This is the poor-man's Force of Will, at least for now. It provides a harsher alternative casting cost than Force of Will, but it costs one colorless mana less to cast normally. The island requirement seems to ensure that the player's library has to play blue.
stygimoloch
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Although often and (rightly) considered a weak version of Force of Will, Foil is still a fine, well-balanced and fairly powerful card in its own right. In a casual setting, or format without Force of Will, I'd still consider playing Foil.
Although if I did, I'd want a premium version, just so I can say I have a 'foil Foil'.
LeoKula
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Definitely a poor man's Force of Will. It's my favorite counter after Force of Will and I run 4 of these along with 4 Daze in my mono blue casual deck (yes, I'm a casual player).
Mudbutt_on
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Important note on this vs. Force: Force makes you exile the card, this one just makes you discard them both.
Duriele
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Come to think of it, in a UB deck, this rocks with Grim Discovery. nothing wasted really :D
Snaxme
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
THE card for the aspiring Blue mage that just can't shed the 30 or so bucks (*isn't up to date with the market*) to pick up one Force of WIll. And it's pretty cheap to boot.
Ratoly
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Synergizes very well with Daze. Though...only if you don't need land.
Plum
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
I actually really like this in my Madness deck. In that situation in gets close to the same level as Force of Will in terms of power.
It functions as a Madness outlet, and a free counter. Force of Will on the other hand exiles the card. I would say its better if it weren't for the fact that you had to have an island in hand to play it. Though I also run Daze in the deck, so it's not too hard to accomplish that. There are times where I use this and then don't see another land for a few turns, which is why Force of Will is still better.
However the look on my opponent's face when I play this and then pop in my Basking Rootwalla or Arrogant Wurm is great. It also works well when you toss a Wonder into your grave, or something like Quiet Speculation. The kind of cards that you want in your grave anyways.
With creativity its possible to make this poor man's Force of Will much better than seems.
Foil, the third best free counterspell, although essentially, you are trading 3 cards for 1 which is card disadvantage 101.
JackBauer24
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
"Fo"rce of W"il"l :)
Cyberium
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
While both Foil and FoW can both be free counters, Foil costs only 2UU, makes it easier to use should you have the spare mana to cast it outright. Couple with other cards such as Daze and Obsessive Research or threshold mechanic, the drawback could be lessened or even utilized compare to FoW.
FoW is no doubt still more powerful.
SleetFox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
To bad there weren't foil cards back in Prophecy.
Shadoflaam
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Wow, a free counter that costs less than 70 dollars and isn't even strictly worse than Force of Will ( vs )? I need 4 for legacy.
leomistico
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@SleetFox: Actually, back in Prophecy foil cards already existed. They were introduced in Urza's Legacy...
Nice alternative to the FoW...
4/5
jfre81
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Any of the no-mana-necessary counters aren't bad to have, because being tapped out makes people think you either don't have a counter or you're taking a chance on not being able to play one. They see you're tapped out and they get aggressive.
Later on in a game, the discard's not a big deal, especially if you've got some kind of card draw engine going.
ax_morph
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
My foil Foil is among my most treasured cards -brick'd-
The only real reason you want a free counterspell is to knock-out combo decks. Trading three-for-one against a combo deck by kicking off a vital piece isn't too ridiculous. Besides, you could always wait until the last few cards of their combo before you cast Foil anyways and the loss of CA can be mitigated.
MarlinFlake
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
this is Madness!
MattLynn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This could be good in a Roil Elemental landfall deck. You're already going to run heavy lands...
Saraneth888
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@JackBauer24: Yes... 100% best comment... You, good Sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
Travelsonic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When talking Foil versus Force of Will, I like how the mana cost seems to be what a few - not everyone, obviously - are harping on.
Sure, for hardcasting, FoW is better.
What about the alternative-to-paying-the-mana-cost?
Would you rather lose life and exile a blue permanent, or discard an island, and another card - a land, a creature with the madness ability, or something that is either useful in the graveyard, can be brought back somehow easily, etc?
Ultimately it depends, I for one don't want to run the risk of losing mana sources just to counter a spell, but from discussions online **in general** I don't think Foil is being given enough credit... sure, it is no FoW, but there **MAY** be potentials I don't think are being realized with this card that you can't necessarily do with FoW directly.
Comments (24)
Although if I did, I'd want a premium version, just so I can say I have a 'foil Foil'.
In that situation in gets close to the same level as Force of Will in terms of power.
It functions as a Madness outlet, and a free counter. Force of Will on the other hand exiles the card.
I would say its better if it weren't for the fact that you had to have an island in hand to play it. Though I also run Daze in the deck, so it's not too hard to accomplish that. There are times where I use this and then don't see another land for a few turns, which is why Force of Will is still better.
However the look on my opponent's face when I play this and then pop in my Basking Rootwalla or Arrogant Wurm is great. It also works well when you toss a Wonder into your grave, or something like Quiet Speculation. The kind of cards that you want in your grave anyways.
With creativity its possible to make this poor man's Force of Will much better than seems.
:)
FoW is no doubt still more powerful.
Actually, back in Prophecy foil cards already existed. They were introduced in Urza's Legacy...
Nice alternative to the FoW...
4/5
Later on in a game, the discard's not a big deal, especially if you've got some kind of card draw engine going.
Sure, for hardcasting, FoW is better.
What about the alternative-to-paying-the-mana-cost?
Would you rather lose life and exile a blue permanent, or discard an island, and another card - a land, a creature with the madness ability, or something that is either useful in the graveyard, can be brought back somehow easily, etc?
Ultimately it depends, I for one don't want to run the risk of losing mana sources just to counter a spell, but from discussions online **in general** I don't think Foil is being given enough credit... sure, it is no FoW, but there **MAY** be potentials I don't think are being realized with this card that you can't necessarily do with FoW directly.