Pointed Discussion

I cant give this card more then a 3, limited counter, for too much, not playable except maybe in limited.

It's been a 4of in The Solution.dec from Zvi Mowshowitz. It's a three mana creature counter that draws into more when you use it. And finally Teferi's phrase is simply a killer in the flavor text "I don't have time for you right now''. 4.5 stars from me.

Seems better Than Remove Soul to me, just 1 more for card advantage. 4.5/5.

Although being more costy than Remove Soul/essence Scatter, this card also gives you a new card, which makes it better. 4/5

Not bad, not bad...

Somehow, Repulse always got the slot before this.

All-star in Pauper.

@ohmu: Try the card first, instead of theory-crafting.

Should have costed 2UU and said "Counter target spell. Draw 2 cards."

I had more fun with this in multiplayer since the whole "What if they have no creatures" thing was usually a non-issue. Even in one on one odds are good a creature you dont want to see will rear its ugly head.

Great card, I run it over Remove Soul in my casual deck. Invasion block was full of versions of other cards but with their cmc jacked up and a cantrip added. Blue got the best of them by far, I think. Compare this and Repulse to some of the others:
Recover - Raise Dead adds cantrip for 2, usable but still overpriced.

Restrain - Warning adds cantrip for 2, overpriced.

Smash - Shatter adds a cantrip for 1. Not actually too bad.

Reviving Dose -Healing Salve adds cantrip for 2 and no damage prevention option. Uninteresting. Compare to the much more versatile Renewed Faith.

Zap- Who knows? Shock? Meh. Useless.

Annihilate - Dark Banishing adds 1B for cantrip. Overpriced.

Tranquil Path - Tranquility adds 2 for cantrip. Overpriced.

Implode - Stone Rain adds 2 for cantrip. Overpriced..

Repulse and Exclude are the best of these because they deal with card advantage in the early game (bouncing and countering creatures), and remain cheap enough at 3cmc to be played then. The cantrip enhances the card advantage rather than being peripheral to the main function of the card, as it is with reanimation (recover), life gain (dose), or removal (Annihilate, Implode, etc). By the time I've reached the fifth turn the extra mana for a cantrip has become a hindrance with rather than a benefit.

So yeah, Blue definitely got the best of it here. Of course, these two have been sadly neglected for reprinting, while Smash, Recover, and Reviving Dose made it into 10th edition...

4.5/5

If you counter a one-mana creature... you have gained +1 card advantage for "-2 mana" turn advantage
If you counter a two-mana creature... you have gained +1 card advantage for "-1 mana" turn advantage
If you counter a three-mana creature... you have gained +1 card advantage for neutral mana...

This card is pretty good.

Strictly better than Bone to Ash.

Dismiss costs U more and targets any spell. There's no reason why you can't have both.

Cantripping counterspells are great, especially when they are as splashable as exclude. While I mostly play limited and EDH, I've never seen someone sad because they were holding this in hand.