Come on, Wizards, just print Dissipate in the core set.
Kryptnyt
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Good ol' Cankles.
Purplerooster
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Removal for almost anything. Three mana is fair for this effect. If you want to counter something at less mana you have to accept some draw backs like essence scatter or negate. Classic card, makes me happy.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Its a great card for kitchen top games, and thats where wizards primary source of income comes from. Plus dissipate gives players a situational upgrade to shoot for.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This was first printed in Time Spiral?! What did people do for countering in between 8th and Time Spiral?
Fenix.
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(7 votes)
No, people! Don't soften up! You should never be happy to see this card..
LordOfTheFlies87
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(4 votes)
I don't know whether to accept the inevitability of this card, or complain until we get something better.
Tamerlein
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm not going to complain that we have Cancel back. Yes, Counterspell and even Dissipate were strictly better, but come on. Paying three mana to stop pretty much anything in the game is still pretty strong.
After Dissipate cycles out I can see this getting a home in control decks that don't have red mana for Counterflux, although Syncopate is another viable option. How about you just go ahead and run both, okay? :)
4/5
TastetheJace
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(5 votes)
I'm f***ing sick of Cancel.
Umbric
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(4 votes)
Lowest this card is rated is 2.695, the highest is 2.903... wizards really does not get the hint do they? Here's my opinion, Cancel and shock are good, just not what we need. Counterspell and lightning bolt are too overpowered. Why not make a counter spell that has an extra effect (i.e. Dissipate or whatever else) or Piller of flame at instant?
Burnwright
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Got this in a booster pack today, second one I've gotten. I know it's supposed to be fair, but I still die a little inside every time I see it. Counterspell, I MISS YOU!! (Sheds a single tear)
sweetgab
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
Cancel is pretty close to playable, much more so than say Grizzly Bears (which no one complains about). Some might even say that Cancel is playable, it's just not played because there have always been slightly better variants around (Stoic Rebuttal, Dissipate). If you play Grizzly Bears in place of your Flinthoof Boars, your Gruul deck will stop being competitive all of a sudden. If you play Cancel instead of Dissipate in your Esper control deck, your deck would remain pretty decent.
Trying to tone up Cancel is dangerous. I'm sure the rationale behind the making of Cryptic Command was how underpowered the players perceived Cancel as. The truth is it isn't any more underpowered than Shock, Giant Growth or Ravenous Rats.
HotHit
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Pure simple and to the point. Sure dissipate is better. For Innistrad block, it was needed to be better, the spell being sent to the graveyard wasn't a real answer due to Innistrad's graveyard being about as effective as Yugioh's.
In Return to Ravnica, the Golgari and Orzhov can't be quite as powerful because otherwise they'd combine with Innistrad to make the graveyard completely meaningless. This means that dissipate, while important due to Innistrad block, is completely unnecessary power for the vs reanimator matchup once Dissipate rotates out.
I'm saying this as a Gruul player. I don't do reanimator tactics, the only counterspell I use is Guttural Instinct. Cancel might not be the best, but it's what standard currently needs.
I feel like this would be fairly costed at for this effect. At this really should have some upside, like Dissipate, Spell Crumple/Hinder, Stoic Rebuttal, or Forbid. As it is though, Cancel is just frustratingly underpowered.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I bet Fox executives have a copy of this card in their desks just in case Matt Groening wants to make a new season of Futurama.
Zylo-
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
A hard counter for 3 is more fair than 2cmc. Yes, it's great when you can counter for 1 or 2, but in modern right now, there are very limited options for a hard counter at 2, and they have draw backs. 1 Mana cost and it's use is very situational...
Mid to late game, when there is 6 or more mana on the board... I like seeing a hard counter like cancel in my hand instead of mana leak when many spells cost 1 - 3 mana and are easily paid for... Although Cryptic Command is the mid to late game go to counter, sometimes I like to fit 1 or 2 cancels in the deck list.
Solstice-273.15
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm surprised Stoic Rebuttal isn't mentioned more often in comparison to this card. Dissipate is a more obvious choice, but Stoic is probably my favorite since I run a mono blue artifact deck with some frequency.
Taudisban
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Counterspell really isn't overpowered. It still has a huge color cost and three mana is too much in a world where you can sneak a flying 3/2 under the original.
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Just make it cost 2U already.. it would still be fair and then people would actually be pleased with it and it would see masses of play.
