Counterbalance Price
6 printings · 5 sets · first printed 2006
Counterbalance has been printed 6 times across 5 sets, first in 2006 and most recently in 2025. Right now the cheapest printing is Mystery Booster 2 #157 at $2.17, while the most expensive is Amonkhet Invocations #9 at $58.95 — about 27× more. The median across 6 priced printings is $5.21. Reprint risk: HIGH RISK — Reprinted 6x, including dedicated reprint sets like Mystery Booster 2, The List.
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Every Counterbalance Printing, Compared
Cheapest first · unpriced last| Printing | Year | Price | Dealer Buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mystery Booster 2 #157 (U) Cheapest | 2024 | $2.17 | $1.75 |
| Secret Lair Drop #2066 (R) | 2025 | $4.66 | $1.80 |
| Coldsnap #31 (U) | 2006 | $5.14 | $3.80 |
| The List #CSP-31 (U) | 2023 | $5.29 | — |
| Secret Lair Drop #1220 (R) | 2023 | $15.94 | $6.50 |
| Amonkhet Invocations #9 (S) Foil | 2017 | $58.95 | $45.00 foil |
Prices are the latest nightly market price; a printing with no tracked price shows a dash. Dealer buylist is Card Kingdom's current offer via MTGJSON, shown where one exists.
Legality is a property of the card, not the printing, so it is identical for all 6 versions.
Official Judge Precedents
2 PrecedentsIf an opponent casts a spell with X in its mana cost, the mana value of that spell takes the value of X into account. If you reveal a card with X in its mana cost, X is 0. For example, if your opponent casts Blaze with X=1, Counterbalance will counter that spell if you reveal a card with mana value 2, but it won't counter that spell if you reveal a Blaze of your own.
If an opponent casts half of a split card (for example, Hit), it won't be countered if you reveal that same split card. The mana value of a split card is determined by the combined mana cost of its two halves, but the mana value of Hit is determined using only that half's mana cost.