So I'm honestly not complaining because this isn't even my kind of card but why is this rare rather than uncommon?
It was rare in its first printing, and we just saw a quite similar card in Ionize (like this, a Cancel involving another color and resulting in a life total delta in addition to the counter) at rare.
Massive disappointment and missed opportunity. Will be redundant in Standard, which is already flooded with 3 mana counterspells, and is basically unplayable in Modern. Meh.
Massive disappointment and missed opportunity. Will be redundant in Standard, which is already flooded with 3 mana counterspells, and is basically unplayable in Modern. Meh.
I wouldn't say "flooded". We have a total of 5 unconditional, hard counterspells at 3 mana:
Of these, Wizard's Retort requires a tribal component to be better than Cancel and Admiral's Order is only better on your turn. Which leaves Ionize and Sinister Sabotage as better than Cancel in pretty much all cases. And Ionize requires red. So, for those of us that want to play straight UW (or maybe Esper or even Bant) Absorb is better than the alternatives for those colors. I think Sinister Sabotage is still the best of the 5 (now 6) but that isn't to say I don't want counterspells 5 and 6 (or more) and Absorb allows for that in a non red deck. I am excited to to get a replacement for Ionize in my (potential) UW deck on Arena.
I agree that it probably won't see a lot of play in Modern but I am going to try it out as a 1-of in Esper as the life gain is relevant in that deck.
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
So I'm honestly not complaining because this isn't even my kind of card but why is this rare rather than uncommon?
When was the last time a Cancel with significant upside was printed at lower than Rare? Ionize and Disallow are the two recent Rares that come to mind, not sure of any other good examples.
So I'm honestly not complaining because this isn't even my kind of card but why is this rare rather than uncommon?
When was the last time a Cancel with significant upside was printed at lower than Rare? Ionize and Disallow are the two recent Rares that come to mind, not sure of any other good examples.
So I'm honestly not complaining because this isn't even my kind of card but why is this rare rather than uncommon?
When was the last time a Cancel with significant upside was printed at lower than Rare? Ionize and Disallow are the two recent Rares that come to mind, not sure of any other good examples.
So I'm honestly not complaining because this isn't even my kind of card but why is this rare rather than uncommon?
When was the last time a Cancel with significant upside was printed at lower than Rare? Ionize and Disallow are the two recent Rares that come to mind, not sure of any other good examples.
Going a little further back, Dissipate was an uncommon in M15.
Again I'm not upset that this is a rare, I'm only looking for a good reason as to why it is.
Probably because Absorb was originally printed as a rare in Invasion and as others have pointed out it may be a part of a rare XXY costed cycle with Bedevil.
Honestly I don't think this will see any play. The only reason Ionize sees play is because 1UR is easier to cast in some mana bases than Sinister Sabotage's 1UU. Absorb not only is harder to cast than Sabotage, the extra effect is generally speaking weaker. You're only playing Absorb after you've already put in a full playset of Sabatoges and frankly not even hard core control decks need that many Cancels. Might as well run some cheaper or alternatively useful counters at that point (Disdainful Stroke, Syncopate, Spell Pierce, ect...).
Honestly I don't think this will see any play. The only reason Ionize sees play is because 1UR is easier to cast in some mana bases than Sinister Sabotage's 1UU. Absorb not only is harder to cast than Sabotage, the extra effect is generally speaking weaker. You're only playing Absorb after you've already put in a full playset of Sabatoges and frankly not even hard core control decks need that many Cancels. Might as well run some cheaper or alternatively useful counters at that point (Disdainful Stroke, Syncopate, Spell Pierce, ect...).
In Standard it is much better than Sinister Sabotage as the life gain on turn 3 will get you to your 4th and 5th turns to sweep the board against any agro deck. Then the Teferi train kicks in and "all aboard".
We also get Hallowed Fountains, making casting this much easier as well. Blue White decks got the card it needed to fend off all the agro and burn that is going on.
UW still needs a decent 3 cmc wipe and some more conditional removal if you ask me but sure possible. Two or Three Useful creatures would be nice as well.
I'm just hoping that Esper Control gets back to it's pre rotation glory. I'm kinda thinking that Jeskai will just get more fuel from this set though. Jeskai is cool, but I just prefer Esper.
The 2 damage from Ionize is fluff. Jeskai decks excel in the long game, they just have to survive until they get there. Absorb helps with that significantly.
