Our Top 10 Counterspells In Commander | Commander Clash Podcast 98

What are your favorite counterspells in Commander?
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[@hatonyou7099]

Seth being low on Arcane Denial because they go up on cards, but rarely paying the 1 is the ultimate irony.

[@razzlefrazzle69]

So glad he called him out on that

[@aklepatzky]

I mean its a bad counter. Youd only play it 1) if its your pet card 2) due to budget constraints 3) mono U 4) you're playing a very color intensive deck (and even then..)

[@leonjakobsen272]

@@aklepatzky You can't just say It's bad, you have to actually explain why

[@Donovarkhallum]

He called himself out on it lmao 💯

[@Donovarkhallum]

​@@aklepatzkybut. Seth doesn't pay the one and always gives card advantage. Soo him hating on the card advantage on it is just stupid.

[@dragondest4]

Richard got Counterspelled from the podcast this week.

[@madmax258285]

Probably feels almost the same about them as he does about targeted removal lol

[@Shane16784]

If only he could interact with that counter…..

[@TransformersBoss]

More like Memory Lapsed. He’ll be back soon

[@dragondest4]

@@PSYCOMMUnist in a conversation about interaction i would agree with you, otherwise i usually enjoy hearing richard's take

[@ryanc3201]

​@Jason Shaffer "good cards make people want to kill you, so good cards are bad." There ya go, you've got his take for this (and every) podcast

[@draftmagicagain1000]

'You haven't seen scary Magic until you've seen.. You: Turn 1 Swamp, Ritual, Necro. Opponent: Force of Will! You: Nah, Force of Will that!'

[@Larkinzzz]

I'm with Crim on Arcane Denial being S tier: - It can counter anything - It's easier to cast than Counterspell, which is double blue - Your opponent is up one card, but you countered their best card so that's okay - Your other opponents and yourself are card neutral - You replace it by drawing a card on the next turn's upkeep - Your opponent doesn't get these two new cards until the next turn's upkeep - Doesn't matter if there are 2, 3 or 4 players on the table, the outcome is always the same (opponent is up one card, but their best spell got countered, while the rest of the players are card neutral)

[@paulhedges4625]

I think Swan Song debate was one of the best ways to see the difference in the crew's goals with their countermagic. Swan Song is great defensively; like Tomer said, you mostly want to deal with targeted removal and/or wraths. If you're trying to use your counters not to protect your board but to aggressively stop your opponent's plan, then swan song isn't always as effective.

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

Man, I would have really loved (or maybe hated) to hear Richard, aka Mr-Literally-Insane-Takes, rank counterspells.

[@DeathEatsCurry]

Seth seems to be channeling his inner Richard this episode, to compensate.

[@Suppaichu]

Richard's takes on conterspells are probably the same as his take on spot removal. I think he only plays the free ones if he desperately needs to protect his stuff. And mana drain, but mana drain is ramp spell, not a counter.

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

@@DeathEatsCurry It’s because Richard has slowly been attempting to gaslight all of them into thinking spot removal is bad, and it’s working on Seth 😂

[@doctordistracto8390]

I gotta tell you, even with mana burn and 20 life people still drooled over Mana Drain. You're not gonna rank it down if you can't always spend it all and take 2 or 3 damage once in a while, you're gonna just take the damage and be extremely happy.

[@archduke_tips1546]

I really like running Wash Away, 1 mana to hit commanders and anything coming out of exile or graveyards. 3 mana for the cleave is pretty steep, but works when you need it.

[@dandinan2949]

Yeah i'd run Wash Away over Tale's End. I'd rather have an overcosted counterspell than an overcosted stifle in the worst case scenario.

[@returntocommander1398]

Great discussion! Especially the relative (dis)advantage around arcane denial. However, I think you guys often underestimate the potential tempo hit that comes with tapped land MDFCs. Not playing your spells on curve often times means you're just skipping your turn.

