Well, this would be cool if you counter a cmc biggie, then load up a Banefire or something.
Plantboy81
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Hello, enormous hydra.
Powereslave
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(32 votes)
An honest mistake of a card. May be the best counter spell ever, even topping Force of Will.
Olliemancer
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Even though it doesn't go in every deck, I can say having played with 4 of those babies in my deck from may until now that it really is amazing what those can do. It's really fun to see your combo get out two or three turns earlier or cast a Wheel of Fortune or a Timetwister for 1 mana and then have the rest of your mana free for your new hand... or even worse, still having mana left from your mana drain after having drawn your new hand of seven cards. This really puts you on another power level. :)
As Death said to Hector in Curse of Darkness: "Your efforts have been a great boon to me."
ClockworkSwordfish
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Broken. That is all.
uberschveinen
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(17 votes)
It's always fun to go back and look at older sets when modern bad cards get to you. Between hundreds of cards that are just mindbogglingly bad, there's the occasional piece of utter insanity.
What was it they used to say about this card? Something like "The only way this card will ever see reprint is if the entire R&D team dies in a fiery crash, leaving Randy Buelher as the sole survivor."
Kartakass
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(8 votes)
Who thought it was a good idea to kill mana burn?
sir_dwar
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(5 votes)
As if Counterspell wasn't good enough. Amazing Card.
aba1
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
XD and people hate counter spell this has to be one of the most broken cards ever made
Aun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I wish I could ever counter an huge Eldrazi with this and then play two of them.
quadibloc
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When this card was originally designed, there was only one main phase, and the combat step took place during the main phase. So the ruling that using it during the precombat main phase or combat causes the mana to arrive during the postcombat main phase of the same turn is a substantive change to what the card does. Instead, it should have received an erratum so that the Sixth Edition rules change would not have altered its behavior.
Bozo_x
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Blue EDH staple. I always Mana drain my friends Iona when were playing edh lol. XD
Weretarrasque
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Olliemancer: You've quoted Castlevania! You're my favorite person of the week.
Kirbster
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(9 votes)
They never printed Mana Drain again, because of course it is too good.
Counterspell is a weaker version of Mana Drain, but that is also too good.
Mana Leak is a weaker version of Counterspell, but they stopped printing that, as well.
This card might be playable.
Radagast
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
I still like the idea of this card - maybe they could print some sort of counterspell that costs a bit extra, but gives you that extra mana back next turn if you successfully counter the target spell? I don't know - I just hate seeing interesting ideas vanish because of 1 mistake card. Oh, well.
Wow, just wow. It may not be strictly better than force of will, but if your opponent isn't playing a turn 0 win deck, then this thing's not only a cheap counter, but late game this thing can simply win it for you.
KingCody77
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
better than Counterspell
NoobOfLore
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
good god Even when mana burn was a thing, this was almost totally and completely better than the hyper-powerful Counterspell.
monkeymonk42
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(6 votes)
I got one of these in a set of 500 random cards and i was so excited. Then i looked closely and i realized it was in Italian. So that's about an 80 dollar drop in its price. Tough luck.
DacenOctavio
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Hmm. Another card that was already pretty good made vastly better by mana burn. Before the removal of the mechanic, this could make countering a Darksteel Colossus be as bad as letting it resolve if you couldn't spend the mana. That being said, there were already plenty of mana sinks back then.
Ihateworking
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(15 votes)
One of the five pillars of vintage. The art reminds me of the Matrix.
Pontiac
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(18 votes)
I remember playing a partners tourny and my partner used the high tide combo to cast a million point fireball, one guy Drained it, I couldn't do anything I was out of counterspells. My partner Wheel of Fortuned. I pulled a drain, 2 force of wills and a counterspell plus Time Walk, Twister and a land. The guy casts his own million point fireball with the drain mana, I drain it, he counters it, I counterspell back, He force of wills (the hard way) I force ditching the Walk, his partner counters I Force again tossing Twister. it happens, my turn I draw a card it was a pearl, I was about to dump the mana into a mishras factory when my partner ancestrals me, I draw Braingesyer, land and Fork, Best tourny win ever, Million point Braingesyer forked to both of them.
