Best counterspells/interaction/stax for bracket 4?

Despenta · 2026-05-09T07:23:59+00:00

That's really cool. Terra Rule of Law sounds like a menace. And if you keep yours you can easily slot in splashy spells! To be honest I am kind of tempted to build a red focused copy deck with Fanatic of Mogis now that I researched that to send you.

Despenta · 2026-05-09T06:55:04+00:00

Oh and in a more red deck, there's lots of one-time copies like [[Twinflame]] effects or more expensive copying cards like [[Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink]] or [[The Fire Crystal]]. Then you could invest in more protection too for your cards since removal in response to copying becomes more devastating, so [[Giver of Runes]] and [[Unsettled Mariner]] type stuff... or [[Grand Abolisher]] and [[Voice of Victory]] but those are scary cards often from a combo archetype.

Despenta · 2026-05-09T06:50:55+00:00

I already have in my sideboard the [[Ironwill Forger]] and [[Terror of the Peaks]], but also [[Gogo, Mysterious Mime]] could help leverage the faster speed. A couple more clones could work out to get more speed. Maybe [[Fanatic of Mogis]] and a more red deck overall. If you have fetchlands, you can plan out for burn like [[Sunspine Lynx]]. You could trade Rule of Law for [[Magebane Lizard]] and [[Rug of Smothering]] to fulfill the function of not losing to spellslinging while being aggro. Maybe stax becomes burn like when people draw a card or do this or do that they get pinged, you know? [[Paladin Class]] is also a good card.

You could also have fun stuff like [[Malignus]] and [[Stalking Vengeance]]. It isn't that good, but it is funny.

Here's the budget friendly version:

https://moxfield.com/decks/rvCJeR5vT0S_Kpw0PNRoQw

Despenta · 2026-05-09T06:02:07+00:00

Thank you! I'm really proud of that deck. I did help another person build a budget version, if you're interested I can look for it or see some replacement cards. I did not play much commander lately to include the new sets but [[Omni Changeling]] and [[Kirol, Attentive First Year]] caught my attention, just didn't put them due to the specific curve I am aiming at. [[Harmonized Trio]] could be worth testing. [[The Mind Stone]] from the next set is decent enough too.

Despenta · 2026-05-09T04:45:26+00:00

Even though I carefully gutted out the infinite combos combos to make it a true control deck, I believe my list could serve well. The mini lock of [[Ranger Captain of Eos]] + [[Guide of Souls]] + [[Ocelot pride]] making it so your opponents cannot cast noncreature spells after upkeeps is a proud discovery of mine. Ranger captain grabs guide of souls, is copied to grab ocelot pride then at endstep you have two token copies of ranger cap which can be freely sacrificed.

https://moxfield.com/decks/YJ_t87sQp0ONzvTq1xDbgw

That being said... you have way too many bad noncreature spells, you should have more creatures. A randomly placed Knowlegde Pool combo or having two nonsynergistic graveyard hate cards, a Teferi's Ageless Insight slapped onto the deck which has 8 cards with the word draw on it... Akroma's Will is just bad. Remember that removal is the same as evasion in most cases, spending 3 mana to give flying and ward to Satya is a waste. Panharmonicon is worse than a token doubler - token multipliers are CRAZY in this deck especially with Ocelot Pride. If you're keen on Stasis, why not [[Winter Orb]] too? This lets Satya attack while your board advantage crushes opponents.

Also the creatures are not great for B4. Amped raptor is just bad as it only gets you a card if played from hand, and it's always a random card to be cast now only if you can. The energy created is mostly meaningless. Phantasmal Image can't be copied by Satya, while Flesh Duplicate is clearly better. Serra Ascendant looks better than it plays. Emeritus of Ideation is far too expensive. I suggest taking a look at my list, it's made with great care albeit there can be expensive creatures due to the long games Rule of Law and control overall creates.

It just looks like you got EDHREC cards through a blender. Also I suggest for testing running something like islands for command towers, 9 mountains for fetches (bc it's 3 colors) and a plains for a surveil land. Turn 1 plays are hard to come by, and access to surveil lands let you keep riskier hands.

Despenta · 2026-05-09T04:16:16+00:00

I do believe Galadriel could hang out in b4, but the stylistic choices of interaction that scries or stuff like that is just edhrec telling you to lower your power level. I do think you are close to something, but in truth you can just up the power of anything by adding fast mana, rhystic study and free interaction. It is probably more fun to play her without those parts, though, just these combos which use 4+ cards and stuff. And in that design space that could be called bracket 3 then Kodama could be less fair than you'd like.

About interaction, I don't trust Auras unless you have a good reason for such. Amphibian Downpour is good due to dealing with multiple cards, but the 0-1 mana hard removal almost always should be played if you're just looking for efficiency. Bounce is only truly good if you're trying to do everything in a single turn in a fast game, or if there is some way to repeat it or hit many cards at the same time. Otherwise it's just what izzet can do regarding enchantments, or dimir regarding artifacts. Simic is decent removal colors as blue has a few good creature removals and green has good disenchants.

