Hi everyone! During a recent North 100 Episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcMJefmmhHU) there was some talk of a Highlander Counterspells Tier List! I have compiled just such a list!
Counterspell Tier List
Preamble: It is important to note that some of this list is contextual. The position of some of these counterspells shifts depending on your decks game plan but in general this should give you a gist of how these counterspells rank. Lastly I have ranked multi-colour counterspells along with the mono coloured spells and I have assumed that you can cast them comfortably.
Tier 1 (if you are playing counterspells you should likely play most if not all of these)
- Mana Drain
- Force of Will
- Counterspell
- Cryptic Command (Need to be very blue)
- Mana Leak
- Remand
- Mystic Confluence
- Spell Snare
- Negate
- Miscalculation
Tier 2 ( If your deck is playing more counterspells than average you should include some of these)
- Daze
- Logic Knot
- Spell Pierce (Better in Combo)
- Counterflux
- Countersquall
- Condescend
- Absorb
- Disallow
- Censor
- Prohibit
- Force Spike
- Memory Lapse
- Deprive
- Muddle the Mixture (Combo Only)
- Delay
- Overwhelming Denial (Much better in control than most other things)
- Pact of Negation (Moves a lot if you are doing some unfair)
- Evasive Action (Moves up the more colours you are)
- Voidslime (You often don’t want many 3 cost counterspells)
- Supreme Will
Tier 3 (These are more niche playable or should only be played if your plan is to play all of them)
- Flusterstorm (Better in Combo)
- Arcane Denial (Mostly Tempo)
- Dispel (Better in Combo)
- Mental Misstep (This card can jump up massively depending on your deck and the meta)
- Perplex (Sort of doesn’t count as a counterspell as it rarely gets cast)
- Rune Snag (Typically relegated to only Tempo decks that want as many 2 many counters as possible)
- Mana Tithe
- Izzet Charm
- False Summoning
- Preemptive Strike
- Remove Soul
- Essence Scatter (You realistically only want 1 maybe 2 of this effect but I have ranked them according the sweetness)
- Dismiss
- Desertion
- Exclude
- Undermine
- Mystic Snake
- Bant Charm
- Scatter to the Wind
- Dissolve
- Void Shatter
- Stubborn Denial
- Swan Song (Basically only in Combo)
Tier 4 (Like Serious you are playing ALL of the counterspells)
- Power Sink
- Disrupting Shoal
- Spell Swindle
- Insidious Will
- Confirm Suspicions
- Summary Dismissal
- Dream Fracture
- Mystic Genesis
- Plasam Capture
- Dissipate
- Rewind
- Dromar’s Charm
- Forbid
- Foil
- Thwart
- Annul
- Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast (Only in very specific meta games)
Tier 5 (Budget playables or Tribal Spells)
- Cancel
- Familiar’s Ruse
- Faerie Trickery
- Stoic Rebuttal
Did I miss any? If you have questions please don’t hesitate to tweet at me @Canhighlander Have fun countering spells!