The Counterspell Conundrum: Rethinking Removal

Counterspells are crucial in cEDH. That might be the the understatement of the century, but there is a quite apparent hole in their protection, and it's not so obvious at first. Most counterspells in cEDH have a very important distinction: "noncreature." This allows creatures to go widely unchecked in the format for the most part, which makes answering threats that arise much more of a head-scratcher. I think this stipulation for those of us blue mages out there poses two very important questions in two different directions, one of threat assessment and one of deckbuilding. Having a good understanding of both is of the utmost importance for success in the current meta. 

When to Counter

The question here lies in what I'd like to call the time-threat gradient, or to be put more simply: what needs to be answered at what time. The number of counterspells most decks have access to that answer creatures is fairly limited; most blue lists in the ecosystem only bring Force of Will, Mana Drain, and Pact of Negation to the table, which are also pulling the double duty that most counterspells in the format must pull: a) disrupting spell-based win conditions, a la Ad Naus and Breach, or b) defending one's own line to victory. These roles that counterspells play are all pivotal, so when do we use them to stop creatures?

That question lies within our gradient, so what are some common offenders that can truly only be stopped on the stack? The most obvious of these are the dastardly duo of Dockside Extortionist and Thassa's Oracle. In extremely limited situations, these cards can be dealt with once they've resolved, but these types of creatures are threatening, and removing them from the battlefield once they've resolved doesn't accomplish anything.

The presence of these types of threats in the game pressures us into saving this kind of interaction for those threats and those threats alone. I don't believe that line of reasoning is incorrect, however, for these threats can only be stopped in that capacity, which leads to the "uncounterability" of any other creature in the format, as, if you dump a Force of Will on a Thrasios, you won't have one for the Thassa's Oracle. The access that players have to traditional spot removal is also similarly low, but if you let that Thrasios stick around you'll get drowned out in card advantage that will win the game. 

Window of Interaction

Our next key lesson in Threat Assessment is what timer does the threat present? In our Thrasios example, Thrasios represents a relatively slow timer. Curbing it early prevents advantage from accumulating, but the rate it accumulates said advantage is relatively slow on most board states. These slow timer cards have a very particular window of interaction: if they're present for too long, the value they accumulate makes the tempo loss of their removal significantly less painful for your opponent. Removing these types of threats is important nonetheless. 

As time progresses, certain cards present this snowball-style effect, but what about cards in the in-between frames? In other words, cards that need to be answered within the same turn of resolution. These cards feel tricky to beat but are entirely stoppable by removal if you're aware of when your window is. You don't need to use a counterspell on something like a Glint-Horn Buccaneer or Winota, for example. Knowing these key points against common threats in the format is crucial to developing good packages for answering said threats. 

Bolt the Bird

Bolt the Bird is a common phrase anthemed throughout Magic: the Gathering's history, and I believe it's especially true in cEDH. The format is geared towards value pieces, like Esper Sentinel and Faerie Mastermind, and even the best deck in the format is rocking two value pieces in the zone. These advantage pieces are the difference between winning and losing games, and as much as you need to hold up counterspells for cards that disrupt your win, using removal to put your opponent off-tempo is a line of play I don't believe we're taking often enough in cEDH. Bolt the Bird. The free cards that, say, a Tymna accumulates during the course of a game could absolutely be the difference between a win and a loss for the Blue Farm player.

In a format where card advantage is king and is a large determiner in who wins and who loses, preventing your opponents from generating it will often be in your favor. There are times where you will want your opponents to hold onto these pieces, but "the political excuse," as I like to call it, is dangerous. That card advantage may be leveraged against you later on, so it's important to have good judgment on these situations (easier said than done), but remember that removing an opponent's card advantage engine even after it has spiraled out of control is an option. Do not get caught up in the sunk cost fallacy to kill that Kraum!

Sometimes the Best Answer is to Not Answer*

Now this does sound counterintuitive considering my previous rhetoric, but I do mean this with a heavy asterisk. Iterating this point is best done with a few case by case examples. Say you're playing Tivit and your opponent is playing some sort of Malcolm list and there's a Collector Ouphe out. When do you remove the Collector Ouphe? Yes, this card is punishing you, but it's also punishing one of your opponents. I'd say you don't remove the Ouphe until you're ready to present a win; the hurt to your advantage stings, but it's also passively preventing your opponent from running away with the game and disabling their primary win as well.

These types of situations rise quite frequently with these types of stax pieces your opponents may use against you, your Drannith Magistrates and so forth. In many situations it's beneficial to bide your time against these and remove them at the moment of most convenience so you can passively benefit from the disruption they bring to the table. If your list is capable of taking great advantage from these stalemates you will frequently default to this gameplay and kind of reasoning. 

