Pointed Discussion

booo! where's act of treason!

Better than the act this time around as it shuts off important undying cards... Plus, that angel needed time off from her chronic backstabbing.

Agreed, I would rather have seen Act of Treason back than this.

@SyntheticDreamer No. It wouldn't keep the counter. Because you cloud shifted it, removing the counter. It would stay yours, but would not receive the counter.

Well, you could always hit the creature with Cloudshift or Restoration Angel before the end of your turn and keep it permanently... (without the counter, but...)

I don't like it. Grrrr.

Umm...counter to undying! Mono black needs to be stopped. Good call Sakon

This spell has great versatility and is totally worth giving your opponent a counter (especially if they have undying).

One word, fellas. You all seem to be forgetting it.
Fling.
Yeah. It's that good. Also works perfectly with Traitorous Blood and Traitorous Instinct.
But the thing better here is you get to chuck an extra 1 damage because of the counter placed on the creature. That alone is worth it.

"Yes, I'll steal your Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis, attack you with it, then he's going to fly at your face."

Ray of Command should at least be linked.

The counter addition makes it a bit more effective with Fling

Ideally you yank their creature, make it 1 bigger, swing for power +1, then Fling for power +1.

So in one turn they were attacked by one of their best targetable creatures on the board, received direct damage, and guarenteed the loss of at least one creature, all while receiving an extra 2 damage due to the counter... for 5 CMC

Their options once the creature is snatched: Destroying or blocking the creature to prevent taking damage, possibly losing a blocker if they can block at all, disabling the creature with a spell or ability until they regain control (which isn't going to happen since you are going to fling it anyways), attempt to counter Fling if they suspect that is your plan. No matter how it resolves, they are at a disadvantage of some sort.

Note that fling combos with damn near all of the "treason" spells, but this spell just screams "hey guys! I'm good with Fling!"

Steal undying stuff, then kill it next turn.

This card is actually better than Act of Treason the majority of the time you use it. For decks that don't abuse sac engines, this type of effect is solely meant for closing the game, making that one extra damage solely for your benefit. Just look at the sideboards of any aggro deck these days and you will see this card or Traitorous Blood, not Act of Treason.

You know, you could always just sacrifice it with, oh I dunno, Devour Flesh or Fling or something.

Bazaar Trader

This seems to be one of the best 'gain control of taget creature' cards to use with Bazaar Trader. Yeah, I'll take your creature permanently and make it bigger in the process!

Great with Kulrath Knight. Beat them with their nastiest creature, return it to them with a counter, which makes it unable to attack or block.

Ha! This will be hilarious with the upcoming Marchesa, the Black Rose.

This would work great with Oona's Blackguard, I think.