All 6 White Counterspells in Magic Ranked

Last updated on July 23, 2024

Mana Tithe | Illustration by Martina Pilcerova

Ok, now’s my chance. My blue opponents are tapped out and empty-handed. I’ve got the mana I need to cast my wincon. The mono-white player’s holding up mana, but what are they going to do, counter my spell? I’ve basically got this game in the bag.

This is surely the internal monologue we’ve all had right before disaster strikes in the form of a white counterspell. Of all things…. Bet you didn’t see that coming! Today we’re going to learn how to avoid that trap by listing out all of white’s instant-speed counterspells.

It’s not a long list, but it’s one worth knowing!

What Are White Counterspells in MTG?

Dawn Charm | Illustration by John Avon

A white counterspell is a mono-white instant that interacts with spells on the stack, either by countering them outright or removing them from the stack. I specify mono-white because gold cards usually gain their counterspell text from adding blue into the mix (Absorb, for example), and we want to zone in on counterspells that you could play in a mono-white Commander deck.

I’m also focusing specifically on instants. White has several permanents with abilities that can counter spells, but the “gotcha!” element is lost when your opponent can see those permanents on the battlefield and play around them accordingly. Cards like Frontline Medic and Chancellor of the Annex fall more in line with taxation effects than full-on counterspells.

Half of these spells come from Planar Chaos, a set that intentionally played around with what colors traditionally do, so countermagic’s not exactly in white’s slice of the color pie. The recent addition of Reprieve might be a sign of a change in philosophy and could be an indication that there’s more white stack interaction in our future.

#6. Illumination

Mirage was early enough in Magic’s history that the game was still establishing what kind of effects belonged to each color. White was the color most closely associated with Disenchant effects, so it’s not too much of a stretch to figure out how Illumination came about. This sort of effect belongs to blue now (see Annul), and white’s plethora of disenchants means it doesn’t really need access to specific counterspells like this in the first place.

#5. Rebuff the Wicked

Rebuff the Wicked is a Planar Chaos card that shows how white could have had access to more countermagic in a different timeline. It’s a 1-for-1 counter against single-target removal, outclassed by most protection spells like Surge of Salvation or Ephemerate. Turn Aside is an exact copy of the card in a more appropriate color, printed three years after Rebuff.

#4. Dawn Charm

Dawn Charm provides modality in the form of a Fog effect, a protection spell for a single creature, or a way to dodge a spell aimed directly at you. The sum isn’t much better than the individual parts. The counterspell mode is especially narrow, but I suppose the regeneration mode is supposed to cover spells targeting your creatures.

#3. Reprieve

Reprieve isn’t technically a counterspell in that it doesn’t actually use the word “counter” in its rules text. It still has an uncanny resemblance to Remand and definitely falls in line with what we mean when we say “counterspell.” It’s probably better described as a tempo card than a control card, but white decks tend to make better use of effects like this. Blue decks want the hard counterspells, while white tempo or aggro decks are fine giving a spell back to the opponent if they can keep the pressure on while the opponent fumbles trying to recast it.

#2. Mana Tithe

No one ever plays around Mana Tithe. It’s a color-shifted Force Spike that leads to some of the biggest blowouts you can imagine. I won’t oversell it; there are certainly times when Mana Tithe is a do-nothing dud in your hand, but it’s a huge swing if you ever catch an opponent tapping out for a big spell. It’s especially back-breaking against X-spells, which incentivize players to dump as much mana as they can into the spell.

#1. Lapse of Certainty

Despite having the exact same text as Memory Lapse, Lapse of Certainty isn’t a color-shifted card. Its only main-set printing was in Conflux, where I assume it was meant to be a litmus test for white counterspells. The designers obviously wanted to set a precedent that blue would still be the king of countermagic, hence the full 1-mana difference between the cost of these two spells. It’s one of white’s only ways to counter a spell without restriction, and it’s easily disguised by the prevalence of Teferi's Protection at the same cost.

Best White Counterspell Payoffs

Most counterspell payoffs are native to blue, which makes perfect sense given that blue’s the natural home for stack interaction. That means white doesn’t explicitly pay you off for countering spells, even though there are still reasons to consider these cards.

White countermagic is such an anomaly that it’s rarely expected by your opponents. Even players who are aware of the existence of spells like Mana Tithe or Lapse of Certainty might not give you credit for actually running the cards and play into them accordingly. In fact, you’ll often hear players cast an expensive spell and jokingly say something like “please don’t Mana Tithe me.” It’s an ironic way of recognizing that white countermagic is unlikely to come up but has a pretty powerful effect on the game when it does.

Unlike blue countermagic, white counterspells are at their best in aggressive decks that want to close out games quickly. You certainly can run cards like Reprieve in a white control deck, but if you’re not putting any pressure behind your countermagic, you’re basically saying you’re okay with the game going long. If that’s the case, you’re better off with hard countermagic. White aggro decks want to close out the games fast, and a well-timed counterspell can put an opponent off-balance just long enough to push through another attack or keep a pivotal sweeper from resolving for a turn.

Is Silence a Counterspell?

Silence isn’t a counterspell. It prevents spells from going on the stack, thus preventing players from casting spells, but it doesn’t interact with anything that’s already on the stack before it resolves. When we talk about counterspells, we usually mean cards that can remove spells and abilities from the stack. Silence doesn’t do this, even though it has its own play patterns that prevent opponents from interacting.

Wrap Up

Illumination | Illustration by David O'Connor

I hesitate to say that white counterspells are good. At the very least they’re comparable to some of blue’s middle-tier counterspells. But the fact that they’re not a staple part of Magic design means they often catch players by surprise and punish them for thinking the coast is clear. If you’re looking for just a bit more interaction in your white decks, you might try some of these cards out.

Have you had success with any white counterspells? Do you wish Wizards would dabble in this slice of the color pie a bit more, or leave it as is? Let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

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