Counterspell ruleset will grant Magic Reflect ability to all cards. Magic Reflect will cause any magic attack that hit to be returned back equal to its damage divided by 2 then rounded up, but capped at 2 damage (except of course if the cards possessing Amplify). This ruleset is the alternate form of
Briar Patch, where it work similarly except the Briar Patch grant Thorns which are triggered by melee damage. So simply, we should avoid or minimize deploying magic cards into the battle.
Having Void or Armor Shield should suppress the return damage from Magic Reflect. But possessing Reflection Shield is the best way to nullified any kind of return damage. This ruleset might be interesting, but unfortunately its rarely encountered in most battle. Nevertheless let's continue with our review below!
Pros & Cons
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1. With the high risk of using magic cards in this ruleset, we expect players to focus on melee and ranged cards. So its a better strategy to deploy cards with Protect or Shield ability. But be reminded, this is not always the case, if the magic cards itself possessed Void or Reflection Shield (take for example Djinn Oshannus). | 1. Compared to Briar Patch ruleset, Counterspell have less impact towards magic cards. The primary reason because the return damage are halved, while most magic cards would have lower damage for the same mana value as melee or ranged cards. Thorns will deal return damage are equal with the damage sustained, so there's higher chance for Thorns to deal the optimal return damage and reached the 2 damage cap. |
2. Some magic cards might have better parameter in term of health; so its an advantage to keep them since they will survive longer from the return damage. | 2. The return damage from Counterspell will consume away the health of the attacking magic cards. Magic cards tend to have a lower average health, which means are more susceptible to be annihilated by return damage. |
Rulesets To Be Watched
| Ruleset | Strategy |
|---|---|
 | Back To Basics should erase all inherent abilities, which includes Void, Void Armor, and Reflection Shield, and will averse players even more from deploying magic cards. |
 | Just like Counterspell, Weak Magic should further shy away players from using magic cards. But in case you have magic cards which fare better on armor aspect (for example Time Meddler or Runemancer Atuat), the return damage might be minimized by the armor. |
 | Literally Up To Eleven grant Amplify which effect will increase the return damage by 1 point. So better stay away in this combination. |
WATCH BATTLE
So here we have the battle experience with Close Range as the ruleset.
https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_81e884e395979eb4c016f3324904f60a
The battle has 42 mana cap, with Counterspell and Up To Eleven ruleset, and only Fire splinter is excluded from the battle. For my formation, I used:
| Position | Card Name | Level | Mana | Health | Armor | Speed | Damage Type | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summoner | Thaddius Brood | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1st Row | Cursed Windeku | 3 | 6 | 10 | - | 3 | Melee | 3 |
| 2nd Row | Riftwing | 1 | 4 | 6 | - | 4 | None | - |
| 3rd Row | Silent Sha-Vi | 5 | 5 | 6 | - | 5 | Melee | 3 |
| 4th Row | Sand Worm | 1 | 9 | 5 | - | 1 | Melee | 5 |
| 5th Row | Dhampir Stalker | 2 | 7 | 5 | - | 3 | Ranged | 3 |
| 6th Row | Magi Necrosi | 1 | 6 | 4 | - | 4 | Magic | 2 |
My opponent formation:
| Position | Card Name | Level | Mana | Health | Armor | Speed | Damage Type | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summoner | Keyla Frendul | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1st Row | Diemonshark | 2 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | Melee | 3 |
| 2nd Row | Flying Squid | 3 | 7 | 8 | - | 3 | Melee | 3 |
| 3rd Row | Djinn Oshannus | 1 | 8 | 10 | - | 5 | Magic | 2 |
| 4th Row | Deeplurker | 2 | 6 | 6 | - | 3 | Melee | 3 |
| 5th Row | Kulu Swimhunter | 2 | 4 | 5 | - | 2 | Ranged | 2 |
| 6th Row | Venari Wavesmith | 2 | 5 | 4 | - | 2 | Magic | 1 |
Counterspell become more punishing as its empowered by Amplify. So there's less reason to deploy magic cards. I choose to use Cursed Windeku for the 1st row for its high health and Thorns (which also benefit from Amplify effect). The 2nd row would filled with Riftwing. Both cards should be a powerful contender against melee and ranged cards. Silent Sha-Vi and Sand Worm will perform the Sneak attack. Finally Dhampir Stalker should be the damage dealer, while Magic Necrosi will be a contingencies attack using Snipe against the mid-row. Magi Necrosi is a risky choice because its vulnerable from Magic Reflect and any possible Sneak attack.