[@TheRingess]

Saff, Arcane Denial is the best counterspell, because it gives your opponents THE LEAST card advantage. If you assume everyone has 5 cards in hand and you Arcane Denial then it becomes (6,5,5,5) so 1 opponent has card advantage over you. If you use normal Counterspell it becomes 5,5,4,4 and two opponents have card advantage over you. Not only that, but the two cards you gave them take the sting out of the counter and they are less likely to come after you.

[@Davulzz]

to add to that, the one player having gained an advantage over you is the one you KNOW has one less threat in their hand.

[@garrethatch5362]

I like how Seth will extoll how great Generous Gift is for how it can hit any permanent, but then would rather use a counterspell that is more restricted than pay 1 more mana to be able to hit a larger swath of targets.

[@MakeVarahHappen]

Does he think that? He really didn't like the one mana spells.

[@seanredmond1366]

Counterspells with a payout are good politically. That's why Offer and Arcane Denial are great because there's compensation on the backend. People get angry when you counter their shit, so giving them a parting gift takes the sting out a lot.

[@Lucarioguild7]

I love my counters with payouts, every blue deck I play has Dream Fracture right along side that Arcane Denial

[@jadegrace1312]

That's not why those cards are good. Offer is good because what it gives back is almost always much much worse than what you are taking, in multiplayer edh. Arcane Denial is good because you end up down less cards to the table. "Politics" is such copium.

[@Jlizard27]

@@jadegrace1312god I hope people have expanded their vocabularies from the time you posted this.

[@german3652]

50:19 Tomer just getting so excited to jump in about arcane denial is absolutely hilarious

[@kgreen]

Anyone remember when they all gave Jwari Disruption a "D" in the MDFC tier list? 😊

[@51gunner]

Yeah, what's up with that? I don't like the card at all. It's a bad counterspell and it's a bad land. If you replace it with an island the island will always be untapped. If you replace it with a real counter you can prevent something that isn't played perfectly on-curve.

[@michaelinniss8282]

Stubborn Denial is a personal favorite of mine for creature heavy blue decks

[@ItsHuntah]

Ertai is sneakily one of the best cards in legendary matters decks. A counter that you can find off of Sisay, draws you a card or gains value off of any of your historic or legendary payoffs, triggers your legendary cascade in Jodah.. love the pick Crim. Great show guys!

[@TransformersBoss]

I love Negates in Commander. I find that there aren’t as many Creatures that I want to counter, plus there are plenty of times when I want my opponent’s Creature around to attack the other opponents. If I hate a creature, I’d rather use removal (as long as it can be removed)

[@jamescooley5241]

Seth Arcane Denial can also counter your own spell if you're stuck top decking to draw 3 cards. I've used it for that a few times.

[@tmain1320]

Always told myself that I could use it for this but the opportunity never came for me. Glad to hear it has actually panned out for others, kinda like pathing your own creature

[@tcot-wi8wf]

​@tmain1320 who's your commander?

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

I’m shocked no one brought up Craterhoof during the Tale’s End discussion. Such a common finisher, and most decks don’t plan for stifle effects, so odds are this just completely blows those decks out. Also, Jazal Goldmane (aka white’s Craterhoof), while it doesn’t see as much play, is almost just as powerful, and it uses an activated ability.

[@imaginarymatter]

One of my favorite counter spells is Stubborn Denial. In the decks I play it's often Fierce Guardianship #2 since I have several creatures and my commander that have 4+ power and it has the upside that it is a one mana Negate that operates without my Commander in play. And best of all it's cheap!

[@SnapquesterMage]

58:47 Fierce Guardianship is A S S!

