Month: August 2022

Finding 15 counterspells not in blue is a little bit of a challenge. As such, I compiled the list for you! Get ready for 15 counterspells not in blue that you will love.

It should be noted that some of these counterspells don’t exactly counter but they can counter counterspells, or redirect target removal making them work effectively like a counterspell in the defensive aspect. Now, with that said let’s go over these 15 counterspells, not in blue.

Tibalt’s Trickery

The newest and premier counterspell. Able to counter any spell, this works fantastically as a red option that can be both offensive and defensive. While they may get something good, the chances that they get something better than what you are counterspelling is slim. Combine this with the ability to counter your own spell with the hopes to “draw” into something more relevant and you have a counterspell with additional benefits.

Lapse Of Certainty

White has counterspells. It’s amazing I know, and this is one that works similar to delay. Where it doesn’t necessarily remove the threat, but it does delay the threat. Giving you and the board 1 turn to find a solution. Which sometimes is all you need.

Imps Mischief

The only counterspell not in blue, but in black. Imp’s mischief is a weird one, able to redirect counterspells to target themselves or redirect removal to hit your opponents. This is the definitive Uno reverse card a person can play to throw people off their game. A great control option when playing mono-black.

Red Elemental Blast

The original counterspell not in blue. What is great about this one is even if you miss your chance to counter the spell, you can still destroy it! As long as it is still blue of course. Still, just about all my red decks have this card even if I run blue because no one expects an untapped mountain to counter their spell. 

Pyroblast

Second verse, same as the first. Pyroblast and red elemental blast are identical in just about every way. The only difference is pyroblast can target non-blue permanents and spells. It just doesn’t do anything to them. Still useful if you are needing a cast or target trigger.

Autumn’s Veil

An auto-include for green decks not in blue. Being less than a dollar makes this a fantastic counterspell if you find yourself against blue or black decks a lot. You can cast this preemptively to protect all your spells for the turn, or you can do it in response to a counterspell. Either way, this does a great job at playing the defensive role of a counterspell.

Veil of summer

The upgraded version of Autumn’s veil. This one allows you to draw a card to replace the effect, makes your spells uncounterable, and gives you hexproof. Making this the best “counterspell not in blue” for green. A definite choice to look at if you can afford the card.

Gutteral Response

Incredibly specific, but I have definitely been bamboozled by this card before. Costing a red or a green, guttural response is a solid choice for those who want more counterspell options or are going against mono-blue decks often. This can also hit things like pongify and blue sun zenith. Making this more than just for counterspells.

Rebuff The Wicked

My personal favorite counterspell not in blue. Rebuff the wicked is a white counterspell that just counters… as long as the spell is targeting a permanent you control. There is nothing more satisfying than playing something like Sythis and someone throws removal at your commander and you can counter it. The look on people’s faces is amazing and definitely makes this a note-worthy one.

Deflecting Swat

The most expensive counterspell not in blue. Free counterspells are amazing and a free redirect is incredible. Being able to do everything imp’s mischief does without the loss of life and for free, makes this a top-tier spell many would love to have. If you are ever needing a counterspell not in blue and have the money, this is definitely one to consider.

Silence

The only counterspell that does not redirect or counter, but man this is a good one. Casting this on your upkeep makes it to where all your spells can’t be countered. Casting this on an opponent’s upkeep makes it to where they can’t cast their spells. Effectively memory lapsing them. This puts in work and while it does not read like a counterspell, this effectively is a counterspell not in blue.

Mana Tithe

A popular counterspell, but really only noteworthy in high power games where mana gets tight, or for the early game to stop ramp. This is probably the weakest counterspell in commander as excessive mana is abundant, so its use is limited. That said it is a fan favorite because who doesn’t love saying “if only you had 1 more mana”.

Null Brooch

The all-in counterspell not in blue. Casting this one is a high-cost high reward. Once a turn you can stop any non-creature spell, throw in some untapping effects and you can use this multiple times. While it’s initial cost of losing your hand is steep, this can work in your favor if you are running a madness deck or graveyard deck. Effectively not losing these cards and getting a solid counterspell to thwart your opponents.

Bolt Bend 

Love big creatures? This is the counterspell for you. Working similarly to Deflecting Swat, this only casts 1 red if you control a creature with power 4 or greater. Making this a really great red spell if your commander has 4 or greater power. Etali decks love this as it works as a form of protection and is easy to have online. Definitely a choice to consider.

Ricochet Trap

The alternative version of bolt bend. While conditional to be going against a blue player, this is a solid redirect option for those that like bolt bend but don’t run creatures with power 4 or greater. Able to surprise opponents is always fun, but being able to say “you activated my trap card” is even better.

15 Counterspells Not In Blue: Conclusion.

There you go, 15 counterspells not in blue. Sure not all these straight-up counter, but you aren’t in blue so your options are limited. That said, each of these has their uses and are great options to have to stop counterspells or other forms of removal that will hurt your decks. Making these vital to make your deck consistent, and ultimately win more.

P.S. Looking to Commander better? Check out my guide on becoming a better player. It is filled with tons of resources to help improve your gameplay and be better than 80% of players!

I dare to say it, MTG’s Propaganda & Ghostly Prison suck. Don’t believe me? Let me prove it to you, and if by the end you still don’t believe me, then keep running it. Just keep what I said in mind if you start seeing the card’s faults.

Iconic as they are, MTG’s propaganda and ghostly prison suck because they fail to stop what they actually want to do; stop combat players.

What is the Goal of Propaganda/ Ghostly Prison in MTG?

