Two-color, yes, but the important thing is, it's
cheap. UB isn't too much to ask that you leave
open for this, unlike more recent countermagic
with converted mana costs of 3 or 4. The
downside is that it can't hit creatures, but
then more and more decks seem to be relying on
noncreature spells. Planeswalkers, Cruel
Ultimatum, and the like will be very
disappointed to see this.
Constructed- 4
Casual- 3
Limited- 3
Aethereal
Friday - Countersquall
Well, with the current state of the metagame,
playing what amounts to a Negate with a bonus
ability tacked on can be risky. Even so, this is
a powerful card for control decks because it can
still hit important cards like Bitterblossom. I
think Faerie decks will find a way to put this
into their deck just like how they found a way
to put Remove Soul into it. The life loss is
just a bonus, like a miniature version of
Undermine. Expect to see this in plenty of decks
for the next two years.
In limited, this might be worth playing, but the
format is largely about creatures. Still, being
able to hit their trick is nice.
Constructed - 3.5
Casual - 2
Limited - 3
David Fanany
Player since
1995
Countersquall
Negate is only a year old, but they're already
making variants of it - that must be some kind
of record. If you have easy access to both blue
and black mana, there's no reason really not to
play Countersquall, at least in your sideboard.
Noncreature spells often either win the game or
prevent you from winning it, and the life loss
effect is just gravy. Negate will still be
played, as long as there are decks like
white-blue Fish and green-blue control, not to
mention decks with three or more colors that
don't have the time or the luxury of Vivid Creek
plus Reflecting Pool. But I guarantee that you
will also see Countersquall in every format at
some point.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
PsychoAnime
#1
Magic Noob in Canada since 2002
Countersquall
Negate is good. Negate for the same number of
mana + 2 life loss is better. Well, there's the
black mana issue, but its not that hard to
splash black right now and a lot of blue decks
already run black. So if you run blue and don't
run black, play Negate. If you do run black,
play Countersquall.
Constructed: 3/5, solid
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
Jake
Friday - Countersquall
Finally a card that should hit type 2 for sure.
If a blue/black control deck comes around in t2
this will be in it for sure. Could easily take
negate's spot in fae. Limited not so much as
it's so heavy in creatures. Everybody should
have a blue/black control deck in casual to tuck
this guy into and as an uncommon it shouldn't be
too hard.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 2/5
Ricky
Riles
Countersquall
Negate with life loss for the opponent? Cool!
This review is basically a comparison between
the two. I won't say whether or not I think
either should be played in your deck, but if
you're thinking about it...here's how I would go
about choosing which.
For all intents and purposes this card is
probably better than Negate, at least right now.
In competitive type 2...the decks that would
play Negate (usually 5CC, which I happen to
play) can easily put this card in its place and
reap the benefits of the extra two damage it
tacks on.
Outside of that, its all about which card is
more consistent. That depends on what you're
playing. If you're in UB, obviously this card is
superior for the most part. Three
colors...depending on what you're in, it could
still be better. You really just have to figure
out if that one extra color specific mana is
worth the trouble for only two damage.
However, I'll take two damage any way I can get
it if it won't kill tempo within the deck. For
my deck, it won't.
