[RPG] Can you Counterspell a caster who is under Invisibility

counterspellingdnd-5einvisibility

You lose Invisibility when you attack or cast a spell.

Case 1. If someone who is Invisible (not Greater Invisibility), but not Hidden (I know they are there) casts a spell, would they lose Invisibility as they are casting, thus allowing me to see them and use my reaction to cast Counterspell?

If yes, then:

Case 2. Same as in Case 1, but the enemy is Hidden from me (they beat my Perception with a Stealth check), and we are in the 5th round of combat (I am not Surprised). Can I still Counterspell?

Best Answer

No, you can't

Counterspell may only be cast "when you see a creature within 60 feet of you casting a spell" and invisibility "ends for a target that attacks or casts a spell".

Clearly for Counterspell to be effective at all you need to see a creature which is currently in the process of casting a spell. You cannot retro-actively Counterspell a spell that has already been cast by the time you see it.

Now both of these effects refer to the same action, that of casting a spell, but they have different wording. In Counterspell's rules text casting a spell starts applying as soon as the casting process begins while in Invisibility's rules text it is made clear that it is only lost after a creature casts a spell.

I believe this is intended to be interpreted to say that invisibility only ends after the spell was successfully cast. At this point it is too late to interrupt the casting. This interpretation is based on Jeremy Crawford's ruling.

Note that invisibility also ends for creatures that are casting a spell with a duration longer than 1 action, as a result of their inability to concentrate on Invisibility and their new spell simultaneously.