Counters vs. Vexing Shusher

[grungyboy]

let's say i have a Vexing Shusher in play; i cast a Goblin Piledriver and my opponent responded by countering it with Force of Will. In response, i activated Shusher's ability to make the Piledriver uncounterable but then my opponent responded with another FoW and he said my Piledriver will be countered. Is this possible? I think what he tried to do was he didn't let Shusher's ability to resolve yet since it is still on the stack so responded by countering the Piledriver with his second FoW. Also, if it is possible, can i respond to his second FoW by activating again Shusher's ability thus making the Piledriver uncounterable? Thank you in advance.

[Delha]

Yes on both counts.

1. Shusher's ability goes on the stack just like anything else, and your opponent can always respond by countering the spell again before the ability resolves.

2. When you opponent does so, you can indeed respond to the additional counter by activating Shusher again.

In short, you can continue to trade Shusher activations for counterspells at a 1 for 1 ratio, until either your opponent can't counter anymore, or you can't activate Shusher anymore. Unless you're throttled on red/green mana, odds are you're going to win that fight.

[AmbivalentDuck]

As a quick note even though it's not in the original question, Mana Drain on Shusher or a spell that's been Shushered will still trigger and produce mana.  As another way to say it, Shusher doesn't interfere with the resolution of anything or "counter" countermagic, it simply makes the verb "counter" do nothing.

These interactions tend to be overlooked by less experienced players.

[Delha]

Well, with that in mind, be careful to check the Oracle text of the card in question. Some counters with a similar effect are templated as "If that spell is countered this way...", in which case Shusher's ability obviously prevents the bonus effect.