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Counterspell |
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3rd-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when you see a creature within 60 feet of you casting a spell. You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell. If the creature is casting a spell of 3rd level or lower, its spell fails and has no effect. If it is casting a spell of 4th level or higher, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a success, the creature’s spell fails and has no effect. At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the interrupted spell has no effect if its level is less than or equal to the level of the spell slot you used. |
Quicklinks:
Premise
Questions Answered
New Rule
Combating Counterspell
Using Counterspell
Conclusion
Premise
Casting Counterspell feels like snapping your fingers to ruin someone’s fun, which is accurate since the spell’s only component is somatic. It is a controversial spell that robs a character of an action with little downside (a used reaction and a third-level (or higher) spell slot). Negating someone’s action with a reaction is pretty slick in battles where action economy is king.
A compelling example of Counterspell’s power was in the final boss fight of Critical Role’s season one campaign. Vox Machina faced a supremely powerful spellcaster, but even that godlike enemy was several times thwarted by Counterspell. It’s admittedly critical to negate an enemy’s powerful spells with just a reaction, especially when those powerful spells enable enemies to escape from combat or straight up slay party members.
Inversely, when an enemy spellcaster uses Counterspell on a PC, that character’s player likely feels robbed, deflated, or angry. Being Counterspelled feels crummy, like being scammed by an email phishing scam! No matter how long I play this game, I feel duped when my character’s spell is negated by Counterspell. Since I know how frustrating this is, I’ve compiled a list of ways to avoid getting Counterspelled later in this article.
In addition to controversy, Counterspell’s game mechanics deceptively complicated. Counterspell’s description is brief and seemingly simple, but this spell inspires many inquiries on the internet from players who are figuring out finer points about how it works. I’ve compiled the best of those questions and their answers.
Questions Answered
Before I get to the list of questions and answer, I must make two points that will answer the majority of questions I encounter regarding Counterspell:
- Counterspell can be used to halt the casting of spells, but not other abilities that are technically not ‘spells’.
- I’ve discovered many questions that are answered by this distinction. If a creature is casting a spell, you can Counterspell. If a creature is using a magical ability that is not a spell, you cannot Counterspell. The exception would be if the ability specifies that the ability allows or involves the casting of a spell.
- I’ve discovered many questions that are answered by this distinction. If a creature is casting a spell, you can Counterspell. If a creature is using a magical ability that is not a spell, you cannot Counterspell. The exception would be if the ability specifies that the ability allows or involves the casting of a spell.
- If you cast Counterspell, you completely stop the spell from taking effect.
- This applies no matter what the spell would be, including magic nullification spells like Antimagic Field. Once the spell has been cast, however, the answer changes. I included a question later that resolves this post-casting phase.
Counterspell’s description says it causes a spell to ‘fail’; if a spell ‘fails’, does the spellcaster still expend the spell slot that was meant for the spell?
Yes, the spell slot is lost. The RAW answer is not clear, but Sage Advice has clarified this answer. In my opinion, this is ruling is slightly inconsistent with the rules for casting spells with longer casting times, but it was not an equivalent rule anyway.
Does the Mage Slayer feat still allow an attack if the triggering spell fails due to a Counterspell?
Yes, because the spellcasting still occurred.
Can a Wild Magic Sorcerer trigger his Wild Magic Surge if his spell is countered?
Yes, because the spellcasting still occurred. I don’t have an official statement on this question, but I defer to the previous question’s answer regarding Mage Slayer reaction attacks.
Can a Wild Magic Sorcerer cast Counterspell to stop a spell that is being cast by himself after a Wild Magic Surge?
This answer is unclear, but Jeremy Crawford indicated that he’d allow Counterspell to be used this way.
Does Counterspell also stop the melee attack that would happen with a cantrip like Green Flame Blade (Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide)?
