How do counter spells work in magic

You draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep. Arenson's Aura 3 Enchantment , Sacrifice an enchantment: Destroy target enchantment. Artifact Blast 1 Instant Counter target artifact spell. Assert Authority 7 Instant Affinity for artifacts This spell costs less to cast for each artifact you control. Autumn's Veil 1 Instant Spells you control can't be countered by blue or black spells this turn, and creatures you control can't be the targets of blue or black spells this turn.

Daybound If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn. Avoid Fate 1 Instant Counter target instant or Aura spell that targets a permanent you control. Banefire 1 Sorcery Banefire deals X damage to any target.

If X is 5 or more, this spell can't be countered and the damage can't be prevented. Bar the Gate 3 Instant Counter target creature or planeswalker spell. When the doom counter moves from "1," destroy target player and put that doom counter on "5. Shroud This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities. Boiling Earth 2 Sorcery Boiling Earth deals 1 damage to each creature your opponents control.

Bone to Ash 4 Instant Counter target creature spell. Draw a card. Bounty of the Hunt 5 Instant You may exile a green card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost. Broken Ambitions 1 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays. Broken Concentration 3 Instant Counter target spell. Bronze Guardian's power is equal to the number of artifacts you control. Burnout 2 Instant Counter target instant spell if it's blue. Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.

Calculated Dismissal 3 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays. Cancel 3 Instant Counter target spell. Censor 2 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays. Ceremonious Rejection 1 Instant Counter target colorless spell.

Sacrifice Cerulean Drake: Counter target spell that targets you. Chandra, Acolyte of Flame 3 Legendary Planeswalker — Chandra 4 0: Put a loyalty counter on each red planeswalker you control. If Chapel Shieldgeist would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.

Circular Logic 3 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays for each card in your graveyard. Clash of Wills 1 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays. Clockspinning 1 Instant Buyback You may pay an additional as you cast this spell. Closing Statement 5 Instant This spell costs less to cast during your end step.

Clutch of Currents 1 Sorcery Return target creature to its owner's hand. Coastal Discovery 4 Sorcery Draw two cards. Combust 2 Instant This spell can't be countered.

Combust deals 5 damage to target white or blue creature. The damage can't be prevented. Complicate 3 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays. Concerted Defense 1 Instant Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays plus an additional for each creature in your party. Condescend 1 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays. Confirm Suspicions 5 Instant Counter target spell.

Confound 2 Instant Counter target spell that targets a creature. Contagion 5 Instant You may pay 1 life and exile a black card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.

Contradict 5 Instant Counter target spell. Controvert 4 Instant Counter target spell. Convolute 3 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays. Corrupted Resolve 2 Instant Counter target spell if its controller is poisoned. Counterbore 5 Instant Counter target spell. Counterflux 3 Instant This spell can't be countered. Counter target spell you don't control. Counterlash 6 Instant Counter target spell. Countermand 4 Instant Counter target spell. Its controller mills four cards.

Counterspell 2 Instant Counter target spell. Countersquall 2 Instant Counter target noncreature spell. Its controller loses 2 life. Countervailing Winds 3 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays for each card in your graveyard.

Crush Dissent 4 Instant Counter target spell unless its controller pays. More than that, it's hard to "wait out" counterspells because of other things players can devote their mana towards. Maybe you didn't fall for their "Negate" and hope to have wasted their turn's mana, but then they just cast "Into the Story" for some instant-speed draws. Or, they utilize a creature with flash "Stunt Double" or a land's activated ability "Crawling Barrens".

Basically, even when players suspect a counterspell and play accordingly, it often fails to gain an advantage since foes can do other things with their mana. Another counterspell issue is their added bonuses. And I'm not talking about the resource advantage of playing a two-cost counter against a five-cost threat itself a big plus , but the actual bonuses many counterspells offer.

For instance, "Rewind" often legal in standard counters a spell for four mana, then untaps four lands, meaning no resources are effectively lost. Infamous "Cryptic Command" counters while tapping opposing permanents, drawing a card, or bouncing a creature, and "Sublime Epiphany" counters while drawing, creating a token creature copy, and bouncing a permanent!

Part of the great counterspell debate is their prominence in commander. Don't get me wrong, I love EDH, but the format favors control strategies. For instance, doubling traditional standard life from 20 to 40 gives blue far more time to stave off aggro and set up a win and conversely makes red struggle to earn an aggro kill.

Red aggro is often the best way to reliably out-speed control in standard, but when you give players that much more life in EDH, you lose some of the game's balance by making aggro unreliable. Also, older blue counterspells like "Mana Drain" which may never see standard play again are legal in commander, allowing a massive advantage if drawn.

One problem with counters are the fact that they're almost non-existent outside blue. Sure, red is king with direct damage, but black and white have similar destruction-based nukes, and green can inflict damage via creatures with cards like "Primal Might. Yet counterspells are firmly etched into blue, more color-locked than nearly any other game mechanic. And their relative obscurity belonging to one just color means there aren't as many checks to balance them, so when they do show up, options to thwart them are limited.

On a very basic level, red has damage and a little artifact destruction. Green has big creatures and mana ramp. But blue has tons of tools in addition to its counterspell dominance. Card draw being chief among them, but also milling, extra turns, bouncing creatures, preventing them from untapping, cloning them, artifact synergy, and more. Plus, many of blue's downsides weak creatures and weak removals for things already on the field are easily compensated for by mixing in a second color, often white or black.

And that's easier than ever with powerful multicolor lands like the Pathways. Looking at many of standard's bans over the past years reveals a disturbing blue-favoring trend, from "Growth Spiral" to "Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath," which highlights that blue is dangerous both with and without its primary mechanic. Counterspells decks fare better in best-of-one, because in best-of-3, players can dip into their sideboard for cheaper spells or specific anti-counterspell tactics.

But the thing is, most games just aren't best-of Whether you're playing a commander night at your local game shop, or a virtual duel in MTG Arena, bo1 is much more common. This explains why counterspells rarely win competitive tournaments, as they're not as strong in bo3 which official events tend to use , but play a prominent role in other arenas. Another huge advantage to counterspells is the fact that most simply work on too many card types. Yes, if you mean Enchantment cards being cast.

A spell is a card or copy of a card on the stack is a spell. This can only be done during the time the spell is being cast. A spell that is countered is put into the graveyard instead of doing its effect.

In Magic the Gathering, everything but land is a spell. So whether your opponent is playing a creature, instant, sorcery, enchantment, etc.