Deflection

The first redirection effect built to a clean, generalizable template: take any spell that points at exactly one thing, and point it somewhere else. That single-target requirement is what defines its reach. It cannot reroute a sweeper or a multi-target burn spell, but it covers the cases that swing a game: the removal aimed at your creature now kills theirs, the lethal burn finds its caster's face. The subtler line is defensive. When an opponent counters your threat, redirect their counterspell to Deflection itself; the counterspell then has nowhere to go once Deflection resolves and leaves the stack, so it fizzles without ever touching your creature. That stack-window logic is what lifts this above a parlor trick. It operates after the opponent has committed mana and a target, so the entire investment that built the spell sits on their side of the table when you turn it around: a one-for-one where the cost of the redirected effect was never yours to pay. That core idea seeded a small lineage of redirection spells, from Misdirection to Bolt Bend, each tightening the rate or the trigger while keeping the structure intact. The blue color identity matters too: this is counterspell-adjacent control disguised as reflection, an answer that does not deny a spell so much as conscript it.