Good counterspells are always in demand, and
there's pretty much always some incarnation of a
white-blue control deck in Standard. Is this
good enough to make the cut? Silence doesn't see
much play-- I can't even remember if it's still
in Standard. When people do play it, they play
it on the turn in which they absolutely need to
make their spell resolve. Any other turn and you
run into the problem that your opponent still
has all the spells he wants to cast, he just has
to wait a turn.
This might be better than Silence, because it
actually answers the spell it's trying to stop.
On the other hand, you can't cast this on your
opponent's upkeep to keep him quiet for a
turn... unless your opponent plays a spell for
you to target then. I think this deck's place is
in the sideboard of white-blue control, for the
mirror match to defeat counterspells.
I doubt this card is going to make the people
who argue unconvincingly that three mana is too
much to pay for a counterspell stop. What it is
going to do, however, is improve control decks'
game against combo decks that want to cast lots
of spells in one turn, like Storm. It's going to
make it harder for opponents to draw out spells
with lots of cheap threats. It's going to punish
people who throw a Mistbind Clique or some
similar card at you during your upkeep and think
they're going to leave mana open for anything
you manage to do later in the turn. And the fact
is, it's at just the right cost for all that and
possibly more.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
the interesting Render Silent a powerful
counterspell that stops opponents from trying to
play there less valuable spell first in baiting
out countermagic. In standard this a three mana
counter that should see some play by virtue of
its color combination and highly unique effect.
In modern it can shut down storm based decks
albeit in a different way than counterflux or
mindbreak trap, and in legacy and vintage I
think this effect is unique enough that it could
see some sporadic play. In casual and
multiplayer this is a good option for a three
cost spell as when used properly can basically
waste a players turn. In limited its solid
countermagic. Overall a unique counterspell that
brings a power effect to the table.
Today's card of the day is Render Silence which
is a three mana two Blue and one White that
counters target spell and prevents that player
from playing other spells that turn. For
the same mana cost as Cancel this can shut down
an opponent's turn and only has the minor
drawback of being the two colors most often used
in control decks. One of the strongest
workarounds to the old permission theme is to
stockpile extra spells and cast them in order of
increasing apparent value, a strategy this card
can prevent. Overall it is an excellent
card for any Blue/White deck with any
countermagic involved and will be a mainstay
across formats in those builds.
In Limited the same is true and it is a very
powerful rare for Azorius that can't easily be
splashed into non-Blue decks, but can have White
splashed if needed. The very specific
casting cost is a drawback and the format is
both not as control oriented and more topdeck-centric
which weaken it a bit. Even with that it
is a solid first pick in Booster, for value or
hate if nothing else, and an automatic
Blue/White inclusion in Sealed.
Welcome back to
the Pojo.com card of the day section. This week
we began looking at the upcoming Dragon's Maze
set. We continue today with Render Silent.
Render Silent is a rare white and blue instant
that costs two blue and one white mana. Render
Silent says counter target spell, its controller
cannot play spells this turn.
We all like good spells. We all like stopping
better spells more. And what we all really love,
is putting a hault to our opponents turn, one
way or another. Render Silent is and does all of
the above. For the same cost as most counter
spells these days, you effectively get
Counterspell and Silence in one package, kind of
like a split card you are paying the Fuse for.
Countering a spell is good, and a lot of people live by
controlling what is allowed onto the board. But
Render Silent takes it even farther by stopping
your opponent from casting anything else that
turn. Blue/White control decks rejoice, your
true counterspell has arrived.
I really expect to see this card be used A LOT.
Blue/White control was a dominate force before,
and there is no reason it will not see this and
begin a run at domination again.
To make this card even worse (depending on who you ask), is
that you can get the nice pretty Buy-A Box
version for buying a whole box of Dragon's Maze.
Check with your local store for details.
