Counter Trap Issues

Sorry for not posting the entire week, I have fever and shit.

I see Mike Ting finally realizes that Divine Wrath is a good card this format. We also found out that MST is not played as much as everyone anticipated. I did say not many decks can play 3 MST, but thats not the issue we currently see. The reason MST is not played much is because people are not either not setting or setting multiples to ensure Heavy doesn't go through. Blind MST is never good, and you'll see people holding it as long as possible or setting it hoping people plays an MST on it so you can chain it to another card on their board.

While I do agree that Divine Wrath being extremely good this format (mainly cause no one will see it coming), I don't really like the idea of having multiples or a playset of it in the main deck.

I think the only deck that could afford playing multiple copies of the same counter trao in their main deck would be Counter Fairies. The other decks shouldn't really just splash in Counter Traps for fun. Of cause, if you know what your doing and serves your deck well, by all means, do it. But I see too many people splash in counter traps (mainly Seven Tools, in multiple copies) just cause they think they'll need it.

My problem with counter trap being,

1. They are way too specific, only able to chain towards the activation of a certain type of card, even Solemn Judgment can't negate a monster's effect. Normally it doesn't matter, but having DW in the game makes running unchainable cards really really dangerous.

2. The cost of playing counter traps are more often than not, high. The 3 most powerful counter traps in the game right now would be Solemn Judgment and Warning, with Divine Wrath just barely taking the 3rd place on the podium. 3 of these cards have steep activation cost, although their ability to prevent your opponent from winning makes people overlook that.

Truth is, if you mess up while playing a big counter trap, your most likely than not going to lose to its activation cost. A wrong read on your opponent and you played Judgment on a bait, and you'll most probably lose.

That said, I really cant say playing more counter traps is safe this format. But I say play 3 to 4 counter if your deck is based on control. If your deck is aggro based, play 0 to 1 counter, or to be exact, play Solemn Judgment.

Another hidden gem for (beginning of ) this format will be Magic Jammer.

I see a sudden rise in play for this ancient Counter Trap.

While I only see Gadget maining it, it does make sense. First, Magic Jammer is a card that can't negate itself, as oppose to Magic Drain. Which to me is a card that makes no sense at all. Players are playing more spells to traps this format, and the spells you commonly see in your opponent main decks are big ones. Its been a long time since we have Monster Reborn, Dark Hole and Heavy Storm in the game together. And the newer slightly less powerful spells aren't to be mess with either. All and all, you have a shit load of targets right now.

Secondly, while ditching a card for a negation of a spell is steep, actually, its VERY steep. Stopping a spell can be more devastating than stopping a monster effect most of the time. While spells don't kill you, they make way for their monster to do the job.

I'm not saying Magic Jammer is a card good enough for every deck now. No, its not. But for decks like Gadget, or Counter Fairies. This can be a good addition if you have a few slots for techs, or you just want a card to negate some spells. I do think this is the better card to Magic Drain.