Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Counterspells and Removal Strategies for The Creation of Avacyn
When a card lands in Modern Horizons 3 that blends folklore, ritual, and a dash of dark reverie, you know the game will hinge on tempo and timing. The Creation of Avacyn is a black mana-cost saga that arrives as a three-chapter puzzle, demanding careful responses from both players. With a base of {1}{B}{B} and an uncommon rarity, this enchantment doesn’t just threaten your board with a single effect; it unfolds in stages, each step shaping the battlefield in new ways. 🧙♂️🔥💎
First, a quick refresher on its framework: The saga enters the battlefield with a lore counter on it, and a note in its flavor text tells you that you’ll sacrifice it after the third chapter. I — you search your library for a card, exile it face down, then shuffle. II — you turn the exiled card face up; if it’s a creature, you lose life equal to its mana value. III — you may put the exiled card onto the battlefield if it’s a creature; if you don’t, it goes back to its owner's hand. The effect chain rewards the controller with a toolkit of potential threats, but it rewards the opponent who can interrupt or outpace the saga’s progress. The tension is real, and the hubbub of the table is contagious. 🎲🎨
Because it’s a black enchantment with a built-in multi-turn arc, this card becomes a rallying point for sideboard strategy. The goal is not merely to answer one cast but to seize tempo before the lore counters accumulate enough to swing the game into a creature-on-battlefield pivot or a life-total swing that matters late. In practice, that means a mix of counterspells, targeted enchantment removal, and a little mind games about what card your opponent might exile from their own library. ⚔️
What to look for in a sideboard plan
- Counterspells on the stack — The most reliable way to blunt a saga is to stop it before it fully resolves its I, II, and III. A small suite of flexible counters can buy you the time to deploy your own threats or set up precise answers for later turns. Think of blue tools that can counter spells or catch-all alternatives that can stop noncreature spells during the saga’s approach. 🧙♂️
- Enchantment removal — When a saga sticks on the battlefield, it becomes a lasting threat that can outpace a direct removal plan. Sideboard options for destroying or exiling enchantments are a natural foil to a multi-step threat. Destroying The Creation of Avacyn outright can be a clean disruption to deny the chapters’ follow-up effects and keep your board intact. 💎
- Bounce or reanimation considerations — A well-timed bounce to hand or a reanimation plan can stall the saga’s progress, buying you a window to reset the board or pivot to a combo finish. While you don’t always want to bounce into a worse position, strategic resets can be the difference between a lost race and a controlled grind. 🎲
- Graveyard or library disruption (optional) — Depending on your metagame, a touch of disruption aimed at what cards your opponent might exile can blunt the perceived power of the II step. If you expect a tutor-like fetch from their deck, a graveyard hate element or library-shuffle synergy can complicate their plan rather than dismantle it outright. 🧙♀️
Practical deck-building notes
In sideboard design, you’ll want a balance that respects both the control and midrange teams you’re likely to face. A compact plan might look like this in a typical game 2/3 setup: two hard counters for the earliest reach, two to four enchantment removals to address the saga when it shows up on the battlefield, and a couple of bounce effects or slow-rolling disruption to buy time. If your color pie supports it, a few graveyard or artifact control pieces can further stabilize your position. The key is to interrupt the tempo without overcommitting on answers that clog your hand when your opponent isn’t presenting a clear threat yet. 🧙♂️🔥
“A careful handshake between prevention and pressure often wins the game before the board feels the full weight of a saga’s third chapter.”
Flavor, design, and the cultural pulse
The Creation of Avacyn belongs to Modern Horizons 3’s draft-infusion era, a set designed to push interesting, sometimes quirky arcs into mainstream play. It’s a card that rewards patient play and rewards players who read the table’s tempo. The art by Franz Vohwinkel brings the moment of a ritual to life, a hush of a ritual that could birth a guardian or doom. The flavor supports the rules—sagas are a storytelling mechanic that demands you play carefully, because the next portal they open could be your own downfall or your grandest swing. The card’s black mana cost and exile-on-the-fly component also invite the player to weigh what to pull from their own deck into the exiled zone, a micro-game within the larger game. ⚔️🎨
Supporting the broader strategy
In casual and competitive settings, The Creation of Avacyn can be a litmus test for a deck’s resilience. If you’re facing a field rich with heavy control or midrange, you’ll want a few flexible tools in your sideboard to address both the early threat and the late-stage pressure. The card teaches a broader lesson about tempo: sometimes the right move isn’t to fight for card advantage but to seize the precise moment when the saga’s chain becomes vulnerable to disruption. When you win that moment, you’re not just removing a card—you’re turning the game into a controlled, deliberate race in your favor. 🧙♂️💎
Sweet spot for collaboration and cross-promotion
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