i think this card is alittle too focused, but i think it will do wonders for dealing with blue control should it rise again.
Wraique
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(4 votes)
I dunno. You cast lightning bolt, opponent casts cancel, you cast ricochet and, wait.. I nearly just had an aneurysm thinking about changing cancel's target from the bolt to ricochet. TIME PARADOX! I suppose this can't change the target to itself? Casting and choosing of targets happening simultaneously and whatnot.
But no, you're right. Stop stealin' mah creatures, blue!
JosirisDavid
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I like the flavor text.
driftingsmoke
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
sideboard card against blue control. nothing more than that.
Cryonic
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(6 votes)
You can change the target of Cancel to target Ricochet trap. Ricochet Trap will resolve, and change cancel's target, then cancel will no longer have a legal target and fizzle, then the original target of Cancel will resolve without being countered.
singaz
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
RDW using this to get Kor Firewalker PTE'd perhaps
jetzine
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(11 votes)
Dear Control,
Suck it.
Love,
Burn
majinara
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(7 votes)
I don't like it.
Willbender beats it because he is also useful as a creature, can change the targets of split second spells and of abilities. Shunt beats it because it costs only 3 mana. Wild Ricochet beats it because it also copies the spell and works on spells with multiple targets.
Sure, it's in standard and the others ain't. Currently it's an "ok" or "meh" card, but once out of standard it's just garbage.
PanchasX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I still will have one of these in my main, i mean, who wouldn't want to giant growth your creature during combat or save some important creature or redirect a tendrils of corruption
Sorxores
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
well using 1 mana to "counter" a counter spell or 4 mana to change the tide of battle or to kill your opponent creature instead of your own? that is pretty nice. You can even steal an enchant creature.
Tommy9898
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Gotta love any card that is, R counter target counter.
Nephylos
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Point of clarification; If you use this card on another card that targets a creature, can you instead target an opponent?
Druasdf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Last week in my local meta i Managed to hit TWO =D Cruel Control decks, This card is pretty much a Giant F U to that entire deck and because of that i always throw them in my side board.
BrutalJim
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Very nice against blue decks, and even against a deck without any blue spells, Shunt isn't even "strictly" better unless you're playing mono red. So I have no idea why this is rated so much lower.
silentbobus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really don't like this card, mainly because I was silly enough to draft it. The only real use I can see for this card is to counter target counterspell. I drafted one in an exceptional W/R deck and that single card caused me to lose the match. The problem with this card in limited is that it seems like it should affect a lot of cards that it does not affect at all. For example, you cannot redirect the target of a kicked Deathforge Shaman, despite the fact that Deathforge Shaman is a spell while it is on the stack and is affecting a single target. The same holds true for any CIPT ability. So when my opponent kicked a Deathforge Shaman and I was excited to ricochet the damage to kill him with his own spell I was denied. Then I proceeded to lose the match because Richochet Trap was a dead card, the only spell it could potentially affect was Slaughter Cry which my opponent had already played.
Hibron
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
1 mana counter counterspell? Not a bad sideboard. 3/5
Layton
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
wizards of the coast dont care about blue players
achilleselbow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I do like that it provides good card advantage, which isn't common in red. You get to make your opponent Terminate his own creature, etc. But it does cost a lot to cast for a response spell, and you can't very well be leaving four mana open every turn waiting for your opponent to do something. As a sideboard against blue, though, it's a no-brainer. One question: Can you use this on Cruel Ultimatum in a regular two-player game? The card says "target opponent" rather than "target player", so if your opponent casts it, you can't make him target himself instead, right?
Mode
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Well, at least it's still stictly better than a timeshifted version of Deflection...
I'd at most consider using it as a sideboard choice, though. But then it's pretty handy.
Remember that you can use it to counter their counterspells for . Since you can change these spells' target to Ricochet Trap, they will fizzle once they try to resolve.
Laguz
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It counters counters for one mana. Ain't nothin' wrong with that. Awesome art and flavor text too.
However, this has the ability to counter or redirect a lot of other things. Basically, this is a red Deflection with the added benefit of only costing R if the opponent cast a blue spell.
Text could almost read: R - Counter target Counter, but it does a lot more than that.
Too bad so many spells like Jace's Ingenuity, Foresee, and Preordain are caster only rather than target player. Would love to catch a Blue Sun's Zenith with this but definitely limited in Standar.
Not sure about Cruel Ultimatum since from your perspective the caster is a target opponent. I think it could work.
land_comment
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
There are so many ways to break this...
Having an opponent's cancel cancel itself?
HA!
DeathDark
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
To make it completely unambiguous, yes, you can redirect counterspells to ricochet trap because the steps in casting a spell has the Trap become a spell on the stack before its targets are chosen (rules 601.2a and 601.2c).