[@razzlefrazzle69]

Love these can you guys do a board wipe one since you all seem to like different ones

[@1AKAvg]

Pretty sad that Cryptic Command wasn't mentioned (or bashed, even) anywhere :(

[@erysecret]

I love that Arcane Denial essentially acts as a "Sacrifice a Spell on the Stack: Draw three cards." It's niche, but divination with upside is why we play Mulldrifter :)

[@TransformersBoss]

I very much love Arcane Denial in my Spellslinger deck, where I can play Past in Flames or overload Mizzix’s Mastery and use Arcane Denial from the grave to counter something useless (like another counterspell) and draw 3 later

[@DylanHunter64]

@@TransformersBoss Really effective in Pauper Turbo Fog countering a copy of Weather the Storm. Seeing 4 fresh cards to start the turn is incredible.

[@devin5297]

What spell on the stack would you feel okay sacrificing in combination with your arcane denial to draw 3 cards?

[@DylanHunter64]

@@devin5297 A late game mana dork or Nature's Lore that aren't doing anything if you already have like 10 mana. Or a mana rock.

[@erysecret]

@@devin5297 besides answers above, mana rocks, low impact creatures, tech cards, early game threats, or your own spell (if it were to get countered) It's niche of course, but not nonexistent. Also really good in spell copy decks And storm decks

[@esconde9922]

I'm a big fan of Foil, closest thing I feel to a budget version of force of will.

[@evolutionXXVII]

Yea this card is extremely underrated, especially in mono-blue.

[@PillowRat101]

My pet 'counterspell' is Commandeer. it costs 5UU, gains control of a noncreature spell, and chooses new targets. You can also exile two blue cards from hand to cast it for free! Obviously it comes at a steep cost and you get absolutely blown out if it's countered, BUT when it works it can be super powerful. Works well in mono blue decks that leverage card advantage. Certainly risky but it's got lots of style.

[@dakillaklown715]

Swan Song haunts me. I Swan Song countered a Cultivate. The table teamed up on my to make that bird kill me. While absolutely hilarious, it was also haunting... lol.

[@devin5297]

You deserved it, Swan songing a cultivate…. Smh smh

[@adamhenwood1114]

Unless you were playing some sort of Baral control/counterspell tribal deck, that was just a straight up awful play so you kinda deserved it

[@xaropevic7918]

As always, the green player running away with it, by both hunting you and everyone calling this as a bad play

[@michaelcollins4534]

Surprised nobody mentioned wash away as an honourable mention at least. It's an easy top 10 spell in my opinion, but then again people in my pod actually cast their commanders lol

[@jadegrace1312]

It's definitely not top 10 because it basically can only hit commanders, and countering commanders is usually way too proactive.

[@xaropevic7918]

@@jadegrace1312 Some commanders are way too powerful and you can't allow it to do anything, and you always have the option to use the cleave cost as well Definitely better than tale's end for example

[@peewee0224]

@@xaropevic7918then you let the table deal with them. Countering a commander is almost always wrong it’s just gonna draw aggro from that person and that commander I a problem for everybody not just you

[@ms.sysbit5511]

This video had so many hot takes I can’t even finish. Arcane Denial, a straight D counterspell, at rank 3? Trickery and Tale’s End and Jwari Disruption above FoW? My head hurts…

[@piralos1329]

I can't believe it took me this long to realise that Seth loves Mana Tithe because he doesn't believe in paying the 1!!

[@RedCometNurse]

I think the list is good. I am 100% in agreement with Crim on Drown in the Loch. Fantastic card that I play in the majority of cards in Dimir-containing decks.

[@petersteiman2443]

This season on Commander Clash someone has to Tale’s End an upkeep trigger from Nahiri’s Resolve.

[@leonjakobsen272]

Does that work? Isn't it part of the end step trigger?

[@petersteiman2443]

@@leonjakobsen272 I honestly don’t know, but I bet someone will end up salty about it.

[@jadegrace1312]

@@leonjakobsen272 It does! There's a trigger in upkeep to return the creatures 😈 (you can tell it's a trigger because it says "return those creatures AT...")

[@1ntegrator]

Thank you Tomer for bringing up Ur-Dragon when talking about Fierce Guardianship, it's literally the deck I had in mind where I don't play it.