Yes, the attack is thwarted as well. Jeremy Crawford clarifies this at length with players questioning this ruling. The discussion ends when it’s pointed out that a third level spell deserves to counter the entire spell’s effect.
Can Counterspell prevent items (like wands and staffs) from casting spells?
Yes, and if the item was using charges to cast the spell, those charges are still expended (but check with your DM). This implies that an item’s activation still qualifies as a creature casting a spell. I point out this implication because Counterspell requires the caster to see a creature casting a spell nearby.
Magic items that allow the user to cast spells will typically function without the usual VSM spell components, so a DM may rule that the spellcasting is imperceptible to Counterspell users. Other DMs would say the wand functions as a pseudo component for spellcasting, making it clear that a spell is being cast. Here’s a Jeremy Crawford tweet that illustrates the point. 100% ask your DM.
Sage Advice says, “Counterspell targets a creature casting a spell, no matter the source of the spell (the creature, an item, etc.).” SA also clarifies, “Only if the magic item specifically says it allows you to cast a spell.”
Having said this, check with your DM. This rule is muddy, and DMs will certainly have their own interpretations that you should clarify.
For spell scrolls specifically, I recommend my article about spell scrolls. Make sure you read the DMG errata to get it right!
Seriously, you 100% should ask your DM about this.
If you end concentration on one spell in order to cast another concentration spell, but you get Counterspelled, can you maintain concentration on your previous concentration spell?
Yes, the prior spell concentration is lost. Admittedly, I didn’t find a direct source for this answer, but after researching this spell, I feel strongly that my answer is correct. Concentration ends when casting of a new concentration spell. RAW says, “You lose Concentration on a spell if you cast another spell that requires Concentration.” Counterspell causes the new spell to fail, but casting still happened to end the prior spell’s concentration. Since spell slots and item charges are still expended after failing due to Counterspell, I believe the new concentration also trumps the old, even if the new spell fails.
Does the spellcasting ability check for higher level spells include the Counterspell caster’s proficiency bonus?
No, if it did use the proficiency bonus, the spell would say so. There is not an available proficiency bonus for this ability check since it’s not tied to a skill, tool, or weapon.
However, several classes gain bonuses to Counterspell spellcasting ability checks. An Abjuration Wizard’s ‘Improved Abjuration’ (Player’s Handbook) feature at tenth level allows the Wizard to add her proficiency bonus to the ability checks involved with casting abjuration spells like Counterspell and Dispel Magic. A Bard’s ‘Jack of All Trades’ feature allows the Bard to add half his proficiency bonus, rounded down, to these sorts of spells as well.
Can a spell be countered from an arcane trap like Glyph of Warding?
No, because you can’t see a creature casting a spell, which Counterspell clearly specifies is required to cast it. Creating a Glyph of Warding allows a spellcaster to avoid Counterspell.
Does a Sorcerer’s ‘Subtle Spell’ Metamagic conceal spellcasting so it can’t be counterspelled?
Yes, as long as the spell being countered does not require material components. If you want more sources on this, try Sage Advice or RPG StackExchange. Xanathar’s Guide to Everything also clarifies this officially on page 85 in the last paragraph of the section “Perceiving a Cast at Work”.
After a spell is countered, can the spellcaster still cast a bonus-action spell in the same turn?
No, because you still consider the action to have been used to cast a spell. This question is based on the commonly referenced rule that a character cannot cast a spell as an action and cast a spell as a bonus action on the same turn (except cantrips).
If a Bard casts Glibness, can the Bard replace the Counterspell’s spellcasting ability roll with a 15?
Yes! Charisma is a Bard’s spellcasting ability, and Counterspell uses an ability check. Glibness applies like any other Charisma ability check.
Can you cast Counterspell to thwart another Counterspell?
Yes, as long as you can see the caster within 60 feet of you, and you have not used your reaction for the round.
Can you cast Counterspell as a reaction on your turn to counter a Counterspell while you’re casting another spell?
