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Baral, Chief of Compliance

Baral, Chief of Compliance

Legendary Creature — Human Wizard

Baral wants a deck that throws away its own cards on purpose for a reward. It also works in a deck built around Humans or Wizards.

  • Mana cost1 genericblue
  • Blue ()
  • Power / toughness1 / 3
  • RarityRare

Instant and sorcery spells you cast cost 1 generic less to cast.

Whenever a spell or ability you control counters a spell, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.

Build a deck with Baral Find it in the app

Archetypes
Themes

Cards That Fit Baral, Chief of Compliance

Picked for what they do in Baral's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Baral's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

Does what Baral, Chief of Compliance does6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Baral, Chief of Compliance

explain how Baral works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 19 Mar 2021

A spell or ability counters a spell only if it specifically contains the word "counter" in its text. If a spell or ability you control causes all the targets of a spell to become illegal, that spell doesn't resolve but it's not countered.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Mar 2021

The cost reduction applies only to generic mana in the cost of instant and sorcery spells you cast.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Mar 2021

To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying (such as a flashback cost), add any cost increases (such as kicker costs), then apply any cost reductions (such as that of Baral's first ability). The mana value of the spell is determined by only its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast that spell was.

3 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Baral, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Madness/DiscardDiscard decks throw away their own cards on purpose and play cards that reward each discard. Cards with madness can even be cast for a different, usually cheaper, cost at the moment you discard them.Open the Madness/Discard pageLootingDraws and discards in the same breath. Faithless Looting, Frantic Search. It does not gain you cards. It improves the ones you have, and fills your graveyard on purpose, which is exactly what a reanimator card like Animate Dead wants.Open the Looting pageSelf-DiscardDiscards your own cards as a cost or an effect. Filling your own graveyard on purpose is the point: it feeds cards that bring things back, madness and channel abilities, and some cards are worth more there than in hand. Faithless Looting, Boseiju, Who EnduresOpen the Self-Discard pageCost ModificationChanges what a spell costs to cast: cheaper for you, or more expensive for everyone. It is the broad family; Cost Reducer and Spell Tax say which direction a given card goes. Herald's Horn, Foundry InspectorOpen the Cost Modification page