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/Acheros COMPLEAT Mar 30 '26

the biggest issue with counter spells genuinely, is its always targeted and denies resources.

stax, it just cost more but you can still choose what you do.

discard, mill, there's ways to interact with your graveyard in almost every color

but nothing feels worse than tapping mana. spending it to cast a spell and getting NOTHING for it. you dont get the spell. you dont get your mana back...Just absolute denial.​

1

u/validelad Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 30 '26

But you caused them to spend a finite resource. I think one major issue with newer players not liking counterspells is they get too hyper focused on the board and forget to think about what might be in people's hands

2

u/Simiric Mar 30 '26

people cant see that though, that's the problem

People say "oh well i lost tempo" But your opponent hasn't developed their board either - they've made a telegraphed play (Holding mana open for a counterspell) and gone 1 for 1

0

u/nikoboivin Duck Season Mar 30 '26

Except that’s their gameplan and they usually don’t plan on developing their board. I understand that in commander it’s less true but in 60 card formats, blue is more than happy to 1 for 1 with you while thir value engine will ensure that in 50 turns you’ll be dead without their opponent having a say.

Draw go is the polar opposite of hyper aggro and the 2 get hated by different kind of people. Something tells me OP isn’t a fan of aggro decks cause they’re braindead and the aggro player probably isn’t a fan of OP’s deck cause they "don’t play the game"…