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Baral and Kari Zev
Legendary Creature — Human
First strike, menace Whenever you cast your first instant or sorcery spell each turn, you may cast a spell with lesser mana value that shares a card type with it from your hand without paying its mana cost. If you don't, create First Mate Ragavan, a legendary 2/1 red Monkey Pirate creature token. It gains haste until end of turn.
2 / 4
$0.25Buy on TCGPlayer
“UR tempo that cheats spells and makes hasty tokens every turn”
Aggro
Intermediate
Combat damage, Commander damage
Spellslinger, Tokens
Strategy
Baral and Kari Zev rewards you for casting cheap instants and sorceries by letting you cast a follow-up spell for free each turn—or generate a hasty 2/1 token if you pass on the freebie. This is a tempo deck that wants to ride a mix of cantrips, removal, and cost-efficient spells to the finish line while building a small army of Monkey Pirate tokens along the way. You're essentially getting two spells' worth of value from one slot, which lets you out-resource opponents while staying ahead on the board.
The deck thrives on cheap, efficient interaction: cheap instants like Lightning Bolt and Counterspell trigger Baral's ability and protect your gameplan, while sorceries like Ponder or Spell Pierce keep the velocity high. If you're not casting a free spell (say, you've already played your land drop), you're fine just making a hasty monkey—free damage that also pressures blockers. Win conditions are flexible: swing with a growing board of flyers and attackers, deal commander damage with Baral's first strike + menace, or grind out value until opponents run out of gas. The deck feels like UR tempo with card advantage built in.
Strategy generated by Tapped Decks AI. Not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.
Key Synergies
Budget Build
Use budget cantrips like Ponder and Preordain instead of pricey draw spells; replace Lightning Bolt with Shock or Unholy Heat to save on cost.
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Inclusion = % of Baral and Kari Zev decks running this card. +lift = percentage-point boost over the format average.
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Art Variants
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