Baral Draw-Go copy

Commander / EDH* Competitive Control Infinite Combo Mono-Blue

photosinensis

Instant (34)

• 1x Anticipate
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mission Briefing
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Negate
• 1x Obsessive Search
• 1x Opt
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Remand
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Stroke of Genius
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Thirst for Knowledge
• 1x Unwind
• 1x Whir of Invention

Artifact (16)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Grim Monolith
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Prismatic Lens
• 1x Sapphire Medallion
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Staff of Domination

Land (31)

• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 24x Island
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scalding Tarn

Creature (4)

• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Gilded Drake
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Thing in the Ice  ^Flip

Commander (1)

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Chart a Course
• 1x Deep Analysis
• 1x Echo of Eons
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Treasure Cruise

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Back to Basics
• 1x Copy Artifact
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Power Artifact
• 1x Rhystic Study

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Timetwister

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Search for Azcanta  ^Flip

Creature (1)

• 1x Torrential Gearhulk

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This is the variant of asm's Baral Draw-Go. The differences are:

1. I have cut Timetwister. It may come back next year, when next year's bonus happens. If it does, it comes back with Narset, Parter of Veils because woof.
2. I've removed Sleight of Hand for Mission Briefing . Yes, it mucks about with the mana curve, but at the same time, having a second Snapcaster Mage is really nice. He's not been subbed out because he's still really good, even if his 2/1 body is at most a chump blocker.
3. I've added Reliquary Tower . Reliquary Tower is kind of a meh choice, and it's likely to become an Island before I sit down to play again.

Reactions to cards printed in 2019:

• Mana Leak becomes Force of Negation . Yay, more Forcing. Mana Leak is too conditional.
• Mystic Confluence becomes Narset's Reversal --a UU Remand that gives us the effect they cast. I'll take it.
• Search for Azcanta   becomes Echo of Eons . It's a subpar choice in reaction to the relative difficulty of obtaining Timetwister . My meta requires real cards.
• One Island becomes Prismatic Vista . All of my lands are either fetches, Inventors' Fair , Reliquary Tower or Islands.

Reactions to the Paradox Engine ban:

I'm not going to lie: the Paradox Engine ban was bad for this deck. It used to run Paradox/Top/Key. That's not an option anymore.

Therefore, I've taken out Paradox Engine and Voltaic Key and put in Staff of Domination and Power Artifact , which, while not as tutorable, gives us a second way of making infinite mana and drawing out our deck--and thus fueling our ability to kill the table by Stroking/USZ'ing them out.

So how does it win?

Typically, it wins via putting down Isochron Scepter with Dramatic Reversal imprinted upon it. With that and some mana rocks out (that is, mana rocks capable of generating a total of 3 mana), produces infinite mana. From there, you need to be able to draw out your deck, whether by putting a bunch of Sensei's Divining Top triggers on the stack (Top will be the second card you draw from this), Blue Sun's Zenith , Stroke of Genius , or Pull from Tomorrow (discard an Island).

The other option is to win via generating infinite mana by putting Power Artifact on Grim Monolith or Mana Vault , then dumping that mana into Staff of Domination (or, for that matter, any of my draw X spells), drawing out my deck, and winning. It does have the disadvantage of not being tutorable: I can't just grab enchantments.

Once you have infinite mana and your deck in your hand, one of two things happens:

1. The Blue Sun's Zenith plan: Blue Sun a person for a number (I usually go for 1001 in reference to Shahrazad ), put it in your (empty) library. Draw Blue Sun using your infinite draw engine. Repeat.
2. The Stroke of Genius plan: This one is a little more involved, so bear with me: First, Stroke out an opponent with your infinite mana. Then, cast Timetwister / Echo of Eons . If you can, hold priority and cast Narset's Reversal targeting Timetwister/Echo of Eons. Timetwister/Echo goes to hand, Narset's Reversal goes to the yard, and a copy of a spell that twisters is on the stack. Twister. Infinite draw. Stroke someone again. (If you can't, then Echo/Twister, flash it back either with its ability or with Snapcaster Mage / Mission Briefing to Stroke players 2 and 3--use USZ for a fourth opponent if necessary).

RIP, Paradox Engine. You are dearly missed.

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Deck Tech

While this isn't my deck, in that I did not create it, it is a deck I own. I've played it a bit. Therefore, I don't feel too unqualified to tell you what's going on.

