Published on the now defunct Grimmoire.com, October 6, 2002
Feeling Blue: Is Blue Countermagic Still Viable in Standard?
by Ron Vitale
If I had to pick my favorite color in Magic, it would be, hands-down, Blue. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing my opponent’s disappointment as I tap two islands and cast a Counterspell that stops her from playing a game winning spell. Yet with Onslaught cards about to rotate into Standard, I can’t help but wonder: How will my favorite color fare? To be perfectly honest, I’m a bit concerned about the lack of good countermagic in the new Standard environment. In reviewing Seventh Edition and Odyssey block cards, Counterspell, Force Spike, Memory Lapse, Remove Soul, Circular Logic, Envelope, Syncopate, Rites of Refusal, Liquify, Grip of Amnesia, Laquatus’ Disdain, and Fervent Denial are the only cards Players have to choose from, and many of these have limited uses or are extremely expensive to cast. Wizards’ R&D appear to be pushing Players away from strong countermagic.
Long gone are the days of Force of Will and Dissipate. And starting November 1st, Undermine and Absorb will rotate out of the Standard environment. Important countermagic is leaving and what’s replacing it? I’m not impressed with Onslaught’s new crop of counterspells: Complicate, Discombobulate, Ixidor’s Will, and Psychic Trance. Out of the four of them, Complicate and Discombobulate will be the most effective. Certainly, Discombobulate can be an excellent spell (being able to look at and rearrange the top four cards in your library can be extremely useful), but its cost of 2 colorless and 2 Blue make it rather expensive. Even Complicate’s ability has only limited uses. Used best in the early game when an opponent lacks mana resources, Complicate’s cycling ability could help add card advantage for a Blue mage. But the choices involved in such a decision, can be more difficult than they appear. If given a choice of holding onto a Complicate and using it later to stop a bigger threat or using it as a pumped up Force Spike that allows you to draw a card, a Blue mage will need to weigh his choices wisely. Card advantage will help a Blue mage in the long run but not if she used a counter too early and now can’t stop a turn three Grinning Demon.
When I play Blue, the rule of thumb is, if I can’t bounce a threat, then I hold onto that counter. Any good Player is going to bait you with spells to test how many counters you have in your deck. And starting November 1st, the number of extremely effective counters could be few and far between.
Moving on to Ixidor’s Will, a tribal theme begins to emerge. If a Blue mage chooses to play a Wizard deck, then Ixidor’s Will might be extremely ffective. The problem is that your choices are going to be limited. You’re either going to be playing a Wizard deck or not. Those Blue mages who choose not to play with Wizards will have no use for this card. Although I suspect that better Wizard creatures will be available in the next two Onslaught block sets, that day is still far off. Blue mages need options now. November 1st will soon be upon us and what is a Blue mage to do?
Psychic Trance, the final Onslaught counterspell, offers little hope. Again, the Trance’s ability is wonderful, if you’re playing with Wizards. Will we see some Wizard decks? Yes, but the more important question is: Will we see tournament winning Wizard decks? That’s a question that only time will tell.
Granted, we can make some easy assumptions. The Opposition deck (U/G) will mutate and take a different form in the new Standard environment. But as long as Call of the Herd and Opposition remain in the block, I see no reason for players to ditch this formidable deck archetype. Along similar lines, the Psychatog deck is here to stay. That wacky looking Atog isn’t going anywhere. He’s helped too many people win tournaments. Similarly, Black control will modify itself and take the best black cards from Onslaught and strengthen itself.But let’s talk about an all Blue deck? Is that a viable option? I’m not 100% certain that it is. I am concerned that the counterspells available for the November 1st Standard environment are too weak. Potential for a Wizard deck exists, but I’ve not tried to test this theory out yet. Can a Wizard deck be built that will beat the other top archetypes in the new Standard environment? I do not know. Black’s control of the board is amazing. I can see several Players sneaking in one or two Grinning Demons to a Black control deck to add faster beatdown to help win the game faster. I don’t know if Blue’s countermagic will be able to hold off the Black control threat. And with Psychatog and Opposition decks, it’ll come down to who has the mana and counterspell available. An intelligent Blue mage playing against Psychatog will have plenty of opportunities to counter the Upheaval or Psychatog. Again, it comes down to luck: will the Blue mage have the counter in her hand? Chances are that there will be some difficult choices to be made for a Blue mage with the limited number of good counterspells.
And what about rogue decks? A revamped Sligh will most likely be back as well as tribal decks--I still believe that Elves are coming back with a vengeance. Pack in several elves (Wellwishers and Heedless Ones) and a Green mage can have a simple stompy deck. From a historical erspective, Blue decks tend to have a difficult time in countering all the threats that a Green mage can drop on the table. The threats that I can’t predict are what worry me. The old Blue Skies deck of the past can’t be recreated in this environment. There are no spells that can counter by pitching a blue card or throwing islands back into your hand so I doubt that an all Blue deck will be powerful enough to win a tournament.
My honest prediction is that Blue will be best used as a splash color. Either Blue/Black, Blue/Green, or Blue/White appear to make the best color combinations. I’m not certain that the Standard counterspells can hold their own in a match against a power Standard deck. Maybe someone can convince me otherwise, but until that time, I’m going to continue pairing Blue with another color rather than building a solid color Blue deck. Anyone who thinks they have built a winning New Standard mono Blue deck should feel free to contact me.
