If that cost has no generic mana, the cost isn't reduced.
A copy of a spell can be countered like any other spell, but each copy must be countered individually
I am also running mono-Blue Sage of the Beyond to play into this as well
This The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Commander Deck set includes 1 ready-to-play deck of 100 Magic cards (2 Traditional Foil Legendary Creature cards, 98 nonfoil cards), a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack (contains 1 Traditional Foil or nonfoil special treatment card of rarity Rare or higher and 1 Traditional Foil special treatment Common or Uncommon card), 1 foil-etched Display Commander (a thick cardstock copy of the commander card with foil etched into the cards border and art), 10 double-sided tokens, 1 Helper card, 1 deck box (can hold 100 sleeved cards), 1 Life Wheel, 1 strategy insert, and 1 reference card
Every Magic: The Gathering set that comes out has some cards that are just flat-out better than other cards
Fun is interpreted in different ways by different players