Counterspell and its variants over time have become an important tool for mages of all stripes. They are a valuable part of the fabric of Magic, as they stop people from getting ornery. And sure, in some circles, they have a bad reputation, but having Magic without counters would be like having it without non-basic lands. Sure, you could do it with just the basics, but why? There’s a considerable value to counters.

So when I was looking at the Eldritch Moon spoiler, I was really in love with Summary Dismissal:

Because of how flexible this card can be, I think it could be a real hit for casual magi everywhere. It’s reliable, flexible, exile-able, and fun-able. And that’s what you want with a counter, right? Right!

So that got me thinking. What are the best casual counters out there?

Today I want to look at the Top Ten Casual Counters of all time.

What do I mean when I use the term "Casual Counter?" Well obviously any top ten Counterspell List would include Force of Will at the top. But Force isn't exactly a stalwart in multiplayer, Commander, or other areas. The formats are self-limiting, and no one wants to be on the wrong end of the card disadvantage of a FOW. Plus the Blue-only requirement for the pitch spell can be difficult to pay in a multicolored environment where you could have three colors rocking the deck. So this list is for more casual-friendly counters.

Now let's not confuse "Casual" with "Cheap." There are a lot of players of casual Magic who are comfortable investing the cash on expensive stuff. And that's fine. So Casual doesn't have to mean "Cancel", simply because it's cheap and plentiful. Nope, we have real counters here. These are my go-to counters when I make decks and projects for all sorts of kitchen table lovin'.

Obviously, some cards that are not on this list are going to be blatant additions for certain decks. Some decks need Fuel for the Cause and the Proliferate shenanigans that result from it. Some folks find the casual-friendly cards of Vex and Arcane Denial that make friends to be better than these options. A ramp-laden deck with lands that tap for more than 1 mana wants Rewind. You get the idea.

But these ten entries are for the best of the best. And again, we didn't spare any expenses. Literally.

My favorite flavor text for counters is the one for Undermine:

Which would you like first, the insult or the injury?

I love it. I say it all of the time. And what’s great is that so many counters can work with that flavor text. Dismal Failure. Suffocating Blast. Summoner's Bane. Induce Paranoia. Fall of the Gavel. Overwhelming Intellect. Punish Ignorance. You get the idea.

I thought about making this list include cards that are both Blue and another color, because there are some great counters in two colors, particularly in U/G. After consideration, I thought that made a lot of sense, because a U/G counter that's better than a Mono-Blue one should be on your radar.

Anyways, here you all go!

10. Confirm Suspicions

I know it was released recently, and I've belabored it a lot, but I've been tossing it more and more into my counter shells with good results. However, it does compete at the 5-spot with #8 and #3 on my list, so it can get cut on the curve. But still, future card drawing, things arriving and dying, there's a lot under the surface to recommend here.

9. Voidslime

Seriously, U/G counters are a lot better than any other color combination. Look up every U/G counter in the game. Just four options are only U/G (Voidslime, Mystic Snake, Mystic Genesis, Plasm Capture). All four are rocks of counters. There are no duds or anything else. Compare that to the weakness of U/W (Fall of the Gavel, Absorb, Hindering Light, Render Silent and then weak stuff like Offering to Asha or Overrule. Or U/B and its Countersquall, Soul Manipulation, Psychic Strike, Undermine, and to a lesser degree Perplex, Spite // Malice and Trial // Error. Most of those can't counter certain classes of spells. And U/R has Counterflux, Double Negative, Essence Backlash, and Suffocating Blast. So clearly, the U/G stuff is the class.) With that in mind, it's easy to see how Voidslime is flexible, as it adds the key "or counter an ability" to the typical Counterspell motif. You can counter triggered abilities or activated ones, giving it a vast range of flexibility. There are times I don't want to counter a spell, like Living Death, I just want to counter your Woodfall Primus or Molten Primordial's enters-the-battlefield trigger. Plus you can counter something like Pernicious Deed only after you see how bad it would be for you (and once the mana was spent and the card sacrificed). That's just way too good to ignore, and it's a standard entry in any deck that runs the colors.

8. Mystic Confluence

I thought about not inclusing cards that have multiple options. But while none of the Charms are here (like Dromar's Charm), since they are often played as something other than a counter, the Confluence, and another card at #5 are here because they can counter and do other things as well. The Confluence is always card advantage, but where it slides to #8 as a pure counter is the Mana Leak part. You'll regularly find that the key cards you want to counter anyway are able to be Mana Leaked either once or twice, and then tacking on some card drawing in addition is nice. And you can bounce something if you prefer, and a counter combined with a double bounce is a nasty tempo setback for folks. So as a card, I'd rate it more highly, but in the light of counter spells, it falls to #8 on my list.

7. Forbid

I think sometimes Forbid is the forgotten counter. It's a nice cheap three cost card that can counter a spell, and buyback for more countering. I only buy it back occasionally, when I have a massive amount of card advantage engines on the board and can afford it, when I have something in my hand I want to discard (like Anger or Glory) or when I am running stuff like Madness, Hellbent, or reanimation. But usually, I don't. And that's fine, because when I need to run this card with buyback, I need to run this card with buyback. And it's useful to have.