Yes! This question was answered in rules errata. The example given in rules errata reads, “Cornelius the wizard is casting fireball on his turn, and his foe casts counterspell on him. Cornelius has counterspell prepared, so he uses his reaction to cast it and break his foe’s counterspell before it can stop fireball.”
Can a restrained Sorcerer use the Subtle Spell metamagic to cast attack spells without disadvantage?
No, the Subtle Spell Metamagic does not state that it can overcome conditions. The Restrained condition’s penalties are not circumvented by Metamagic.
Can you use the Distant Spell metamagic to extend the range of Counterspell?
By the rules, no. The circumstance specified to cast Counterspell has its own range apart from the spell’s range. Metamagics can enhance spells that you cast, but only if the requirement to cast the spell in its basic form are met. If a creature is not within 60 feet of you, Counterspell cannot be cast, and Metamagic cannot be used until it can be cast with the reaction’s trigger. However, I would bet most DMs will not honor this RAW technicality because it doesn’t feel like it’s rules as intended. Ask your DM if you can use Distant Spell with Counterspell (or Featherfall for another example).
Does Counterspell fail or succeed when countering a spell that is cast by a cleric through her Invoke Duplicity illusory double?
The short answer is that Counterspell can still succeed. I’ll let Jeremy Crawford explain why: “Invoke Duplicity doesn’t protect a Cleric from being Counterspelled if the person casting Counterspell can see the Cleric/illusion and the Cleric is within 60 feet of the caster.”
Can a spell cast inside a Globe of Invulnerability be Counterspelled?
No, the Globe prevents spells of 5th level or lower (even if upcast) from affecting the interior of the Globe, which is where the hypothetical spell is being cast that would be countered. Source: rpg.stackexchange.com
Can two players Counterspell the same spell? How is this resolved?
Yes, more than one character can attempt to Counterspell the same spell being cast. If I were the DM in this scenario, I’d require anyone casting Counterspell to declare so in the same moment. They wouldn’t be able to wait and see how each other does like waiting in a queue. It’d be more like a dogpile.
I imagine some DMs might allow for the wait-and-see method since there is already precedence for Character A being countered by Character B who is then countered by Character C.
New Rule
Perceiving Spells: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything introduced the following new guidance on page 85 to describe why a character may not know what spell a spellcaster is casting. It’s important to remember this aspect of the game when using Counterspell, because you might not know what spell is being cast, and you may not even notice that a spell is being cast:
“If the character perceived the casting, the spell’s effect, or both, the character can make an Intelligence (Arcana) check with the reaction or action. The DC equals 15+ the spell’s level. If the spell is cast as a class spell and the character is a member of that class, the check is made with advantage. For example, if the spellcaster casts a spell as a cleric, another cleric has advantage on the check to identify the spell. Some spells aren’t associated with any class when they’re cast, such as when a monster uses its Innate Spellcasting trait.
This Intelligence (Arcana) check represents the fact that identifying a spell requires a quick mind and familiarity with the theory and practice of casting. This is true even for a character whose spellcasting ability is Wisdom or Charisma. Being able to cast spells doesn’t by itself make you adept at deducing exactly what others are doing when they cast their spell.”
Combating Counterspell
How can I avoid being targeted by Counterspell when I cast a spell? (common inquiry)
There are numerous tactics that prevent Counterspell from thwarting spells and snuffing out actions. Here are my suggestions to avoid Counterspell:
- Range: Stay more than 60 ft. away from the Counterspell caster.
- Some higher level spells have longer casting ranges, which is an often overlooked feature of those spells. Using spells that are higher level may be less situationally optimal, but they typically have longer casting ranges to avoid Counterspell. Casting range is important!
- Sight: Avoid line of sight. Fog Cloud has 120 ft. range, and can block vision. Other spells that block vision can similarly help you, such as Stinking Cloud, Cloudkill, Dust Devil (when picking up loose dirt), and Sleet Storm.