My friend and I laughed about that one for ever, every time we'd play a drain, fork or geyser we'd start chuckling.
supershawn
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(9 votes)
wait, the italian one costs 80 dollers less? I'm buying it! if anyone complains about it being italian and how I might be lieing about what it does, I'll just show them the card online.
TheSwarm
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I dont understand... Did they not playtest it? Did they not see at the first glance how infriggincredibly broken this is? Its an atrocity. I am visibly angry right now. Baneslayer and Jace really don't have anything compared to the brokeness of this card, I'd say. I believe Kyzar said it perfectly when he said...
WHAT
AvatarOfHOE
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(6 votes)
It so deserves Timetwister's spot in the Power 9.
Superllama12
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Strictly better than Counterspell with no mana burn
5/5
scorpiolegend
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(4 votes)
A uncommon priced at 140$.
AngelPhoenix
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Yeeeeah this is pretty much the most powerful card ever printed...
If you could have as many copies of cards in your deck as you wanted, my best deck would probably look something like this:
Honestly far more broken than force of will, force of will is mostly for stopping combos, while this is a combo engine all in itself
gman92
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
IMO the best Counterspell. 5/5...I don't see why cards like this are rated less.
sonorhC
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
They did reprint a balanced version of this-- It's called Scattering Stroke.
BrianPaone
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I remember this card. It remains the best counterspell ever printed - a true indicator of the days when no deck worked without splashing Blue.
Wouldn't mind seeing a return to those days. Consistently nerfing Blue throughout the late 90s into the early 00s appears to have also consistently nerfed creative thought and play in M:tG.
TraRobins
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The thing is, even if you're just playing a fun kitchen table game, you can't proxy this because because people will doubt its existence.
BorosGeneral
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It's not broken. It's Psychatogbroken.
Trygon_Predator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The counterspell that should never have seen the light of day. At least back then mana burn was a disincentive! Mana Drain is broken and unbalanced and overpowered and I wish I had 10 of them.
The odd art is explained by Draining Whelk, Time Spiral's homage card.
DrJack
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This one's a lot of fun. I have even Mana Drained my own spell, then during my next main phase, I had all that extra mana to cast something big with.
I just learned, though, that the Wizards have done away with mana burn as part of yet-another-rules-change to Magic. I cannot believe it. Just another thing that dumbs down the game and allows players to be more careless. And they REALLY wanted to make Mana Drain, Sol Ring, and Black Lotus more powerful than they already are?
@ TheWrathofShane - thank you for being one of the people here that GETS it.
TheAmberSpyglass
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
$150 worth of WANT.
admiraldanish
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Probably the only counterspell other than Cryptic Command whhich would still be perfectly playable with the "Counter target spell" rules text removed. There's a good reason this has never been reprinted at *any* mana cost without a chance of failing to get the mana from the opposing spell.
atemu1234
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
I feel like this should have been the ability Cancel had. Oh, and been a rare.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
HAHAHA THE PRICE OF THIS CARD HAHAHAHAHA
AAAAAAAGH!!
SarcasmElemental
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combos with your opponent.
Pentavite625
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I have an idea for a new counter spell.
U: Counter target spell, then win the game.
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Dcole - I love how you labelled your deck as fun and casual, yet mentioned that you include a playset of Mana Drain (vintage only) and Force of Will (the most uncasual non-vintage counter there is). They are not casual/fun cards. You can build a perfectly viable mono-blue control deck that doesn't include uncasual cards.
Ancestral_Forget
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I don't know why people think this card might be better than force of will. It damn well is better than force of will. And its a lot more epic, too. This card is hands down the best counterspell ever.
TheAj
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm pretty mad that this isn't on the reserved list. If there is anything that should be on the reserved list, its the one and only strict-better-than-counterspell counterspell that is so freaking broken they never should reprint it at all anyways. Instead, they have all these things that I want real bad and are legacy legal and aren't even that unfair.
:(
Still, this card was more fun when mana drain existed. At least then it wasn't STRICTLY better.
TyrroxZym
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
For those wondering how they could have made a card that was so powerful I figured I would share with you the following: Back when Legends was released Wizards was a VERY different company, and Richard Garfield's team did not actually design the Legend's set, a Canadian Graduate school did, and because of the distance and communication issues (Internet wasn't what it is today back then) there were a lot of issues with deciding the casting costs of cards. That is why you will notice the casting costs of cards all over the place, and why many cards are over-costed for what they do, even back then. Mana Drain is one of the few cards from the set that ended up being broken by most people's standards.