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

Crim’s arguments for Arcane Denial are wildly flawed, although I do think it’s a good card in interaction-heavy decks and is fine enough in any blue deck. A 2-mana unconditional counter-anything is pretty strong. 1) He says that the quality of cards in his deck is higher than the opponents’. If that were true, he’d be pubstomping. The quality of the cards in all decks should be close enough to equal to not be able to tell whose is highest. 2) He keeps saying “if your deck is all answers” it’s good. That’s not every deck, not even every one of his decks, so that’s automatically not an S. 3) His arguments for all of them that give the opponent resources hinge on the idea that you’re countering their best spell with the card in question, so what they get out of it can’t be as bad. That’s not always the case. Sometimes you’re countering their second, third, or even fourth best spell. A really good setup spell, a removal spell that will get them out of a lock, etc. The card draw from Arcane Denial or Tibalt’s Trickery or whatever could actually give them their best card. It’s always a risk. Usually worth taking though, even on their fourth best spell. Crim gets caught up on the ideal scenario and tunnel visions on that a lot.

[@ericgodat3516]

Would a card neutral Arcane Denial - draw 1, opp draws 1 for UU be too good? Basically og counterspell but updated for commander.

[@DCode504]

No love for "Muddle the Mixture"? 😢

[@MTGGoldfishCommander]

I would've mentioned that after Archmage's Charm. Probably run that more than Charm, but only if there's something important at 2MV I really want to find each game.

[@DCode504]

Guess it's worse on a table with a ban on dockside

[@drkatz1192]

I know this video’s a little older. But one request in terms of editing. Maybe when Tomer or the cast mention a commander like “Elegeth” for Mono-U or Force - maybe show the card on the side of the screen so I can see what it does and if it makes sense!

[@marsmandel42]

How are Foil and Pact of Negation not on the List? Oh, I see. No Combo Players.

[@b0lkan]

Yeah I'm surprised to not see Pact of Negation, easily one of the best counterspells if you plan on winning that turn.

[@jackelope6134]

I love the 5 mana counterspells that make artifact tokens (Confirm Suspicions, Spell Swindle, and Access Denied), they're mostly pretty bad but they're so fun in a deck that can use the tokens. Also shoutout to disallow, voidslime, and cryptic command

[@Liteyears11]

Obeka is the Stifle themed deck. I run Stifle, Defabricate, and Ertai Resurrected in my Obeka deck for insurance for a Final Fortune trigger possibly going off at a bad time. It's cute when I Stifle my own bounce land trigger on turn 2 or 3 to ramp. One time though I Stifled someone's Mechtitan Core activation and they went from a leading position to just about taken out of the game from it.

[@atle853]

All the commander clash crew builds for the mirrors. Seth and Tomer need more board wipes, Seth and Crim need more basics, Tomer shouldn't run path to exile, but Richard should. Blue players should pay the 1 because card advantage matters more in blue than other colors. Phil and Tomer need more protection for their combos. Richard needs stronger wincons. Crim needs to go full deep end with stax and land destruction for troll street cred. And everyone needs more counterspells, (including Crim, to account for the table playing more counterspells).

[@Blacklodge_Willy]

Lol

[@DaveTheNoob]

Another point for Arcane Denial is about playing the card against the turn order. The player you counter may go up cards but are likely tapped out and cant utilize those cards where as the Denial player is up a cared and likely has access to mana still

[@bene5785]

I’ve always enjoyed Narset’s Reversal, even though it’s only a soft counterspell

[@ManrielXiii]

Its a flacid one.

