CounterspellCounterspell | Art by Mark Poole

Counter magic is a frequent point of frustration in the casual Commander space. There are countless Commander lobbies on Magic: Online that have descriptions that specifically forbid "counterspell decks."

As a player that started off in competitive Magic, this sentiment is pretty foreign to me. My theory is that the root cause of this disdain is a lack of knowledge or experience. I spent the first three years of my Magic journey playing in a Standard format where Azorius() Control dominated, and that shaped my perception of the game. Someone without that experience is also pretty likely to lack the instincts that would help them when playing against counterspells, which would in turn lead to frustration. In this article, I'm going to teach you what you should be thinking about when facing off against decks with counter magic both in deck building and in-game.

Pay Attention

A game of Commander can be a very overstimulating experience. There's the actual game, the sidebar conversations, the one person at the table scrolling through short form video content during their opponents' turns, the list goes on and on. If you don't want to get crushed under the weight of opposing counter magic, you're going to need to filter all that out and track what's happening in the game. When are the blue players leaving up mana? What spells are they letting resolve? What about body language? When do they look stressed? These are the things you should be paying attention to.

The high level application of this skill is building a narrative in your head about what's in your opponents' hands. If a blue player at your table left up two open mana but didn't counter another player's Vorinclex, Voice of HungerVorinclex, Voice of Hunger, you can infer a lot from that! First, it likely rules out generic counterspells, like Mana DrainMana Drain or CounterspellCounterspell. The counterspells in their hand may not be able to counter a creature. Second, it could mean that, for one reason or another, Vorinclex simply doesn't worry them because they have a removal spell or board wipe. Third, they might have had a way to counter Vorinclex, but they were more afraid of what a different player might cast in the same turn cycle. The trick is to keep those three possibilities in mind, and then narrow it down as time passes and more plays are made.

Understand the Limitations of Counter Magic

Believe it or not, one playing holding up a single copy of CounterspellCounterspell can't fend off a whole table. One for one counterspells are actually pretty mediocre uses of mana in Commander. When a player uses a counterspell on one opponent's big scary threat, they have spent one card in their hand to negate one of their opponents' cards. The other two players at the table each gained card advantage over those two players by doing nothing! This means that, in order to make playing a high density of counterspells in a deck viable, a blue mage will often need other pieces helping them out. You'll often be able to gain an upper hand by targeting those pieces.

Sequencing, Sequencing, Sequencing

Imagine you're on turn 8 of a Commander game. You have an opponent with two open blue mana, and two spells you could cast this turn. One of them nearly wins the game on the spot, and the other is very threatening but not quite game-ending. Which one do you cast? That's right! The second one. If you play enough Commander, you'll get to watch this scenario play out a countless number of times, and, most of the time, you'll get to watch a player step on the Essence ScatterEssence Scatter-shaped rake and tank their chances of winning the game.

That isn't to say that you should never just jam your big, powerful spell! But before doing so, I'll refer you to the previous section on paying attention. Make sure that you're intentionally slamming your spell and betting on your read that the opponent doesn't have a response. At the very least, think through what your backup plan might look like if things go wrong.

Play at Instant Speed

One of the most effective tools against instant-speed interaction is instant-speed threats. There's nothing a control player fears like an opponent slamming a huge creature on their end step or in response to a spell they tapped out for. Even in situations where your opponent does have some kind of response, it forces them into a very uncomfortable situation and can make them spend premium interaction that they'd rather hold on to. The best Force of WillForce of Will is the one you never cast. Make them use their interaction!

Once upon a time, Nightpack AmbusherNightpack Ambusher was one of the strongest creatures against control decks in Standard. Why? Because it was a 4/4 with flash that would often be deployed on the opponent's end step. Then, every turn afterwards that the opponent doesn't deal with it, it makes more Wolves for free! Play patterns like this have long been a part of 60-card Magic, and the very same approach can work in Commander.

Run Your Own Interaction

It's no secret that many Commander players, particularly players building nonblue decks, neglect their suite of interaction. The best way for a deck to be resilient against interaction is by packing it's own! If you're unsure where to start adding interaction to your nonblue decks, check out cEDH decks in your colors! You'll find all the best options that Magic's card pool has to offer. Being able to protect your Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth with a Veil of SummerVeil of Summer or SilenceSilence provides the same thrill that using a Mana DrainMana Drain on an opposing Craterhoof does.

Using Your Own Counterspells

What if you're a blue mage looking to improve your game against opposing counter magic? There are several counterspells that fare really well into opposing counter magic you can include in your decks. FlusterstormFlusterstorm is a great example. Since any player casting a spell adds to the collective storm count, Flusterstorm does really well at protecting your spells. You cast a spell, someone casts a counterspell, and then you get to respond with three copies of Flusterstorm!

Play Proactive Answers to Interaction

While not the strength of every color, there are a lot of cards that can help you fight against interaction before an opponent has even had the opportunity to cast it. Thalia, Guardian of ThrabenThalia, Guardian of Thraben is a classic example that has seen play in every Magic format from Commander to Legacy. The idea is simple: make their CounterspellCounterspell cost three mana rather than two, then cast your creatures while they struggle to generate enough mana to interact profitably.

Defense GridDefense Grid is a colorless artifact with a similar effect to Thalia. However, instead of taxing non-creature spells, Defense GridDefense Grid taxes all spells cast on another player's turn. This effect is symmetrical and can cause some pain if your deck also includes instants you'd like to use to interact with your opponents, but, if what you're looking for is a proactive "set and forget" answer to your opponents' interaction, Defense Grid will do just fine.

Conclusion

The concepts outlined in this article are quite simple, but not necessarily easy. Your job now is to venture out to your local game store and play games while thinking about the things you've just read. Your brain is a machine that loves recognizing patterns. Give it enough data to work with and equip yourself with the right knowledge, and bang! After enough repetition, you'll be applying your knowledge instinctively.