Baral and Kari Zev
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.
How Baral and Kari Zev decks play in EDH
Baral and Kari Zev is a Izzet commander in blue and red costing 1UR, and its legendary creature - human line shapes the whole deck around it. It makes tokens, so the deck wants ways to pump a wide board and to turn spare bodies into cards or damage. Built-in evasion means damage gets through reliably, so effects that scale that damage are worth more than extra bodies. The cards below are the ones Baral and Kari Zev decks actually play most often, grouped by the job they do.
Most-played cards
20 cards · about $11.25Play rates from EDHREC. Prices from Scryfall, refreshed daily.
Card draw (5)
Removal (7)
Creatures (2)
Synergy & payoffs (6)
Build the full 100
Grimoire generates a complete, Commander-legal Baral and Kari Zev decklist with a written strategy, a full mana base and live prices — from the whole card pool, or only from cards you already own.
Start with Baral and Kari ZevBaral and Kari Zev deck questions
What colours can I use in a Baral and Kari Zev deck?
Baral and Kari Zev has a Izzet colour identity, so every card in the deck must be blue and red or colourless. That includes mana symbols in rules text, not just casting cost.
What are the best cards for Baral and Kari Zev?
The cards played most often in Baral and Kari Zev decks include Identity Echo, Glamdring, Foe-hammer // Gleam of Death, Geist of Saint Thalia. The full list of staples above is grouped by the job each card does, so you can see the deck's skeleton rather than just a pile of names.
How much does a Baral and Kari Zev deck cost?
The 20 most-played cards shown above come to roughly $11.25 at current market prices. A complete 100-card build costs more, and Grimoire can generate a budget version instead if you set a price ceiling.
Can I build a Baral and Kari Zev deck from cards I already own?
Yes. Import your collection into Grimoire and choose "my cards" when you build. The generator will only use cards you actually own, and the Missing Cards page shows what you would need to buy to finish any list.