[@canoli62]

It never ceases to amaze me that people don't include the spells Perplex and Muddle The Mixture. Blows my mind they did not even make honorable mention list. These cards are INSANE. Need a counter to stop someone going off? great - they are counters. What makes them so special is the Transmute ability that turns these spells into an answer for pretty much anything. When building for efficiency, a high percentage of cards in a deck will fall into 2 and 3 mana spells (and you can build around this effect). Is the board insane and you need to clear it? Muddle can grab your Cyclonic Rift or your Black Sun Zenith. Perplex can get Toxic Deluge. Need to get something from the graveyard? There are literally dozens of options. Need spot removal? Most of those cards fall in this range. Or go get your combo piece. Whatever - they do it. The only real problem is you have to be smart about when you cast Perplex - you can't wait until they last spell in a plan because then they will just discard and win anyways. I'd put both above Tales End, Swan Song, Arcane Denial and Jwari, and even above Force of Will in decks that are only splashing blue and won't always have a card to pitch to it. I get that Crim doesn't like to tutor, although that hurts my brain, but I don't think the power of these spells can be ignored even then.

[@ericfletcher7046]

My favorite counterspell is Spell Swindle. Five mana definitely keeps it from actually being good, but it is still so fun the one time it works.

[@hanschristopherson8056]

For dovin’s veto, I think it’s good just because if your playing against blue decks they will have counterspells so not being able to be countered is helpful

[@altrivotzck6565]

Considering that is literally the entire point of Dovin's veto existing, yes.

[@johnmack6218]

Damn Tomer! You low key called the return of legendary instants 😮

[@lrdrandom]

No love for Counterspell? three simple words, best words. And the Ice Age one has the best quote! My hidden tech is not jawari disruption, is Disrupt (from weatherlight!), it cantrips and humiliates at the same time! And not all counterspell are instants like Decree of silence, but I always remember how good I thought Hesitation was, and how bad it actually is :D

[@hatertime]

Force of Negation is a good counterspell for Sweepers. They're mostly all Sorcery speed and in a sense it's basically the Blue Cleaver Concealment

[@MrValentineful]

I run stifle, disallow and voidslime regularly in my bant control deck. The million and a half ETB effects, on attack triggers and activated abilities these days. Dock side, planeswalkers, Thassa's Oracle, combo stopping and negating the benefits of sacrifice all being stuffed make them valuable to me. It may just be my local meta, but I almost always shut someone down with stifle effects. When someone Pods from 5 to 6 sacrificing their five drop and saying 'no' is excellent.

[@mregecko]

Honorable mention MYSTIC SNAKE! 🐍🐍🐍 I love blinkable counters that come with a body.

[@bladetb3934]

Force of will is fairly low for me because in most of my decks I don't run enough blue spells to make it free so I may as well run a different counter spell

[@elitemaster666]

Arcane denial is the best budget counterspell, IMO, because: 1. It costs 1U (very very rare for a hard counter to anything to cost that, all of them have caveats such as Delay, Mana Leak or Remand). 2. It is also net 0 for you and leads to the opponent you countered to not be as salty cause you gave him 2 cards. 3. It can cantrip if desperate, for example, you can play a crappy spell you just topdecked and Arcane Denial it, and next upkeep, you will draw 3 cards (not ideal, but can save you in a pinch). Counterspell and Mana Drain are UU and harder to splash as well. Free counters are obviously the best ones (except crappy ones like Foil) but for the most part, Arcane Denial is what I wish all counterspells were and we desperate need another counterspell like it. Cheap/budget counterspells fall off a cliff after that one card and one is forced to pick between Delay, Counterspell, and Swan Song for the most part. Really want another counter like this one in the future. No more free counterspells please!

[@tonyrosetti2738]

Lofty Denial is one of my favorite niche spells. If your Commander has flying…

[@Macro11Underscore1]

hindering light. counter with draw attached! SS++

[@egoish6762]

Outside cedh, any counterspell that draws a card, arcane denial is probably number 1 but i really like keep safe for protecting my stuff.

[@rulamagic]

A shame! I'd really like to know Richard's take on this topic

[@Balderdashes]

I needed him to be the voice of reason on Tale's End

[@firstandlast.1254]

"Use your 2 mana for spirited companion, let someone else counter the threat." Something like that.

