Good counterspells in EDH

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on April 27, 2013, 9:54 p.m. by erabel

There are a LOT of counterspells. Like, fifty or so. I'm building an Esper deck in EDH, and I'm looking for a few good counterspells that don't cost eighty dollars a pop (Looking at you, Force of Will !).

What are some counterspells y'all recommend for commander? I know the obvious ones are Hinder and Spell Crumple to tuck commanders, but what other counterspells are particularly good?

At the risk of being too obvious, Counterspell .

April 27, 2013 9:57 p.m.

erabel says... #3

I mean, yeah. But it's a good card, and about the best counterspell ever.

April 27, 2013 9:58 p.m.

I would personally stick with just those two. They're easily the best for EDH games, and playing too many counterspells just makes the game less fun. Having a few good ones makes them each more valuable, so you won't feel the urge to waste them on cards that aren't worth it.

If you really NEED more, I would suggest Rewind . It combos well with Tamiyo, the Moon Sage 's emblem should you choose to run her.

April 27, 2013 10:02 p.m.

DukeNicky says... #5

Counterlash is pretty great IMO. Umm Dissipate , Last Word , Hindering Light ; There are loads...Here you should find a list via gatherer that should be of help.

April 27, 2013 10:04 p.m.

erabel says... #6

I looked through the list, DukeNicky. That's the problem -- it's really frickin' long. I want some advice from people who've played more commander than I have about what some good ones off the list are.

April 27, 2013 10:07 p.m.

DukeNicky says... #7

If you're running a decent-large amount of artifacts I love Assert Authority and Override

April 27, 2013 10:12 p.m.

SpammyV says... #8

Hinder and Spell Crumple are pretty great. Last Word might be nice for the finality of it. Considering how high CMC cards see play in Commander, I also like Counterlash for its ability to essentially flash something in for free.

April 27, 2013 10:14 p.m.

fricaj says... #9

Budget wise I would say Dismiss , Draining Whelk , Time Stop , Overwhelming Intellect , and Arcane Denial are all good choices. Commandeer and Gather Specimens are also inexpensive cards that function similar to counter spells. On the more pricey side of things I would suggest Desertion and Cryptic Command .

April 27, 2013 10:19 p.m.

Counterspells I personally play (i.e. ones that are good):
Counterspell
Arcane Denial
Remand
Delay
Pact of Negation
Force of Will
Mana Drain
Memory Lapse
Misdirection (can be a counterspell)
Hinder

April 27, 2013 10:24 p.m.

erabel says... #11

Yeesh. I understand good cards cost a lot, but do 70% of your suggestions have to cost over 20 bucks (with 2 costing over 80)?

April 27, 2013 10:45 p.m.

I like Overwhelming Intellect .

But it was already mentioned....

April 27, 2013 10:50 p.m.

With how most people are in EDH, you can trick somebody into playing a big spell (like their commander) by tapping out to play whatever, and using a spell like Daze . Of course you ruled out Force of Will due to price (actually $100 now, by SCG prices, I promise you others will soon follow), so there's not too many free counterspells out there... Pact of Negation maybe? :)

April 27, 2013 11:23 p.m.

Counterspell , Arcane Denial , Delay , Memory Lapse , and Hinder are all dirt cheap.

April 27, 2013 11:27 p.m.

erabel says... #15

Apparently I can't math. :/ Thanks for the suggestions, all.

April 27, 2013 11:34 p.m.

xlaleclx says... #16

Render Silent is coming out in Dragons Maze

April 28, 2013 12:39 a.m.

Kogarashi says... #17

If we're going to bring Dragon's Maze into things, Psychic Strike isn't too shabby either. About the same cost as Cancel with some mill on top. And both are basically Counterspell for one mana more.

April 28, 2013 3:12 a.m.

xlaleclx says... #18

April 28, 2013 3:41 a.m.

Mill is completely irrelevant. I recommend against spells like Psychic Strike , Countersquall , and others because the added effects are relatively useless; they're unworth the additional cost saturation.

April 28, 2013 5:03 a.m.

andydw says... #20

If sounds like you are looking for cheap counter spells which are still good in EDH, I suggest cards like Foil , Forbid , Time Stop and Counterspell .

April 28, 2013 11:10 a.m.

Krayhaft says... #21

I like Dispel and Negate against other control edh decks. I also run Exclude , since you know every edh deck will have at least one creature to counter, and it replaces itself. Remand is also pretty good.

April 28, 2013 1:32 p.m.

deleteme says... #22

Stoic Rebuttal is essentially a Counterspell if you are playing with the usual mana rocks.

