Counterbore
Instant
Counter target spell. Search its controller's graveyard, hand, and library for all cards with the same name as that spell and exile them. Then that player shuffles.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Salvat 2011
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #26677
Counterbore counters a spell and then exiles every other copy of that card from the game — every zone, every library — making it the only counterspell that doubles as permanent surgical extraction. Five mana is a steep ask in most blue shells, but the payoff is total: you don't just stop the threat, you erase it.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Counterbore earns its keep: multiplayer pods mean multiple opponents running the same staples, and exiling every copy of a Thassa's Oracle or Cyclonic Rift off a single counter is backbreaking in a way that Counterspell simply isn't. In Legacy and Vintage the five-mana ceiling is prohibitive — those formats operate on Force of Will and Daze timing, not five-drop countermagic. Oathbreaker gives it a similar home to Commander, where surgical exile on a format staple can lock out a win condition entirely. Counterbore is a Commander card wearing a multi-format legal badge.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available in the current feed for Counterbore, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live number before buying. It's a niche, low-demand card that has never spiked into relevance, so copies tend to sit in bulk or near-bulk territory — pick one up if you see it under a dollar.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.