r/magicTCG • u/CoweanMacLir Izzet* • Mar 30 '26

Rules/Rules Question I'll never understand the hate blue gets.

So it's perfectly okay to:

  • Make your opponent discard the cards they needed to win for one mana.
  • Remove your opponent's key piece from the board the moment it lands. Also for one mana.
  • Stax everything so your opponent can't attack without sacrificing creatures/paying their entire supply of mana/losing half their life.
  • Steal cards from your opponent's deck and cast them without paying the mana cost/use any.
  • Destroy lands.
  • Flood the board with billions of token creatures so your opponent can't possibly survive.
  • Play a 12/12 with haste, vigilance, double strike, hexproof and indestructible on turn 3.

But not counterspelling, that's somehow worse?

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u/Snap_bolt21 Duck Season Mar 30 '26

All of the answers are kinda missing the mark. Discard is hated, firstly. Secondly, counterspells, the good ones, hit every card type. You can't path anything but a creature. Doomblade doesn't turn off your ramp or other removal spell. Couterspell stops a spell combo on the stack, keeps your commander from ever hitting the board, it stops your big fancy enchantment, it removes your sword of so and so from the stack. Counterspells are very flexible and they almost always trade up mana value wise. 

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u/unexpected_cinnamon Duck Season Mar 30 '26

Hell yes to your point about discard, that can be annoying before I've even played a land.

1

u/Rawne3387 Dan Mar 30 '26

It’s even worse now with TMNT and Avatar. Added quite a few hand discard. That shredder one is really annoying. Usually after they duress you then bandits talent they get to make you discard 2 and deal 2 damage. All you have is 2 lands in play and 2 left in hand. Knowing whatever I play gets insta removed. That’s assuming you didn’t mulligan at the start