I do like the art, it's pretty badass. However I'm a little disappointed that this isn't gone entirely though, or at least replaced with a more interesting counter.
Cyberium
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(7 votes)
This hand of mine glows with an awesome power; its burning grip tells me to defeat you!
SyntheticDreamer
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
The art is great. But wouldn't you rather run Dissipate instead?
lorendorky
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sometimes... sometimes you would be better off with this over Dissipate. Say if your deck is running Rise from the Grave.
Lotsofpoopy
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(8 votes)
This is a tremendous counter spell. Pros like me have been cancelling spells for years now.
Firesplitter.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A counter is a counter is a counter. Obvious 5/5 for limited playablility and for being usable when Dissisipate rotates.
Then again, he also lets you cast Dissipate for UU and Rewind for 1UU. Both of which are probably better choices than Cancel, and only Dissipate will see any real constructed play.
Pentavite625
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Ha. I love how Counterspell is rated 5/5, and this is 2/5.
This is a counter spell that can counter any type of spell. The original counterspell isn't going to be reprinted anytime soon, so this will have to do.
Eternal_Blue
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
We complain because we're spoiled, but the fact remains that counterspells are still overpowered even at 3-mana. A single card that can destroy, well, anything at all, is much more powerful than a Murder, which can only target creatures--and yet they have the same mana cost. Blue mages have been coddled and spoiled and it is time that WotC abandoned counterspells and went in new directions with the color.
Yozuk
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
Now you can have 4 cancels in your deck each with 4 different art styles. How excited are we?
drpvfx
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Nice try, Wizards, but putting awesome art on this POS doesn't make it any better than it was before. Congratulations on your turd-polishing prowess!
I also really hoped we were past this card, development-wise, but I see Countermagic really will be in the ditch for the next couple of years, at least.
Oh well- time to break out those Supreme Verdicts and Detention Spheres, and pray that the Dimir, Simic, and Orzhov come in with some good control reinforcements...
DarthParallax
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(6 votes)
This is to Cancel and Jace is to Counterspell- that is- this is the art you play if you feel the need to bling your cards.
If you're blinging Cancel, you are a magnanimous player. Or a Bureaucrat whose never played Magic but has lots of other people's money to spend...
LoL- it WOULD be just like the Congress of Azor to pass a bill funding the blinging of Cancel while thousands of Boros are out of work, Gruul are warring with Rakdos, Golgari are resorting to cannibalism (never mind they do that anyway, it sounds bad so the presses will pretend it's abnormal behavior for them), Dimir is leaking things to the Secretary of the Press and WikiLeaks, Simic and Orzhov are having their regularly-scheduled Science v. Religion debate on every YouTube, regardless of what the YouTube was actually about, and Selesnya is doing squat nothing except watching the Lord of the Rings 100 Billion Times while wating for the Hobbit to come out....and Izzet is busy doing things people actually care about: Finding out the answer to:
"Izzet A Good Idea To Microwave Jace, The Mind Sculptor?" @.@
DoragonShinzui
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
It's interesting seeing how the art and flavor text of Cancel has changed over the years. Being able to have four different Cancels in a deck sounds pretty neat as well, thanks for bringing that up Yozuk.
LordRandomness
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
That flavor text would have been absolutely kickass on Quash. Ah well.
RAV0004
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I like that it's an azorius Magistrate stopping one of his OWN soldiers from using a spell, rather than one of the other guilds. They always say the Azorius are obstructive bureaucrats, but you never see them do it to themselves, even though that's what bureaucracy is supposed to do (stop itself).
True_Mumin
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(6 votes)
Cancel. Again.
Wizards.
Stahp.
Zacklar
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
i just wonder what motivated Wizards to reprint this when Dissipate is still playable...they want to force players to play it right? once Dissipate rotates we will only have Cancel...and they will keep reprinting it until we like it it seems
mflanaga
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
When- not if- but WHEN I get my slithery fingers on a blingin' Cancel, I shall think of you DP.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
It would be good if it cost 1 less to play and have "Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3."
Tackman
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(25 votes)
Players: Can't we just have Counterspell? Wizards: It is forbidden. Players: But wh- Wizards: Asking why is irrelevant.
C1455
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
At least Izzet gets the charm...
kenwakooo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you squint, it looks like he's flipping the bird. "So you want to play an awesome spell? TAKE THIS!"
needwater97
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
dissipate. Here's the difference between common to uncommon
Sironos
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Dear Wizards: Please don't ever reprint counterspell or lightning bolt the world is a better place without them, as they dumb down the game and make deck brewing a lot less fun. But reprint manaleak, that one is a balanced counterspell.
Salient
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I was kind of excited/relieved when Cancel wasn't reprinted in 2013. I should have known better.