[@hanschristopherson8056]

Probably don’t play counterspells lol

[@liamfoote7164]

​@@hanschristopherson8056pretty sure he's said before you should run a small amount and use them to protect your win cons

[@andyspendlove1019]

Crim was spitting straight facts about Arcane Denial. The counter-counteree relationship doesn’t matter nearly as much as how the OTHER two players are doing after your counter war. Like he said, Richard is sitting there laughing all the way to the bank that you spent a card (or two with Force of Will) to answer the thing threatening him while he’s spent zero. With Arcane Denial, you’re now sitting pretty right along with Richard, but you also neutralized the game ending threat, at the small cost of putting that opponent up +1 card. Weird but true, the math just works out way better for Arcane Denial in Commander.

[@iNCoMpeTeNtplAyS]

my pod usually ends the game night with an ur dragon deck battle and by turn 3 either i or my group has a ur dragon on the field. you just gotta build right to drop the hammer as fast as possible and it can be done on a budget, especially since exploration was reprinted.

[@AwwhHex]

Even thinking of the immense amount of legendaries introduced in tales from middle earth make tales end spicy. Also stifling the ulamog’s cast ability or a cascade from jodah or first sliver can be helpful

[@TransformersBoss]

A bit niche, but in a Mizzix deck, cards like Syncopate and Condescend can do a lot of work, since they only cost 1 colored-mana to counter any type of spell, plus you get an experience counter

[@Imoman3113]

Re: stifle mode on tales end This doesn’t work vs stuff like marionette master because it just stifles one trigger right? Assuming they dump like 20 treasures or something

[@Lucarioguild7]

I'm on team fearing other blue players and team stifle so I love Disallow. Desertion is another favorite of mine, what if mind control was also a counter spell.

[@Shimatzu95]

Not a control player, my favorite counterspell is mage's attendant as it gives you a manatide on a token that you can populate. I dont think i ever got someone with it, but it makes people play around it.

[@dresdenblack3905]

They mentioned the ability for tibalta trickery to be used on yiur own spell thats beinging countered by devins veto. Same thing can happen for arcane denial and you draw 3. Also with cards like bowmasters or notion thief make it even better

[@luckyknowsbest7866]

How many counterspells is too many for casual? Our playgroup cant decide between 4 and 6 but im curious to what you all think.

[@notsm]

Seth does some impressive brain gymnastics to deny the power of arcane denial because the opponent goes up one card. But let the opponent draw cards from their Rystic Study is A-OK. At this point I feel like Seth does his Rystic-Study-I-don't-pay-the-one stick for the content or out of habit. (Or to annoy Tomer which I totally get even if that loops back to content.)

[@alexandrefiset9184]

I have a point for Arcane Denial, it it's later in the game and you draw a ramp spell, exemple rampant growth, and you don't need it you can spend four mana and draw 3 card at the next upkeep to find something else

[@MattCorrales]

Tale’s end saved my ass against a dockside combo this past weekend. And Tomer was prescient on more and more legendary matters in LTR.

[@xZipkan]

My absolute favorite counter for commander is a card called "Abjure" U instant: Sac a blue permanent: Counter target spell. Minn, Wiley illusionist toekns make great sac fodder

[@tonyrosetti2738]

I think they overvalue the memes and tap lands with Jwari Disruption

[@Icameron259]

Where's just straight up Counterspell in this list? In non-EDH commander it's probably #3 just after Mana Drain and Fierce Guardianship, imo. Being able to hit *any spell* for 2 mana is a really big deal, and compared with Delay or Arcane Denial the only downside is requiring UU which is not a big deal at all if your mana base is decent. Stubborn Denial is also a great compliment to (or budget replacement for) Fierce Guardianship.

[@felipeguidolin1055]

- Richard, this weeks cast is about counterspells. - A counterspell is just a crappy interaction piece with a limited time window, and you know damn well how i feel about single use interaction. - so... you are not recording? - did I stutter, Tomer? Did I freaking stutter??

[@Pinfeldorf]

Pretty surprised to not see Commandeer in the honorable mentions. It's, imo, quite a bit better than Force of Negation, though it deals with different problems.