April 29, 2013 9:10 p.m.

bdrichar says... #23

Time Stop is the most useful spell in EDH. It stops everything except some infinite combos, removes the whole stack (and that pesky Maelstrom Wanderer ), can be used as a fog, can stop someone from winning the game if used on their upkeep, can stop you from losing the game if you use it on yours, and the list goes on.

May 6, 2013 12:56 a.m.

TheLameSauce says... #24

No one's suggested Spell Burst ??I just run a single one of those in a lot of my EDH decks. Then again, I don't play competitive EDH (because that's an oxymoron), so maybe it's just not "good enough".

May 7, 2013 9:35 a.m.

KrazyCaley says... #25

@landgrafb - "Playing too many counterspells makes the game less fun."

HERESY

May 8, 2013 12:49 a.m.

Jashyfish says... #26

I usually go for the cheaper CMC counterspells for my commander deck.

Discombobulate ,Dissipate ,Faerie Trickery ,Forbid ,Muddle the Mixture ,Stoic Rebuttal ,

as well as running a Snapcaster Mage

At 4 CMC I think anything higher than that would be bad unless you are running like Spell Blast or Power Sink both are dependant on mana available. Mana Leak is good early game but mid to late game in commander, not so much

May 8, 2013 7:31 p.m.

@Jashyfish: You mention that you like cheaper counterspells, but all of the ones you listed (except Muddle the Mixture ) are pretty expensive. There are a ton of 2-drop counterspells - Memory Lapse , Remand , Dispel , Counterspell , Arcane Denial , Delay , etc.

May 8, 2013 7:45 p.m.

Jashyfish says... #28

@Epochalyptik Yes there are counterspells with lower CMC than the ones I listed but most of those have glaring drawbacks (opponents drawing cards Arcane Denial , slowing of pace Memory Lapse , Delay or specific usage Dispel , Remove Soul I was thinking along the lines of hard counters instead of mere disruption where they could potentially gain card advantage.

May 8, 2013 7:58 p.m.

Krayhaft says... #29

@ Jashyfish: Those counters are all very good in edh though, especially when you're fighting counter wars (which happens a lot in my meta). Dispel and Delay are hard counterspell-counters, in that Dispel is basically just a 1-mana Counterspell and if you counter another counter with Delay , it acts as a hard counter because giving that spell suspend does nothing for it. And Memory Lapse is basically just a Remand where the opponent skips his next draw.

Granted, those spells are best while fighting counter wars, but in edh they usually have the opportunity to pull their weight.

May 8, 2013 9:48 p.m.

DukeNicky says... #30

May 9, 2013 4:51 a.m.

TheLameSauce says... #31

Cheap counterspells are nice, but when most EDH deck run mana ramp out the ass, and often an infinite mana combo or two, Spell Burst will always be the best counterspell. It's a hard counter that potentially never leaves your hand.
Of course if you really don't like spell burst you can always go the Spell Crumple + tutor ( Archmage Ascension , Night Dealings Planar Portal , etc) route.

May 9, 2013 8:39 a.m.

leo300 says... #32

December 12, 2013 9:21 p.m.

leo300 says... #33

almost forgot this are nice to Stifle , Swan Song

December 12, 2013 9:26 p.m.

@leo300: This thread has been dead for over half a year.

December 12, 2013 9:28 p.m.

leo300 says... #35

woops well i just wanted to add afew more things that could help XD

December 12, 2013 9:35 p.m.

nullac says... #36

cant go wrong with Essence Scatter in a game of commander. haha.

December 15, 2013 5:28 p.m.

@nullac

Dead threads should remain dead.

December 16, 2013 12:40 a.m.

I'm fine with necroing as long as the posts are constructive, but there haven't really been any revolutionary developments as far as the thread goes.

December 16, 2013 12:44 a.m.

MagnusMTG says... #39

Just for the sake of necro-bump.

Necro-bump.

I don't understand the neurotic aversion to commenting on old threads (really, what's the big deal?), so just to annoy people:

bumpity bump bump. :-p

Also: Dash Hopes - I know everyone thinks it sucks because it gives the opponent a choice, but if blue is not in your commander's color identity, then it's an option. It will rarely function as an actual counterspell, but instead read "as an additional cost, pay 5 life."

January 30, 2014 12:55 p.m.

Dash Hopes is not really a counterspell. "Lose 5 life" is nothing in EDH.

January 30, 2014 1:01 p.m.

Mac97 says... #41

The good counterspells I like that are Esper colors are Mana Leak , Counterspell , Hinder an Spell Crumple for worthy Commanders, Syncopate , Dissipate , Arcane Denial , Render Silent , Rewind , Lay Bare , Counterlash . Although it is not an instant counterspell I do like Counterbalance although it is around $5 last time I checked.

January 31, 2014 5:49 p.m.

This discussion has been closed