- This will also affect another tactic on this list that is titled “Ready” and uses the Ready action.
- Using a pocket mirror around a corner to remain out of sight while being able to see what’s happening could also be helpful.
- Imperceptible: If you’re a Sorcerer, you can use ‘Subtle Spell’ Metamagic to hide your spellcasting so you cannot be countered.
- Similarly, you may avoid Counterspell by utilizing Innate Spellcasting traits if they allow you to ignore verbal and somatic components. A common misconception is that any innate spellcasting can no longer be Counterspelled after XGtE came out, but Sage Advice and knowledgeable players have clarified this error. You can read this new rule guidance in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything on page 85.
- Cantrip Lure: You can essentially “bait out” Counterspells when you cast cantrips, assuming your DM will allow the Counterspell caster to not know what spell you’re casting. The Counterspell caster will only know that you are casting a spell, and they may waste a Counterspell on your cantrip.
- XGtE shared new guidance for how identification of spells should be treated, which I mentioned in an earlier paragraph. Identifying spells requires actions and reactions to focus and deduce their nature. This implies that Counterspell is meant to often be used as a gamble to quickly prevent the casting of a (hopefully) powerful spell. If the Counterspell user cannot identify a spell being cast, that user must decide whether or not to cast Counterspell. If your DM is the type to save a Lich’s Counterspells for your biggest spells, you might share this concept with your DM to see how it’s received. I’d also rule that some spells are so well-known to a spellcaster that the caster may be able to identify them without using reactions or actions.
- If you successfully bait a Counterspell on a cantrip, and you’re a Sorcerer, you can follow up with ‘Quickened Spell’ Metamagic to cast a spell with a spell slot as a bonus action.
- Material Fakeout: If you’re casting a spell that doesn’t require material components, and you do so while holding material components for a different spell, you might fake out a spellcaster to make them believe you’re casting a more powerful spell than you are, causing them to use high-level spell slots to Counterspell a relatively weak spell.
- Teamwork: Pair up with other spellcasters so only one of you can be counterspelled in a round (assuming only one Counterspell caster is your enemy).
- Counter: Cast Counterspell to counter a foe’s Counterspell, even if it’s during your casting of a spell as your action (as covered in an earlier paragraph).
- Reaction Depletion: Make the spellcaster use their reaction so they don’t have a reaction to use for Counterspell. You can do this by provoking an opportunity attack, for example. You can also remove their reaction with spells like Shocking Grasp and Confusion; those spells remove a creature’s ability to take reactions for a time.
- Hands Bound: Restrain the hands of the Counterspell user because Counterspell requires somatic components.
- Action Surge: Multiclassed Fighters can activate Action Surge to cast a second spell after foe’s Counterspell reaction is expended on the first spell. A common misconception is that a spellcaster can’t cast two spells in one turn, but the rule only applies to casting a spell as a bonus action in addition to casting a spell as an action. There is no rule against casting two spells in the same turn as actions.
- Upcasting: Cast spells at higher levels to force Counterspell spellcasters to make ability check rolls to succeed. Your spell may still fail if the Counterspell roll is high, but it may be worth a shot.
- Ready: Cast your spell with Ready action while you are covered/unseen, and let it trigger after you move and see your target. This works because you already did cast the spell, but the spell’s effect is triggered later. Counterspell only stops the casting of a spell; when the spell is fully formed, Counterspell can no longer cause the spell to fail. Sage Advice confirms this. For example, if you want to cast Fireball in the middle of a room, you can move behind a pile of boxes to give yourself full cover and hide you from sight of an enemy spellcaster. From there, you can Ready a spell that targets the point in the room you want to target, then move out from the boxes, and release the spell as your reaction. Counterspell won’t work on spells that are released after the Ready action to ready a spell.
