Pointed Discussion

Can't wait to get my hands on this card. Looks great and tying Shock into a Negate just feels so good. The art is nice as well. I'm sure this will find a place in the upcoming Type 2 meta replacing Negate where the mana can be stretched to fit the color requirements.

this card is soo good... my friend was actually drooling when i got this card.

Ah, I cannot say enough good things about this card... you stop a card and punish it's owner for thinking they even stood a chance...

I loove this card, so simple, yet so powerful and mean. Man, Blue and Black always has the best spells.

if the spell cant be countered, the owner still takes the shock damage yea?
because I want to know if I can kill a guy who is on two tho banefires me for the win

I don't know why people snob this card, it still deals 2 damage even if the spell you are targeting can't be countered...

Nice, way better than Negate. Double the tempo gain!

This card is a straight on "b*tchslap" to your opponent and I love it. I've got two of them in my current black/blue build and I'm seriously considering to get another two. The art looks powerful but damn, it's the look of the opponent's face what seals the deal for me. You're not just stopping him from starting up a badass combo; you're punishing him for it. Captures the essence of Black/Blue perfectly.

I have had ridiculous fun winning with this card against a 5 color control deck. I was playing U/B faeries, and in response to his volcanic fallout (he was at 4), countersquall for the win.

One of very few good counterspells left in standard... Cryptic Command and Broken Ambitions are gone. Actually, the only other good one left is Spell Pierce. I guess creatures aren't going to be countered much now.

Jund killer! Lighting bolt/Blightning for 3? I think not, take 2 while you're at it...5 point swing. Great in Esper decks with Hindering Light.

5/5

Black Blue decks just keep getting better. Bring out a Bloodchief Ascension and then stop their removal for a counter on the ascension.

Not great in control decks, who'll generally prefer Negate–it is not in the control game-plan to race, after all. Shines in any aggro/midrange deck, however, where it allows you to avoid a Day of Judgement-effect or a troublesome Planeswalker drop (like Gideon Jura or Elspeth, Knight-Errant) which could otherwise put the kaibosh on your 'damage to the dome' strategy. Puts your opponent much closer to the red zone, especially if you're packing big reach in the end-game like Cruel Ultimatum or Siege-Gang Commander.

Just make sure you know what your strategy is before you throw this in your deck. If you're playing straight-up control, you're going to prefer something more reliably castable (like the aforementioned Negate) or a hard counter (Cancel, Deprive). Conversely, if you're playing aggro or midrange, a hard counter is less necessary and two more points of 'reach' can be critical.

As mentioned above, combos nicely with Bloodchief Ascension, and there are a number of other in-color enablers if you want to go that route-including the often-overlooked Parasitic Strix, the you-don't-want-to-block-me-ness of Tidehollow Strix and Vampire Nighthawk, and the tricky pings of big man on campus Sorin Markov.

@ Darklit_Gargoyle

Yup, that works. Uncounterable Banefire is cast first, then responded to with Countersquall. Countersquall is able to target Banefire, and therefore able to track it to it's controller, countering it and making the opponent lose 2 life. If it doesn't end up finishing him off, Banefire will be activated and because X>5, Countersquall's counter will not work and then deal the X damage.

Two mana for a combination Counterspell and Shock, sounds good to me. Sounds REALLY good.

They shoulda just reprinted Undermine.

@ Grimn777

LAFF LEWL lmoamlmaolmao

It is the younger cousin of Undermine!

The only way that I can counter a Duress and feel good about it.

Awesome. The fact that it doesnt target creatures doesnt even matter. In UB you probably have creature removal already. The color combo makes this card something fierce.

5/5

- One step closer
To global domination

SoulShatterer: This card isn't a combination of Counterspell and Shock at all. Counterspell counters all spells, and Shock targets both creatures and players. You can't take half of one card and say it is that card - half of Counterspell is Negate or Remove Soul, not Counterspell.

What's that? You're playable in the exact same decks that play Negate anyway?
Oh, and what's that? I can pitch you to both Commandeer and Soul Spike should I choose to run those cards in the same deck? (Which I do).

And what's that? You have completely awesome flavor and *** off my friends whenever I resolve you? Deal.

Cool spell, just cool