Good in the early game and sort-of fixed the Mana Leak problem in the late game. With a low color requirement, it makes for a great counterspell.
Schlappi
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(6 votes)
Love it!!! :-)
Guest57443454
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
One of the better counterspells printed recently...They get better as the game goes on...
Chrs84
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
flexible, depends on how you can maximize your benefit... does have a tendency to be useless at times... also these days it's always dangerous to have important cards in your graveyard... but it is a clever spell and increases its chance to resolve as you play more of them.
True_Smog
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Propably the last good counterspell that was printed since Mana Leak in 9th edition
Powereslave
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Great early game counterspell, and great end game counterspell as well.
BrutalJim
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
I actually like it a lot better than Mana Leak. I love how they can stay effective, each one becoming a more potent counter spell than the last.
lukemol
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
If you have more than one of them, it's significantly better than Mana Leak in that your opponent keeps having to pay more for their stuff to not be countered. By the second one you use, they're paying 4, compared to Mana Leak's 3. Unless of course they have things that exile stuff in your graveyard.
skew
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Guess deck with 4 Mana leaks can simply replace them with this (and keep the Mana leaks in sideboard against grave removal).
In the early game, the {1} mana difference probably won't mean much. After the first Rune snag, it gets of course strictly better than Mana leak.
If i played 3 mana leaks, i would consider keeping them instead of this one.
allmighty_abacus
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
I have a tendency to play big smashy creature decks, and my good friend leans more towards blue control. As a result, because I often tap out a lot, I see this card very often and I absolutely despise it. After that first one gets through, it's just impossible to pay the ever-climbing additional mana. By the time the fourth one hits play, the additional cost is often more than the actual CMC of the spell itself.
Kaizeischi
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
"Counter unless they pay " is balanced enough as it is, this card is and always will be amazing! In a time when 5-6 mana on turn 3 wasn't the staple, this cleared out everything and built itself up as the game went along. 2 mana early on, 4 mana one mid-game hit, 6-8 mana at endgame. If something of any value is played at endgame, you can be sure the opponent doesn't have an extra 6-8 mana to spare. Not so useful now, but the king of counter in its time.
Bursama
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
VERY good card. If you play these, you play four of these.
this is my personal favourite 'on a stick' counter
mostly for the lulz
Mitch_360
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Better than Mana Leak, if you're playing for the late game...worse if you're not.
DacenOctavio
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Mega Leak: Counter target spell. If that spell is countered that way, its controller facepalms.
Enelysios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is easily one of my favorite counter spells. It's interactive and usually gets it's job done.
Ferlord
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
If there's a set that makes no sense among itself, it's Coldsnap.
Excluding the Snow permanent stuff, if you were to look at Coldsnap in general, you will see that almost none of the cards have any chemistry. The cycle of "you may remove two spells of (X) colour so you could play this for free" (EX: Commandeer)? What does that have to do with any of the cards?
I know this is Time Spiral-esque set where they tried to print cards that were related to Ice Age, but still...
Regardless, this was one goofy set.
TheWrathofShane
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I think its stronger then mana leak.
Hunter06
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Worse then mana leak, this requires you to have at least one in the graveyard for it to be better, and if you cast one, they will almost certainly know you have another.
Comments (20)
In the early game, the {1} mana difference probably won't mean much. After the first Rune snag, it gets of course strictly better than Mana leak.
If i played 3 mana leaks, i would consider keeping them instead of this one.
15 x Island
15 x Rune Snag
10 x Traumatize
mostly for the lulz
Excluding the Snow permanent stuff, if you were to look at Coldsnap in general, you will see that almost none of the cards have any chemistry. The cycle of "you may remove two spells of (X) colour so you could play this for free" (EX: Commandeer)? What does that have to do with any of the cards?
Braid of Fire? Counterbalance? Zur the Enchanter? Darien, King of Kjeldor? Thrumming Stone?
I know this is Time Spiral-esque set where they tried to print cards that were related to Ice Age, but still...
Regardless, this was one goofy set.
4/5 Stars