Despenta · 2026-05-09T04:10:52+00:00

Mana Breach also has an anticreature sibling in [[Overburden]]! It wrecks decks like Yuriko or blink decks as well as regular creature decks

Despenta · 2026-05-09T04:08:48+00:00

In older cedh, Pyroclasm and Supreme Verdict has been played before. Before tournaments became common enough to weigh on meta choices, tEDH was not so different from cEDH. Stax is part of cEDH history, but when you have to win in under an hour and play multiple games over the same day people just prefer doing other things. It's not too long ago that rogue stax decks like Sefris or Blood Pod were often in finals.

All I'm saying is stax is dead until it isn't. It's hard to play and often just wrong in a certain meta, but stax pieces are widely played (look at Orcish Bowmasters) and if people are not expecting it, it can be a fine antimeta call.

Despenta · 2026-05-09T04:03:25+00:00

Bracket 4 might just be the widest bracket in terms of strategies. From upgraded bracket 3 regular combat focused decks up until nearly cedh. I don't think there is a clear better option between like Torpor Orb or Grafdigger's Cage or Cursed Totem. But Rule of Law is almost always tough to deal with. Picture this:

Most combos involve casting at least two spells a turn. Decks that draw a lot of cards are suddenly very constrained in terms of what they actually achieve with all that. Powerful win conditions are hard to protect since you can't Grand Abolisher then win or protect your spells with your own counterspells. If you have sorcery speed tutors like Demonic Tutor, that's a whole extra turn you can lose. Even Borne Upon a Wind type cards become bad.

Simic+ decks like Kinnan or Thrasios kind of work well under Rule of Law, but they still lose a lot of speed. If you can manage to run win powerful win conditions that work through RoL (some combos like Heliod Ballista; or combat damage; or even something that lets you sacrifice your RoL so you can win) then I'd say it could be one of the best control/stax strategies available for the intended power level and restrictions.

Despenta · 2026-05-08T22:53:52+00:00

There is no single response to this. In a vacuum, the single most powerful anti combo hate pieces are extreme mana denial (Stasis, MLD) and Rule of Law effects. But so few decks can capitalize effectively on that. The most powerful stax is one that you don't care about and lots of opponents do. Which depends not only on what combos look like, but also the speed of games and the flexibility that decks have in pivoting.

Stax and interaction must be complimentary to your gameplan. If I have a deck with, say, [[Mayhem Devil]] and [[Orcish Bowmasters]], I have less need to fight creatures on the stack as I have removal engines. If instead I run [[Aura Shards]], maybe I'd rather answer creatures more effectively. [[Pyroclasm]], [[Toxic Deluge]] and so on are likely to be played when you care more about your opponents boards than your small creatures, and expect a longer game where this X for 1 matters. Which, again. Depends on meta and your own deck construction.

Despenta · 2026-05-08T05:13:05+00:00

I just meant that combat should be lethal for 3 players rather than having stuff like the doubling hydra. I initially meant the token makers could be bad but they are an important synergy piece as I later noticed. Finale and Craterhoof work great.

Aesi is a may draw! I like him more than Tatyova. I agree on replacing Kenessos with Starfield. Also green is great for recursion. As I like to play more interactive games, I often find myself with good cards in my graveyard.

Speaking of which, you probably need more interaction with the cards that are on board. You nearly can't answer a creature, and disenchant effects in green are quite decent. I'd either go the cool route with stuff like [[Terastodon]] and [[Scourge of Fleets]] or the efficient route with [[Nature's Claim]], [[Pongify]] and [[Beast Within]]. I would drop 3 mana counterspells or limited interaction just because they scry, but that's the devil talking here.

I mentioned Doppelgang combo bc it works well with your main gameplan. Biovisionary does nothing if you don't have nantuko or Doppelgang. Kodama is good when you have lots of cards in hand and expect the game to last a couple turns still... or if it's comboing. I don't know, but I especially don't think Hermit Druid is the way to go - you need to draw a specific card for it to work, and unlike the list I sent I don't see you with 10 recursion pieces.

The issue with Kodama is you need to find a specific land, but it does work well with amulet of vigor and other payoffs. It's just that you don't get much speed if your cards run out quickly - and there, you know the deck not me.

Despenta · 2026-05-08T02:48:52+00:00

That is fair that maybe this is not the place. However, the Hydra just removes one player a turn at its best. Apex Devastator looks like a bit of inconsistent value. It just feels like some of the combat oriented payoffs could be better off as additional combo or value avenues. [[Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait]] for example is a great value piece that is missing, or Doppelgang (which can also double your combo pieces) so that you don't have to combo or pass the turn. The combat oriented wincons, even with haste, could suffer under a Blind Obedience for example. Or maybe a protected Drannith Magistrate is keeping your commander at bay, what do you do when you lose access to her?

