In a four-player format like cEDH, it's rarely enough to present a win and just hope your opponents are collectively just going to pick up their cards and shuffle up for the next game. A fight will break out, and you best come prepared. A counterspell, a SilenceSilence, something – luck and speed get players far, but interaction smooths out a turbulent win rate into one much more predictable.

On the offensive end, there will be games where you find yourself in a losing situation. Whether it’s a post-ChatterstormChatterstorm Enduring VitalityEnduring Vitality player or simply a Rhystic StudyRhystic Study, having some way to deal with things after they happen is always worth considering.

First off, the king of stack interaction: counterspells. These instants all do one thing and they do it incredibly well: stopping a spell before it gets a chance to resolve.

In cEDH, these cards come in two classes: counterspells which target just about anything, and counterspells which primarily target other counterspells. The first group contains the likes of Force of WillForce of Will, Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship, and Pact of NegationPact of Negation. They’ve got a wide array of card types which they can hit (be it all spells or just noncreature) and are largely unconcerned with things like timing or card color. All that matters is that a spell is on the stack.

The second class is much more defensive. These will rarely, if ever, stop a win attempt. Instead, they serve to bolster your own game-winning actions. FlusterstormFlusterstorm, PyroblastPyroblast, and Red Elemental BlastRed Elemental Blast are all classics here.

Sure, Flusterstorm can hit Ad NauseamAd Nauseam and Red Elemental Blast can hit Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle, but that’s not why you play these cards. You play them to guarantee that, when you put a win on the stack, it gets through.

Continuing closer and closer to purely defensive spells, we come to the next batch of stack interaction: the veils, silences, and redirects of cEDH. These cards push beyond defensive countermagic and serve to protect your spells nearly en masse.

Veil of SummerVeil of Summer is the epitome of this logic; casting it will do nothing to directly stop an opponent, but it will make sure that your spells aren’t countered this turn.

Silences, such as their namesake spell as well as Orim's ChantOrim's Chant, are a bit more flexible, providing the opportunity to essentially make an opponent “time out” for a turn if they’re looking threatening, but that option pales in comparison to their defensive use case. Resolve a SilenceSilence and your spells aren’t just counterspell proof, they’re spell-based interaction proof.

Lastly, the redirects. These are the closest to classic counterspells out of the three defensive types, given that they only hit a single spell (or ability) rather than applying to all spells carte blanche. Despite this, they are a defensive staple of nonblue decks and, when it comes to the best of the best of these cards, still put up a decent showing alongside traditional counterspells.

Moving from the stack to the board, our next category is spot removal: cards which deal with a single permanent in a one-for-one trade.

When it comes to true removal, Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares is the most commonly played in the category. While the board doesn’t often matter nearly as much as the stack, thus leading players to run far fewer pieces of spot removal, most decks these days still play at least one piece of proper removal.

Creatures just keep getting better and better, and they are by far the hardest card type to interact with on the stack thanks to all the popular counterspells mainly hitting noncreature spells.

Following shortly behind Swords to Plowshares is Into the Flood MawInto the Flood Maw, a bounce spell that, despite providing your opponent with the opportunity to recast the bounced permanent later down the line, has found massive success across cEDH thanks to the pace of the format.

Having a card get bounced is such a tempo loss that, unless casting it will win you the game immediately, usually means that card isn’t coming back. There just aren’t enough turns in a game; most of the time, players win or lose before recasting the spell would matter.

Lastly, board wipes. While these are more of a staple of lower-Bracket Commander, these cards have largely fallen out of favor in the current cEDH meta, as games continue to get faster. However, there are two board wipes that do pop up on occasion: Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge and Fire CovenantFire Covenant.

Both of these spells cost three mana, which is essentially the most any player should pay for interaction. Additionally, both of them can kill practically any creature that sees play these days and, if wielded properly, can apply in a beneficially uneven way.

Fire Covenant, for example, is a targeted mass-removal spell. Toxic Deluge, while providing even -X/-X to everything, still doesn’t flat out kill things, meaning that the best-case scenario for casting this kills off your opponents’ creatures while still leaving you something.

Lastly, as a bit of an honorable mention, we should talk about Culling RitualCulling Ritual. This four-mana sorcery destroys all nonland permanents with mana value two or less, then lets you recoup value via adding mana based on how many permanents were destroyed this way. It’s an absolutely stellar spell that has earned its place as a staple in Golgari () decks, but strictly speaking, as a board wipe, it isn’t particularly great.

So, when you look at lists and see this card, understand it more so as a ritual and less of a comeback card.