What exactly is "countering"?
Asked by Cevil 12 years ago
I was playing against my friend and he played a Loxodon Smiter , and in response I played Murder . My friend said I couldn't so do because Loxodon can't be countered. So how does that work? Does it have to actually say "counter", like Mana Leak ?
Gulltralisk says... Accepted answer #2
Your friend was wrong, first of all. Loxodon Smiter never says that it can't be destroyed.
"701.5. Counter701.5a To counter a spell or ability means to cancel it, removing it from the stack. It doesnt resolve and none of its effects occur. A countered spell is put into its owners graveyard.701.5b The player who cast a countered spell or activated a countered ability doesnt get a "refund" of any costs that were paid."
This is the rule on countering. Destroying a creature is not the same as countering. In order to destroy a creature, it has to actually be on the battlefield, while if you want to counter one, it has to be on the stack. You cannot Mana Leak or Dissipate a Loxodon Smiter (IIRC, you can still respond to uncounterables with counterspells so long as they give effects other than countering, such as Fall of the Gavel , though I may be wrong), but you CAN Murder or Doom Blade one.
October 7, 2012 7:27 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #3
@Gulltralisk You're allowed to cast Dissipate , etc. targeting Loxodon Smiter , it's just that nothing will happen when that counterspell resolves if countering is the only thing it does.
October 7, 2012 7:30 p.m.
cartwheelnurd says... #4
By the way, when your opponent cast loxodon smiter, you do not want to cast murder in response, because it will resolve before the smiter hits the field. If that happens you will have to target a different creature. What you would want to do is to wait until the smiter resoves, and as soon as you receive priority cast murder so the smiter is on the field when the murder hits.
October 7, 2012 9:24 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
I was just browsing through old questions, so I'm not sure if it's even relevant anymore, but cartwheelnurd, you name the target of a spell when you cast it. You don't cast Murder and then target something on resolution. In this case, you can't Murder Loxodon Smiter in response to it being cast because it isn't yet a legal target for Murder . The action would be rewound.
January 19, 2013 7:53 p.m.
Gulltralisk says... #7
what are you guys even doing that doesn't make sense
Rhadamanthus says... #1
Yes, "counter" means a very specific thing for the game, and only effects that say "counter" can be used to counter something. Only spells and abilities on the stack can be countered. When a spell or ability gets countered, it does nothing, and if it's a spell it gets put into its owner's graveyard. Murder is not a "counter" effect, and Loxodon Smiter has no built-in defenses against it.
October 7, 2012 7:24 p.m.