PvP: Tip of the Day (Counter Spell)

I have mentioned a couple of nice uses for Counter Spell in previous post, but I thought I would dedicate an entire "PvP: Tip of the Day" post to the wonderful spell.

For those of you that have never played a Mage, or don't know anything about the spell, I'll explain what this awesome spell does.
Counter Spell : Counters the targets spell cast, preventing all spells in that 'school' of magic from being cast for 10 seconds.

There is a two point talent in the Arcane tree that gives Counter Spell a complete SILENCE for the first 4 seconds of the spell, so even if you miss the counter, you're still guaranteed 4 seconds of freedom.

Warriors : The best use of Counter Spell here is to cast it on incoming Warriors before they can activate their Charge ability. The reason this is a great thing to stop a Charge is because, A) it puts the Warrior in combat, so they can only use their Intercept ability (which cost rage / used in combat) and B) Warriors generate rage from damage dealt & damage taken, but Counter Spell causes NO damage, hence forth, no rage to activate Intercept. At this point you have stopped the Warrior from Charging / Intercepting you completely and you are able to cast a Polymorph to prepare for your death combo >=]

Priest : This depends on the Talent Spec of the Priest. While it's safe to save the Counter Spell to stop a Holy / Disc. Priest from healing, I've found that most Shadow Specced Priest won't cancel Shadow Form to heal if they get their "Shadow" spells countered for 10 seconds. So, in the case of a Shadow Priest in Shadow Form, I will save the Counter to stop their 41 point DoT, which I believe is called Undying Plague.

Warlock : Being a Frost Mage, I always save Counter Spell to stop the Warlock from casting Banish on my Water Ele. This gives my Water Ele anywhere from 12-13 extra seconds of poundage time on the Warlock, and usually throws them out-of-sync enough to win the fight.

Paladin : The Improved Counter Spell from the two point talent in the Arcane tree really shines here. You can't Counter Spell through a Bubble; however, you can prevent the Bubble from being cast if you silence the Paladin before the Bubble. This takes precise timing, but it can lead to the quick death of an otherwise "hard-to-kill" class.

Druid : This is a little tricky, since there is the chance for an instant cast heal from Nature's Swiftness (21 point Restoration Talent), but with the majority of Druids speccing Feral now-a-days, this isn't an issue. If you notice they are a Resto Druid before the fight, then the Improved Counter Spell can help since you know to hit them with it as they come out of their feral form. If they are a Feral / Balance spec Druid, or you don't have Improved CS, then it's safe to say, just watch for the heal, and hope for the best. It's a great thing that most Druids don't know how well they can do against Mages and they end up just avoiding the fight.

Shaman : The important thing here is to set a macro to target the Grounding Totem, then to cast Fireblast (Rank 1). A good Shaman will drop a Grounding Totem just before they go to heal so it absorbs your Counter Spell, and they get the heal off. If you can destroy their totem quick enough, you might be able to Counter their heal, but it's hard since it's only 1.5 second cast. Also, keep in mind that Shaman can get Nature's Swiftness with 21 points in their Restoration talent tree and get an instant cast heal also.

Hunter / Rogue : I have yet to find a use for Counter Spell against these two classes, please feel free to leave a comment if you know of one.

Mage : Last, but not least, is the Mage. This is the most entertaining because the other Mage has the same spell, and is looking to Counter you as well. I always try to use my Counter Spell on their Arcane spells first and foremost, regardless of what spec they are; the reason is that you can stop the other Mage from using THEIR Counter Spell for 10 seconds if you are successful. Within that 10 seconds you are free to reign down the long cast spells, such as Frostbolt & Fireball. If you can't catch the Mage casting an Arcane spell, then it's next best option is to Counter his main source of damage. This is easy to tell based off what they are casting / have cast. Ice Barrier is easy to spot, and fire Mages will charge you to get their short range Blastwave & Dragon's Breath cast. If you cast Counter Spell first, which I always like to do, then the next best trick is to cast a long cast-time damage spell from outside of your spec, since most Mages will start to look for a spell to Counter after you just locked down their spell casting. I don't know why Mages do this, but it allows you to open up DPS from your main source.

Please note that these are just some tips for Counter Spell and there are always other circumstances that can change the course of a fight *cough* Engineering Stun Bombs *cough*. I welcome any feedback to additional uses of Counter Spell, or corrections you may find within my tips. Thanks.

~Keystone