[@ryandmckenzie]

Love drown in the loch. Lets me fill a counter slot and a kill spell slot with one card.

[@twhite9615]

Lets not forget the math with arcane denial as well... the mana. You had to hold up two mana to give +1 card advantage to a single opponent. Its a tempo hit to yourself. If your counter target is a threat to the board, you just answered it for everyone else. I know every counterspell has that problem but arcane denial also gives the person u just screwed over, two more ways to get vengeance on you. C+ at best.

[@lamiaprincess6371]

I do think if Seth ever reads this is that yeah, Arcane Denial looks kind of bad in a vacuum in a single interaction in a single turn. But there are still two other players who are going to take turns and put down threats and be threatening, and for those players, having two players just be down a card is super advantageous for them. The thing that makes Arcane Denial good (hell, I run Dream Fracture too), is that it replaces itself with essentially three cards, meaning its much more likely you or your opponent can continue to have removal or counters or board wipes when someone else goes off. You're not always going to be in contention with the person you counter, there will be times even in the same turn cycle where you need to cooperate and that's what makes Arcane Denial so amazing.

[@dragade101]

@10:36 As looking with a causal lens: Playing a countermagic light blue decks (like simic creatures), I want my counter magic to deal with cards that will be game ending problems. I have creatures to attack or block but I need something for the board wipes, planeswalkers, or something I cannot afford to disenchant (or wait to draw into my disenchant). That Farewell will upset my gameplan, and thus I need to deal with noncreature spells. If their combo resides solely on creatures then yes I’m dead sitting with a negate like effect but there are fewer creature only combos and more noncreature combos that need an immediate response. In this vein, negates are perfectly playable and provides the highest interaction when it matters the most. Which is why I rank cost effective negates far above Essence Scatter (unless your friends only play creatures).

[@LeBecBec]

I value Stifle effects highly in a graveyard deck since cards like Bojuka Bog get played in basically any deck it can go in and can't be stopped otherwise (and a lot of other graveyard hate can be stifled too)

[@thegreatestblood]

Im surprised that crim out of all people didn’t bring that up. My favorite color combo is dimir and so protecting my graveyard is often times important enough to run a card like Tales’s End, Disallow, or Defabricate.

[@dragade101]

My question with Tale's End, what is more powerful Sorceries/Instances/Enchantments - OR - the ability to Stifle? If I value Essence Scatter, then I value Tale's End but ONLY if I would have added a Scatter (which is usually something I do not consider, because I value playing creatures and value attacking). (Yes I’m that blue player who usually avoids extra turn spells like who wants to play solitaire lol) We are talking casual EDH here but maybe if you turn the dial up to an 8+ in power level, Tale's End becomes playable.

[@8BitCyberWarrior]

Jwari Disruption really seems almost unplayable to me. You can't play it as a spell slot because it's not always useful enough and you can't play it as a land slot because you will want to hold it up and not play it, and if you do play it it's a bad mono-blue tapped land. In the early game you want to play it as a land so it's bad there, and in the late game you'll never counter anything because they will always have an extra mana to pay for it. Maybe if you are ramping harder than everyone else in the early or mid game and don't need the land and also other people can't pay the 1 yet, then it's good, but that seems so deck and game specific it's not worth speculating on. Even if it is better than I think it is, I still think these three are rating it far too highly to be putting it above power staples like swan song and force of will- cheap and reliable counterspells are outclassed by unreliable 2-mana counterspells that are sometimes bad lands? I sense a bias towards the "gotcha" aspect of this card- it seems more like a meme than anything. I wonder if Richard would agree with me on this. Wish he were here to weigh in

[@51gunner]

I've taken it out of every deck I put it into. It's a bad island, and it's the weakest possible counterspell. I feel like it's going to rot in your hand as the last card you never cast... its only upside is that it is a blue spell for Force of Will or Force of Negation! The point about countering an X spell that someone totally tapped out for is funny, but how often does that come up AND you are holding up 1U? I'd rather build other counters into my deck first - 1U is freaking Negate, something that just answers any noncreature spell. I'm also not just "cutting a land" to fit Jwari Disruption because the land side of it is so bad.