Continue
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I wouldn't mind nearly as much if this were , but even then the only benefit it would have over Counterspell is that it would be just a bit more splashable. As it is Dissipate is miles better than this. 1.5/5
HedronMyr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Obviously this is strictly worse than Counterspell, and almost completely worse than Dissipate in our current format, but it is still a hard counter that is really good in casual and I think is underrated (though again, Dissipate is almost strictly better unless your meta has no graveyard manipulation). For control decks, even in Modern, I think having a hard counter outside the heavy color weighted Cryptic Command is important, as stuff like Mana Leak and even Rune Snag only goes so far in the late game. Rune Snag can hold its own pretty well when it works, but most two costed counterspells are fickle. Game 2 Negate can help mitigate that, but I think cards like this still have a place if you need a hard counter (as opposed to Mana Leak) that doesn't give them the pieces back (like Remand, which I think is better in something like WUR Delver).
saucyninja007
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(7 votes)
Yes, compared to Counterspell and Dissipate this card is not that great, but come on people! 3 mana for a hard counter is not bad at all!
Anzu-chan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Gcrudaplaneswalker : It exists since nearly 15 years. It is Mana Leak.
Moxxy
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
@Anzu-chan
That's the joke...
TheWrathofShane
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This is still a strong spell, but people want their counters to be mana. Wizards has decided hardcounters at are not going to be printed unless they are given a drawback (deprive).
Dissipate outclasses this, but you would still would want to use this over dissipate if you had things like Rise from the Grave in your deck. Also you could run x4 of this and dissipate.
Emperorerror
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Now they need to try ": Counter target spell unless its controller pays " or at LEAST ": Counter target spell unless its controller pays ."
I KNOW everyone complains about Cancel, but truthfully, this is a bomb in Limited Azorius.
Yesterday, I went 3/0 going Azorius, because every other time, I've went Rakdos, Golgari, or Selesnya, and have done poorly (2/1 at best). Every time I've lost, it's because Azorius screwed me over with Dramatic Rescue, Hussar Patrol, Lyev Skyknight, Voidwielder, or Isperia's Skywatch. Have you ever seen a 12/11 Lotleth Troll coming in for the kill, only to be bounced and then you lose 5 turns later? I have.
I drafted 4 Cancels, and every time there was even something remotely dangerous getting played, I'd counter it. I'd usually have 2 counter-spells in my opening hand as it was. Syncopating for just still counters the spell, as long as they don't have mana left.
So, in the future, when there's a strong countering force, I'm going to go for those colours. I never felt so relaxed in my limited career, knowing that I'm the one who's controlling the game.
chrome_dome
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
3/5. Limited staple for sure but cramps your mana base till about turn 5 or 6. It's nice though when you pull four in the prerelease and oppponents are saying something like, "How many effin cancels to do you have?"
bowlofgumbo
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(2 votes)
STOP. REPRINTING. CANCEL. FFS. I've been making this same post since Shards. Wizards of the Coast never seems to notice.
Rampage_Jackson
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sees play in exactly 1 constructed format. => 3/5
ThinkOriginal
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I know everyone is upset about Cancel being reprinted. But here is my prediction as to why: Wizards wanted to take it out of the Core set.
Cancel is the baseline for counterspells. Barely playable, but not so bad where it will never see play outside of limited. It is the beginner's counter. They wanted to keep it legal in Standard, so they put it in the block that won't rotate out with the current Core set, and will be legal through the next.
"Why?" you may ask? I'm predicting a better counter. A step up from Cancel. Perhaps, and I'm just spit-balling here, a spell from the past that shares identical rules, yet costs one colorless less...?
Counterspell in Magic 2014. Wouldn't that be something...
Slyfox7777777
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Strictly worse than Counterspell, but if you are playing a deck entirely built around countering, you might need both to have a sufficient number of countering spells.
Pigfish99
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Cancel is underrated. sure, it isn't a Mana leak, Nor a Counterspell, but it gets the job done.
PLUS, as ZephyrBlayze said, the Goblin Electromancer cuts this down to a Counterspell cost. So if you run an Izzet/Azorious deck, you can at least have sudo Counterspells in your deck.
Run 4 Cancels, 4 Counterspells, 4 Dissipates, 4 Rewinds, and make the rest things that bounce the creatures/permanents back. LET THEM PLAY NOTHING.
...I can dream of a deck as silly as that can't I?
DritzD27
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Definitely my favorite Cancel art. Looks great in foil.
