Spell Queller quickly
elevated himself to the role of one of the
bogeymen of last Standard. It basically serves
as a catch-all check to a lot of the hard to
answer threats, and all for a reasonable three
mana. The major reason it got so much attention
and was so much of a house was that it comboed
perfectly with Collected Company, one of the
most egregious offenders of the last Standard
format, and it was also the perfect check to
other Collected Company copies from your
opponent.
Even factoring out his
powerful effect, he’s a 2/3 with flying and
flash for 3 in a well-supported tribe, and there
are worse ways you can spend 3 mana in this
Standard or the last one. It was even usable in
Modern, because all you sometimes need is to
delay that Supreme Verdict or Abrupt Decay for
one more turn to finish them off.
Constructed: 4.75
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander: 3.5
David Fanany
Player since
1995
Spell Queller
Magus of the Will was the first creature to
explicitly and openly be a creature version of a
sorcery, but I'd argue that Spell Queller is the
first creature to be a form of an instant spell,
specifically Remand. I really disliked playing
against Remand in Ravnica Standard. The only
thing that annoyed me more than having spells
countered was having the same spell countered
multiple times. I've mellowed out a little over
the years, but the fact remains that even a
temporary counterspell can be a very powerful
effect, much less one that ignores conventional
uncounterability. The reversibility is a risk
and the converted mana cost restriction means
that he doesn't help you against some of the
things blue decks least want to see (Warp World
springs to mind, and he stops Spellbreaker
Behemoth but not Akroma, Angel of Fury), but in
a more proactive tempo-based strategy, he can
easily buy enough time to get well on top. Try
him with Drogskol Captain!
