For Analysis

[Zadok001]

Yah, Eric Bess nailed it. I honestly should have had non-land in there, since it wasn't supposed to be able to handle land. That was dumb on my part. I didn't even CONSIDER land. My question really does come down to: Is Counterspell too good?

Gizmo, you mention that a counterspell that costs BR would be broken, whereas a counterspell that costs UU would not. Any particular reason on that?

What it comes down to is that I've asked this question on three forums. Ignoring all the land commentary, since it wasn't supposed to be there, most people have told me it's broken into little tiny peices and should never be put back together. That makes me wonder about the power of a mono-color card with similar (albeit not QUITE identical) abilities to this one that can also stop Sorcerys and Instants, AND ignore CIP effects.

I hereby officially question whether or not Counterspell is broken.

 

[Spiderman]

Should that be a new thread then?

Well, I think it's a strong card but not broken. You're forced into a commitment of blue (I think slightly heavy; it's not a splash commitment), you only get four of them (though there are search cards), and there's graveyard manipulation to perhaps be a backup should your spell get countered.

This is assuming we're talking about the card Counterspell itself and not all of it's variants.

 

[Gizmo]

Because when blue misses a counterspell it sits there and gibbers. If BR missed blowing something up, it would just smash it next turn. BR also shouldn`t be able to handle enchantments.

I think the card isn`t actually very good if it doesn`t blow up land. It just reverts to being a poor counterspell, albeit one where you can decide at the end if the turn which spell to counter, which is kind of cheating.

Is Counterspell cheating?
Grow up and learn to love Da Bomb!

 

[Istanbul]

Let's call this hypothetical card Nuke.

Can handle lands:
Nuke: Yes
Counterspell: No
Advantage: Nuke

Requires more than one color:
Nuke: Yes
Counterspell: No
Advantage: Counterspell

Can deal with cards that are 'put into play':
Nuke: Yes
Counterspell: No
Advantage: Nuke

Can retroactively counter the best permanent put into play on a turn:
Nuke: Yes
Counterspell: No
Advantage: Nuke

Can handle instants/sorceries:
Nuke: No
Counterspell: Yes
Advantage: Counterspell

Is in a color with a lot of other removal, good creatures, etc...:
Nuke: Yes
Counterspell: No
Advantage: Nuke

In other words, Nuke is better than Counterspell. Not a LOT better, but better.

 

[Goku]

I really couldn't decide whether it was better or not, but it (hypothetically) and Counterspell are both quite powerful.

Watch. I wouldn't be surprised if this card got printed.

 

[Chaos Turtle]

Gizmo points it out as well as can be done, I think. The reason Counterspell isn't broken is because it's blue. Give any other color "counter target spell" for two mana of that color and you're probably asking for it.

I should point out though that I would prefer the standard Counterspell to cost 1UU, with the trade-off being more efficient search. Of course, the card I want back is Impulse, so I'm obviously out of my mind.

 

[Namielus]

*Raises hand*

Ummm.... Istanbul whats your point?

I mean granted you are listing times that counterspell verses nuke makes a difference. But there is thousands of different things that can happen to make a difference, so I just don't see the point of making a short list like that... sorry maybe I just don't get it....

I think one thing that is wanted in magic is for colors have clearly defined problems, for example, white tends to be able to handle creatures without a fuss, wrath of god, false prophet, after life, and swords of plow share. Its problem is all of these spells have big down sides, wrath and prophet just hit everything, swords and afterlife give your oppenet things that you have to make up for later. Black hates creatures, expect black creatures, and it hates cards in your oppenet's hand. Its flaws are it can't face off against another black deck very effectively. And it has no way at all to deal with artifacts and enchantments, so if a light of day hits the table you better have an ace up your sleave. And blue just cant deal with creatures very effectively once they are on the table, you can say bounce works, but it doesn't really stop anything it just delays the enevitable. I think it just is to promote variety in decks...