This card is useful, but not great. It's better
in a discard themed deck. Regardless, it still
serves as a colid "hard counter." The casting
cost on this card is definitely well balanced.
If you are looking for a spell counter in
limited, this is probably going to be your card
of choice with the current card pool.
Dismal Failure
For years, the benchmark for a counter spell was
UU. Any more than that, and it had better have
some good extra effect. Any less, and it
probably isn't really a hard counter at all.
Just recently, that benchmark was raised to 1UU.
Dismal Failure here costs 2UU, 1 more than the
standard (Cancel). It doesn't seem like much,
but there are two other benchmarks for how much
a counter spell should cost: less than the spell
it's countering, and not too much to have to
leave open on your opponent's turn. Personally,
I don't approve of counterspells that cost any
more than three mana. But this counterspell not
only counters a spell, it also wrenches another
card out of their grip, so in effect you're
countering two spells. Or maybe a spell and a
land. Since you're getting two cards, it's
alright if the spell you countered cost less
than Dismal Failure. But you're still leaving
four mana open, which sends a signal to your
opponent. And if your opponent reads the signal
correctly and opts not to spend his mana on
counterable spells, you've lost out on an
opportunity to develop your board. You could
argue that your opponent forfeitied the same
opportunity of course, but this is still just
the best four-mana counter currently in print.
Constructed- 3.5
Casual- 4
Limited- 3
KC MetroGnome
KC MetroGnome
2/20 - Dismal Failure
Blue control doesn't like this card quite as
much as Dismiss. While it is still card
advantage, blue would rather be drawing the
extra card in the hopes of refilling its
counterspell-filled clutches. Dismal Failure
could shine in some sort of U/B deck that can
force lots of discard early, but doesn't want to
get backed up with the more expensive discard
cards later. Now you've got a card that can
continue to hit their hand, but does another
job, too. As a hard counter, I would expect it
to get some attention.
Constructed - 3+
Casual - 3-
Limited - 3
Jon "RaNd0m"
Schweppe
Dismal Failure
"Nope, not gonna fly. Counter it, and discard a
card, too."
Planar Chaos brings us a new counterspell that
acts not only as a hard counter, but has a
discard side-effect as well. At first glance, it
seems worth a couple slots in a blue deck. After
further thought, one notices there are many
better choices. Blue has a lot of counterspells,
and this simply isn't one of the best picks. I
would definitely be running Cancel, Rewind (hard
counters), Remand, Rune Snag, Mana Leak, and
maybe even Convolute over this. Obviously in
limited it is a very strong pick. Any
countermagic is worth playing in limited.
Constructed - 2
Casual - 2.5
Limited - 4
Aethereal
Tuesday -
Dismal Failure
A backwards version of Dismiss, a card we should
have gotten in 8th Edition some time ago...but
anyway, this is a better counter to have than
Rewind in just about any deck that runs 4cc
counters except for Dralnu du Louvre. This is
the definition of card advantage; you're hitting
2 of their cards (the countered card and the
discard) for just 1 of yours. This really isn't
better than Dismiss, as I'd much rather have the
draw than the discard, but it is acceptable and
it will be played.
In casual, no one really likes counterspells.
And if you're playing them, just play Dismiss
instead.
In limited, I'm not a fan of counters, and this
is no exception.
