Just wondering what you guys think of Spell Snare. Is this card in Modern, what Force of Will is in Legacy? I know that not all Modern winning decklists run blue but generally speaking, is Spell Snare becoming the go to 4-of counterspell for control in Modern? I see the card a lot here locally.
Note that I am NOT comparing the 2 cards at all here...only in the sense of being the top counter in the format.
Spell Snare isn't even close to Force of Will. Although there are a good number of powerful 2 drops in Modern (Scavenging Ooze isn't Modern legal by the way), it isn't an automatic 4 of counterspell for blue decks. In my Bant deck, I run Mana Leaks and Spell Pierces, passing over Snare entirely.
Sure it counters it but they just play it next turn! in a control deck i would rather play mana leak. In the UW MidrAngel deck, for instance, i would MUCH rather play leak.
In Merfolk i think Remand might be better...but ill stick to leak for now.
As for Snare, its awesome. on the draw its insane for setting them behind. Its led to a couple of blowouts for me vs. Pod for sure...
Remand isn't really a control card but rather a tempo card. It keeps them from playing that threat / answer for 1 more turn. In combo or delver (assuming you have a threat out), this is usually long enough.
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well, having a hard counter for a 2 drop (of which there are many very good 2 drops in modern) is always a plus. but the purpose of snare is not the same as FOW. FOW is a card that lets you proactively do things and still be able to reactively stop an opponent. if you're alternate casting FOW with mana open, you're doing it wrong.
and disrupting shoal is modern's FOW
yeah, remand isn't a control counter. you're better off playing some actual real counter (at 3 or 4 cmc) if you're looking to build a control deck. but since tempo is so relevant in modern, remand works wonders.
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I speak in sarcasm because calling people ******* ******** is not allowed.
Spell Snare isn't even close to Force of Will. Although there are a good number of powerful 2 drops in Modern (Scavenging Ooze isn't Modern legal by the way), it isn't an automatic 4 of counterspell for blue decks. In my Bant deck, I run Mana Leaks and Spell Pierces, passing over Snare entirely.
Sorry, typo on my part. Meant to say Dark Confidant and not Scavenging Ooze. Thanks for the reminder.
Yes, I know of Disrupting Shoal and even Pact of Negation. Those cards are definitely more similar to Force of Will in feel but I seldom see them played in top tier Modern decks...at least up here.
Spell snare is really good, nut there are a lot of great 3cmc drops who ignore spell snare completely, like liliana, kitchen finks, knight of reliq, vendilion, and so on, so its not even close to being a 4-off, 3 at max, Imo.
I'd definitely max out on Leaks, Remands, or both before I thought about playing 4 Snare. Control wants to run Leaks over Remands and tempo wants to do the opposite but neither archetype wants to make Snare their go-to answer. It's definitely important to have a couple in the mix, and Snapcaster Mage makes it amazing, but it shouldn't be reiled upon as an auto-run staple.
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Thanks to Gabgabdevo for the awesome sig image!
I'm always looking for foil Madcap Skills and Ghitu Fire-Eater, [trade thread link forthcoming]
There is huge disagreement over whether more Spell Pierces or Spell Snares should be run in Caw-Blade and other UW Tempo(-Control) variants (at least if you stare at enough Modern Dailies), so no, Spell Snare will not be as ubiquitous and agreed-upon (if slightly controversial itself) as FoW.
FoW serves a much different purpose than snare, so you can't really compare the two.
When talking about comparing how much either is played, it's not close either. Snare is just another counterspell such as leak, remand, and pierce. FoW in legacy is the go-to, and is played a lot more than snare. Not to mention FoW is good in combo whereas snare is not.
I'd say the closest example to snare in modern is... snare in legacy.
FoW serves a much different purpose than snare, so you can't really compare the two.
When talking about comparing how much either is played, it's not close either. Snare is just another counterspell such as leak, remand, and pierce. FoW in legacy is the go-to, and is played a lot more than snare. Not to mention FoW is good in combo whereas snare is not.
