Cool spells. Re: counterspell:
(1) I really like the choice it affords the original caster (which seems like a way to make NPCs/monsters using counterspell less obnoxious for players... at a cost).
(2) Despite that new interaction, I'm not so sure about the spell no longer automatically countering 3rd-level spells. Unless the general rules for spellcasting specify that one adds one's proficiency bonus to ability checks made as part of a spell's effect, a typical 5th-level spellcaster, who likely has a score 18 in their spellcasting ability, and therefore a +4 bonus to such checks, succeeds on counterspelling a 3rd-level spell 60% of the time, which seems too low to me (but, in all fairness, might not to others, including the spell design team). I guess this is meant to reduce the complexity of a third "slot level state" (casting this spell against a spell of the same slot level automatically counters it but affords the caster the same chance to cast a lower-level spell in its stead)?