Which Counterspells to Mainboard?

Standard Deck Help forum

Posted on July 17, 2015, 1:32 p.m. by ducttapedeckbox

I'll be attending FNM tonight with my UR Counterburn list. I'm conflicted. Out of Negate, Disdainful Stroke, and Nullify, which do I main and which do I side?

My meta is very heavy on semi-competitive R/x/x dragon decks, but also includes ~2 Esper Dragons decks, 2 Abzan Aggro/DenMist decks, and 2 RDW decks (usually 16-24 players)

I currently have a Negate and two Nullifys main, with 4 Disdainful Strokes and 2 Negates sided.

Which ones should I main and which should I pack in my sideboard?

HolyFalcon says... #2

More Nullifys somewhere, be it side or main. Lots of creature heavy decks (Goblins, Elves, G/R Devo) I believe will be there. Keep some Negates MB for CoCo decks.

July 17, 2015 1:39 p.m.

See, my conflict is that Disdainful Stroke is easier to cast, also hits CoCo, and hits most of Esper Dragons (including TCruise and DTT)

July 17, 2015 1:42 p.m.

subrosian says... #4

No Clash of Wills? Seems like it'd be perfect in counterburn, plus it complements Disdainful Stroke nicely. I'm not at all a fan of Calculated Dismissal.

July 17, 2015 2:13 p.m.

I run Mindswipe as my x-counter. It costs 1 more, but can also finish games.

I have yet to test Calculated Dismissal. I still have Dissolve in its place in paper.

July 17, 2015 2:28 p.m.

GoldGhost012 says... #6

Disdainful Stroke doesn't hit Deathmist Raptor or Den Protector, where Nullify stops them and other large threats like Dragonlord Ojutai, Eidolon of the Great Revel, all of the flipwalkers, Goblin Piledriver, Dragonlord Atarka, Siege Rhino, and Silumgar, the Drifting Death.

Disdainful Stroke is better against midrange and control, Nullify is better against aggro and creature-heavy builds.

Calculated Dismissal is just not a Dissolve replacement, no matter how much I wish it would be. In my opinion, it's more of a tempo play than a control play, since it gets way worse as the game drags on. I think I'd rather play Cancel for a Dissolve replacement since Dissipate rotates out with it.

July 17, 2015 3:11 p.m. Edited.

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