I think it's kind of sad that Force of Will
is the only member of the cycle of Alliances
"pitch cards" that some people remember. I was
around when they were originally released, and I
remember all five of them being used in casual
play at that time. They're all quite good, but
only Force of Will is worth more than $100 - and
I think it only got to be that way because of
Urza's Saga, because there were all of a sudden
things that you absolutely had to be able to
stop even when you didn't have lands in play and
hadn't taken a turn yet. In a sense, then, Force
of Will is a barometer for the play environment
around it. Sometimes it's just another card, and
other times there's no particular use or need
for it. And then there are those constructed
environments, and, occasionally, Commander
groups, where you're glad it's in any hand you
draw it in and it's not even the best card in
the format.
Today's card of the day is Force of Will which
is a five mana Blue instant that counters target
spell can be paid for with one life and exiling
a Blue card in your hand instead of the mana
cost. This is a very important card in the
formats that have the widest range of card sets
to pull from as it is one of the only ways to
stop turn one kills or other sudden win
conditions. The option to cast it with mana is a
nice option later in the game, but the value is
in casting it with zero mana which allows some
breathing room to play your own cards.
In a Limited format with this it is useful
for the mana preserving reasons of Constructed,
though without the first turn kill concern. The
two for one aspect is a notable drawback, but it
can easily save a game when an opponent tries to
play a key card and allows you to maintain tempo
with other spells until using it. The value
alone makes this an easy first pick in Booster
and is well worth including in Sealed when
running Blue, as even if the mana-free aspect
isn't used it is still useful in the middle to
late stages of the game.
Force of Will is one of the most ubiquitous
cards in the game. Why? It can stop almost
anything for the grand price of no mana. Have an
infinite mana combo to throw a Fireball at me?
Um, no. Gonna flash in a huge creature on my
turn? Um, no. Going to counter my big spell? Um,
no. As long as you have a blue card in hand and
aren't sitting precariously at 1 life, you hold
the ultimate trump card.
I doubt I need to go much more into the power of
Force of Will. If you play legacy, you already
know. If you don't play legacy, it doesn't
matter. While it does see a lot of play in
Commander, and is very useful there, the fact
that it's one card in 100 makes it much less of
a thing to worry about.
