cmcs are generally higher in edh, so abrupt decay is probably not going to hit enough. try maelstrom pulse. asceticismis good for protecting your commander.
effects that increase or interact with the number of +1/+1 counters are good with skullbriar. try hardened scales, Varolz, the Scar-striped or renegade krasis spellskitehas a blue mana symbol in its text box, so you can't run it in a black/green deck.
no. counterspell stops the spell from resolving. it is cast after all costs are paid, and is a spell itself.
countering an altar's reapmeans that he pays the mana and sacrifices the creature, but does not draw any cards.
paying a cards mana cost in the top right is a cost. antthing before the colon in an activated ability is a cost. anything the card says is an additional cost is a cost.
all costs are paid all at once, before you get to do anything about it.
correct.
costs cannot be responded to. period. once he announces his spell, you have to counterspell it to stop the effect.
you can't cast a removal spell on a creature sacrificed by a cost, because by the time you get a chance it's too dead to kill.
the only way i can think of is to make it a human and cast moonmist. it has to be a card that says "transform". it cannot be turned face-down by manifest or ixidron, because double faced cards do not have a "face down". there are no other effects that flip it over.
you could secure the wastes for 5 at the end of your opponent's turn and then sacrifice the tokens =/
Smothering Abomination or Goblin Cannon can be responded to because it's a triggered ability that goes on the stack that causes you to sacrifice upon ability resolution as opposed to ability activation.
while those CAN be responded to, doing so does not counter the effect. only things that say the word "target" can be countered by removing something, and that is done by removing said target, not the source.
in the case of smothering abomination, the creature to be sacrificed is chosen on resolution. if a creature is bounced, you have to sacrifice something else. if you have no creatures, nothing happens.
un the case of goblin cannon, if the cannon is bounced (or, more likely, sacrificed to prior activations of its own ability), as much of the effect happens as possible. the target still takes damage, but the cannon is not sacrificed because it no longer exists. if the TARGET is bounced or killed, the entire ability is countered and the cannon sticks around.
a better comparison is arcum dagsson. if the target is removed, the entire ability is countered and nobody searches their deck for anything.
no, the sacrifice is an additional cost. you cannot respond to a cost. they are paid all at once, at the same time the spell is put on the stack. you would have to bounce the creature before your friend had was able to play his card at all, which would not counter it, since it was not cast.
as in, bouncing a creature during his upkeep to prevent him from attempting a sorcery during his main phase. if the spell in question is an instant you're pretty much out of luck.
EDITS: i hate typing on a cell phone
my favorite story with planeswalker ultimates is when i was playing mono red (akroma, angel,of fury voltron) and the guy to my right played karn. he plused me, i looked at my hand and passed him my gauntlet of power. everyone else wondered what was in my hand to exile that. the turn went around, and i got plused again. forked over my caged sun. the guy with the karn said he was seriously considering resetting the game for once. i agreed and proceeded to cast word of seizing.
Hulking Spriggan 2
Creature - Goblin Mutant
Trample
Hulking Spriggan enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the amount of mana spent to cast it.
When Hulking Spriggan dies, put an X/X black worm creature token with deathtouch onto the battlefield, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Hulking Spriggan.
0/0
it's a 5/5 trample for 4 that replaces itself when it dies. i DO like phyrexian mana with an effect based on the amount of mana to cast it.
make the base p/t 0/0 and i love it.
EDIT: i swear it said 1/1 when i wrote this.
it looks great.
...walk into a bar.
no, seriously. i like the dragon, and the fact that it can bring itself back may have been intentional, but i don't know how i feel about that part.
the archon is worded poorly. as it is, if it dies in combat the "give stuff back" trigger will happen before the "take blocking creatures"does, taking them permanently. you will want either an "if this is still in play" on the clause for taking things, or a "for as long as this is on the battlefield" for the steal one.
the land doesn't produce mana on its own. wizards doesn't like those. and yeah, only removing the counter if the mana is used on a creature is pretty sick. it seems a lot better than phyrexian tower.
asceticismis good for protecting your commander.
effects that increase or interact with the number of +1/+1 counters are good with skullbriar. try hardened scales, Varolz, the Scar-striped or renegade krasis
spellskitehas a blue mana symbol in its text box, so you can't run it in a black/green deck.
countering an altar's reapmeans that he pays the mana and sacrifices the creature, but does not draw any cards.
paying a cards mana cost in the top right is a cost. antthing before the colon in an activated ability is a cost. anything the card says is an additional cost is a cost.
all costs are paid all at once, before you get to do anything about it.
costs cannot be responded to. period. once he announces his spell, you have to counterspell it to stop the effect.
you can't cast a removal spell on a creature sacrificed by a cost, because by the time you get a chance it's too dead to kill.
you could secure the wastes for 5 at the end of your opponent's turn and then sacrifice the tokens =/
while those CAN be responded to, doing so does not counter the effect. only things that say the word "target" can be countered by removing something, and that is done by removing said target, not the source.
in the case of smothering abomination, the creature to be sacrificed is chosen on resolution. if a creature is bounced, you have to sacrifice something else. if you have no creatures, nothing happens.
un the case of goblin cannon, if the cannon is bounced (or, more likely, sacrificed to prior activations of its own ability), as much of the effect happens as possible. the target still takes damage, but the cannon is not sacrificed because it no longer exists. if the TARGET is bounced or killed, the entire ability is countered and the cannon sticks around.
a better comparison is arcum dagsson. if the target is removed, the entire ability is countered and nobody searches their deck for anything.
as in, bouncing a creature during his upkeep to prevent him from attempting a sorcery during his main phase. if the spell in question is an instant you're pretty much out of luck.
EDITS: i hate typing on a cell phone
it's a 5/5 trample for 4 that replaces itself when it dies. i DO like phyrexian mana with an effect based on the amount of mana to cast it.
make the base p/t 0/0 and i love it.
EDIT: i swear it said 1/1 when i wrote this.
it looks great.
no, seriously. i like the dragon, and the fact that it can bring itself back may have been intentional, but i don't know how i feel about that part.
the archon is worded poorly. as it is, if it dies in combat the "give stuff back" trigger will happen before the "take blocking creatures"does, taking them permanently. you will want either an "if this is still in play" on the clause for taking things, or a "for as long as this is on the battlefield" for the steal one.
the land doesn't produce mana on its own. wizards doesn't like those. and yeah, only removing the counter if the mana is used on a creature is pretty sick. it seems a lot better than phyrexian tower.