This card stops a trigger cold dead.
There isn't much else to be said.
Most people just expect
abilities to connect.
Countering them is unexpected.
Sometimes this card will feel like a hero,
but you are trading one card for zero.
This card exerts no force
on the ability's source.
That doesn't make me say "yo quiero".
I'd consider this card sideboard tech,
bring it in against a combo deck
Or if the other guy's got
what seems to be a lot
of enters-the-battlefield effects.
Trickbind was really attention-grabbing when it
first came out. "Oh my God it's Stifle! And it
can't be hit by . . . er . . . I dunno, Force of
Will? Which counterspells cost one or zero
again?" Seriously, though, it was an in-demand
card from day one, but not so much for Standard.
It's still only a one-time effect, making it
less than ideal when your opponent is
threatening with some kind of repeatable or
reusable activation or trigger - Dark Confidant
and Treetop Village don't fear things like this.
But there are Commander decks that it just
wrecks. That guy who had been getting ready to
cast a Sun Titan, regrow Jace Beleren, and skate
to victory has his upcoming card advantage count
slashed from plus 3 to 0 - and now three other
people are about to take a turn.
Today's card of the day is Trickbind which is a
two mana Blue instant with Split Second that
counters target activated or triggered non-mana
ability and if a permanent is targeted also
prevents that permanent's activated abilities
from being played that turn. This is a
strong effect, particularly with Split Second to
avoid responses, though somewhat situational
barring use in a combo and is probably best kept
in the sidedeck of a control build to deal with
effects otherwise difficult to respond to.
As part of a combo to disable a negative effect
it can be very powerful and as a more recent
release is available for Modern in addition to
older formats. Overall it has applications
for both control as a metagame response and
combo decks built around the effect where it is
a key card with alternative usage options and as
such will continue to see occasional play across
formats.
In Limited this has some applications, but is
very situational as it is needed in hand at the
time of an activation or trigger. Worth
using in a Blue deck for Sealed if there is room
as even if the target isn't ideal it can both
disrupt an opponent and become a psychological
threat in later games. In Booster it is a
very weak first pick, but can be taken later in
a pack as an on color choice as it can be of
value at times.
