Pithing Needle Vs. Counter Balance

[StarHawk]

I'm not quite sure what counter balances wording is but could you name it with needle and stop counter balance from working.

[diffy]

Nope, it's a triggered ability, not an activated.

You can easily answer this type of questions by your own:

If you check Starcitygames Ask the Virtual Judge (http://starcitygames.com/pages/judgefinder.php?keywords=Enter+A+Card+Name%21&Submit2=Ask+The+Judge%21), you'll find the words trigger Counterbalance's ability (http://starcitygames.com/pages/judgefinder.php?keywords=counterbalance&Submit2=Ask+The+Judge%21) all over the place so that you can easily conclude that Pithing Needle does nothing here.


Also, a good rule of thumb conserning activated abilities is that anything with a colon (":") is an activated ability.


Counterbalance
UU (2), Enchantment
Whenever an opponent plays a spell, you may reveal the top card of your library. If you do, counter that spell if it has the same converted mana cost as the revealed card.

As you don't see any colon here, there's a good chance that Needle does nothing.

[Taurelin]

A good strategy vs CounterTop is to name "Sensei's Divining Top" with Needle. That way the efficiency of Counterbalance is limited, and it's possible because all of Sensei's's (grammar?) are activated.

Be careful, though, if both cards are already on the field. Your opponent can tap the Top in response to your Needle, putting it on top of his library, so your Needle will be countered (CC1).