Is Render Silent worth the extra white mana?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Sept. 20, 2014, 8:12 p.m. by MagicalHacker
Is it a really good card to use as Counterspell + Silence ? Or would something like Dissolve be better?
MagicalHacker says... #3
That's what I was thinking, thanks for the input! :)
September 20, 2014 8:36 p.m.
In EDH, I would say yes. I have had it stop multiple big turns for me before I could even start them. Absolutely worth it in my opinion.
September 20, 2014 8:51 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #5
Hmm, but I keep hearing people say that Silence is a bad card, and i don't think a 3-drop counter spell is worth it unless it gives you give you card advantage or help you dig. I feel like Render Silent is just as good as Cancel , but the Silence as a bonus. I don't think that postponing spells is THAT good, you know?
September 20, 2014 9 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
It depends on the deck. Sometimes it's nice to buy a turn if you have to protect a creature with summoning sickness or something.
Render Silent 's primary strength in EDH is that it can be fetched with Sunforger .
September 20, 2014 9:05 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #7
I'm not sure how strong Storm would be in EDH (I imagine not very), and Render Silent would obviously be strong there, but I still think playing the Counterspell will be better. It depends on your commander/strategy, but I don't think you want to play it.
September 20, 2014 9:09 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
To expand on my previous point, Sunforger enables you to play American toolbox control with Render Silent , Double Negative , and Counterflux . That's not to mention other spells like Path to Exile , Swords to Plowshares , Red Elemental Blast , Pyroblast , etc.
September 20, 2014 9:22 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #9
Gotcha. Yeah I really think it's good with Sunforger , but not without it unless you need it for some reason.
Thanks all!
September 20, 2014 9:28 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #10
@Epochalyptik Have you seen competitive Sunforger decks? Ruhan, Zedruu, Numot and Narset don't seem particularly competitive to me.
September 20, 2014 9:53 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
They're not hyper competitive, but they're certainly good if built right. Sunforger is a utility. It's not the focus of the deck.
September 20, 2014 10:01 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #12
I've been thinking about building a Ruhan deck similarly to a Rafiq deck, and Sunforger seems like an extremely great package in it.
September 20, 2014 10:16 p.m.
Dissolve makes more sense to me. Really you could try to fit both, but Dissolve will save you mana fixing.
September 20, 2014 10:22 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #14
I completely agree, the payment of 
over Counterspell
isn't justified by the tacking on of Silence
(unless it's part of a Sunforger
package).
September 20, 2014 10:59 p.m.
Speaking as someone playing against Render Silent I find it to be much more of a hassle than Dissolve . Yes, there are times where it is a simple counterspell, but then there are times where it ends a big turn or is a good tempo play that keeps a card off the field. At the least it is effective against ramp/control strategies that like to make lots of small plays.
September 21, 2014 2:15 a.m.
HeroInMyOwnMind says... #16
Render Silent is a closer. I think it is a great card if you play specifically to certain situations. If you use it on your own turn to counter a spell and keep the same player from hassling you for the rest of your turn, I don't see the problem. I tend to play with decks that leak mana all over though, so the extra cost is negligible.
Blizzicane says... #2
Depends really but even if you cast Render Silent they can still respond to it and odds are they probably weren't going to cast anything else that turn so I would prefer Dissolve as the Scry is always useful :3
September 20, 2014 8:26 p.m.