F33N1X
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I actually don't REALLY mind this card. Wizards has made it pretty clear that only 2 blue mana for a counterspell is too cheap, so I've thought of something, utilizing scry, since they're bringing that back in Theros. Maybe they could make it cost 2 blue, then your opponent gets to scry 1. Since letting them draw a card would be a bit too much, I feel like simply scrying 1 doesn't give your opponent as much of a card advantage. Either that, or keep the same cost, and allow you to scry 1. Drawing a whole card would be too much for either and the card would be either too good or too awful, but I feel like scry 1 is just enough.
Syrtees
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's supposed to be a staple counter deck piece. Though it does a very poor job of it.....
But, in its own way it's almost comforting to have there. It's something for WotC to improve off of. My personal favorite of said improvements is Counterflux.
FlingIt
★☆☆☆☆ (1.3/5.0)(3 votes)
This Card Sucks. Every conterspell ever is better.
SirLibraryEater
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This may be a sucky card, but dat text box tho.
Enelysios
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Not sure why there is still so much hate for this card.No, it's not great; yes, counterspell is cheaper; yes, other counterspells have advantages at , that doesn't make cancel a useless card. You know why we have cancel? Because cheap counterspells are not liked by most players. They make the game less interactive, its a bad thing for the game. Its exactly the same reason we don't see Sinkhole or even Stone Rain anymore, land destruction is another effect that makes games less interactive. They can add additional effects to 3CMC counterspells or 4CMC land destruction because the higher cost prevents them from being used for complete lockdown, the effect is safe even if you get small bonuses.
Printing a baseline card like this is not a bad thing, strictly worse cards like this won't see play in formats where alternatives are legal, but they fill a need in limited and honestly there are worse cards for a budget deck than Cancel or Shock. Its not like blue is hurting in any format.
Briaronfire
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Blue players are so spoiled. 3 cmc for a hard counter and all they do is ***.
I once used this to counter my friends Mana Leak He laughed I still can't work out why...
omni8000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I know counterspell is too powerful for most coresets, but strictly worse cards are so lame. Would it kill you to make a cancel that costs {2}{U}? It would be worse than counterspell, but there would be reasons you might conceivably use it over counterspell in a non monoblue deck
I won't say this card is unplayable. I will say there's no reason to ever play it.
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd settle for a variant with the same cost, but that cost {1} "less" to cast if you played it during your turn
purplebackpack89
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Memo to WotC: Reprint Counterspell in a Core Set.
OlvynChuru
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is so much better than Spell Blast. I'm guessing that they reprinted Spell Blast to help teach new players how X costs work.
I like Cancel and I understand why they don't want to bring back Counterspell. However, I would really like it if they could replace Cancel with a version that costs
Comments (32)
After Dissipate cycles out I can see this getting a home in control decks that don't have red mana for Counterflux, although Syncopate is another viable option. How about you just go ahead and run both, okay? :)
4/5
Trying to tone up Cancel is dangerous. I'm sure the rationale behind the making of Cryptic Command was how underpowered the players perceived Cancel as. The truth is it isn't any more underpowered than Shock, Giant Growth or Ravenous Rats.
In Return to Ravnica, the Golgari and Orzhov can't be quite as powerful because otherwise they'd combine with Innistrad to make the graveyard completely meaningless. This means that dissipate, while important due to Innistrad block, is completely unnecessary power for the
I'm saying this as a Gruul player. I don't do reanimator tactics, the only counterspell I use is Guttural Instinct. Cancel might not be the best, but it's what standard currently needs.
I feel like this would be fairly costed at
Mid to late game, when there is 6 or more mana on the board... I like seeing a hard counter like cancel in my hand instead of mana leak when many spells cost 1 - 3 mana and are easily paid for... Although Cryptic Command is the mid to late game go to counter, sometimes I like to fit 1 or 2 cancels in the deck list.
Dissipate is a more obvious choice, but Stoic is probably my favorite since I run a mono blue artifact deck with some frequency.
Though it does a very poor job of it.....
But, in its own way it's almost comforting to have there. It's something for WotC to improve off of. My personal favorite of said improvements is Counterflux.
Printing a baseline card like this is not a bad thing, strictly worse cards like this won't see play in formats where alternatives are legal, but they fill a need in limited and honestly there are worse cards for a budget deck than Cancel or Shock. Its not like blue is hurting in any format.
that is all.
PS. why is this in both RtR and m14?
He laughed
I still can't work out why...
I won't say this card is unplayable. I will say there's no reason to ever play it.
I like Cancel and I understand why they don't want to bring back Counterspell. However, I would really like it if they could replace Cancel with a version that costs