Baral or Talrand?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on March 26, 2017, 10:06 p.m. by Flagellum
Title says it all: Baral, Chief of Compliance or Talrand, Sky Summoner?
I have experience piloting Talrand but I was wondering if he would be better off in the 99 with Baral at the helm. Baral comes out faster and let's you dig through your deck whereas Talrand gives you a possible wincon. Speaking of wincons, for Baral what would they be aside from theft?
That article is pretty sweet, I agree with it for the most part. I personally just picked up talrand and plan to put baral in the 99 because I enjoy cantrips rather than counters and needed a deck to fit Paradox Engine and Isochron Scepter in. I also think a loot effect like baral's is better in izzet or dimir, having it in the command zone in mono blue just doesn't seem like a huge advantage to me and it'll probably get you a lot of hate.
March 27, 2017 1:20 a.m.
As mentionned in the article, Talrand, Sky Summoner is more versatile in the way you build him.
To me Baral, Chief of Compliance is a combo machine that plays counters to protect his combo and digs deeper to find the pieces. I'd definitely run Guile, Deadeye Navigator, Draining Whelk and probably also Palinchron and Peregrine Drake. The rest of the deck would be stuff that bounces whatever you don't counter, counters and draw spells.
March 27, 2017 5:40 a.m.
TBH, I'd say Baral. Talrand dies to a stiff breeze, while Our Lord Chief makes instants and sorceries cheaper to cast. I'm not going the combo route, but this article explains the comparison (with a bonus comparison to Origins Jace).
March 27, 2017 8:41 a.m.
Thanks guys and gals!
The articles were a great read which just helped confirm what I thought I knew (my wife would say that isn't much!).
I think I will try out Baral. My experience with Talrand is that as was mentioned he is a lightning rod. He's essential to the game plan and is needed to create value from cantrips/counters. Baral on the other hand is like a very nice bonus. Loot and spell cost reduction are great but you can easily get along without him (par se). Since he only costs 2 CMC he can be removed several times before it becomes too costly whereas Talrand will cost 6 CMC if he is removed once and that will happen. Often you need to have a counter ready when you cast Talrand or he might not hit the board and this can delay your strategy. It is a little more difficult to counter Baral on turn 2.
March 27, 2017 10:14 a.m.
I'm also going to try out Baral. Like the article I linked said, for that 4 mana you use to cast Talrand, you can cast Baral, and have 2 mana open for a Counterspell, Disallow, or something.
March 27, 2017 12:18 p.m.
I'd just like to throw out there talrand doesn't have to be a one trick pony. I'm not comfortable running a list of 3 creatures and just hoping talrand stays out, going blue good stuff and artifact based winning combos you can easily tutor for is a good way to go. Talrand gets you extra value for spells you are casting anyway, those drakes can also be sacrificed to altars(Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar) giving a better discount than baral if you just want to dig for combos with cantrips. That's just my take on him anyway.
March 27, 2017 12:44 p.m.
dlamars: My Talrand deck was a "Polymorph bomb" style deck utilizing 5-6 big creature bombs like Tidespout Tyrant, Stormtide Leviathan, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, ect. I would tuck a drake to put one of those beasties out using Polymorph/ Proteus Staff. Most of the time people would just scoop from all the bounce effects I ran. If that didn't work then a Runechanter's Pike strapped to a drake was for backup. Coat of Arms could've worked too.
Entrei says... #2
Aside from opponents conceding...Baral:Guile, generic infinite mana combos
Talrand: Paradox Engine+buyback spells
March 26, 2017 10:11 p.m.