Hey everyone!

Modern Horizons 2 spoilers have begun with a bang. Counterspell in Modern!

The Mystical Archives gave us Memory Lapse in Historic last month, so it's a great time to be a Blue mage. WOTC has finally decided to let us play with spells that are on par with the powerful threats with power creep.

Today I'm going to talk about the implications of adding Counterspell to my favorite Modern deck, Azorius Stoneblade.

The first question to ask is if Counterspell is good enough for Azorius Stoneblade or Modern decks in general. I believe the answer is a resounding yes on both fronts. The ability to counter any spell with two Blue mana does pose deck-building restrictions as colorless and White mana can't be used, but the spell's flexibility is worth it. Control decks will play four copies.

When I first played Legacy back in 2004, Landstill was my deck of choice. It was a control deck that played four Counterspell. Over time, tapping two mana to counter a spell in Legacy was harder and harder to justify and today it is rarely played. Modern is not as efficient as Legacy and I have no doubt it will be a format-defining staple. In my mind the harder question is which edition of Counterspell to play. Currently I'm going with Tempest because I have a couple foreign copies and it has top tier flavor text.

Cryptic Command already requires a heavy Blue commitment, as does Archmage's Charm. Even if you can't cast Counterspell on the second turn it will likely be up by the third turn and continues to be relevant through most stages of the game.

Let's talk about what card Counterspell will replace: Mana Leak. Mana Leak played poorly with Path to Exile and did not scale well as the game went on. The easier mana requirement is a nice benefit as Field of Ruin is not going anywhere, but that's not enough to make me consider playing a split.

Logic Knot has diminishing returns as delve spells don't play well with others. It's possible some decks still want a Logic Knot, but not before playing four Counterspell. The upside of Logic Knot is exiling cards from your graveyard versus Drown in the Loch or playing around Chalice of the Void, Spell Snare, and Eidolon of the Great Revel.

Remand will still see play in proactive Blue decks that value velocity. It was never intended to be a true counter. Being able to Remand your own spell in response to a counter is good card advantage.

At the end of the day, Counterspell is a one-for-one interaction spell. It does not warp the game and Modern is diverse enough to play decks that largely ignore this type of interaction. Blue decks do get an upgrade overall so they will likely see an increased metagame share.

Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls are two obvious ways to ignore countermagic and they will also see an uptick. Since these decks have a proactive game plan that lines up well against Counterspell I can expect to see them more often. With this in mind I would like my counterspell deck to be proactive. If you play a slow control deck against a field trying to beat countermagic you will be in for a bad time. Veil of Summer will also see an uptick in the sideboard.

Before talking any more about Counterspell I will share my decklist. This list will change by the time Modern Horizons 2 is completely spoiled because the set was designed to shake up Modern. Don't expect only Blue decks to get a boost. The purpose of this deck is to get a feel for how the Stoneblade shell changes with such a powerful addition.

Azorius Stoneblade| Modern | Kyle Boggemes

• Creatures (9)
• 1 Spell Queller
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Stoneforge Mystic

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 2 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Instants (20)
• 2 Spell Snare
• 3 Cryptic Command
• 3 Force of Negation
• 4 Counterspell
• 4 Opt
• 4 Path to Exile

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine

• Lands (24)
• 2 Snow-Covered Plains
• 5 Snow-Covered Island
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Mystic Gate
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 2 Celestial Colonnade
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
• 2 Hengegate Pathway
• 3 Field of Ruin
• 4 Flooded Strand

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 2 Aether Gust
• 1 Rest in Peace
• 1 Mystical Dispute
• 2 On Thin Ice
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Force of Negation
• 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
• 2 Skyclave Apparition
• 1 Timely Reinforcements
• 1 Teferi, Time Raveler

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I haven't changed much to Azorius Stoneblade over the past year because the shell is very powerful. Counterspell offers the biggest shakeup since the banning of Mystic Sanctuary.

The reason I need to make a structural change to the deck is because Mana Leak only occupied two slots while Counterspell requires four.

As much as I hate to say it, Spell Queller becomes less necessary when Counterspell allows me to counter most threats. I may find room for a second copy if Cavern of Souls becomes too popular and I need to exile instead of counter spells. Prowess decks are currently very popular, but this may change with the full release of Modern Horizons 2. Spell Queller is bad against Lightning Bolt.

I have moved the third copy of Teferi, Time Raveler to the sideboard because of the legend rule. Four Spell Queller comboed so well with Teferi that it was worth the risk of drawing two against a random opponent, but this is no longer the case. It still remains to be a high impact threat in Blue mirrors so I do still want access to three copies in the seventy-five.

Both of these reductions open up some room in the crowded 3-drop slot. This is important as Snapcaster Mage is a big winner. The ability to flash back Counterspell for four mana is something I have sorely missed from Legacy. I can also fire off Path to Exile more aggressively thanks to not having to worry about drawing a dead Mana Leak.

