Could be nearly unstoppable, with a little card drawing. I used to play them, but I had to leave them because it can be very annoying for the opponent in a casual match... However probably one of the most powerful counterspell ever! And my favorite, too! 5/5
stygimoloch
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(9 votes)
Don't let the apparent card disadvantage fool you - this is very, very powerful. But incredibly obnoxious. I've seen people voluntarily forfeit matches a good few times just because they were just getting frustrated and bored by the opponent Forbidding everything they tried to do.
On the whole, I'm fairly glad that this level of uninteractive countermagic is no longer a part of the game. It's dull, it slows down games and there's often no skill to playing it, just a Pavlovian mentality of "Counter that. Counter that. Counter that." "But it was just a 1/1!" "I don't care, I'm still countering it."
Which isn't to say Forbid is a bad card, it CAN be used well, but I wasn't sorry when it left the majority of formats.
Raveknight
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
My favorite counterspell ever printed...
I totaly agree with you stygimotoch... you only need to see one in a game to produce the very same effect you speak of wich is "counter everything" your opponent ever tries to do coupled with cards like howling mine you could shut down almost any deck no matter how good with little to no skill at the game what-so-ever for the same reasons I'm not sad to see it gone but its for those reasons I also think it's the mostpowerfull countermagic the game ever produced on par with force of will just becuase of replayability alone
nammertime
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(5 votes)
This is better than Cancel. Having to play against someone using this and buying it back over and over is about the worst thing to go through in a game. I'd rather have all my lands destroyed. That said, this card is a very powerful counterspell.
DarthYoshi888
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Should've been a Rare...quite possibly the most useful/annoying counterspell card in the entire game, depending entirely on whether you're on the receiving end of it.
oh hey, what's up cancel? what's that? forbid makes you look underpowered? ha ha ha, oh, cancel, funny you should bring that up...
Cyberium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A very powerful counterspell and the buyback is barely a disadvantage, given that blue has more ways to draw cards. If you have more than one copies, feel free to cast it without buyback.
XTwistedsoulX
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(4 votes)
I always thought counter decks still required skill.... you have to kill your opponent too and look out for evil counter bypassing stuff. Meh... whatever guys. Have your opinions.
niallcmurray86
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I agree Twistedsoul, counter decks are no easy decks to make. Sure you can just counter everything an opponent plays, but then what? You have to have a way to win other than getting your wussy opponent to give up. Forbid is for that kind of countermagic player, the kind that doesn't just fill a deck with like 28 counters but rather finds a way to lock you down with a solid strategy and without being cheap.
Snafinturtle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@A3Kitsune: in complete agreement with the Squee, Goblin Nabobs, they make this card relatively costless (outside mana) unless your opponent's running Megrim or Liliana's Caress
fun times, I enjoy seeing tears in my opponents eyes, it lets me know I'm doing a good job!
Imperialstonedragon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
you all talk big of this card but can u give examples of its power?
Sothasil
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Who thought the "intellectual" bookworm blue mages could be so flexible?
SAllison87
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
An excellent counter, I combo it with Wonder and Deep A n a lysis to curb the card disadvantage. Even without the buyback, you have a hard counter for 3, which ain't too shabby.
Thanato5
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Very powerful counterspell... Really one of the best.
Forbid is hilarious in a Madness deck. You can potentially discard-cheat a Big Game Hunter or a Basking Rootwalla into play, or even plop down a surprise Brain Gorgers. Another fun card to pair with this is Circular Logic, though it's sort of redundant.
I tried building a deck with four Forbid, four Foil, and four Life from the Loam to recover discarded lands. It wasn't tournament quality, but it was fun to play. I think it might work better with Crucible of Worlds replacing Loam.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When playing EDH Blue, why WOULDN'T you include this along side (or replacing) Cancel? It's like the Stoic Rebuttal situation that even though you may not use it's other effect, you may as well because it's not a negative bonus.
When you're in early game and really need to counter a decent amount of key cards, sure, you may discard a few cards, but at least you still have yourself a hard counter.
Anathame
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
@face-fister
tl;dr
DarthParallax
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(12 votes)
oh, no! It's FORBID, THE EXODUS ONE! =O
(I am hoping this card will get a reprint, magnifying how funny this comment is tenfold. Until then, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans will still get it ;)
RunedServitor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What isn't strictly better than Cancel these days?