Feeling Blue: Is Blue Countermagic Still Viable in Standard?
by Ron Vitale
If I had to pick my favorite color in Magic, it would be, hands-down, Blue. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing my opponent’s disappointment as I tap two islands and cast a Counterspell that stops her from playing a game winning spell. Yet with Onslaught cards about to rotate into Standard, I can’t help but wonder: How will my favorite color fare? To be perfectly honest, I’m a bit concerned about the lack of good countermagic in the new Standard environment. In reviewing Seventh Edition and Odyssey block cards, Counterspell, Force Spike, Memory Lapse, Remove Soul, Circular Logic, Envelope, Syncopate, Rites of Refusal, Liquify, Grip of Amnesia, Laquatus’ Disdain, and Fervent Denial are the only cards Players have to choose from, and many of these have limited uses or are extremely expensive to cast. Wizards’ R&D appear to be pushing Players away from strong countermagic.
Long gone are the days of Force of Will and Dissipate. And starting November 1st, Undermine and Absorb will rotate out of the Standard environment. Important countermagic is leaving and what’s replacing it? I’m not impressed with Onslaught’s new crop of counterspells: Complicate, Discombobulate, Ixidor’s Will, and Psychic Trance. Out of the four of them, Complicate and Discombobulate will be the most effective. Certainly, Discombobulate can be an excellent spell (being able to look at and rearrange the top four cards in your library can be extremely useful), but its cost of 2 colorless and 2 Blue make it rather expensive. Even Complicate’s ability has only limited uses. Used best in the early game when an opponent lacks mana resources, Complicate’s cycling ability could help add card advantage for a Blue mage. But the choices involved in such a decision, can be more difficult than they appear. If given a choice of holding onto a Complicate and using it later to stop a bigger threat or using it as a pumped up Force Spike that allows you to draw a card, a Blue mage will need to weigh his choices wisely. Card advantage will help a Blue mage in the long run but not if she used a counter too early and now can’t stop a turn three Grinning Demon.
When I play Blue, the rule of thumb is, if I can’t bounce a threat, then I hold onto that counter. Any good Player is going to bait you with spells to test how many counters you have in your deck. And starting November 1st, the number of extremely effective counters could be few and far between.
Moving on to Ixidor’s Will, a tribal theme begins to emerge. If a Blue mage chooses to play a Wizard deck, then Ixidor’s Will might be extremely ffective. The problem is that your choices are going to be limited. You’re either going to be playing a Wizard deck or not. Those Blue mages who choose not to play with Wizards will have no use for this card. Although I suspect that better Wizard creatures will be available in the next two Onslaught block sets, that day is still far off. Blue mages need options now. November 1st will soon be upon us and what is a Blue mage to do?
Psychic Trance, the final Onslaught counterspell, offers little hope. Again, the Trance’s ability is wonderful, if you’re playing with Wizards. Will we see some Wizard decks? Yes, but the more important question is: Will we see tournament winning Wizard decks? That’s a question that only time will tell.
Granted, we can make some easy assumptions. The Opposition deck (U/G) will mutate and take a different form in the new Standard environment. But as long as Call of the Herd and Opposition remain in the block, I see no reason for players to ditch this formidable deck archetype. Along similar lines, the Psychatog deck is here to stay. That wacky looking Atog isn’t going anywhere. He’s helped too many people win tournaments. Similarly, Black control will modify itself and take the best black cards from Onslaught and strengthen itself.But let’s talk about an all Blue deck? Is that a viable option? I’m not 100% certain that it is. I am concerned that the counterspells available for the November 1st Standard environment are too weak. Potential for a Wizard deck exists, but I’ve not tried to test this theory out yet. Can a Wizard deck be built that will beat the other top archetypes in the new Standard environment? I do not know. Black’s control of the board is amazing. I can see several Players sneaking in one or two Grinning Demons to a Black control deck to add faster beatdown to help win the game faster. I don’t know if Blue’s countermagic will be able to hold off the Black control threat. And with Psychatog and Opposition decks, it’ll come down to who has the mana and counterspell available. An intelligent Blue mage playing against Psychatog will have plenty of opportunities to counter the Upheaval or Psychatog. Again, it comes down to luck: will the Blue mage have the counter in her hand? Chances are that there will be some difficult choices to be made for a Blue mage with the limited number of good counterspells.
And what about rogue decks? A revamped Sligh will most likely be back as well as tribal decks--I still believe that Elves are coming back with a vengeance. Pack in several elves (Wellwishers and Heedless Ones) and a Green mage can have a simple stompy deck. From a historical erspective, Blue decks tend to have a difficult time in countering all the threats that a Green mage can drop on the table. The threats that I can’t predict are what worry me. The old Blue Skies deck of the past can’t be recreated in this environment. There are no spells that can counter by pitching a blue card or throwing islands back into your hand so I doubt that an all Blue deck will be powerful enough to win a tournament.
My honest prediction is that Blue will be best used as a splash color. Either Blue/Black, Blue/Green, or Blue/White appear to make the best color combinations. I’m not certain that the Standard counterspells can hold their own in a match against a power Standard deck. Maybe someone can convince me otherwise, but until that time, I’m going to continue pairing Blue with another color rather than building a solid color Blue deck. Anyone who thinks they have built a winning New Standard mono Blue deck should feel free to contact me.
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