I'd say the closest example to snare in modern is... snare in legacy.
This.
But if you're simply looking for the go-to counterspell in modern, there really isn't one. Remand and spell snare are the most used, obviously, but some people prefer mana leak, spell pierce, even dispel. As far as the most powerful counter spell, infidel and other blue players have me convinced lately that cryptic command is worthy as a 'go-to' counterspell in most blue decks.
Mana Leak is probably the most common counter and played in the greatest number, that or Remand which is a soft counter. After that its all a mix of Spell Pierce, Deprive, Spell Snare, Dispel, and Cryptic.
I get more mileage playing UWR Delver with Mana Leak than Spell Snare.
3 to anything is best in a more random meta. Spell Snare is better heading into a clearer, more defined metagame imo.
Make a spellsnare variant that is 2 or less, and we'll talk.
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I support WotC's goal of shaping Modern in favor of diversity.
I ran a thought experiment on my blog Modern in a Nuclear Wasteland
of an extreme case of banning 20 more cards to make sure they get everything, then scaling back where appropriate. WotC seems to be on a slowly build up approach. Both ways probably reach similar end points.
The post Gatecrash metagame is proving to be closer to the endpoint than I estimated, so its very possible that few (if any) more cards need to be banned.
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Note that I am NOT comparing the 2 cards at all here...only in the sense of being the top counter in the format.
With all the good 2-drops in Modern (e.g. Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Snapcaster Mage, Thalia, Guardian of thraben etc...I can see Spell Snare getting played more and more in the future and also getting more expensive as well barring a reprint. Thoughts?
S
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Sure it counters it but they just play it next turn! in a control deck i would rather play mana leak. In the UW MidrAngel deck, for instance, i would MUCH rather play leak.
In Merfolk i think Remand might be better...but ill stick to leak for now.
As for Snare, its awesome. on the draw its insane for setting them behind. Its led to a couple of blowouts for me vs. Pod for sure...
Thanks Hero's of the Plane
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and disrupting shoal is modern's FOW
yeah, remand isn't a control counter. you're better off playing some actual real counter (at 3 or 4 cmc) if you're looking to build a control deck. but since tempo is so relevant in modern, remand works wonders.
Sorry, typo on my part. Meant to say Dark Confidant and not Scavenging Ooze. Thanks for the reminder.
Yes, I know of Disrupting Shoal and even Pact of Negation. Those cards are definitely more similar to Force of Will in feel but I seldom see them played in top tier Modern decks...at least up here.
S
My Trade Binder...come take a look!
Thanks to Gabgabdevo for the awesome sig image!
I'm always looking for foil Madcap Skills and Ghitu Fire-Eater, [trade thread link forthcoming]
When talking about comparing how much either is played, it's not close either. Snare is just another counterspell such as leak, remand, and pierce. FoW in legacy is the go-to, and is played a lot more than snare. Not to mention FoW is good in combo whereas snare is not.
I'd say the closest example to snare in modern is... snare in legacy.
This.
But if you're simply looking for the go-to counterspell in modern, there really isn't one. Remand and spell snare are the most used, obviously, but some people prefer mana leak, spell pierce, even dispel. As far as the most powerful counter spell, infidel and other blue players have me convinced lately that cryptic command is worthy as a 'go-to' counterspell in most blue decks.
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3 to anything is best in a more random meta. Spell Snare is better heading into a clearer, more defined metagame imo.
Big Thanks to Xeno for sig art <3.
There are no free counterspells in Modern other than the inconsistent Disrupting Shoal. Cheap but narrow counters abound - Spell Pierce, Dispel, Spell Snare.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
I ran a thought experiment on my blog
Modern in a Nuclear Wasteland
of an extreme case of banning 20 more cards to make sure they get everything, then scaling back where appropriate. WotC seems to be on a slowly build up approach. Both ways probably reach similar end points.
The post Gatecrash metagame is proving to be closer to the endpoint than I estimated, so its very possible that few (if any) more cards need to be banned.