Make Room

Most lists in this day and age of the meta feel super airtight, so making room for interacting with one of the most common card types you'll encounter (as every deck has at least one creature) is important, so how do we make room for creature removal? If your list doesn't have the slots, have you considered looking at your land package? I'm not suggesting cutting lands (despite the fact that both of my primary cEDH lists sit at a comfortable 26 and 27). You have many utility land options that just so happen to beat creatures, and many players have caught onto this with Otawara's prominence, but it's not the sole option for this job. The first of these such effects I'll discuss is Cabal Pit and Barbarian Ring, as they have the same list of targets. The short list on these cards is Magda, Faerie Mastermind, Esper Sentinel, Malcolm, Tymna, Kiki-Jiki, Dark Confidant, Collector Ouphe, Najeela, Dauthi Voidwalker, Opposition Agent, and the new kid on the block, Orcish Bowmasters. That's a pretty relevant list, and these are untapped lands that do this.

The only stipulation being you achieve threshold, which isn't much of a task in your average cEDH game. Next up to bat, let's talk about Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire. Not enough people are playing this card, and it maddens me. Yes, only killing attackers and blockers is a stipulation, for sure, but you know what creatures are often attacking/blocking? Tymna, Kraum, Najeela, and Winota, an all-star cast of targets. Now, that also includes all our aforementioned targets if they ever wind up attacking, which is not uncommon (cough cough Blue Farm.) The last of these land removal spells I'd like to mention is Shatterskull Smashing: I have had and have seen incredible success with this card in the late game. It often ends up performing like a one-sided board wipe in a land slot. It wipes away any number of targets that are bothering you, not unlike a mana-intensive Fire Covenant; if your list achieves the type of mana this card facilitates, run it. 

Nuts and Bolts (Brewing Better)

So what if you do have the slots? What creature interaction comes first? I'm not going to argue with the classics here: play your Paths, Swords, Snuff Outs, Chain of Vapors, Bolts, and Rollicks, although most lists in the format only end up settling on two of the silver bullets in their lists when they should be running more. If you're past the classics, where do you go? It ultimately depends on what you are primarily trying to answer. Knowledge is power in cEDH, and correctly identifying what targets your removal slots are for is huge. When in doubt, cards with a wider net are always good. Abrupt Decay, Assassin's Trophy, Rushing River, and Soul Partition have the flexibility of hitting noncreature threats as well, which is a nice upside, but in a world where your counterspells hit those targets, I don't think this flexibility is as necessary, or we wouldn't be having this discussion as primarily creatures need to be interacted with more often. The two cards that come most to mind as being unrepresented in the field are Fatal Push and Solitude; as far as removal options go these cards put in work.

Let's start with Fatal Push, which I much prefer to Cut Down. I believe the two have a fairly similar list of targets with each having a few the other can't hit, and getting Revolt on Fatal Push in a format with fetchlands and Treasure activations is trivial. The notable target in Fatal Push's favor being Winota, but it hits a few other more fringe targets, such as Grolnok, Kess, and Thalia and The Gitrog Monster, but first and foremost it kills the Anti-Hero of cEDH. Cut Down can't claim to have such a threatening target under its belt that Fatal Push doesn't also answer.

Next, Solitude is a free piece of removal, which is absurd, and additionally is a creature so it's harder to hit with a counterspell. It is a five-cost, so it does hurt when you rip it off of Ad Naus, but in a stalemate game, it's a lifelink attacker, so it could help make an Ad Naus attempt more viable in a long game. That being said, the idea of a free removal spell that's hard to counter is huge, and I think more decks need to be looking at this card.

Answering the Hard Questions (More "Counterspells...?")

I'm going to bring it back around here and challenge you to ask yourself if you should run more counterspells, like ones that specifically hit creatures, or more cards that work in such a way they can kill something with an awkward interaction window, like an Opposition Agent that's been flashed in in response to a tutor. What cards fill this weirdly specific roll that aren't traditionally ended up in 99s or 98s, for that matter. The original Counterspell does find itself working in this role, but the mana cost on it is awkward for a majority of decks present in the format. A lot of people have been finding success with Dress Down, and as far as answers to these types of threats go, I think it is a stellar answer. Turning off ETBs or an Opposition Agent for the turn is huge. It also cantrips! Removal that replaces itself is really big, and the card can often end up performing like a weird Silence.

What about something with a little more Subtlety. Subtlety is a great free creature counterspell. Creature, so it's hard to interact with? Check. Counters creatures? Check. Replaces draws sometimes to totally tempo your opponents? Also check. I do believe Subtlety has limited application within the format, but if you often find yourself strapped with a way to deal with creatures on the stack, it's an excellent option.

The last card I will discuss today is Force of Despair; it doesn't work against the Docksides and Thoracles of the world, but it also works really well against other odd stack-based interactions, so it totally applies here. Most importantly, it totally slams on Tivit, which is HUGE. You can use it to stop Twincaster wins or Kiki-Combos; it's a totally absurd Commander card, and a wise Geth player once killed a Kediss and a Malcolm that I had resolved in the same turn and totally owned me.

I lied: there is one last card in fact I'd like to bring up, and that's the new Stern Scolding. Every time I think of this card I think of another threat it totally thwarts. I'm very excited to see how the card holds up in practice.

Wrap Up

These are just some of my thoughts on the dynamic of counterspells, removal, and creatures in the format. Did I miss any creatures that are totally unanswerable? Any back-breaking blow-outs you can perform with Force of Despair? Let us know in the comments below!