I second that. You can always choose 0 for 
, and your opponent then chooses to "pay" 
. It's free, but still a choice, so they can let their spell be countered, but in most cases they won't.
Posted By:
Tynansdtm
(5/28/2011 12:19:12 AM)
@nathan666 I like using this card by paying one more than they have available. Watching them count their mana only to realize that their storm crow is about to be exiled, then saying "maybe you should have worked harder", is pretty much the most satisfying thing i do every day.
Posted By:
tarvofthemudhole
(6/20/2012 10:41:37 AM)
Personally one of my favorite cards. Especially when using it on someone's 8 tap trump card. (generic example). It's always fun to tap 2 mana and remove a key spell from your opponent's strategy. And if you have to, you can always put more into it. Excellent card for decks that have things like Everflowing Chalice that can potentially have a great deal of mana from one source.
Posted By:
DamyntheSilver
(7/2/2011 3:13:12 PM)
@Tommy9898; Yeah, if you think about it. These kind of counters were called "stutters" for a while, from a flavor standpoint they represent the blue mage causing the opponent to error rather than directly stopping them. see force spike. Paying X is representative of resisting the mind attack.
In classical literature, spells are almost always evoked vocally, usually with complex chants. To syncopate your chant, then, would really mess up your spell!
Posted By:
Kryptnyt
(3/21/2011 9:00:41 AM)
@Alsebra That doesn't make any sense man, if you pay zero mana than your opponent should be able to counter the spell without paying any mana, regardless whether or not they are tapped out. A situation that this spell could be good in is if you want them to waste their mana, or you have a enough to cover the spell as it exiles the card instead of sending it to their graveyard.
Posted By:
nathan666
(5/16/2011 1:08:25 PM)
Confirmed for Return to Ravnica.
Posted By:
A3Kitsune
(9/6/2012 10:37:12 PM)
Hmm, just looked up the definition of Syncopate: to shorten (a word) by omitting sounds or letters from the middle
Oh the name of this card makes perfect sense now ಠ_ಠ
Posted By:
Tommy9898
(6/30/2010 12:33:31 AM)
@Tommy9898 Kind of oddly named, but I like it: I think of it like this-
the Fireballs are hitting his counterspell swipes in a syncopated meter. It's about the rhythm of the mage's spell casting, in order to hit that many incoming targets in time.....yeah that's really wierd, but it makes it work :)
Posted By:
DarthParallax
(9/8/2012 9:30:22 AM)
@ToAsTy42o - You can indeed pay 0 for the X cost and have it counter something if your opponent has tapped out.
Posted By:
Alsebra
(4/23/2011 4:14:58 AM)
this is good against doomblade if its on a good creature
Posted By:
sorin688
(3/18/2011 8:44:49 PM)