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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 7918724" data-attributes="member: 20564">Official stand (listed in the Sage Advice Compendium) is that the Subtle metamagic prevents Counterspelling because you can not tell a spell is being cast.This is backed up by the Perceiving a Caster at Work section of Xanathar's Guide to Everything (pg 85).So it would follow that a spell without Verbal components would not be eligible to be counterspells if the caster was Invisible or hidden during the casting for the same reason - the Counterspeller would not be able to perceive the spell being cast.Which leads me to the question of recognizing Verbal components to determine if a spell is being cast. If the Counterspeller is in Silence they would not be able to detect the Verbal components even assuming they could cast (such as with Subtle). Same if the Counterspeller was Deafened.Just as a creature may not be seen, and can hide in order to improve those chances, what is the equivalent for hearing Verbal components.The PHB gives no guidance about how loud Verbal components are:Now, all that is needed is to recognize a spell is being cast, which seems like a lower bar than making out the actual words or identifying the spell. But is always a given that Verbal components are heard, or could either environmental conditions (loud, windy, etc.) and/or a character attempting to hide the Verbal components (speaking softly, etc.) that could potentially cause the Counterspeller not to perceive the casting?And the flip side - is it possible to use an action to mimic casting such that a Counterspeller perceives a spell is being cast.  As per Xanathar's it is possible to cast a spell without a valid target - to no effect and the slot is lost.   Such as using an action to mimic casting and if the Counterspeller is deceived and uses their reaction to cast a Counterspell, then casting a Bonus Action spell.</blockquote>

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