Can Remand counter Abrupt Decay?
Asked by nickiru 9 years ago
well...... yah..
I know it says 'can't be countered' on decay, and remand states 'counter target spell,' but I heard it could stop Counterflux so... just wanting verification.
may i have a ruling on that? my friend isn't convinced lol...
September 28, 2014 4:24 p.m.
Tyrannosary says... #4
Remand is not able to counter Abrupt Decay only because remand is a spell. According to abrupt decay it is unable to be countered by spells or abilities. If you would like to you could cast remand to counter abrupt decay. Abrupt decay will not get countered but you still get to draw the card.
September 28, 2014 4:26 p.m.
Nate_the_Great says... Accepted answer #5
701.5a- To counter a spell or ability means to cancel it, removing it from the stack. It doesnt resolve and none of its effects occur.
Remand says it counters. You can't do that to Abrupt Decay . I'm not sure what your friend thinks is wrong there.
September 28, 2014 4:29 p.m.
Remand says it'll put it to its owner's hand instead, if it was countered that way, but since neither Counterflux nor Abrupt Decay could be countered that way they won't be returned to their owner's hand.
September 28, 2014 4:32 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #7
Remand says "counter target spell", while Abrupt Decay reads "cannot be countered". Pretty simple. Even though it wouldn't go to the graveyard, it still counts as countering the spell.
What you're saying about Counterflux is true in this way. Let's say I cast Scapeshift . In response, you Counterflux my Scapeshift . I can respond by Remand ing my own spell, causing your counterspell to fizzle and me keeping Scapeshift in my hand.
September 28, 2014 5:29 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
I'm not really sure what your friend is looking for because Abrupt Decay literally says "can't be countered."
Not trying to be offensive, but this is one of those RTFC moments.
September 28, 2014 7:25 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #9
Cards only do what they say. Remand 's effect specifically says "if it was countered this way...", but Abrupt Decay won't be countered that way. Abrupt Decay resolves.
September 28, 2014 9:24 p.m.
lol....
o preach it, that was 'exactly' my logic, my friend was just insistent on it. To me this was like 2 + 2. nothing fancy going on.
What's a RTFC moment?
Thanks 'yall, i'll show him this and hope he is convinced xD
September 28, 2014 10:05 p.m.
I know this is old, but I'll post it in case somebody else wanders into this thread (as I did).
Abrupt Decay says it cannot be countered. Remand won't work, because Remand specifically says it counters the spell, then returns the spell to its owner's hand if that spell was countered. Remand can't counter it, so Remand won't return it to a player's hand. You still get to draw a card from Remand though, because Remand still resolves and the card draw doesn't depend on countering.
However, Venser, Shaper Savant and Brutal Expulsion do something similar to Remand, but they will work against Abrupt Decay because Venser, Shaper Savant and Brutal Expulsion don't counter the spell. Those cards return the spell to its owner's hand (removing it from the stack) without actually "countering" it.
Other cards offer similar tricks to prevent Abrupt Decay from resolving without truly countering it. Mindbreak Trap will exile Abrupt Decay. Time Stop ends the current turn, exiling all spells remaining on the stack. You could also use something like Faith's Shield to give the target protection from black or green. In that case, the game counters the spell because the target is illegal, and Abrupt Decay only prevents countering by "spells or abilities," not the game itself.
Nate_the_Great says... #1
No. It can't stop Counterflux either. Remand counters a spell, even though it is returned to its owners hand.
September 28, 2014 4:22 p.m.