While I like the idea of slapping together Silence and Counterspell onto one card, it really just doesn't work most of the time, especially in today's standard. Here's how I generally see this spell go at my local tourney:
Player 1: I play this really big spell that cost up all of my mana pool this turn
Player 2: I Render Silent! Now you can't play anymore spells this turn, despite having no more mana to do so!
Posted By:
TheWaddleDeeKing
(7/2/2013 11:08:42 AM)
Definitely situational, but I still find it to be a solid counter. It is good for countering people who are ramping mana or throwing out small spells to coax you into using something else. I find it good against aggro red builds or other control decks.
Posted By:
Kaleidostorm
(7/4/2013 2:12:35 PM)
Obligitory Elite Arcanist link
Posted By:
pedrodyl
(7/14/2013 6:25:17 PM)
I rather like this card. In the current Standard control environment, you can make a game last a really long time. Early game, it acts as a Cancel, late game, you Supreme Verdict, pass their turn, counter the spell they try to cast with this, can't do anything else, pass to you drop your bomb, in my case Aetherling. I'm actually surprised I don't see this more.
Posted By:
Kadaver666
(8/27/2013 7:07:16 PM)
Not too sure about this card. The bonus hardly ever will come into effect. But on the other hand, it is still an unconditional hard counter, and there aren't a lot of those in the format at the moment. The casting cost is basically same as Cancel/Dissolve in Azorius, and while nobody plays with Cancel, Dissolve is a standard. It's very unlikely that UW will find itself only able to pay UUU, and if you only have a single U then you can't cast Dissolve either.
The problem I often run into playing Azorius in Standard (as of Theros) is that too many of the counterspells have conditions that make them often become dead cards in hand. These are cards like Negate, Gainsay, Essence Scatter, Dispel, and Syncopate. At least Render Silent is never a dead card like that. The same could be said of Cancel, but again, there is no reason in UW to choose Cancel over Render Silent. Of course you should run 4 Dissolve before either, but I'm not sure Render Silent is completely useless.
Not to be used i... (see all)
Posted By:
Technetium
(12/13/2013 7:19:22 AM)
@TheWaddleDeeKing as much as I respect your wizards username, you're not thinking this card through. You don't use it to counter their big scary shit (that's what cancel, dissolve, counterspell etc are for) you use it to counter one of their early-turn spells that is clearly meant to draw a counter.
When your mono green opponent has 12 open mana and plays an Elvish Piper, that's when you drop this. It's not just countering the piper, but it's also countering the Garruk he was going to cast after drawing the counterspell with the piper, as well as the Sylvan Primordial he was gonna cheat out with it.
Posted By:
bertuccia32
(12/20/2013 2:34:23 PM)
@OrgasmandTea
The Azorius are big on procedures and proper legal representation... Try getting an Archaeomancer to represent you next time, they can get your spell back.
What's that? Your spell wasn't an instant/sorcery? Try getting an Auramancer, or an Argivian Archaeologist, or if it's a creature... Forget the petition, and pay a cadaver imp to steal the body back for you.
Posted By:
SevesDariku
(1/8/2014 9:27:00 PM)
Not going to be seeing tournement play, but I love these two color, three mana counter+ cards. Absorb, Undermine, Voidslime and Counterflux are all better than this card, that's pretty hard to argue against. That doesn't mean that Render Silent is bad.
Firstly the flavor is great, it feels Azorius through and through. More importantly to some, this card provides an answer to a tactic no card besides the lovably overkill Time Stop has answered before. How do you deal with counterbaiting? When you have one counterspell, your opponent has decent mana reserves and a full hand, and they start playing little threats. Do you call their bluff and counter what they're sneaking out, or do you wait and let them get the small fries to stop a potential bomb in the hand?
Having black in your deck to look through your opponent's hand and discard, or to kill things on the table is a solid pick,... (see all)
Posted By:
Enelysios
(2/23/2014 4:02:19 PM)
is ral zerek the one tied up on the promo of this card?
Posted By:
Necroken
(3/4/2014 11:31:45 AM)
@absreim: What are you talking about? Any Ad Nauseum deck worth its salt will have a Pact of Negation for exactly that type of situation.
Posted By:
MrMonday
(3/7/2014 12:23:58 PM)