Hm... this may be interesting for UWx midrange type decks in standard. the 3 life swing is helpful for Midrange to help keep the game grinding out. Combined with an aristocrats type shell maybe from Orzhov, could be interesting. Otherwise... not too excited.
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This aint your girlfriends meta! This is a man's meta! TURBO META.
Very disappointed after getting Ionize. 1UW, gain 2 or 3 would be much better. Even in straight UW, I would play Sabotage over Absorb. Maybe as Sabotage 5-6 if for some reason you want more than 4 Cancels...
(Small) life gain as a rider is not all that, but if Standard is even remotely like I remember it being when Invasion was released, Absorb might well see quite a lot of play, in slower decks.
Modern won’t want it; likewise, most other formats.
Pretty sure this card will see zero Modern play. Does anyone even play this in EDH? Undermine is a better card and it sees little to no play either far as I know.
Am I crazy and this is actually good enough for Modern?
Should this card even be a rare? The 3 life gain for one extra mana is not relevant in most games. I can understand Disallow being a rare, but Absorb probably should be uncommon. I guess having Absorb show more often in uncommon would making drafts more lopsided.
So I'm honestly not complaining because this isn't even my kind of card but why is this rare rather than uncommon?
When was the last time a Cancel with significant upside was printed at lower than Rare? Ionize and Disallow are the two recent Rares that come to mind, not sure of any other good examples.
Pretty sure this card will see zero Modern play. Does anyone even play this in EDH? Undermine is a better card and it sees little to no play either far as I know.
Am I crazy and this is actually good enough for Modern?
Should this card even be a rare? The 3 life gain for one extra mana is not relevant in most games.
One extra mana? We don’t have Counterspell in Modern nor Standard. This doesn’t cost any more mana over the usual modern unconditional counters, it just has a more specific color dependency.
It was rare in its first printing, and we just saw a quite similar card in Ionize (like this, a Cancel involving another color and resulting in a life total delta in addition to the counter) at rare.
UR ....... WUBR ........... WB ............. RGW ........ UBR ....... WUB .... BGU
Spells / Blink & Combo / Token Grind / Dino Tribal / Draw Cards / Zombies / Reanimate
Of these, Wizard's Retort requires a tribal component to be better than Cancel and Admiral's Order is only better on your turn. Which leaves Ionize and Sinister Sabotage as better than Cancel in pretty much all cases. And Ionize requires red. So, for those of us that want to play straight UW (or maybe Esper or even Bant) Absorb is better than the alternatives for those colors. I think Sinister Sabotage is still the best of the 5 (now 6) but that isn't to say I don't want counterspells 5 and 6 (or more) and Absorb allows for that in a non red deck. I am excited to to get a replacement for Ionize in my (potential) UW deck on Arena.
I agree that it probably won't see a lot of play in Modern but I am going to try it out as a 1-of in Esper as the life gain is relevant in that deck.
I can't wait to counter this with a Guttural Response in Modern.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
3 is too high a cost in a format like Modern. It would need to be Counter + Draw for 3, essentially a cheaper Cryptic.
Spirits
When was the last time a Cancel with significant upside was printed at lower than Rare? Ionize and Disallow are the two recent Rares that come to mind, not sure of any other good examples.
Dissolve?
And it's more recent, uncommon counterpart, Sinister Sabotage.
Again I'm not upset that this is a rare, I'm only looking for a good reason as to why it is.
-Chandra Nalaar
Probably because Absorb was originally printed as a rare in Invasion and as others have pointed out it may be a part of a rare XXY costed cycle with Bedevil.
In Standard it is much better than Sinister Sabotage as the life gain on turn 3 will get you to your 4th and 5th turns to sweep the board against any agro deck. Then the Teferi train kicks in and "all aboard".
We also get Hallowed Fountains, making casting this much easier as well. Blue White decks got the card it needed to fend off all the agro and burn that is going on.
This aint your girlfriends meta! This is a man's meta! TURBO META.
Modern won’t want it; likewise, most other formats.
Should this card even be a rare? The 3 life gain for one extra mana is not relevant in most games. I can understand Disallow being a rare, but Absorb probably should be uncommon. I guess having Absorb show more often in uncommon would making drafts more lopsided.
One extra mana? We don’t have Counterspell in Modern nor Standard. This doesn’t cost any more mana over the usual modern unconditional counters, it just has a more specific color dependency.
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