I have moved Skyclave Apparition to the sideboard for two reasons. The first is the mana requirement. I no longer want to focus on getting two White mana in Game 1 as I need so much Blue mana to function. This changes after sideboard as I cut some of the fringe counters for White removal against creature decks.

The second reason to move Skyclave Apparition to the sideboard is leaning harder on counters makes me less eager to tap out. Again, this is less of a concern when my deck is filled with removal after sideboard against creatures.

Spell Snare gets a power boost because it can counter Counterspell. Snapcaster Mage flashing back Counterspell will also be a popular play in mirrors making Snare the best it has been in a while. It's also a way to counter an early play if you haven't assembled two Blue mana for Counterspell. I'm also happy to have another early play to flash back with my playset of Snapcaster Mage.

Three Force of Negation may look like overkill, but I want to have a solid Game 1 against dredge and their eight scary enablers. It always ends up lining up well against Modern's evergreen decks that see play such as Burn, Storm, and Tron regardless of what's trendy. This will be very relevant as paper events resume. Many players haven't been updating their paper collection over the last year so I expect more old archetypes to make a return.

I continue to play the fourth Force of Negation in the sideboard as the slot will give you the most bang for the buck. I would be happy to draw Force of Negation against nearly every non-creature deck so it covers a lot of the metagame.

Cryptic Command is still worth playing multiple copies because it works so well with a playset of Snapcaster Mage.

I haven't played Teferi, Hero of Dominaria in Stoneblade in the past, but Counterspell gives it new life. When your primary counter costs two mana it makes tapping out less scary. I also wanted another card advantage engine because Counterspell makes me want to play fewer utility lands to generate late game resources.

Teferi is a reasonable swap for Skyclave Apparition because his -3 can interact with Heliod.

Teferi plays well with Counterspell, but I can't play too many copies because Jace, the Mind Sculptor plays even better with Stoneforge Mystic shuffling back equipment.

Castle Vantress makes Blue mana which gives it the nod over Castle Ardenvale. I thought the castle choice was close in the previous version of stoneblade, but I don't want another White mana with Counterspell costing two Blue.

Blast Zone is strong in a prowess-heavy metagame, but is getting cut to make room for more Blue mana. I'm not sure it will ever have a place in Stoneblade again because Field of Ruin is the best utility land that doesn't add Blue. It will be important to interact with Tron as well as the potential influx of Cavern of Souls.

Filter lands such as Mystic Gate have been used recently to filter more Blue mana to cast Archmage's Charm and Counterspell will continue this trend. It's also a non-Island source of Blue mana against a potential Boil or Choke. The filter lands have diminishing returns as they can play out awkwardly with Field of Ruin so I don't want more than one.

Celestial Colonnade gets a lot of hate on Twitter, but it's one of the few utility lands that adds Blue mana for Counterspell early.

Hengegate Pathway is typically a Blue mana in the first game, but can serve as additional White sources for your anti-aggro sideboard cards. I don't play too many pathways because there's a tension with snow lands for On Thin Ice after board.

The sideboard also has some slight structural changes.

I used to play a Ceremonious Rejection, Dovin's Veto, Tale's End, or Disdainful Stroke, but this slot is no longer needed thanks to Counterspell. Force of Negation not costing mana occupies a different space in the curve so it still gets the nod.

Mystical Dispute will act as a third Spell Snare countering Snapcaster Mage and Counterspell. I expect plenty of counterwars in the future which is exciting.

Aether Gust putting cards on top of the library instead of countering them will be relevant against an influx of Cavern of Souls. Gust becomes slightly stronger with four Snapcaster Mage as, when this spell is good, I don't mind spamming it.

Timely Reinforcements and Skyclave Apparition occupy a similar space in the curve against aggressive decks. I have one Timely Reinforcements against Burn. Skyclave exiles Heliod which will still likely be relevant after Modern Horizons 2 is fully spoiled.

Sword of Fire and Ice isn't necessary, but once you become more of a tapout deck Sword of Feast and Famine is less useful against aggressive decks. One option is to just board out Feast and Famine as Batterskull can close the game. If you want another grindy element then Fire and Ice is the correct swap. Since you are a counter deck Game 1, I don't like to maindeck Fire and Ice.

Rest in Peace is worse thanks to the maindeck leaning harder on Snapcaster Mage. In the past I would board in a RIP against decks that used the graveyard in moderate amounts and then board in a second piece of hate against Dredge. Now I want to bring in one RIP against Dredge and not much else. Batterskull and Force of Negation is enough to be able to stop dredge without much targeted hate.

That's all I have for today. Modern Horizons 2 has already made a huge impact on Modern and we aren't even close to seeing everything. This time around I have faith Modern won't break as a result of a Horizons set and excited to see what WOTC releases.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle