A blue card with "stoic" in the name! How dare you steal that from white! *glare*
Decent counter magic.
NecroticNobody
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Wirzards is improving. They'll never reprint Counterspell, but their putting in some good conditional two mana couners.
DonRoyale
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Damn it, Wizards, stop trying to get us to play Cancel! >:V
Chrome_Coyote
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(4 votes)
Almost a Counterspell. Almost. Getting there.
WhiteyMcFly
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
This is as close to counterspell as wizards is going to do. At least, I hope so.
Troutz
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(6 votes)
Silly card on the grounds that it is the exact same thing as Cancel but better. I mean, if you main deck Cancel in a deck with no artifacts you might as well replace it with this card. I mean, why not? It's exactly the same but can be cheated in to play for 1 less mana if you just so happen to have a few artifacts in play.
gelleetin
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
The Planeswalker's Guide video specifically mentioned this card as having a reduced cost when Metalcraft is active. If your opponent destroys one of your artifacts in response to Stoic Rebuttal, would you have to end up paying the extra 1 mana?
My guess would be no, since the spell is already on the stack by then, but confirmation from the rules guru would be nice :)
Mattmedia
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@gelleetin: i would say not because it is a cost, once you have paid the cost that is it, you cannot re-act to that (Costs and mana abilities don't stack), if the spell said that if you control 3 artifacts you may cast this for UU then i think it might be a different story, because when the spell goes to check that there is 3 artifacts, and there is only 2, then it would be countered itself, although i am little skeptical on this as well....
Judge?
Minus_Prime
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Hey, if Wizards keeps going in this direction, maybe one day we'll get a Cancel that costs . Vex doesn't count. That's the only way the metagame will shift enough for blue players to legitimately claim that Counterspell is necessary.
Also: no one has any right to complain about not having Counterspell anymore. We gave you Mana Leak, we gave you Deprive, which is conditionally better than counterspell, and now here's 2-mana counters #9-12 for your draw-go standard deck.
Also also: Mattmedia is correct. Once the spell is cast its cost has been paid and cannot be changed, even if Metalcraft no longer applies when the spell is on the stack. You wouldn't have to pay an extra to resolve the spell.
Gavrilo
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Well, i guess it's as good countermagic as it is needed to be. Bit more power and variety - and those fun pre-onslaught "i counter/bounce everything you play, make you discard the rest and then peck you to death with my Storm Crow" decks gonna reappear. Control is not all about countermagic, ya know...
Cancel with the possibility of being counterspell? Fair enough!
Yozuk
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Why can't I find more of these? I only have 1 after all the packs I've bought!
TheSwarm
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Are you guys kidding me? I was expecting to look at these comments and see epic jubilation!
yo people.. THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO REPRINT COUNTERSPELL. They made something STRICTLY better than cancel and something that in scars limited can basically be called counterspell yet i see people saying "Almost counterspell." For shaaame. As people have said, yall blue control mages (i dont play counters too often) have mana leak, deprive, and now a strictly better cancel. If you still need counterspell you are being truely hypocritical: You say that counterspells bring thinking into the game, yet you cant STAND having to pay ANYTHING more than 2 mana for a counterspell, you are not thinking yourself.
Askthespartan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This is as good as a Counterspell reprint in most Standard decks right now, especially those focusing specifically on Scars of Mirrodin and Mirrodin Besieged. This could be easily playable by turn 2 with Ornithopter, Spidersilk Net, Memnite, and Accorder's Shield all in Standard.
Jokergius
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I believe Stoic belongs to blue. They are cold. They are calculating. They want to rule in other means. The pain of flesh are for those with feeling. Take for example Master of Etherium. (The Card And Not The Person Who Types Like This Retard Manner). Cold, seemingly ***ed off, an Artifact and...holding a baby. d._.b
BUT for the card itself, I agree. Wixards would never make another Counterspell without some strings attach. Such as Deprive. It has the CMC as Counterspell, but the catch is that you have to bring back an Island to your hand. d^-^b
Arthindole
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I have to try this in my Esper deck, or my soon to be Vedalken deck.
On a serious note, this is a fantastic counter spell. Metalcraft seems fairly easy enough to achieve early on and I doubt it's that hard to sustain, given the fact that this card should only be in artifact-heavy decks. Don't play an artifact deck? Mana Leak and Spell Pierce are your friends. Running some Landfall or want unconditional counter? Throw some Deprive right in there.
While Chris Rahn did a fine job portraying a countered spell, I would argue that this does not do his prior work justice. I really enjoyed his imagery in Hindering Light and much prefer to see more blending of colors, values, and shades. Don't get me wrong, however! While this isn't my favorite, this is far from unsightly. The blue lighting effects in comparison to the diagonal red flames creates a wonderfully colorful and contrasting piece that is amiable visually. Fantastic job of giving the background definition and depth.
flanker7
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Love the card! Balanced.
RedAtrocitus
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
At worse Cancel, at best Counterspell. Stoic Rebuttal, I think I love you.
VarteDod
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Believe it or not, in the Portuguese version of this card they forgot to type in the ''Counter target spell'' part. Why must our translations suck so much?
Evvy0413
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I've ran this in decks that, despite not being metalcraft, had enough mana rocks that I sometimes did get metalcraft, thus making it still better then cancel.
Gabriel422
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is played a lot in control decks these days. Blue-black, blue-white, you name it. And 95% of the time this is just Cancel.
sincleanser
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
There you go guys, that's probably the absolute closest you will get to Counterspell coming back without it being considered too good.
cameron432
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
If you have 3 or more artifacts in your deck, there is no reason to not run this over Cancel.
Ah, finally a card you can actually call strictly better. If you have the opportunity to run this in a format where you are choosing between this and Cancel always run this. Even if your deck has 0 artifacts, there is an infinitesimal chance you could at some point come under the control of 3 artifacts. Cancel will always counter a spell for 3 mana, no matter what, this could conceivably, however unlikely, cost 2.
...And another round of "making Cancel feel bad about itself"! Hurray!
RunedServitor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Jokergius: Actually, the baby IS the Master of Etherium, and the guy holding the baby is a puppet controlled by the Master so people take him seriously. Get your fluff right.
I agree with your assessment of the Vedalken mindset, though.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For Standard, I preferred deprive. Scars artifacts that don't begin with "Sword of. . ." tended to suck. Zendikar spell-lands are much better. And getting to replay them is pretty good.
However, for casual formats, where we have access to artifact lands, and Mirrodin Talismans and Ravnica Signets and Sol Rings, this becomes Counterspell #2 in my Numot, the Devastator EDH.
El_Pared
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Here's something I remember hearing for about five years: "THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO REPRINT LIGHTNING BOLT!!!111!1!"
Well, guess what? They did. And you know what came out between when lightning bolt stopped being printed and when it started again? Exactly one jillion cards that tried to be 'bolt just like this one tries to be counterspell. Think of Cancel as Shock, and this card as Fiery Temper and you'll start to see the pattern.
And I'd be willing to bet that Counterspell will come back in due time, just like Bolt and all those other cards did.
Which isn't to say this is a bad card, it's a great card, just like Incinerate was a great card. I'm just tired of hearing "They're never going to reprint Counterspell!" because they will. And if they don't it won't matter because counters like this will still exist, and we'll always have Mana Leak effects to fall back on.
Comments (38)
Decent counter magic.
My guess would be no, since the spell is already on the stack by then, but confirmation from the rules guru would be nice :)
Judge?
Also: no one has any right to complain about not having Counterspell anymore. We gave you Mana Leak, we gave you Deprive, which is conditionally better than counterspell, and now here's 2-mana counters #9-12 for your draw-go standard deck.
Also also: Mattmedia is correct. Once the spell is cast its cost has been paid and cannot be changed, even if Metalcraft no longer applies when the spell is on the stack. You wouldn't have to pay an extra
yo people.. THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO REPRINT COUNTERSPELL. They made something STRICTLY better than cancel and something that in scars limited can basically be called counterspell yet i see people saying "Almost counterspell." For shaaame. As people have said, yall blue control mages (i dont play counters too often) have mana leak, deprive, and now a strictly better cancel. If you still need counterspell you are being truely hypocritical: You say that counterspells bring thinking into the game, yet you cant STAND having to pay ANYTHING more than 2 mana for a counterspell, you are not thinking yourself.
d._.b
BUT for the card itself, I agree. Wixards would never make another Counterspell without some strings attach. Such as Deprive. It has the CMC as Counterspell, but the catch is that you have to bring back an Island to your hand.
d^-^b
Did I do it right?
On a serious note, this is a fantastic counter spell. Metalcraft seems fairly easy enough to achieve early on and I doubt it's that hard to sustain, given the fact that this card should only be in artifact-heavy decks. Don't play an artifact deck? Mana Leak and Spell Pierce are your friends. Running some Landfall or want unconditional counter? Throw some Deprive right in there.
While Chris Rahn did a fine job portraying a countered spell, I would argue that this does not do his prior work justice. I really enjoyed his imagery in Hindering Light and much prefer to see more blending of colors, values, and shades. Don't get me wrong, however! While this isn't my favorite, this is far from unsightly. The blue lighting effects in comparison to the diagonal red flames creates a wonderfully colorful and contrasting piece that is amiable visually. Fantastic job of giving the background definition and depth.
Doesn't the ability remind you of another infamous ability, kinda?
Can be Counterspell, but most of the time, when you really need it to be counterspell (this is on turn 2), it will be a Cancel.
However a good card, but far from be Dissipate or Forbid.
Maybe in the same level of Hinder and Spell Crumple.
Definitly better than Cancel and Vex.
I agree with your assessment of the Vedalken mindset, though.
However, for casual formats, where we have access to artifact lands, and Mirrodin Talismans and Ravnica Signets and Sol Rings, this becomes Counterspell #2 in my Numot, the Devastator EDH.
Well, guess what? They did. And you know what came out between when lightning bolt stopped being printed and when it started again? Exactly one jillion cards that tried to be 'bolt just like this one tries to be counterspell. Think of Cancel as Shock, and this card as Fiery Temper and you'll start to see the pattern.
you know what else they said they'd never reprint? Voltaic Key, and Hypnotic Specter, and Duress.
And I'd be willing to bet that Counterspell will come back in due time, just like Bolt and all those other cards did.
Which isn't to say this is a bad card, it's a great card, just like Incinerate was a great card. I'm just tired of hearing "They're never going to reprint Counterspell!" because they will. And if they don't it won't matter because counters like this will still exist, and we'll always have Mana Leak effects to fall back on.