Pointed Discussion

a 'fixed' force of will?

This isn't very good for a simple reason. It needs to be the EXACT Converted Mana Cost (CMC). If it was Counter target spell if it's converted mana cost is X OR LESS; then it would be pretty awesome. The fact that you need to have the exact CMC is different and too specific. Force of will is superior to this for that reason.

If this card would say "X or less" it would arguably be almost more powerful than Force of Will. They decided to require the exact same mana cost for a reason. Even giving the option to counter a spel which has a CMC of one more or less would have made this spell much more powerful.

this isn't very good for a simple reason. It was in the kamigawa block

X or less isn't even the problem, it's "Exile a blue card" that is the problem. This could see use in legacy if it was "exile a card, counter target spell equal the the exiled cards CMC" because most people only uses CMC's of 0/1/2/3 in legacy. Even that wouldn't make it better than a force, but at least then it would have functionality and be usable outside of blue.

On second thought. That's a bad idea. It would just give all legacy decks the ability to run counters.

Yep, the whole kamigawa block is just bad. Extreme mana costs is my main problem, then followed by a decrease in power compared to the previous block(mirrodin) and next block (ravnica). Don't get me wrong, it has some worthy cards... but then again every block does but it's just that kamigawa has more worst cards than good ones. The only card worth mentioning is Umezawa's Jitte.
Wizards ***ed up ninjas... how da *** do you do that? I regret trading my two Lord of Atlantis out of the crappy 100 rares for this card. This card was talked a lot back then, now it's like a horrible man's spell blast.

If a ninja came to my house, i would tell it to throw a shuriken at this card while i toss it up in the air.

I really liked this card - if only for the nerdy moments of "6-mana spell? Gotcha!" Sure you're down a card, but if you're protecting your life total or Jushi Apprentice with this you had all the time in the world to get the extra cards back.

I remember having a playset of all five Shoals, and having a deck for every one of them. Except Shining Shoal, that is - while one of the more powerful ones, the effect was SO uncool. But being able to react while tapped out is worth about one card - and that's why Coldsnap's pitch-two cycle was such a huge failure.

The poor man's Force of Will

If it is converted mana cost is X or less, it would be better than force of will.
No life payment, most likely cheaper to pay the mana cost, since most of the spells in Legacy is less than 4, and cmc X or less is not THAT huge of a problem.
This, however, is still is very powerful counterspell. It is unfair to say that this card is bad just by comparing it to Force of Will, one of the best counterspell printed in Magic history.

People seem to be all hung up on this card. "Oh, it's a bad Force of Will. Oh, it'll never be *insert counter here*. Waaah, it's a Kamigawa card, it sucks."

Come on people. It's right there in front of you! Any counter - ANY COUNTER - that you can cast while tapped out is good. If you know your opponent runs Disrupting Shoal, you're going to be more cautious about your plays from there on out. And if you're the one using the Shoal, that's exactly the kind of feeling you want to instill in your opponent.

It's no Force of Will, however with the new Modern format it's almost as playable. It's almost a for gone conclusion that this card will see play and folks will eventually catch on to what it has to offer. Heck If the recent price spikes are any indication people are starting to already.

4 months ago, this was .10 tickets. Now, it's 3.75 tickets. Because Modern is really that desperate for countermagic.

Question: Could you splice the thing you discarded into this? I doubt you can, but that'd be pretty interesting.

Still, as a platform for Arcane shenanigans, this card is pretty handy. Potentially counter target spell, and free splicing? It's no Force of Will to be sure, but I like it. It's a handy spell.

DoragonShinzui: Yes you can, Splicing is done as you choose the modes for the spell, but the exiling is done later when you pay the cost.

Remember: All Crazy Teenagers Have Tried Magic Pills =
Announce spell
Choose modes
Target
How (divide damage of things like Arc Lightning)
Total cost
Mana (you may play mana abilities)
Pay cost

Use it with Misthollow Griffin in your hand and a smile in your face.

Its very restrictive for a reason. Its hard to use as printed but countering something while you have no mana available is not something you want blue to be able to do without heavy restrictions.