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The Trickery Domain Cleric gains the 2nd level Channel Divinity: Invoke Duplicity which grants that(PHB, 63)
For the duration, you can cast spells as though you were in the illusion’s space, but you must use your own senses.
You are casting as though you are in the illusion's space, but also using your own senses.
If a counterspell is attempted, is the correct target the illusion or the Cleric if only one is in range?
Counterspell has a casting time of:
1 reaction, which you take when you see a creature within 60 feet of you Casting a Spell
So you would think that you would need to be able to see a real creature casting a spell to have this work. However, Jeremy Crawford, 5e lead rules designer, responded on twitter to two questions about this topic on twitter.
Q1: Hi!! Quick q: Trickery cleric uses Invoke Duplicity to cast spells from. The illusory image that ID [sic] creates is then counterspelled in the process of casting a spell; does the counterspell stop the spell cast, or fail as it's an illusion?
A1: Invoke Duplicity doesn't protect a cleric from being counterspelled if the person casting counterspell can see the cleric/illusion and the cleric is within 60 feet of the caster.
and
Q2: Does seeing the illusion from Invoke Duplicity count as “seeing” the actual Cleric?
A2: Seeing the illusion created by Invoke Duplicity isn't the same as seeing >the cleric. However, seeing the illusion is sufficient for some things in the >game, like counterspell, that are triggered by seeing processes (seeing the >cleric casting a spell, for example).
Based on this ruling, if you can see either the illusion or the cleric themself in the process of casting a spell, you have a valid trigger for counterspell. This is even though the illusion isn't a creature. With that being said, Invoke Duplicity allows you to cast the spell as if you were in the illusion's space, but the Cleric is still the one casting the spell. Even if you react to the illusion appearing like it's casting a spell, the cleric needs to be in that 60 foot range for the counterspell to be successful, since they are the one who is going to be counterspelled.