Baral, Chief of Compliance

This guy is a part of our value engine. Reading his text tells you what this deck wants to do: counter spells and churn through the deck to find a wincon. The cost reduction is huge, and it is a big part of why we focus on our instants and sorceries.

The rest of the value engine

This deck has a few other cards that are a part of its value engine:

• Sensei's Divining Top : While this is a part of our combo win, it's also a major part of the deck's engine. You're always going to make sure you're drawing something that's either a spell you want or a card you want to discard to Baral's loot trigger in order to churn through your deck faster.
• Staff of Domination : Think someone's coming at you? Tap down their most threatening dude. Also, a mana sink if you've made it to EOT and done nothing.
• Copy Artifact : Your artifacts matter. Therefore, having an extra copy of any of them is probably a good thing. The ideal target is of course Isochron Scepter.

The Counterspells

Most of our counterspells are going to be low CMC. While Disallow is decent and may be worth consideration in metas where you're worried about activated or triggered abilities, it and Stifle don't make the cut.

Instead of going over the counters, I'll highlight specific counters that are essential to the functioning of the deck, as well as things that could get subbed out for Stifle or Disallow if you need those things, or other counters that can be subbed out if you're in a 75% meta where things these counters do aren't quite good enough (but be warned: they are going to have higher CMC's, and that's why they aren't in the cEDH variant).

• Muddle the Mixture is just as often a tutor for Isochron Scepter as it is a counterspell.
• Spell Pierce and Remand are better in a proper cEDH meta. Either they cannot pay the extra cost, or they have all the mana and the card is dead. If you're in a 75% meta, it is fine to replace them with Disallow and Stifle . (If activated abilities aren't a problem in your meta, don't worry about Stifle.)

• Delay is another one that matters in a cEDH meta. They're not getting that spell. If you're in a 75% or other meta, I would suggest Void Shatter instead. Again, more expensive mana-wise, but it unconditionally exiles the spell.

Card Draw

Everybody likes drawing cards. If you're going to one-for-one people, though, it helps to draw more cards than they do.

Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora are Blue staples. If you're running Island, you're running these cards for good reason.

Consecrated Sphinx is a bit of a Magical Christmas Land card. When it sticks around for a full round, though, it's done far more than its job. And if some idiot Brainstorms while it's on the table (and yes, this happened the first time I ever put it on the stack), they deserve whatever happens next.

Chart a Course is kinda not good. We almost never swing. I'm looking for decent alternatives.

Divination is kinda mediocre.

Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise are the best draw spells in the format. There's a reason Treasure Cruise has absolutely no existence outside singleton formats and Vintage: it's just that good. And as good as Cruise is, Dig is better.

Pull from Tomorrow is a decent X spell. Sometimes, your table does a bunch of shit you don't care about (killing other people's dudes, going at their faces, generally things that don't kill you). When that happens, EOT this guy.

Speaking of EOT tricks, Stroke of Genius is similar, but with the upside that you can use it to kill them if they try something dumb with Blue Sun's Zenith on the stack. We're not running much in looping tech, so it's not a great wincon.

While it's a part of your finish, don't ever hesitate to cast BSZ itself when everybody is tapped out, targeting yourself.

Hate

This is a control deck. We have to have some amount of hate for our opponents' game plans that goes beyond "counter all their stuff".

• Cursed Totem : Remember when I mentioned that we have problems with activated abilities? This is your hoser. Whir for it if necessary.
• Grafdigger's Cage : Do something about the graveyard shenanigans your opponents are doing. It's a prime target if you're up against Gitrog. Just be sure to protect it: they're in Green and as such can blow up artifacts all day long.
• Ugin, the Spirit Dragon : Easily the best removal we have. It's the only thing that provides a hard boardwipe, the only thing that provides anything that even vaguely hard removal, and the ultimate is gravy if it happens.
• Reality Shift : Our only instant-speed removal. Save it for something that absolutely must go.
• Gilded Drake : Did they run out their commander? It's now a 3/3 flier. Combos well with...
• Chain of Vapor : Not really removal, but if something big is coming at you, send it back to its owner's hand. And you can use it to steal multiple commanders with Gilded Drake.
• Cyclonic Rift : It's not a blue deck in Commander without this card.
• Thing in the Ice  : It's a butt for the early game, and later on, it reads "draw a bunch of cards to Cyclonic Rift".

Date added	5 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 33 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 18 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.20
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Manifest 2/2 C
Based on	Baral Draw-Go asm EDH