[@jonsalvador6988]

Jwari disruption on the list but not Mana Leak? Was that printed later or something? New to magic here

[@-homerow-]

Helllooo Everyone! - That was a surprising Intro!

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

58:46 I was not prepared for ASS

[@MatthewVH-tf5jl]

I’m not sure if anyone noted this, but I had a relevant game recently: Dovin’s Veto can’t deal with Mindbreak Trap.

[@julianpetrault145]

Added to arcane denial +: Low cost GENERIC counterspells are rarer,and flexibility is key in multi-player commander. The difference in tempo this card gives you is tremendous. Youcancel the most important play or the card your opponent payed all he's mana in, And then your the one first of u both to draw an additional card.. Honestly am not even talking the case you have faery mastemind in play and doing this makes you actually draw 2 cards as your opponent, it doesn't happens every game but it happens.

[@felipeguidolin1055]

My pet counters are Abjure (in token decks) and Whirlwind Denial to get the triggers-players

[@andrueurbane7361]

Legendary Instants are back on the menu in LOTR.

[@NewOldEBM]

Crim: Hurdur playing casual is just a slog you don't want to give people cards, reeee Crim: Yeah, draw 2 cards off of my denail, whatevs, it's fine I don't hate denial, just the borked reverse thinking

[@girththeogre]

A person who hates blue walks into a bar. He sees a counter and leaves.

[@CharlesTaylor-yd7br]

My favorite secret tech is playing abjure in my locust god deck. Nobody sees it coming!

[@metaphics]

Hullbreaker Horror deserves an honorable mention, though you can’t play him fairly. I run him in Jalira with copy effects, and it’s super easy to get a lock with him out.

[@leonjakobsen272]

Does that really count? It's really good, but you don't really put it in your counter-spell slot when deck building, do you?

[@metaphics]

@@leonjakobsen272 I don’t want too many counters in a deck, but hullbreaker gets around uncounterable spells on the stack, which is pretty rare. It’s a counter spell on a stick that is big enough to be a beater.

[@draftmagicagain1000]

It's actually a Her.

[@metaphics]

@@draftmagicagain1000 I stand corrected. She’s a beating

[@kauemarcelaraujo795]

I agree with Crim on most of his ranks on this episode.

[@Skeidern]

When you ranked the mdfc’s two years ago, you all gave Jwari Disruption grade D. What changed your mind about the card? Does it play better than you thought?

[@maximus574]

I love you guys and normally agree with most of your opinions. But ranking jwari disruption above force of will.... That must be a hot take from your own play group.

[@craiglittle3779]

Removal is for the creatures. Don’t waste your counter spells on them unless their etb triggers a combo or if they have hexproof imo.

[@NewSchoolPOKERstrat]

Any one for one interaction is card disadvantage w the table. Counterspell puts you down 2 cards vs the table. Arcane denial also puts you down 1 card against the player you used it on and you stay at parity w the other players. You are only down 1 card vs the table instead of 2. Would you rather two opponents draw an extra card or would you prefer to have one opponent draw 2 cards.. and you draw one? The math is clearly and unambiguously better in terms of card advantage w arcane denial. And it’s easier to cast than counterspell. I think it’s just the better spell.

[@devin5297]

50:00 Jesus seth that’s totally backwards, you pay for Rhystic study because it’s repeated card advantage that can draw upwards of 10 cards, at that point the odds of being in a game winning position are very high. Arcane denial draws them 2 cards, and you removed one of their best (hopefully) cards/plays, so they’re really only up 1 card

[@TransformersBoss]

I used to run Jwari Disruption, then I cut it because it sucks

[@stupidstutesman2444]

Force of Will is the best counterspell in magic imo

[@peewee0224]

And it’s Not even remotely close.