Still, this is a big dragon and the ability isnt completely irrelevant
The X-costed counterspells work very well when you are able to make significantly more mana than your opponent
If we're playing lords, they're just gonna push us in a combat direction that Nicanzil doesn't really care about, and our commander would rather us just play more than Merfolk
Do you like this mechanic over the original Manifest or even Disguise from Murders at Karlov Manor
The Deathmist Raptor engine does give us some staying power against control decks, and playing our Sagu Mauler face-down lets us get our win condition in under a counterspell sometimes, but we might be soft to control
For example, if you have six cards in hand as Doctor Octopus's last ability resolves, and you also control Thought Reflection (an enchantment that says "If you would draw a card, draw two cards instead"), you'll end up drawing four cards.