Counterspell

Instant

Counter target spell.

Combos

• Counterspell + Omniscience

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Big Apple Highlander	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Oldschool 93/94	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
PreDH	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

DubMC on Mutiny at Long John Silver's

3 weeks ago

Don't forget about good ol reliable Counterspell! Cavern of Souls is amazing is price isn't an issue. I love the deck! I may have to build something similar.

Balaam__ on Jalira’s Three Card Monte

1 month ago

Have at it Icbrgr, there’s loads of room for improvement as it stands. I built it years before some staples even debuted, and when existing staples currently run in Modern (like Counterspell) were still illegal. It could use your eye for detail.

James13 on Izzet Delver

1 month ago

Mishra's Bauble sees play with delirium from Dragon's Rage Channeler. Remand has been replaced by better counterspells that actually get rid of the opposing card, Counterspell being one of them.

emask on Izzet Delver

1 month ago

Miss playing 60 card and this kind of deck specifically. Haven't followed Modern in forever, but is Mishra's Bauble seeing play? Was happy to see it here. Also didn't realize Counterspell is back, but wonder if the card draw from Remand would be worthwhile if you can outpace them? +1

DragonMaster420 on The new Gatewatch 0.2

2 months ago

0.2 or 2.0?

examples of planeswalkers that can hinder creatures would be things like Gideon of the Trials , Liliana of the Veil , Liliana, the Last Hope , Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer etc. one of the first 2 abilities should be capable of removing opposing creatures, or at the very least weakening their attacks or providing a token to block with. the final ability should be something that can actually close out a game, so you can put the opponent on a clock after playing Doubling Season which doubles the loyalty a planeswalker enters with.

Culling Ritual isn't quite on par with modern removal. a 4 mana sorcery should be able to wipe all creatures, not just those limited to MV 2 or below. it'll also wipe out your own mana ramp.

you don't really need the halfling or the carth, but you do need removal. what you run will of course depend on the colors of the walkers you focus on, but at a minimum you have green and might as well add black for the sake of Abrupt Decay. blue has Counterspell and red has Lightning Bolt. a 3+ color deck with white might as well play Prismatic Ending.

alternatively, you can simply play the gideons that can become creatures, and a bunch of board wipes like Wrath of God. there are 4 such gideons with a cost of 4 or less.

DragonMaster420 on Mark Rosewater's Commentary on Repeatable …

2 months ago

at that point you're literally saying you want casual matches to last more than 50 minutes. that's not fun. we already have things to allow players to remain alive. it's called interaction and removal. play a control deck if you want. play Fatal Push and Counterspell.

DubMC on Aetherflux Solitaire

3 months ago

Balaam__ Do you think adding x4 Counterspell or Swan Song to the mainboard would be a good move? Maybe Spell Pierce?

Icbrgr on Modern Control: Temur Wilderness Reclamation

3 months ago

@DragonMaster420 That's pretty much the going rate for how control decks achieve their wins... control wins by establishing an insurmountable advantage rather than racing.

Early Game (Turns 1–3): Focus on survival, using cheap interaction (e.g., Counterspell, Fire / Ice, and Lightning Bolt) to neutralize early threats.

Mid Game (Turns 4–5): Deploy Wilderness Reclamation or Cryptic Command to stabilize the board and/or generate massive card/mana advantage.

Late Game (Turns 6+): Once the opponent is out of resources, wait to safely deploy Traumatic Critique.

Currently 26 actionable answers Show

• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures: acts as an uncounterable, versatile removal spell disguised as a land. It provides main-deck flexibility to answer disruptive artifacts, enchantments, and problem lands without taking up a traditional "spell slot".

• 1x Otawara, Soaring City: provides uncounterable, instant-speed bounce/tempo. It takes up a land slot, enters the battlefield untapped, and acts as an unanswerable answer to un-stoppable threats like Teferi, Time Raveler.

• 4x Counterspell: definitive, versatile "catch-all" answer. Because it answers cards on the stack, it cleanly stops Enter-the-Battlefield (ETB) triggers, and static abilities that would have been an issue.

• 2x Cryptic Command: its combination of modal flexibility, tempo generation, and card advantage allows for unconditionally stopping an opponent's turn while setting up my own.

• 4x Fire / Ice: Offers two highly flexible, low-cost modes that fundamentally prevent aggressive decks from establishing tempo while replacing itself. It acts as a versatile Swiss Army knife that is almost never a "dead" card.

• 2x Flashback: By enabling casting spells directly from the graveyard, it's great in grindy matchups for having your graveyard suddenly be a whole toolbox of answers.

• 4x Lightning Bolt: offers unparalleled tempo efficiency. For just 1 mana at instant speed, it immediately neutralizes early-game threats, acts as flexible planeswalker removal, and doubles as a game-ending finisher. Trading 1 mana for an opponent's 2 or 3-mana threat frees up your remaining mana for counterspells or card draw in the same turn cycle.

• 1x Logic Knot: Utilizing delve and the game's natural attrition, it turns dead or spent resources into a hard counter.

• 3x Spell Snare: 1-mana unconditional hard counter to the format's most universally played and tempo-defining 2-mana spells.

• 4x Traumatic Critique: versatility and scalable mana efficiency. It provides a seamless blend of card selection, early-game disruption, and a mana sink for the late game.