresses the masses for its own benefits is not white in philosophy. Selfishness at the expense of others is as black as it gets. Masses of commonfolk rebelling to uphold the laws broken by a corrupt government, those are the white party in the conflict.

The emperor perfoming a ritual to obtain omnipotence, and the valiantly defying masses rising up against him to Cancel the conjured magic, and restore law & order back to the world, that's the flavor of a white Stifle . That's why white has so many weenies with rule-imposing static effects, the little guy upholding the law and ensuring the silly blue, black, red and green Mages obey. That's why they're supposed to be symmetrical effects like on Leonin Arbiter , Tocatli Honor Guard and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben , because nobody is above the law, especially not yourself. That's why I think your flavor text would fit a colorshifted - Stifle , and not really a one.

What you're doing is translating your own interpretation of game mechanics, as they are, into color philosophy, by what you think the intended purpose was behind a card like Armageddon ; Instead it should be the other way around, letting established color philosophy guide the design process of the (flavor of the) card.

From the article on Colors found at MTG Wiki:

White

White puts value in the group, the community, and its civilization as a whole. White believes that suffering is a by-product of individuals not prioritizing the good of the group. White's ultimate goal is peace—a world where there is no unnecessary suffering, a world where life is as good as it can be for each individual, a world where everyone gets along and no one seeks to disturb the bonds of unity that White had worked so long to forge. To govern and protect its community, White makes use of and puts value in a number of broad concepts; morality (ethics, grace, truth), order (law, discipline, duty), uniformity (conformity, religion), and structure (government, planning, reason). White is a color commonly associated with good and justice, but if left unchecked or if everyone is not working toward the same unified goal, White can become authoritarian, inflexible, and capable of sacrificing a small group for the sake of a larger one. Everything necessary to preserve the laws, rules, and governance that White created.

I really cannot rhyme these described motivations with a corrupt Emperor oppressing its nation's people, that's why I don't agree with this being the flavor text for a white card as is, no matter how politically relevant the metaphor.

HydraOoze on Kinnan, the Kraked Kombo King

1 week ago

An easy switch is Counterspell for Cancel since it’s 1 mana cheaper.

TheMadRocketeer on Jalira

1 week ago

Good Sweepers To Maybe Bring In:

• AEtherspouts
• Curse of the Swine
• Evacuation
• Nevinyrral's Disk
• Polymorphist's Jest - Only temporary, though
• Selective Snare - Limited against non-tribal decks, though

Good Control To Maybe Bring In:

• Cancel
• Devious Cover-Up
• Didn't Say Please
• Dispersal Shield - Conditional, though
• Memory Lapse - Goes to library rather than graveyard, though
• Sinister Sabotage
• Spell Rupture - Conditional, though

Good Creature Steal To Maybe Bring In:

• Confiscate
• Control Magic
• Corrupted Conscience

Thoughts?

PorygonDust on Mmm Chrome

1 month ago

I would remove Cancel for Dovin's Veto, Crux of Fate for Torment of Hailfire, Diabolic Tutor for Beseech the Queen, Diabolic Edict for Go for the Throat, Personal Tutor for Lim-Dul's Vault, Laboratory Maniac for Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Graceful Adept for Archon of Emeria, Blood Seeker for Judge's Familiar, Strionic Resonator for Isochron Scepter, Baleful Strix for Windfall, Nadier's Nightblade for Dramatic Reversal, and Revel in Riches for Basalt Monolith

MadEngie on Cheap Red-Blue Aggro-Control

1 month ago

Honestly, not bad for cards you had laying around!

For some cheap recommendations:

I'd run Dissolve instead of Cancel, it is the same mana cost and effect, but you get to scry 1 in addition.

Also, I'd recommend Mana Leak in place of Essence Scatter, or for your sideboard at least. Same mana cost, but it'll counter any spell unless your opponent pays

Both cards cost about 25-30 cents per copy.

Barbarian_Sun_Pope on Hit The Deck!

1 month ago

Woe Strider, Priest of Forgotten Gods, and Viscera Seer are all pretty good for sacrificing. I think Bolas's Citadel is fine, but it feels like more of a win more card here. Also I know you wanted suggestions on sacrifice outlets, but I think you can definitely do better than Cancel here when it comes to counters (maybe Hinder. Hope this helps.

aholder7 on The Argument for a Mystic …

2 months ago

I’ve been a little out of the meta recently but from what I’ve experienced in the past I don’t think sanctuary would need a ban. It is not truly repeatable use unless you are bouncing your own lands every turn which would be bad or you are fetching for a new one every turn which would allow you to do it up to 4 turns in a row. 4 turns in a row of Cancel is definitely nothing to sneeze at though so let’s consider that scenario. In said scenario you are not putting the card directly in hand, rather to top of library. This means that you are not gaining card advantage so much as you are making sure you draw a counter spell each turn. Also great but far less oppressive than a cheap repeatable counter truly would be. For comparison to the cards that were “too busted” to be printed, the counter land would be able to be used the turn you play it (unless it came into play tapped which wouldn’t be as bad but would need to cost more than 3 due to the tax on versatility of a land counter spell combo) this requires you to wait a turn or have an instant speed draw in order to use it in respond to a spell with it. As for the Cancel that put itself on top of deck, while that is the effect of this scenario there is more set up in the fact that it requires fetch lands to consistently pull off, takes up your land drop for the turn, and is limited to 4 uses in practice.

If the returned card is something like Cryptic Command where you are getting additional value out of the counter then this gets significantly better but I don’t see this as ban worthy unless other decks start having troubles dealing with it and at least from a cursory glance at mtg top 8 there are plenty of other decks that are able to compete with it.

gatotempo on The Argument for a Mystic …

2 months ago

Hi, all. Most people who have played modern in the last few months have probably been sanctuary-locked or played a sanctuary-lock deck. I'm going to prove that it needs to be banned by comparing it to other cards that were too powerful to print. Earlier in magic's history, a tournament was held called "the duelist invitational." The winner of this tournament got to design a card that Wizards would print. Two cards that various winners designed but were too broken to print: a land that could sacrifice for to counter a spell and a Cancel that gave its owner the option to put it on top of their library. Granted, this was in 2009, but in Amonkhet, when they printed utility lands, wotc refused to have the blue land counterspell, and instead had it mill. To add on to this, a recursive counterspell has never been printed, simply because it would be too annoying. Mystic sanctuary also is potentially better, when compared, to a counter land, since it can be fetched by 4 different cards, of which can be played at four copies each. So why does Mystic Sanctuary remain legal?