Read this article by Steve Menendian to learn more about the beginnings of Magic; its a great read all Magic players should read! http://www.eternalcentral.com/?p=3289
Winhert
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The ultimate counter?
dcole
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
To me this is the best counter spell around and I still to this day run a play set of these along with a play set of force of wills in my insane, fun, casual mono blue control. 5/5 all day.
@JaxsonBateman what I meant was fun to play not fun to play against. I totally agree that there are plenty of alternatives out there for mono blue decks although perhaps not so much in standard today. Believe me this isn't the only mono blue deck I play I just like to go back to the nostalgic days every now and than.
Aquillion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you cast it on a spell that uses up all your opponent's mana (which is what generally happens in the early game against competent opponents), you're basically denying them a card and all of that turn's mana, and getting an extra turn's mana for yourself.
In other words, it's basically Time Walk, but it costs your opponent a card instead of giving one to you (and you get to choose what card, which is generally more powerful than a draw!) Yes, that's right, in the right situation this card is more powerful than Time Walk.
The only reason it's (marginally) less powerful than Time Walk overall is because it's slightly situational, while Time Walk works at absolutely any time; but given that the 'situation' is essentially "the enemy casts a big spell and you have a big spell you want to cast", that's not exactly much of a drawback.
(Alright, and Time Walk also gives you an extra attack and land drop. But still.)
Technetium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the things that I've never understood, though... If you look online for any top-rated Vintage control decks, they all have 4 Force of Will, and no Mana Drain. Personally, I think the card is amazing and I would use these in a blue Vintage deck if I could afford them.
But the argument must be made... if the card is so good, why is it that nobody is using it in decks that are winning Vintage tournaments?
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Even with mana burn this was broken as fu.ck
.5/5 for making classic pay 2 win.
@Technectium. But the argument must be made... if the card is so good, why is it that nobody is using it in decks that are winning Vintage tournaments?
That format is so fast you would rather have a counter that cost 0 mana then this thing which costs 2 blues.
Blackhawk9000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@wrathofshane Don't forget the fact it's around $200. And no, not a playset.
Jitteryowl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Strictly better than any counter ever made.
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Force of Will is without doubt the best counterspell ever printed. This may be more broken than Force of Will but it's certainly not better. 0 mana is a lot less than 2 in Legacy and Vintage. This is very very powerful, often more powerful than Force but Force's versatility and interaction with other cards is what pushes it over the edge.
deworde2510
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Strictly easier to judge as powerful than Force of Will. Force of Will is better for the only non-casual format where you could play this, but it's harder to see that when all you've read is "card advantage 4eva".
This is strictly better than something on the second page of the highest rated cards. It's a shame this is never played in Vintage, I would love to see this countering something like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or Griselbrand or Blightsteel Colossus. "Ok, so I tap 2 islands, you don't get your win condition, and I start next turn with 15 free mana." "...*tableflip*"
RetroGamer3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The reason this card out ranks Force of Will is because Force is not 0 mana every time. This is the best counter hands down. Force on me is just OK countered my guy no big deal but this fricking thing is counter my play and then go to town next turn.
ox411
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's hard to say if this is the best counter spell ever printed or the second best. Sometimes you need a Mana Drain and sometimes you need a Force of Will. Either way this card is so powerful it seems like it shouldnt have ever been printed. Depending on the hand I draw, I like to use it as an offensive weapon as well as a counterspell. Counter some little spell my opponent plays on the first or second turn, and on my next turn my mind twist is even better. If Ive got a dark ritual or some power 9 artifacts I can empty your hand on the second or third turn. The fact that it also counters a spell you just cast is kind of a bonus at that point. There used to be an occasional 'downside' to playing it, in that you would sometimes wind up with more mana then you could spend on your next turn, but since they changed the mana burn rule, Mana Drain has gotten even better. Its not on the 'reserved list' and it doesnt need to be. Theyll never print this card again, its just too good Every blue deck Ive ever made has 4 of these in it.
Comments (76)
As Death said to Hector in Curse of Darkness: "Your efforts have been a great boon to me."
What was it they used to say about this card? Something like "The only way this card will ever see reprint is if the entire R&D team dies in a fiery crash, leaving Randy Buelher as the sole survivor."