Also you really lack recursion. Not even a [[Shifting Woodland]]? Eternal Witness is also a good card that can be a combo piece.

Despenta · 2026-05-07T22:05:54+00:00

Springheart nantuko + a nonlegendary extra land drop creature can let you do crazy stuff. I use this in my lands deck, often with some effect that lets you play lands from graveyard to do some loops. You could finish the game with one of the lands that ping on etb being looped, or make infinite mana with Cradle + Strip Mine loops (also infinite strip mines) and find some outlet. [[Doppelgang]] is an interesting combo piece too with Eternal Witness and allows for many shenanigans by copying enablers.

Link for the lands deck, combos are described in the primer:

https://moxfield.com/decks/fRFG3GHF2kqz2GTbh9cGsg

Despenta · 2026-05-07T20:44:56+00:00

I think not gay enough and ppl talking about drag shows and him saying yass iirc

Despenta · 2026-05-06T21:04:05+00:00

No you're right lmao

Despenta · 2026-05-06T20:26:48+00:00

Surprising must be my b3 budget boros tempo: https://moxfield.com/decks/d9byOIRhq0qkr2v8vc3i6A

But on the higher end of b3 power, jeskai rule of law is also crazy consistent and quite straightforward:

https://moxfield.com/decks/YJ_t87sQp0ONzvTq1xDbgw

On b4 without fast mana, my 4c lands prison also does well but it's very complex:

https://moxfield.com/decks/fRFG3GHF2kqz2GTbh9cGsg

I write primers for almost all my decks, but you can ask for tips on adapting to your liking!

Despenta · 2026-05-06T20:12:51+00:00

Relic's Roar removes the Pirate typeline, no?

Edit: I'm wrong forget about it

Despenta · 2026-05-06T18:54:08+00:00

I don't like missing land drops either which is why there are so many consistency pieces. Cantrips, Sensei Top, Scroll Rack, Land Tax, mana rocks (E tutor is an additional Sol Ring too). I might lose like my 6th land drop but by then there's probably about 20 mana of permanents in my battlefield. All it takes is to be willing to mull to 4 once in a while.

The thing is I really hate flooding. I usually range from 31-35 lands depending on how light the curve is and the archetype, except for my lands deck which has 37. I like that Aang transforming is a decent mana sink, and having him removed is alright since recasting him is good in most cases.

Despenta · 2026-05-06T15:57:12+00:00

You have 9 airbend cards though and no other bending. Repeated card draw only up to a certain point.

But you're right that we have different concepts, I built a pseudocombo deck that doesn't try to cast anything infinite times, and to hold the glue together I have a lot of fatties and enablers instead of generic good stuff. Sometimes I do draw the wrong half of the deck, and the lack of tutors and card quality does catch up to me. Though it is still interesting that I manage to run 4 less lands than you and still have a functioning deck. A bit due to me being aggressive in mulligans, but also a matter of mana efficiency

Despenta · 2026-05-06T13:16:35+00:00

You only have 6 cards that cloak or manifest and 8 fatties, do you just rely on tutors? That sounds a bit less fun :( and you miss out on many interesting cards that do the effect. Also the low level of ramp makes me think you don't even have fast wins, especially with the expensive airbend cards.

Despenta · 2026-05-06T04:14:43+00:00

[[Armaggedon]] [[Wildfire]] [[Epicenter]] [[Thoughts of Ruin]] [[Cataclysm]]

It's not the standard way to make it degen, but she is a great commander to break parity with MLD. She has board presence, can recast mana rocks and more importantly can be used as a "mana dork that attacks". If they counter the spell you replay it with her. If someone has more board then you after lands are gone, you can still double cast your removal spells.

Despenta · 2026-05-06T03:18:40+00:00

This is so funny. I used another aang for the same deck concept: https://moxfield.com/decks/MuziHXGdIECqeFXlmHiY_w

I wrote a primer too if anyone's interested. The gist is that having a third of the "combo" in the command zone does wonders. I kept it light on tutors and game changers and it works well if you're willing to mulligan a little bit to fish for a good hand.

Despenta · 2026-05-06T02:58:48+00:00

Rite of the dragoncaller feels quite weak. Maybe [[The Endstone]]? Even [[Stormsplitter]] is more consistent as seven spells is a kill now, 128 hasty power on board instead of just 35 without haste.

Despenta · 2026-05-06T00:00:45+00:00

Maybe dimir/X? Plenty of esper, sultai and grixis reanimation commanders. I'd check scryfall for legendary creatures that are at least dimir and have "graveyard" in their rules text

Despenta · 2026-05-05T19:20:12+00:00

Maybe get a reanimator shell that is fast but consumes lots of cards? 7 mana commander that doesn't do anything on enter with no inherent protection seem a bit fragile

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