On the other side, my opponent put a Water Splinter formation with Keyla Frendul as summoner. In my opinion, Diemonshark and Flying Squid in the 1st and 2nd row will face major resistance from Cursed Windeku and Riftwing. Djinn Oshannus might be a powerful card, but I don't think its a wise choice. The Void are very useful to nullifies the magic return damage, but Amplify would offset the offect of that ability. Deeplurker is a common and frequent card used in Water splinter, this might be a threat to my back row. The last 2 row will be a minor concern, since Venari will be quickly perished by return damage, and Kulu Swimhunter should soon follow from the Sneak attack.
At the start of Round 1, Cursed Windeku become the main target of attack. It took 5 attack to bring down Cursed Windeku. And fortunately the Amplify works well with Thorns causing 3 return damage to each Diemonshark, Flying Squid, and Deeplurker. The downside, all the return damage only break down the armor of those cards. Silent Sha-Vi and Sand Worm finished the job to end Venari Wavesmith life. Then goes Dhampir Stalker which deal 3 damage and left Diemonshark with 3 armor left.
I felt glad enough to have Thaddius Brood with magic damage debuff eventhough its only affect Djinn Oshannus. Every damage Djinn make just get reflected back in the same amount thanks to Amplify. Diemonshark score a hit on Riftwing which left it with 3 health remaining. And then Magi Necrosi gained its turn and cast its spell into Djinn, only to be perished from the return damage. Its death become salvaged as health for Riftwing, which luckily save Riftwing from being destroyed by Deeplurker 3 melee damage. Flying Squid make its attack with no avail and have to sustain 2 return damage. And then again Kulu Swimhunter make the same mistake and have to received punishment from the 2 return damage. Then Sand Worm make its killing blow against Kulu.
Entering the 3rd round, Riftwing keep showing its maneuver. While resisting magic damage from Djinn Oshannus, this time Riftwing also avoid Diemonshark and blast it with 2 return damage. Unfortunately his luck is end with Flying Squid deal the killing blow. Luckily before its demise, Silent Sha-Vi managed to strike a Sneak attack against Deeplurker, and then Sand Worm finish the job. Dhampir Stalker keep digging into Diemonshark's health, left it with 2 health remaining.
The battle has entered Round 4, where my opponent take the early initiative by dealing blow toward Silent Sha-Vi. Djinn trade another 1 damage for 1 damage to itself. Diemonshark follow to strike with a small 2 melee damage. Silent Sha-Vi which loss in speed against Diemonshark, retaliate back with a blow that perished Diemonshark for good. Lucky for Flying Squid to be able to deal the exact 3 damage which enough to bring down Silent Sha-Vi. Dhampir Stalker snipe another projectiles into Flying Squid. And the battle would have ended if only Sand Worm didn't miss its attack against Flying Squid.
Entering Round 5, its clear the fate is sealed for my formation, as Flying Squid gains the faster speed to strike down Sand Worm. And then with no other cards in the front row, Dhampir Stalker have to step up and become prey of both Flying Squid and Djinn Oshannus.
CONCLUSION
That was a close one!! If only Sand Worm able to hit and bring down Flying Squid, it will be a sure victory. Djinn Oshannus are tied with the damage debuff, Magic Reflect, and Amplify, leaving all its attack to be return equally, and its only a matter of time it will find its demise.
My first opinion, I think Magi Necrosi wasn't a good choice after all. It got eliminated solely by return damage from Magic Reflect, meanwhile all its done is only dealing a 1 magic damages times 2 against Djinn Oshannus. The real MVP on this battle is Riftwing, which able to parry 3 (three) incoming damage and then return the exact 2 damage against the attacker. Other than that, this battle difficulties come from the thick armor bestowed by Keyla Frendul and Protect possessed by Venari Wavesmith. Luckily all these armor are crushed thanks to Cursed Windeku' Thorns, except of course for Diemonshark which need several blow to completely destroy its 9 armor.