6. Dismiss

I like drawing cards. I like countering spells. Dismiss is an answer to a classic multiplayer issue. Counters are innately card disadvantage as they are a 1:1 trade at a table where you are being outdrawn 3:1 or 5:1. But Dismiss is a great answer as it both counters and replaces itself. You only lost the 4 mana, and you likely countered and stopped something important. So you are good to go, right? As a result, this is a card that I regularly run in almost every deck that needs counters on the queue.

All right, now it's top Five time, and frankly, I think four of these are going to be as obvious as obvious gets. So let's get started!

5. Cryptic Command

No one is surprised to see Cryptic Command here, especially after Mystic Confluence hit #8 above. It has dominated tournaments, it owns sheer flexibility on an ideal casting cost, and only the triple Blue is a barrier to playing them in your decks. (And it's price tag, I suppose.) The various abilities and triggers you can do are legendary, and the best is almost always counter and something else (card, bounce, or tapping.) If my deck can manage the heavy Blue commitment, then the only thing that stops me from rocking these in my decks is how many I own. I can't say that about many other counters. Very few see every copy in a deck with none extra.

4. Dissipate / Faerie Trickery / Void Shatter

You might be surprised to see these entries this high on the list. All of the top five are mostly consensus choices for the list. What's this doing here? Excellent question! There are a lot of ways to deal with counters in Casual Magic Land. Take a typical Commander deck. It's loaded to the gills with counter-answers. Use Genesis to return the creature and play it again. Reload it to the top of your library with Volrath's Stronghold and keep playing it until you resolve it. Use Dredge. Use reanimation. Play creatures that head back to the library when they get countered for another go (like Dread or Darksteel Colossus). And Commanders that replay creatures and abuse the graveyard are very common, such as Karador, Ghost Chieftain. How do you deal with this when it invariably strikes? That's what this trifecta of cards is for. Exiling the problem. Bye bye problem! No more play-and-replay tricks. No more clever ways to regurgitate previously countered stuff onto the battlefield. Say goodbye! Considering just how powerful this metagame is in casual Magic generally and Commander especially, these cards have a value that's at an all-time high. (See also stuff like Spell Crumple or Hinder that can shuffle on counter-age instead of exiling, but I think exiling is always the better choice unless you have Bribery in your hand).

3. Desertion / Spelljack

I wasn't sure where to put the counter-steal stuff like Desertion or Spelljack, so I tossed it on the list, but you could make a compelling argument that cards like that have left behind Counter territory strongly enough that they don't count anymore. But we all have to admit that the power level of a Desertion or Spelljack is high, far too powerful to forget here. (Most of the spells on this list counter, and then do something else as well like Dismiss.) Did you counter a creature? An artifact? Well then, step on down, because you just bought yourself that very card! That's what your opponent gets for being overly ambitious; dial them back! Steal their spell! Make it your own! This takes card advantage to a new level beyond Dismiss, Cryptic Command, or Mystic Confluence!

2. Draining Whelk / Mystic Snake

If you have played Draining Whelk, and gotten just a simple 5/5 or 6/6 flyer for your trouble, you know how good this card can be (that's pretty common). You are also likely to get 10/10 beaters that just blow stuff up and make Akroma look downright homely. It's a great foil for the many expensive cards getting tossed around, and it can become an immediate winner as well. And the Mystic Snake is a similar creature-based fit. Plus, they play well with Blue's blink theme, with cards like Nephalia Smuggler really playing well. See also: self bouncing your stuff. Countering with Cryptic Command and bouncing your own Mystic Snake for more countering fun-times? Priceless! With the given level of creature abuse and the given level of countering you can get from it, this tandem is quite the pair at ending dreams around the world.

1. Mana Drain

No other counter spell could be here. Sorry. Sure, Force of Will may be rather Force-less at the kitchen table, especially in multiplayer, but the other amazing counter just gets better. Commander decks love it. Multiplayer decks love it. It's also my favorite counter to an early ramped spell on turn four or 5 that's already huge due to Cultivate and crap. One important Drain point is that you'll often surprise folks with it. Because it doesn't do anything besides counter, the original Counterspell doesn't get played that much in Commander and multiplayer world. And other 2-mana ones are pretty weak as well. But Mana Drain? It's awesome, and you'll find someone playing a key, cheap card early before the "counter wall" comes out. Show them the error of their ways! Mana Drain is good early as a cheap, 2-drop that you don't mind using, especially after mana burn was removed from the game. It's a great mid-game counter that gives you enough mana to have one major late game spell the subsequent turn. And it's a strong late game counter that gives you mana to fuel either a potent X spell or a mana sink like Staff of Domination. It's amazing at every stage of the game, and that's why Mana Drain is the most powerful, and most iconic, counter at the casual night.

And there you have it. There are our Top Ten (Casual) Counters of All Time! That way I don’t have to worry about tournament stalwarts like Force of Will, Mental Misstep, Remand, Force Spike / Mana Leak, and stuff like that.

Hey, let's not forget cards like Ertai's Meddling, Counterspell, Dissolve, Exclude, and Overwhelming Intellect. All great cards.

So what did you think of our list? Is there something missing? Something that needs to get pulled that you didn't agree with? What counters do you rely on?

Counter shield activated.