Theory Crafting: Wash Away

When is a counterspell, not a counterspell?

Brainstorm, illustrated by Justin Hernandez & Alexis Hernandez

Welcome to another segment of Theory Crafting.  With Crimson Vow fully spoiled, and Prerelease happening this weekend, I'd like to talk about one of the cards featured in the upcoming set, Wash Away. 

Foreword before we get into it, Crimson Vow features the new mechanic, Cleave.  Cleave is an alternate casting cost to the card, which offers different benefits if you pay the extra mana.  So for Wash Away, it's either  to blank a spell not casted from hand, or  for a Cancel variant (which is... not good) when cast for its Cleave cost.

Wash Away is whipping up a polarizing debate on how powerful the card is, especially in a singleton format like Commander.  So herein lies my question: when is a counterspell offensive? 

Island(s) in the Sun

Firstly, let's compare Wash Away with the rest of the countermagic field, with regards to its mana value. For sake of likeness (and budget), we're excluding the "free to cast" spells such as Force of Will, Force of Negation, and Fierce Guardianship.

Take a look at the OG, Counterspell. Iconic in its simplicity, it requires  to stop any spell. However, outside of mono-Blue, Ux variants might find it awkward to have two blue mana left open, with this problem exacerbated with the more colours you run.

On the other hand we have the format go-to: Negate. Reprinted to oblivion (yay, game accessibility), this budget all-star with its single blue pip makes it easier to cast.  

Lastly, we've the efficient option, Dispel.  Here, you're basically maximizing efficiency out of the card.  For a single , you can stop any instant spell, and only that.  

While it may be easier to keep mana open, both Negate and Dispel share the bane of being moot against the most common card type in all of Magic: creatures.  That includes most (all?) Commanders.  Which brings me to my next point.

Wave after Wave

I'd like to talk about the design of countermagic within the context of Magic.  The function of countermagic acts as a reactive mechanism, to gain a tempo advantage over the course of the game.  Its strength lies (and I guess, relies) on hidden game information, such as the potential cards your opponents can cast. Counters work best in protecting your position by denying unwanted interference, like spells pointed your way, or it can be used to disrupt an opponent's game plan. 

Although Wash Away does have the capability to proactively counter an opponent's Commander (arguably the only open information available), I'd argue that this option is the upside, and not the base function of this counter (which is the Cleave mode).  Unless you're playing at higher power-level pods, where decks are capable of casting spells from alternate zones like the graveyard, exile, or even from the top of their library, I honestly can't see Wash Away being any better than the established countermagic lineup preceding Crimson Vow.

Rising Tides

That's my hot take on Wash Away.  While useful, I certainly do not think it is worth the brouhaha the player base on social media thinks it is.  The power of this card tapers off significantly, the more casual and "fair" Magic is played. 

In summary, will I get a copy of the card itself?  Since it scales extremely well according to the strength of the player pod, I'd definitely be playtesting it, at the very least.