NoobOfLore
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Compared to force of will... It's not that good, but there are some parallels.
Paladin85
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Force of Will is almost impossible to reuse without another card but it can bail you out when you have no mana
This one, is just plain annoying once someone finds a way to make good use of the buyback cost. Its an early version of Isochron Scepter, except most decks can't 'remove' forbid unlke the Scepter
5/5 because seeing this getting replayed over and over is just as bad as Capsize
face-fister
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Forbidding you from having a smooth ride
atemu1234
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Strictly better than Cancel. That summarizes half the comment on the page. On another note, goes well with Damia, Sage of Stone.
nunyaJs
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Kicks the nuts off of Cancel.
@DacenOctavio: and all of them play second fidldle to othercards.
One of the most broken counterspells ever printed.
5/5
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY GLOWSTICK
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You obviously need to be drawing 3 cards a turn to make this lock something.
Enelysios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the best counterspells in the game, but for a different reason from most of the other champs. Force of WIll, Mental Misstep and Daze can be played with no mana; keeping you safe in legacy. Spell Pierce and Spell Snare are cheap and effective. Mana Drain and Cryptic Command are played for additional effects, giving you advantage over your opponent.
Only Counterbalance and Forbid are played for their ability to be reused. This is terrible; nothing is worse than having everything countered by your opponent. It is bad for the game of magic. It makes the game less interactive.
That said, this card is very very good. I am sorry to everyone I have played it on.
Lazrbeams
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's really only good in Casual and EDH, in other 60-card formats, the card disadvantage is too much to buy back most of the time, leaving you with a cancel. In any of the 60 card formats it's in, having a Cancel in hand is a bad place to be.
If you just use this to counter two spells for three cards, it's still pretty good. There's no need to dream of countering every single one of their spells. Just use it until the card disadvantage becomes too great.
Comments (37)
5/5
On the whole, I'm fairly glad that this level of uninteractive countermagic is no longer a part of the game. It's dull, it slows down games and there's often no skill to playing it, just a Pavlovian mentality of "Counter that. Counter that. Counter that." "But it was just a 1/1!" "I don't care, I'm still countering it."
Which isn't to say Forbid is a bad card, it CAN be used well, but I wasn't sorry when it left the majority of formats.
I totaly agree with you stygimotoch... you only need to see one in a game to produce the very same effect you speak of wich is "counter everything" your opponent ever tries to do coupled with cards like howling mine you could shut down almost any deck no matter how good with little to no skill at the game what-so-ever for the same reasons I'm not sad to see it gone but its for those reasons I also think it's the mostpowerfull countermagic the game ever produced on par with force of will just becuase of replayability alone
that or Leyline of the Void, but that tends to end a lot of decks anyway :/
I tried building a deck with four Forbid, four Foil, and four Life from the Loam to recover discarded lands. It wasn't tournament quality, but it was fun to play. I think it might work better with Crucible of Worlds replacing Loam.
It's like the Stoic Rebuttal situation that even though you may not use it's other effect, you may as well because it's not a negative bonus.
When you're in early game and really need to counter a decent amount of key cards, sure, you may discard a few cards, but at least you still have yourself a hard counter.
tl;dr
(I am hoping this card will get a reprint, magnifying how funny this comment is tenfold. Until then, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans will still get it ;)
It's not that good, but there are some parallels.
This one, is just plain annoying once someone finds a way to make good use of the buyback cost. Its an early version of Isochron Scepter, except most decks can't 'remove' forbid unlke the Scepter
5/5 because seeing this getting replayed over and over is just as bad as Capsize
@DacenOctavio: and all of them play second fidldle to other cards.
That is after you break Meditate with Seedborn Muse.
@DarthParallax I see what you did there.
Reminds me of the government; taxing the crap out of you, then throwing those taxes away just to keep you from doing what you want to do.
5/5
Only Counterbalance and Forbid are played for their ability to be reused. This is terrible; nothing is worse than having everything countered by your opponent. It is bad for the game of magic. It makes the game less interactive.
That said, this card is very very good. I am sorry to everyone I have played it on.
That being said, works great with card-advantage generals, like zedruu, the greathearted, damia, sage of stone, Edric, spymaster of Trest, and azami, lady of scrolls. Forms a soft lock that's very tough to escape.