Pointed Discussion

five is too much for a counter spell. i want to play this. i've tried to play it casually. even if its secondary effect is potentially awesome, it is ralmost never game winning. if im going to pass my turn five or six to play a counter its gotta be better than this. this should cast four.

I like Desertion better

I used this to counter a Lightning bolt before opponent had played any others. I thought he was going to come over the table to strangle me.

Joseph_leito: I've used this to counter someone's first Banefire, when he was dumb enough to fire it for only 4. But then, he thought I ran out of counterspells.

This doesn't cost 1UUU why?

it doesn't cost four because Quash costs four.

please explain to me why this is a rare and quash is an uncommon

The reason this is rare and quash is uncommon is that quash doesn't hit creatures (or enchantments, or artifacts, or planeswalkers). It is the rare deck for which Quash can actually remove win conditions, which is the most conventional use of an effect like this. That is also why quash costs less.

Quash is also an uncommon, because it is part of a cycle (Quash, Scour, Splinter, Eradicate, Sowing Salt) in a block where graveyard recursion was a major theme -- and where Tron was Standard legal and kind of a problem. They wanted casual players and limited players to have access to these effects. Graveyard recursion wasn't nearly as big a deal in either constructed or limited in Shadowmoor/Eventide, so this spell got bumped up to rare - both because it can hit all card types and because it wasn't necessary for everybody to be opening it in packs.

I've seen this in a deck with Guile in it, am I right to assume that only the 1st card countered this way would be playable from the exiled zone?

It's blue exile, and even if somebody plays a spell that can't be countered, you can still play it on that card (it just won't counter it) and remove all other copies of it.

fairly solid anti-combo counter

Poor Relentless Rats.

Can this card be used to remove all cards from a deck featuring all one type of creature? For instance, a sliver deck, angel deck, elf deck, etc.

Fun spell to hit bombs with.

@bijart_dauth:
Originally...
This card (along with Quash, Dissipate, or any other counter spell that has an exile perk to it) does not work with Guile. This is done because Guile's ability triggers onto the stack in response to the card being countered; however, the Counterbore must fully resolve before Guile's triggered ability can even examine the card being countered. While this is happening, the card countered with Counterbore is put into the graveyard and then while you are searching the opponent's hand, library, and graveyard, you must remove the card from the graveyard because it is in a public zone. After it is removed, and after Counterbore resolves, Guile's ability then is examined. Players rotate priority to deal with the triggered ability, but if they were smart, they'd let it get countered by itself! Here's why: because the spell is already removed from play, Guile's ability then has no target, making the triggered ability illegal and forcing it to be countered on its own.

But after:
10/1/2007 Guile's second ability replaces "counter " with "exile and you may cast it without paying its mana cost." You have the option to cast it immediately upon its exile. If you choose not to, it remains exiled and you don't get another chance to cast it. If the spell or ability that tried to counter the spell has additional effects, it then continues to resolve.

... the replacement does exactly what you described because the other cards are never actually countered. Interestingly enough, the spell you cast using Guile would then go on the stack above your Counterbore, priority to respond would be passed around and then the spell would resolve, followed by the remaining exile effects of Counterbore.

Good in EDH

Player 1: *Yawn* "This is so easy, I'm bored. I play Blightsteel Colossus."
Player 2: *Plays Counterbore* "And now, you aren't bored. Isn't it great?"

I said NO.

Seems to me that this will be quite excellent with Arcane Melee. It will cost as much as a Dissipate, and will be able to neuter any threats that would be enabled with the global effect from your opponent's side.

Put it in your EDH deck. It's like casting Dissipate--FROM YOUR COMMAND ZONE.