Replacements: Force of Will

Force of Will is like Magic's biggest bluff. You use all of your mana on your turn to progress your board. This lulls your opponents into a false sense of security, where they feel like they will be able to untap and start removing pieces of your new board without any hindrance. When they try, you simply counter it, playing Force of Will by exiling a blue card from your hand and paying 1 life. This is a small price to protecting your stuff!

Why is Force of Will so expensive?

Force of Will is at the top of the class of counterspells that can be played for some alternate cost not requiring mana. Others include Force of Negation, Pact of Negation, Fierce Guardianship, and Mental Misstep.

These cards are in the upper echelons of power level because, in a game of defined by its mana system, they essentially do not require any resources to cast. Magic's mana system is one of the most brilliant innovations, as it requires you to manage resources efficiently and it ensures a level playing field where player skill is the most valuable asset. Free spells subvert this traditional way of playing Magic. Because of this, their price tag is enormous.

This week, we're going to see if we can still surprise our opponents, when we're seemingly tapped out, with some free counterspells! We're only going to look at cards that fit the following requirements:

• Counters a spell
• Can either be cast for its regular mana cost or the net total cost is zero mana

Two for one

Force of Will requires you exile another blue card from your hand, creating a scenario where you spent 2 cards whereas your opponent spent 1.

Foil is similar but requires you to pitch two extra cards (one has to be an Island), to counter a spell. This restricts it to decks that are heavy on blue so you can reliably have an extra Island in hand.

Restricted in a different way, Disrupting Shoal allows you to cast it for free if you have another card in hand with the same mana value as the spell you wish to counter. I am sure there are some people out there who have done the math on the density of cards, with a certain mana value, that you would need in your deck to make this good. My bet is if you have lots of 2, 3, and 4 mana spells you will be able to cast Disrupting Shoal reliably. However, chances are the thing you want to counter are the big scary spells in the 6+ mana range, making it less likely you will have the same mana value spell in hand.

Who needs lands anyway?

Setting yourself back in a different way, Daze lets you bounce an Island back to your hand to counter a spell.

Thwart makes you return 3 islands

These spells de-ramp you, but when you absolutely need to counter something, it is better to have these at the ready. Also, these are likely restricted to only mono blue decks, especially Thwart, due to the required Island land type.

Big boys only

What is everyone's favorite tribe that traditionally costs 7+ mana to cast? Eldrazi! Not of This World is a great counterspell to go in dedicated eldrazi decks, but would be horrible everywhere else. When you cast that Emrakul, you can see the fear in your opponents' eyes as they plot how to get rid of it. Countering their spell for free, combined with keeping your Emrakul on board, can be game over for your opponents.

Free in a roundabout way

Rewind and Unwind both untap the mana you used to cast them, essentially making them "free." If you have a land that taps for more than 1, like Azorius Chancery, you can actually be "up" one mana.

The downside to these is that you need to keep the mana up at all times. These are likely better suited to decks where you want to play at instant speed. If you leave up 4 mana on your turn, and your opponents do not do anything worth countering on theirs, what you do not want is to have wasted that mana. Having other instants you can play before it gets back to your turn is key.

Buy now!

Perhaps the closest card that you can get, on a budget, to Force of Will is Flare of Denial.

By the time this article is released, Wizards will have already released Bloomburrow, probably a few secret lairs, and started spoiler season on Duskmourn, making Flare of Denial an old card by their standards!

Sitting at around $6.67, this card will go nowhere but up. A self-restriction on this article series is cards have to be under $10, and Flare of Denial just squeaked by, which is why I am saying to buy this card NOW.

The cost to cast this for free may not be as easy as one thinks. Unfortunately, it says "nontoken blue creature," meaning sacrificing Drakes from Talrand, Sky Summoner or Illusions from Minn, Wily Illusionist will not work. If you are willing to sacrifice your commander to counter a spell, then you will always be able to cast this reliably, but more than likely you want your commander to stick around. Look towards two color decks to slot this spell in. I personally like it in Merfolk decks helmed by Hakbal, Surging Soul or rogue decks featuring Alela, Cunning Conquerer, as those play tons of cheap creatures you can easily sacrifice to Flare of Denial.

Cleanup

It probably sounds like I was too negative on these cards, whereas I really just wanted to make sure I discussed the downsides to each, to help you make decisions on what decks to include them in. Flare of Denial is the best of the bunch, but as that card will likely not be considered budget for too much longer, look to pick up the upcoming reprint of Foil from Mystery Booster or visit the distant past and buy a copy of Thwart. When I am all in, bouncing lands back to my hand or pitching multiple cards to secure my win is a small price to pay, and these cards are fantastic for doing so on a budget.