Deck & Commander Strategies
Hei Bai, Forest Guardian
Control-oriented deck that uses countermagic and tempo disruption to maintain board control. It leverages Sanctums and other control elements to slow opponents while stabilizing the game.
Baral, Chief of Compliance
A mono-blue control deck that exploits Baral’s cost reduction to cast multiple spells per turn, generating card advantage and mana acceleration. It aims to assemble combos for infinite mana and leverage powerful draw spells to dominate the late game.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Baral’s cost reduction allows casting draw spells at a discounted cost, enabling significant card advantage and tempo gains early on.
- 2
Extraplanar Lens on Baral’s side creates a strong mana acceleration that is difficult for Hei Bai to answer quickly.
- 3
Waterbending Scroll is a key artifact that provides repeated disruption by bouncing opponents' permanents at instant speed, enhancing Baral’s control over the board state.
- 4
Hei Bai’s use of counterspells like Force Spike and tempo plays such as Memory Lapse effectively delay Baral’s plans but cannot fully prevent mana and card advantage engine setup.
- 5
Brazen Borrower’s bounce ability timed perfectly to disrupt Baral’s shrine while leaving mana open to maintain further interaction showcases precise resource management.
- 6
Baral’s decision to counter Intuition instead of letting it resolve prevents Hei Bai from tutoring for key answers, preserving Baral’s momentum.
- 7
The game highlights the importance of timing and resource conservation in a control mirror, where holding back spells can be as crucial as casting them.
Notable Cards
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Baral, Chief of Compliance
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Hei Bai, Forest Guardian
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Opposition Agent
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Force Spike
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Memory Lapse
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Extraplanar Lens
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Stock Up
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Waterbending Scroll
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Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft
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Prismatic Ending
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Palinchron
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Mystifying Maze
Gameplay Summary
The game unfolds as a classic control mirror match between Hei Bai, Forest Guardian and Baral, Chief of Compliance.
Baral leverages his cost-reduction ability to cast efficient spells that generate card advantage and tempo, such as a discounted draw spell and Stock Up.
Hei Bai's deck focuses on controlling the board with counterspells like Force Spike and tempo plays like Memory Lapse, aiming to establish a stable position with key permanents such as Sanctums.
Baral gains a crucial edge by resolving an Extraplanar Lens, which accelerates his mana production and supports powerful plays like casting Consult the Stars to dig for combo pieces including Palinchron, aiming for infinite mana generation.
Baral also uses Waterbending Scroll to repeatedly return key permanents, disrupting Hei Bai's attempts to stabilize. The pivotal moment arrives when Baral uses Brazen Borrower to bounce a shrine, preserving his mana to maintain pressure and counter further threats.
Hei Bai struggles to find answers to Baral's enchantments but manages to answer threats like Opposition Agent with Force Spike and Prismatic Ending.
The interaction between tutors, counters, and bounce spells keeps the game in a delicate balance, but Baral's mana acceleration and card advantage engines gradually tilt the game in his favor.
The win condition for Baral revolves around assembling infinite mana combos and overwhelming control elements, while Hei Bai aims to survive through disruption and incremental advantage to eventually outvalue Baral.
![Commander VS S6E2: Sram vs Yahenni vs Baral vs Kari Zev [MTG] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eBR0RAyW7AI/sddefault.jpg)