If it didn't, you could still direct the counterspell to itself, as the spell is on the stack, and is thus a valid target, though you get into a bit of a paradox with a spell trying to counter itself. Does the spell resolve and counter the spell, or is the spell countered before it can resolve? (It's actually the first)
If you still couldn't do that, you can still just save a Lightning Bolt for such an occasion. You cast, blue counters. You pay R to put Bolt on the stack, and then immediately put Ricochet Trap on the stack and redirect the counter to your Bolt. Trap resolves -- redirect successful. Bolt resolves -- 3 damage at something. Counterspell is countered for lack of valid target. Original spell resolves -- laugh.
@ugotpauld: Not big on reading errata, huh? At least they answered my original question, even though I can't see why not. I don't like it because it can only negate control magics, not outright steal them.
ugotpauld
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@blindthrall
yeah, just after i made the comment i read the errata, for some reason i didn't change what i put, untill now.
seems quite a nice card, don't see why it doesn't see much play.
probably because reverberate does the same but for less, most of the time.
blazinpsycho
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Well I bolt your lovely creature, what's that you want to counter? Okay, I in response I'll burn you for five damage, what's that you counter that too?
Ricochet trap, you counter your first counter, have fun without your creature and some life
Most fun I ever had in a 2HG game ever, I love this card
LordRandomness
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
My main use for this is with a trap recycling deck (Isochron Scepter, Trapmaker's Snare, Reito Lantern). It's preferable to Guttural Response in almost all {R} cases, since blue instants that don't target that {R} decks want to stop are kinda rare.
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Finding this card made me so happy!
It's going straight into my french EDH Tajic deck. Basically, for 1 red mana, I can stop a counterspell, but in other matchups, I can still use it on a removal spell or something - it's not a dead card like red elemental blast would be. On top of that, it's still in range for sunforger to throw it. That's very significant for protecting my permanents from spot removal - including sunforger itself.
Comments (31)
But no, you're right. Stop stealin' mah creatures, blue!
Suck it.
Love,
Burn
Willbender beats it because he is also useful as a creature, can change the targets of split second spells and of abilities.
Shunt beats it because it costs only 3 mana.
Wild Ricochet beats it because it also copies the spell and works on spells with multiple targets.
Sure, it's in standard and the others ain't. Currently it's an "ok" or "meh" card, but once out of standard it's just garbage.
One question: Can you use this on Cruel Ultimatum in a regular two-player game? The card says "target opponent" rather than "target player", so if your opponent casts it, you can't make him target himself instead, right?
I'd at most consider using it as a sideboard choice, though. But then it's pretty handy.
Remember that you can use it to counter their counterspells for
However, this has the ability to counter or redirect a lot of other things. Basically, this is a red Deflection with the added benefit of only costing R if the opponent cast a blue spell.
Text could almost read: R - Counter target Counter, but it does a lot more than that.
Too bad so many spells like Jace's Ingenuity, Foresee, and Preordain are caster only rather than target player. Would love to catch a Blue Sun's Zenith with this but definitely limited in Standar.
Not sure about Cruel Ultimatum since from your perspective the caster is a target opponent. I think it could work.
Having an opponent's cancel cancel itself?
HA!
If it didn't, you could still direct the counterspell to itself, as the spell is on the stack, and is thus a valid target, though you get into a bit of a paradox with a spell trying to counter itself. Does the spell resolve and counter the spell, or is the spell countered before it can resolve? (It's actually the first)
If you still couldn't do that, you can still just save a Lightning Bolt for such an occasion. You cast, blue counters. You pay R to put Bolt on the stack, and then immediately put Ricochet Trap on the stack and redirect the counter to your Bolt. Trap resolves -- redirect successful. Bolt resolves -- 3 damage at something. Counterspell is countered for lack of valid target. Original spell resolves -- laugh.
@ugotpauld: Not big on reading errata, huh? At least they answered my original question, even though I can't see why not. I don't like it because it can only negate control magics, not outright steal them.
yeah, just after i made the comment i read the errata, for some reason i didn't change what i put, untill now.
seems quite a nice card, don't see why it doesn't see much play.
probably because reverberate does the same but for less, most of the time.
Ricochet trap, you counter your first counter, have fun without your creature and some life
Most fun I ever had in a 2HG game ever, I love this card
It's going straight into my french EDH Tajic deck. Basically, for 1 red mana, I can stop a counterspell, but in other matchups, I can still use it on a removal spell or something - it's not a dead card like red elemental blast would be. On top of that, it's still in range for sunforger to throw it. That's very significant for protecting my permanents from spot removal - including sunforger itself.
An awesome hidden gem. *** blue. 5/5