- Arcane Trap: Creating a Glyph of Warding allows you to cast a spell in preparation for an encounter. Counterspell can’t be used to stop a Glyph of Warding from activating a spell. Dispel Magic, however, could deal with a Glyph of Warding.
Using Counterspell
When should I learn/prepare Counterspell?
If you’re the only spellcaster in a party, the demand for Counterspell is high while supply is low (that’s me applying my collegic economics classes). You should definitely consider Counterspell for your repertoire when you’re the only spellcaster that can learn it. If there are other spellcasters in the party, maybe only one or two of you needs to have Counterspell available.
Third level spells provide tremendous power boosts at level three, but many of them drop off at higher levels. Counterspell is like a fine wine; it gets better with age. If you play a class like Sorcerer that learns few spells but can switch them out later when they level up, I recommend picking other spells when you get to level five. At higher levels, swap out an old spell so you can learn Counterspell.
Wizards should add it to their spellbook quickly, though they don’t always have to prepare Counterspell. If a Wizard expects to encounter enemy spellcasters, then sure, prepare Counterspell. Experience has taught me that the most taxing task for a Wizard is to look at the multitude of spells he knows and choose which among them should be prepared for an adventuring day. It feels like playing the stock market as a day trader. You might win social points with fellow players when you cast Counterspell, and that value should not be ignored. You don’t want to be a Wizard that doesn’t have Counterspell prepared to save a party member that is targeted by a Disintegrate spell.
Counterspell will be more powerful if your DM is of the style that declares what spell is being cast and at what level it is being cast. This information makes Counterspell less risky to use, thus much more powerful.
When should I cast Counterspell?
I believe Counterspell is most important at the beginning of combat; that’s when enemy spellcasters are inclined to whip out their devastating spells. Remember your DM probably plans encounters as if your enemies do not need to save their spell slots for another fight. Only PC’s have the mindset to budget spell slots per encounter. You should expect your enemies to be coming in hot when initiative is rolled. Be ready to cast Counterspell by making sure you’re within sixty feet of the scariest spellcaster. Don’t be afraid to disappoint your DM that you made their encounter much easier on the party.
There are many creatures that use special abilities that are not spells, but some of them will occasionally cast actual spells. When this happens, cast Counterspell. If a powerful enemy is forgoing their other actions to cast a spell, you can bet that spell is nasty! Just take care when you choose to be within sixty feet of an enemy because that’s dangerous territory for a squishy spellcaster.
Conclusion
That’s all I have to share about Counterspell! I hope you learned something, but most of all, I hope you’ll tell me about what you learned. Please comment to let me know if you hate or love Counterspell, and if you’d change anything about it for your own game.
Don’t forget to read our other articles that analyze spells in great detail. Thanks again for reading; I hope you’ll stick around for more content made just for you!
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“If you play a class like Bard or Sorcerer that learns few spells but can switch them out later when they level up, I recommend picking other spells when you get to level five. At higher levels, swap out an old spell so you can learn Counterspell.”
This isn’t quite correct. Bards only get access to spells outside their class list, such as Counterspell, via their magical secrets. They can choose to drop these spells and learn other Bard spells instead, but they are not allowed to drop them for other spells not on their class list. A level 6 Lore Bard who initially takes Fireball may not later switch it out for Counterspell, it can only be switched out for an ordinary Bard spell. Bards need to carefully consider these restrictions when they pick their out-of-class spells and focus only on spells that will scale in usefulness along with their level.
Hi Paulie,
Ah, you’re correct. This isn’t the first time that I’ve made the mistake of thinking Counterspell is on the Bard spell list. Bards always seem to have Counterspell in my games, haha. I forget that they obtained Counterspell through their Magical Secrets feature. I’ll correct my statement to only apply to Sorcerers. Thank you!
I read quickly, but I think you have not answered the main question for a DM : on which side do you want to go when it comes to counterspell, the Matt Mercer’s side or the Jeremy Crawford’s side?