Hunter06
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Most 'Cancel's' get rated 2.5, however, this one has spectacular art and @DritzD27, I agree
3/5 Stars
nunyaJs
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The design team started saying loooooong ago what direction the game was heading in. We just didn't listen. Watch for the phrases "they just weren't fun' 'it slows the game down' 'unfun'. Decently costed land destruction, and decent hard counters were the first things to go. They want every one playing the exact same creature and tech based decks. One of the old school toruney scene guys turned R&D guy said something to the effect of " I think reanimators are cool, but they'd have to be ballanced" (read as: over priced).... Just do what I do. Give up playing Standard legal. I keep all the old stuff I love, and cannibalize the new sets for stuff that improves what i already use (gravecrawlers in hatred black?)
anywaaaays... that my 2 cents.
blindthrall
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@DM3921: I've built that deck. It's called Dick Move. There needs to be ways to mess with their mana base like Psychic Venom, Mana Short, and Winter Orbs. I found that Tangle Wire and Stasis didn't quite work. It's win-con is Azorius Elocutors. but just today I took out the last Cancel in favor of Rewind. Make of that what you will.
SalaHyena
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Dissolve Is strictly better. This card shouldn't be used unless you really want to run 8 3CMC counterspells. Otherwise I would recommend Syncopates, Essence Scatters, Negates.
Comments (48)
Goblin Electromancer at least lets you cast this for UU.
Then again, he also lets you cast Dissipate for UU and Rewind for 1UU. Both of which are probably better choices than Cancel, and only Dissipate will see any real constructed play.
I love how Counterspell is rated 5/5, and this is 2/5.
This is a counter spell that can counter any type of spell. The original counterspell isn't going to be reprinted anytime soon, so this will have to do.
but putting awesome art on this POS doesn't make it any better than it was before.
Congratulations on your turd-polishing prowess!
I also really hoped we were past this card, development-wise,
but I see Countermagic really will be in the ditch for the next couple of years, at least.
Oh well- time to break out those Supreme Verdicts and Detention Spheres,
and pray that the Dimir, Simic, and Orzhov come in with some good control reinforcements...
If you're blinging Cancel, you are a magnanimous player. Or a Bureaucrat whose never played Magic but has lots of other people's money to spend...
LoL- it WOULD be just like the Congress of Azor to pass a bill funding the blinging of Cancel while thousands of Boros are out of work, Gruul are warring with Rakdos, Golgari are resorting to cannibalism (never mind they do that anyway, it sounds bad so the presses will pretend it's abnormal behavior for them), Dimir is leaking things to the Secretary of the Press and WikiLeaks, Simic and Orzhov are having their regularly-scheduled Science v. Religion debate on every YouTube, regardless of what the YouTube was actually about, and Selesnya is doing squat nothing except watching the Lord of the Rings 100 Billion Times while wating for the Hobbit to come out....and Izzet is busy doing things people actually care about: Finding out the answer to:
"Izzet A Good Idea To Microwave Jace, The Mind Sculptor?" @.@
Wizards.
Stahp.
Wizards: It is forbidden.
Players: But wh-
Wizards: Asking why is irrelevant.
Here's the difference between common to uncommon
Please don't ever reprint counterspell or lightning bolt the world is a better place without them, as they dumb down the game and make deck brewing a lot less fun. But reprint manaleak, that one is a balanced counterspell.
That's the joke...
Dissipate outclasses this, but you would still would want to use this over dissipate if you had things like Rise from the Grave in your deck. Also you could run x4 of this and dissipate.
Yesterday, I went 3/0 going Azorius, because every other time, I've went Rakdos, Golgari, or Selesnya, and have done poorly (2/1 at best). Every time I've lost, it's because Azorius screwed me over with Dramatic Rescue, Hussar Patrol, Lyev Skyknight, Voidwielder, or Isperia's Skywatch. Have you ever seen a 12/11 Lotleth Troll coming in for the kill, only to be bounced and then you lose 5 turns later? I have.
I drafted 4 Cancels, and every time there was even something remotely dangerous getting played, I'd counter it. I'd usually have 2 counter-spells in my opening hand as it was. Syncopating for just
So, in the future, when there's a strong countering force, I'm going to go for those colours. I never felt so relaxed in my limited career, knowing that I'm the one who's controlling the game.
Cancel is the baseline for counterspells. Barely playable, but not so bad where it will never see play outside of limited. It is the beginner's counter. They wanted to keep it legal in Standard, so they put it in the block that won't rotate out with the current Core set, and will be legal through the next.
"Why?" you may ask? I'm predicting a better counter. A step up from Cancel. Perhaps, and I'm just spit-balling here, a spell from the past that shares identical rules, yet costs one colorless less...?
Counterspell in Magic 2014. Wouldn't that be something...
PLUS, as ZephyrBlayze said, the Goblin Electromancer cuts this down to a Counterspell cost. So if you run an Izzet/Azorious deck, you can at least have sudo Counterspells in your deck.
TL;DR: Stop complaning.
...I can dream of a deck as silly as that can't I?
3/5 Stars
anywaaaays... that my 2 cents.