If you’re a blue player, there’s likely little more you take pleasure in than countering an opponent’s massive spell. Undoing a titanic creature for just two mana feels absolutely incredible and puts you at a massive mana advantage, after all. Because of this, whenever a blue player holds up mana, the rest of the Commander pod becomes hesitant to play their best cards due to the possibility of getting blown out.
For the most part, counterspells are only something that blue does, but there are some odd cards available in other colors. Admittedly, these cards aren’t as strong as what blue has access to, but they do have a saving grace. Since most MTG players won’t be watching for these underplayed options, they can allow you to catch opponents seriously off guard.
MTG Withering Boon
Of all the colors in MTG, Black seems to have the most surprising off-color counterspell. For three life and two mana, Withering Boon can counter any creature spell your opponents cast. Thanks to the majority of Commanders being creatures, there’s a good chance that Withering Boon will blow someone out during your game.
While playing Withering Boon in any black deck can be extremely effective thanks to its surprise factor, there are a few Commanders that synergize with it further. Toshiro Umezawa and Kaervek, the Punisher can essentially Flashback Withering Boon by removing another creature. Otherwise, Vilis, Broker of Blood can buy some much-needed time with Withering Boon, while drawing off of its life loss cost.
Outside of these synergistic homes, Withering Boon is efficient enough that it could be a strong addition to any black Commander deck that couldn’t otherwise play countermagic.
MTG Lapse of Certainty
Most of white’s countermagic either counters specific card types or essentially acts as a protection spell for a certain kind of permanent. Lapse of Certainty seems to be the exception to this, able to counter any spell you choose. Like Memory Lapse, however, Lapse of Certainty puts the countered spell on top of its owner’s deck. This may just end up delaying the inevitable, but that might be all the time you need. In go-wide white decks, countering a board wipe this way can result in the opponent who cast it just dying next turn.
Thanks to Lapse of Certainty’s unique downside, you can also use this card as a way to protect your own spells. Instead of letting your own spells get countered, you can choose to put them back on top of your deck. This can be particularly powerful with Miracle Commanders like Aminatou, Veil Piercer, who can recast your topdecked enchantments for a discount.
As a result, Lapse of Certainty is popular in Voltron-style decks that can use both sides of this card to their advantage. Commanders like Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice or Kellan, the Fae-Blooded only need a small window to set up before gaining Hexproof or Shroud. This nullifies the downside of Lapse of Certainty, since the returned spell will no longer be effective. As a bonus, the removal you returned will likely target a different player entirely.
MTG Pyroblast
Red has a lot of counterspells that are commonly played across Commander, but all of them have conditions attached. Among red’s picky options, Pyroblast is the most powerful, able to counter any blue spell for just one mana. While this card can fail to find a target at some tables, a majority of Commander pods will have at least one blue player at it, ready to stop your big plays.
Thanks to this, the card is a must-add in red Commander decks with big payoffs that need protecting, like Etali, Primal Conqueror, and Winota, Joiner of Forces. Pyroblast can do extra work in Painter’s Servant-esque decks, which can turn the card into a hard one-mana counterspell. You can even use Pyroblast as a one-mana Stone Rain if you so choose.
In many cases, higher Bracket red decks will be interested in playing as many copies of these cards as they can get their hands on. Red Elemental Blast and Burnout give players who really want to hate on blue lots of different cards that can do just that.
MTG Autumn’s Veil
Unlike Magic’s other colors, green doesn’t have any cards that outright counter a spell, but it does have multiple cards that can essentially protect your cards from other countermagic. Autumn’s Veil is a key example of this, thwarting any blue or black spells that may attempt to counter or otherwise target your cards. This combination blanks a lot of common interaction in Commander, like Deadly Rollick and Mana Drain, making it surprisingly popular.
Thanks to this, a wide variety of Green decks that revolve heavily around their Commanders play this card. The Gitrog Monster, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, and Marwyn, the Nurturer are all decks that fail to function without their Commander in play. The protection Autumn’s Veil commonly provides far outweighs the rare game where the card doesn’t do anything.
Similar to Pyroblast, there are multiple effects like this in MTG, allowing green players to up their protection consistency. While extremely well known, Veil of Summer is a direct upgrade to Autumn’s Veil, drawing a card in addition to Autumn’s Veil’s effects.
Warping Wail
There’s a surprising amount of counterspells available in colorless, but a majority of them are rather picky. Among the options, Warping Wail is the most reasonably costed spell that will usually find a way to create value. A majority of board wipes played in Commander are sorceries, which should give this instant a constant stream of powerful spells to counter. Failing that, however, Warping Wail can do lots of other things.
The exile clause on Warping Wail is restrictive, but there are a surprising number of valuable targets for it. Some of the most popular Commanders in MTG, like Vivi Ornitier, Ms. Bumbleflower, and Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow all all viable targets. Otherwise, a majority of Commander’s most popular creatures in the 99, like Esper Sentinel, Lotho, Corrupt Shiriff, Blood Artist, and the vast majority of mana dorks are all removable with Warping Wail.
The colorless Scion token is probably the least interesting mode of Warping Wail, but the added utility only makes this card better. Whether you need one extra mana for a big play or just need to chump block a Commander, Warping Wail can come in clutch.
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