– In the BBEG’s fight in Vox Machina you quoted, we clearly see Matt Mercer saying “BBEG’s gonna cast XX at level N” to which a player answers “I’m gonna cast counterspell at level N+1” (cause he no longer has level N spell slots)
– but as Jeremy Crawford stated it : you don’t know what spell is cast and certainly not the spell slot’s level used for it. Xanathar’s rules states that it takes an action or a reaction to indentify which means you can’t identify a spell and then counter it because you only have 1 reaction per turn.
So as Jeremy Crawford intended it , you can only cast counterspell “in the dark” and the spell is not that powerful while in Mercer’s rule counterspell is the strongest spell in the game.
The thing is Crawford’s rule is harder to implement. It suppose that the DM starts by saying “the opponent casts a spell” then let the players react or not and then announce the spell. It means that your player 100% trust you when you tell them the spell was cast with a higher level spell slot and their counterspell is wasted. Moreover, it would be fair to allow the player to do the same and so comes the big question : what if your player just say, after you used a 7th level spell slot to cast counterspell : “It was just a cantrip, lul” or if suddenly is 2nd level spell was cast with a 8th spell slot, for no reason at all other than preventing you to counter it? Will you trust your players?
Personally I really like the theory behind the RAW, but for the sake of simplicity and to avoid bad feelings around the table I go for Matt Mercer’s solution, even if it totally contradicts Xanathar’s rule and makes counterspell a bit too powerful.
What do you think?
Hi Gwava,
Thank you for your insightful comment!
Upfront, my article is written to help players more than DMs, so I wrote it with that perspective. The information is useful for DMs, but I focused on players.
The DM issue must consider how to handle a spell’s declaration even if Counterspell isn’t the only consideration. A character won’t automatically know which spell is being cast by RAW. A character also won’t know what level the spell is being cast at. Mercer vs. Crawford’s example is inherently iffy because DMs don’t always know that Counterspell could happen. There have been times when I begin describing a spell, and a player realizes that something big is going down, and they cast Counterspell. I didn’t even know they had that spell in some instances. The powerful spell was countered because the players were clued into a powerful spell being cast. It is what it is. I think this is fine. In my article, I described how a caster could actually bait a Counterspell by using something simple like a cantrip and asking if they’re going to be countered. This can be awkward if the DM doesn’t believe the character was actually casting a cantrip, so it should be clarified at the moment. My article discusses this and similar concepts at various points: “Material Fakeout” and “Cantrip Lure.” Your conclusion is correct; each gaming group will need to decide whether they prefer the risky method of not knowing what spell is being cast or the method for just being told what it is. I like the risky approach, but I allow players to perceive spells they can cast themselves or have seen many times. Players who consider using Counterspell often ask if they can sense what spell is being cast, usually because they’re trying not to metagame. An Arcana check for free is acceptable, in my opinion.
I added another paragraph to my article to touch more on your point. I think it’s important to consider.
So I have a question to add to this list. Say enemy A is attempting to cast a spell. Character B uses counterspell to stop it. However when the ability check is rolled Character B fails so the spell would still go off. As luck would have it though Character C has counterspell too so seeing their buddy character B fail they then cast counterspell on enemy A.
Is this possible? This isn’t countering counterspell but the very fact that you can counter counterspell means that the reaction speed can be used in this way. However is a single spell able to be targeted by multiple counterspells assuming the first fails?
Hi Xander! That’s a great question (I’ll add it to the article). Yes, more than one character can attempt to Counterspell the same spell being cast. If I were the DM in this scenario, I’d require anyone casting Counterspell to declare so in the same moment. They wouldn’t be able to wait and see how each other does like waiting in a queue. It’d be more like a dogpile.
I imagine some DMs might allow for the wait-and-see method since there is already precedence for Character A being countered by Character B who is then countered by Character C.
Kudos to you Flutes! The most comprehensive Counterspell guide I’ve ever seen.