"May I have permission to cast this spell?"
"No, you may not: it's countered instead."
A counterspell is a way to interrupt an opponent's spell while they're in the act of casting it. A reaction, as it's phrased in the more socially well-adjusted game Dungeons and Dragons. Actually, in previous editions of DnD, countering a spell wasn't a spell itself, but rather a very complicated process involving taking a readied action, and waiting for your opponent to cast a spell. The MTG version of countermagic has elements of both, as there is a specific card (i.e. spell) that you need to have in your hand (i.e. prepared), but you also need to leave mana open to cast it (i.e. ready your action). While I said "a card" above, there are actually many dozens of cards featuring countermagic, but none so simple and elegant as the original set's Counterspell:
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| TOP: Limited, Ice Age, Fifth Edition, Tempest, Judge Gift Program BOTTOM: Mercadian Masques, Seventh Edition, Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra, Eternal Masters, Amonkhet Invocations |
Ahh, the Limited Edition Counterspell art by Mark Poole never fails to put a smile on my face. By contrast, the look on the face of that smug-looking Shakespearean-dressed fella (probably a Bard) is the perfect embodiment of magical impotence. And honestly, that's how it feels as a player to get countered a lot of the time. And I'm personally so against that type of play, that even though I use blue mana in many of my decks, I will usually only include one counterspell effect in each one. And it's only the actual card !Counterspell. And they all have unique art on them. I have Poole's art in my RUG Intet commander deck. #VorthosForever
As is the case with Stone Rain, my last card reviewed, the next time Counterspell was reprinted with new art was in Ice Age, and it too got some story related flavor text. This one introduces the nation of Kjeldor and its traitorous enemy Zur the Enchanter, all through a quote from Gustha Ebbasdotter. This particular royal mage has quotes on eight other cards, and I can only assume hers is the beautiful (and surprisingly scantily-clad considering it's an ice age) figure in the Ice Age art by L.A. Williams who's casting Counterspell. This more active portrayal mirrors the change in rules text from Limited (Counter target spell vs. Counters target spell). I play with this art in my UB Phenax Dimir mill commander deck.
In the Fifth Edition art by Hannibal King, we're back to seeing a goofy-looking Wizard look embarrassed when his spell fails. The Tempest art by Stephen Daniele follows the same format, even down to the positioning of the hands, except in Tempest, the foiled Wizard's wearing red instead of blue, you get a more clearly defined background of a brick wall, and we get a quote from one of the multiverse's most famous (and tragic) Wizards, Ertai the Adept himself. I use both of these arts in my one deck that runs multiple Counterspells - a UW extra turns deck starring Medomai and Magosi.
The next chronological printing of Counterspell - done by a mysterious artist known only as Dom! - didn't appear in any expansion set, but was included as part of a promotional program to provide gifts to Magic judges, who work at tournaments answering rules questions and resolving disputes. The art on this version, which is the first time Counterspell was printed with the errata'd card type Instant instead of the older Interrupt, shows what appears to be a woman blocking a spell that's coming her way, I think the opposite is happening in Gao Yan's art for the Mercadian Masques Counterspell, because why would you have a quote about a countered spell being pretty, and not show what it would look like? But I don't know WHAT is going on in Mark Romanoski's art for the Seventh Edition version. It looks like it would fit better on a card like Meditate (which, coincidentally, shows a visual representation of Ertai).
The art from the next edition of Counterspell was the only version printed on the new post-Eight Edition card frame, and it only appeared (in printed form) in the Duel Decks series (and later in the online-only Vintage Masters... and Duel Decks Anthology, but that's by definition the same). Seeing as this card was from the Duel Deck where Jace faced off against Chandra (just the second Duel Deck printed, out of the 20 now in existence), it makes sense that Jason Chan's art features the original Blue Planeswalker... and also a line of flavor text about him. The next version, for another entry in the Masters series, this one Eternal, with art by Zack Stella (and so far the only Counterspell to be printed with the new post-Magic 2015 card frame), shows a mage with eyes glowing blue that COULD be Jace, but there's no flavor text and very little context in which to tell.
The very most recent Counterspell also is by far the most visually unique of all. That's because the new art by Chase Stone is surrounded by the card frame for Amonkhet Invocations, a special group of extremely rare premium foil cards randomly inserted into booster packs of the Egyptian-inspired Amonkhet block. This specific run of the Masterpiece series received criticism for not being as well-defined as the two before it - Zendikar expeditions (lands) and Kaladesh inventions (artifacts) - but Counterspell is enough of an iconic card that I don't doubt it belongs in SOME sort of special best-of list.
That's it for the card that best embodies the nearly-uniquely Blue strategy. Join me next time for a look at a one of Green's favorite tricks in a card that appeared in Magic's most recent set, Naturalize.
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