Baral, Chief of Compliance

📖 How to build Baral, Chief of Compliance

Baral, Chief of Compliance is a two-mana blue creature that rewards a spellslinger game plan built around instants and sorceries. Its first ability makes those spells cost {1} less, so each one you cast is cheaper. Its second ability lets you draw a card whenever a spell or ability you control counters a spell, followed by discarding a card. The plan is to hold up counterspells, answer your opponent's threats, and convert each counter into card filtering and extra cards.

Build around cheap instant-speed interaction and cards that generate counters or card advantage. The provided list includes Counterspell, Arcane Denial, Negate, and Swan Song as ways to trigger Baral's draw. Cyclonic Rift and Fierce Guardianship add more instant-speed interaction, and Brainstorm and Frantic Search help with filtering. Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora reward card draw in the long game, and Propaganda can slow opposing attacks.

Baral is a creature, so it can be removed before it does much. Its draw trigger only happens when your spells or abilities counter something, so it does nothing in games where you cannot or do not counter spells. The loot is optional but the discard is mandatory once you draw, so keep a spare card in hand. The cost reduction also applies only to instants and sorceries, not to creatures or other permanents.

Deck guide written with AI assistance based on the card's rules text.