how many mtg cards are there total Magic: The Gathering There? In 32 years of magic

During the design for the Mirrodin block, Rosewater wanted to make use of +1/+1 counters in a similar way to the spikes while also making artifact creatures matter

Its activated ability probably wont come up much in 1-vs-1 Magic, but in Commander

A whopping 111 total combos on Commander Spellbook indicates that this is among the most easily abused enchantments ever

Even though the humble Negate may seem like a better exchange of mana-to-possible-counter, remember that opponents are often tapping out to cast their huge Fireball and not expecting to see a Spell Pierce countering their spell as well as a Counterspell would, anyway