Nobody was happy when Cancel became the go-to
standard of countermagic over Counterspell.
Leaving up two mana is fairly easy, but leaving
up three just screams "I'm gonna counter your
spell"-- even more damaging if your opponent
doesn't cast a suitably-counterable spell, since
you could've used that mana to cast things of
your own. There's a reason Negate was so widely
used, and why people are so happy that Man Leak
is back. When it comes to countermagic, the jump
from two mana to three mana is a huge one.
Cancel's core set versions have no flavor text,
and the most concise rules text in recent sets.
It's also fairly powerful rules text - three
mana stops almost any spell, no questions asked.
The certainty it offers is balanced by having to
live on the edge, trying to predict when the
opponent is going to do something that will
wreck you unless you Cancel it; the high of
living to fight another day in some games is
balanced by the crushing low of your opponent
putting Gaea's Revenge on the stack in other
games. Play it early, play it often.
Welcome back readers today's card of the day is
Wizards replacement for Countersepll and while
its worse blue mages have begrudgingly accepted
it. In standard Negate, Mana Leak and Essence
Shatter have all seen some play as well as
Cancel. The ability to counter everything from
creatures to planeswalkers is a tempting
proposition, it has seen a lot of play and will
continue to. In extended there is Remand, Mana
Leak, Spellsnare, and handfuls of other powerful
cards. In eternal Force of Will and the original
counterspell exist this card will never see
play. In casual and multiplayer its more
expensive mana wise and casual players have
access to more powerful cards, its budget
friendly though and it counters anything no muss
no fuss. In limited its a good card if you need
it I wouldn't go overboard on counters. Overall
a powerful and versatile card that still pales
in comparison to its predecessors.
Today's card of the day is Cancel which is the
more expensive version of the old Counterspell,
but remains a useful card. Other options
exist including the in set Mana Leak, but for
three mana this can do the job later in the game
when excess mana may be available to the
opponent. Decent for Blue control, but for
the cost nothing amazing and there are other
options.
For Limited this can be used to knock out any
bomb your opponent has for the cost of keeping
three mana sources untapped with two needing to
be Blue. A fairly small price to pay, but
a bit difficult to manage early in the game.
Later on when the larger threats are more likely
to arrive having a Cancel or even threatening to
have a Cancel can keep an opponent guessing.
Supporting the presence of Cancel with at least
one Mana Leak can make for a very frustrating
game for any opponent psychologically.
Both cards being common allows it to be easy to
draft in Booster and fairly likely to have a few
in Sealed as well. Not a first choice or
even second, but further into the draft this is
the kind of card that can help fill out a deck
and keep your opponent from gaining a major
advantage.
