Blue players love their counterspells. Being able to simply say no to whatever your opponent is doing is always immensely satisfying. However, there are only a few ways to counter abilities. Now, Tale’s End has you covered in both regards, giving players a counter to both activated abilities and legendary spells!
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Breakdown
For one and a blue, Tale’s End is an instant. What it does is simple: “counter target activated ability, triggered ability, or legendary spell.” However, for a newer player, this may a bit confusing.
To keep it simple, an activated ability is one that requires a cost. Tapping an artifact, paying a life, sacrificing a creature, or paying mana or all good examples. One might read as “Pay 1 life and sacrifice a creature: put a -1/-1 on target creature.”
In comparison, triggered abilities occur when a condition is met. That condition might be a land entering the battlefield, a creature dying, or a spell being cast. An example would be “whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, create a 1/1 elemental token.”
Legendary spells are much more straightforward. If it says legendary on the card or is a planeswalker, then it’s a legendary spell.
Verdict
This card is sure to be great in Standard with all the planeswalkers running around. Tale’s End can not only counter planeswalkers spells themselves, but also any activated ability of a planeswalker that’s already on the battlefield.
The card is less likely to show up in Modern or Legacy, since Legacy already has Stifle and it might be too specific for Modern. However, it might be a good sideboard option for Modern. Being able to bring it in against decks that rely on planeswalkers (UW Control, Tron) or powerful abilities (Storm, Amulet Titan) could be enough for it to win a slot. The card seems to especially shine for Commander, where legendary spells and powerful abilities are everywhere.
What do you think of Tale’s End? What format do you plan on playing it in? Let us know down in the comments below! And stay tuned to Daily Esports for more spoilers as they are revealed!