Counterspell is a weaker version of Mana Drain, but that is also too good.
Mana Leak is a weaker version of Counterspell, but they stopped printing that, as well.
This card might be playable.
Even when mana burn was a thing, this was almost totally and completely better than the hyper-powerful Counterspell.
My friend and I laughed about that one for ever, every time we'd play a drain, fork or geyser we'd start chuckling.
if anyone complains about it being italian and how I might be lieing about what it does, I'll just show them the card online.
WHAT
5/5
If you could have as many copies of cards in your deck as you wanted, my best deck would probably look something like this:
24 Volcanic Geyser
16 Mana Drain
10 Islands
10 Mountains
GG.
Outside of that, yeah, this card is not fair.
sure why not
I think this is a great card... it's actually quite useful- it needs more love.
It's possibly even better than Storm Crow.
Srsly.
I traded two of these for a Black Lotus 15 years ago-
my investment increased 400%, but I still occasionally regret trading those 'Drains.
EDIT: *sound of joke going over people's heads*
5/5...I don't see why cards like this are rated less.
Wouldn't mind seeing a return to those days. Consistently nerfing Blue throughout the late 90s into the early 00s appears to have also consistently nerfed creative thought and play in M:tG.
The odd art is explained by Draining Whelk, Time Spiral's homage card.
I just learned, though, that the Wizards have done away with mana burn as part of yet-another-rules-change to Magic. I cannot believe it. Just another thing that dumbs down the game and allows players to be more careless. And they REALLY wanted to make Mana Drain, Sol Ring, and Black Lotus more powerful than they already are?
@ TheWrathofShane - thank you for being one of the people here that GETS it.
AAAAAAAGH!!
U: Counter target spell, then win the game.
:(
Still, this card was more fun when mana drain existed. At least then it wasn't STRICTLY better.
Back when Legends was released Wizards was a VERY different company, and Richard Garfield's team did not actually design the Legend's set, a Canadian Graduate school did, and because of the distance and communication issues (Internet wasn't what it is today back then) there were a lot of issues with deciding the casting costs of cards. That is why you will notice the casting costs of cards all over the place, and why many cards are over-costed for what they do, even back then. Mana Drain is one of the few cards from the set that ended up being broken by most people's standards.
Read this article by Steve Menendian to learn more about the beginnings of Magic; its a great read all Magic players should read!
http://www.eternalcentral.com/?p=3289
@JaxsonBateman what I meant was fun to play not fun to play against. I totally agree that there are plenty of alternatives out there for mono blue decks although perhaps not so much in standard today. Believe me this isn't the only mono blue deck I play I just like to go back to the nostalgic days every now and than.
In other words, it's basically Time Walk, but it costs your opponent a card instead of giving one to you (and you get to choose what card, which is generally more powerful than a draw!) Yes, that's right, in the right situation this card is more powerful than Time Walk.
The only reason it's (marginally) less powerful than Time Walk overall is because it's slightly situational, while Time Walk works at absolutely any time; but given that the 'situation' is essentially "the enemy casts a big spell and you have a big spell you want to cast", that's not exactly much of a drawback.
(Alright, and Time Walk also gives you an extra attack and land drop. But still.)
But the argument must be made... if the card is so good, why is it that nobody is using it in decks that are winning Vintage tournaments?
.5/5 for making classic pay 2 win.
@Technectium.
But the argument must be made... if the card is so good, why is it that nobody is using it in decks that are winning Vintage tournaments?
That format is so fast you would rather have a counter that cost 0 mana then this thing which costs 2 blues.
-Swag_Crow
It's a shame this is never played in Vintage, I would love to see this countering something like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or Griselbrand or Blightsteel Colossus.
"Ok, so I tap 2 islands, you don't get your win condition, and I start next turn with 15 free mana."
"...*tableflip*"
This is the best counter hands down. Force on me is just OK countered my guy no big deal but this fricking thing is counter my play and then go to town next turn.
There used to be an occasional 'downside' to playing it, in that you would sometimes wind up with more mana then you could spend on your next turn, but since they changed the mana burn rule, Mana Drain has gotten even better.
Its not on the 'reserved list' and it doesnt need to be. Theyll never print this card again, its just too good
Every blue deck Ive ever made has 4 of these in it.
My money.
And my happiness.