Jhin Legend - Counter Spells Don't get banished? Because the wording states "when play a spell, if you spend 4" When the chain happens Wouldn’t the spell Still Count as playing 4 due to spending 4, but the effect of the Spell wouldn’t count eg 4 cost " Deal 3 dmg " - Counter Stops 4 dmg. Chain ends but 4 has been spent. Need this part to be touched up upon because you would still be spending the 4. - Channel 4 runes If you are 11 out of 12 you get 1 Ready Rune, Because it doesn’t state exhausted - Runes Come in Ready due to it not stating exhausted - 2 Cost Repeat Spells, Example " Piercing light Cost 2, Power 1 Repeat cost 2 power 1 " This would be in total Paying 4 and 2 power so this would be banished. - Power. IF you recycle 5 runes this doesn’t count towards jhin because its power and not the cost OR does It include Power as being spent.

No — the spell can't be banished, even though the 4 energy really was spent.

You're right that the energy stays spent (counters don't refund costs), but that's not the step that fails. Virtuoso is a triggered ability ("When you play a spell…"), and a countered spell is not considered to have been "played" for abilities that trigger on cards being played — so the trigger never fires and the "if you spent [4] or more" clause never even gets checked (Rule 419.4.a.1, also 425.1.b).

Your damage example is the right instinct, just applied to the wrong clause: countering stops the spell's own instructions, but it also stops play-triggers. The "spent 4" fact still counts for anything that checks energy spent rather than the spell resolving — e.g. paying Jhin, Meticulous Killer's alternative cost, per the 2026-04-29 clarification. And in any case, once countered the card is cleared from the chain, so it's no longer there to banish (Rule 425.1.a).

I noticed multiple unrelated questions. I've answered the first one — please ask the others in separate messages so I can give each one proper attention.