To first prove to you that Ghostly Prison and Propaganda suck in MTG, we need to discuss what their goals are. 

Ghostly Prison and Propaganda’s goal is to stop your opponents from swinging at you to stop them from winning. 

To break that down further, these two cards are designed to stop combat players from going to combat.

And yes, against you it definitely stops players from attacking you…. At least at first glance.

The thing is Commander is broken into three stages: (1) Developing, (2) maintaining, and (3) winning. Let’s take a look at the actual effect is when you play a propaganda in MTG.

DEVELOPING: When a combat deck is developing they are not swinging creatures at players except for value. A propaganda effect does not stop them from swinging for value, just makes them less to swing value at YOU. After all, there are 2 other players not affected by a ghostly prison.

MAINTAINING: When a combat deck is maintaining their board, they are accruing value that develops a winning board by swinging stuff like Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor. Again this does not stop them from hitting the other 2 players. Moreover, your board can still be hit if they want to pay the mana or they can just use removal spells like Generous Gift to stop your board.

WINNING: At this point, a combat deck either has an army of creatures able to swing wide or a big creature to kill players. A ghostly prison incentivizes a go-wide strategy against the other two players first, but if they have a big creature then your ghostly prison does nothing. Even in the case of a go-wide strategy, if the combat player has a form of removal for your ghostly prison, then the card still does nothing, and they most likely had 4+ turns to find an answer. Meaning, you lose and the combat player wins.

What does Ghostly Prison/ Propaganda in MTG Actually Do

Stops incremental damage. That is what these two cards do, and incremental damage does not matter in most cases. 

Let me prove it to you. If you have 40+ life, you are still alive and can win. If you have 1 life, what can you still do? You can still win. 

Incremental damage, even if it is 39 points of damage, might as well be no damage at all in denying you the chance to win the game. 1 life does not stop you from comboing off, swinging wide yourself, or casting a board wipe. The only thing it does is make people nervous. 

Therefore, propaganda and ghostly prison suck in most cases. That said, there is one strategy where ghostly prison does not suck… let’s talk about it now.

When MTG’s Propaganda does not suck.

Propaganda does not suck in only one instance, where incremental damage is relevant. Now, some of you might be thinking I just spent the last x sentences talking about how these cards suck and incremental damage does not matter.

In most cases that is true. The reason being is that it does not stop you from winning. But there are a few game strategies, where incremental damage does stop you from winning. This is when you have a deck that cares about life totals.

In the case of life totals, aetherflux reservoir, ad nausuem, and fellidar sovereign are all cards that care about your life total being above a certain number. So, by deterring incremental damage, it helps protect your win cons. Much like destiny spinner prevents cards from being countered.

Now, just because these can work here, does not mean these should be used. After all, a counterspell, stax piece, removal, or even just a big creature can all do the same job as propaganda can in mtg. These can all stop threats that would hurt you. So, even in these cases, you should determine how relevant that card actually is for your deck.

Common Arguments rebutted 

Now, that we have addressed when propaganda in mtg does not suck. Let’s go over some common rebuttals that do not work. Tymna, & Enchantress decks. 

Tymna Decks

Stopping tymna from drawing a card is huge. 1 card turns into 2 cards which turns into 6 cards. So denying them an attack option is relevant. But, it is not as consequential as you think. 

The reason being the other ways to stop tymna, removal, creatures, or out-pacing the tymna player can make tymna’s card draw irrelevant. Throw in the option of notion thief and other similar cards and those cards will do a better job at stopping tymna draws than ghostly prison will ever do.

Meaning there are just more impactful cards than a propaganda effect in mtg. So those should be run over a ghostly prison effect. Especially when you consider you are putting this card in to stop 1 commander when you could put a card that stops all commanders instead.

Enchantress 

Enchantress does not play a lot of creatures and is thus susceptible to damage. Moreover, propaganda in mtg has synergy with enchantress and will allow me to draw cards. This may seem relevant but let’s go over when propaganda is good.

These effects cost 3 mana and will draw you one card. Meanwhile, you could play something like Settesan Champion, which can block and draw you more cards. Or some other control piece like cast out, and still stop the main threat from hurting you. 

The only card like propaganda that enchantress should consider running are solitary confinement and maybe sphere of resistance. These do a much better job than the other 2 effects and are much more relevant.

What To Do To Stop Go Wide Strategies?

Truth is a late-game propaganda does nothing to stop a combat player. At this point, a player has a developed board, their win-con online, and are able to present that to players. If no one has an answer to stop it, then that player wins. 

And, despite protests, MTG’s propaganda and ghostly prison is not an answer. It is a delayer. A ghostly prison does not stop that person from swinging out and killing the other two players. It does not stop them from having enough mana to swing their biggest creatures at you to kill you, and it definitely does not stop them from getting value from combat through creatures like toski.

All ghostly prison and propaganda do in mtg are let the opponent kill the other 2 first then kill you last, or use a piece of removal to hit you.

Making the goal of these cards, completely negated.

Then what should I do to stop combat players? There are two solutions to stop combat players: (1) Take propaganda out and put in a better from of removal/stax, or (2) outrace the combat player. 

If you do either one of these two solutions, you will find that your deck will not only function better, but you will win more games too.

Conclusion

As you can see, ghostly prison and propaganda in MTG fail to do what they are designed to do. Because of this, this card usually becomes a useless card in a majority of scenarios. Therefore, this should only be considered when you have a strategy that incremental damage ruins. Because of this, life loss strategies are the only time when mtg’s propaganda does not suck.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and look forward to seeing your replacements!