At the core of my nature both as a Magic player, and an individual, I am centered in Blue in terms of what color best capture's my essence. My favorite flavor in magic is the use of Chronomancy, or Time Magic. So, when searching for a General on magiccards.info, filtering for Mono Blue Legends, I came across an artwork and creature type that caught my eye! Barrin, Master Wizard. I knew when I saw this card that it was going to be my general. Much to my enjoyment, after I did a quick wiki search on his character from the story, I came to find he was both involved in helping Urza create a TIME machine, and was headmaster of the Tolarian Academy! In addition to time magic, Wizards are my favorite tribe in the game, and I honestly just am not a fan of Azami. (Both because she's already too popular and because Barrin looks much cooler.)
I built a Barrin deck as my first Commander deck that slowly evolved into an Oona, Queen of the Fae deck because I was a combo player at the time. Slowly instant-win games with Oona, Power Artifact and Grim Monolith became very dull and I began to hate combo and others who played it. Which is why this Barrin list, along with most of the rest of my decks, is geared at winning through smashing face.
I played a many more generals from this point but none, other than Doran, the Siege Tower really did it for me. Finally I came full circle and dedicated myself to pulling together my ultimate Barrin deck.
So, after some extensive research and refining of the overall play strategy that Barrin brings to the table, I was able to conjure up what looks like a seriously competitive (and Expensive) decklist.
I can honestly say I was surprised by how versatile and powerful Barrin is. He has built it evasion and can sometimes even manage to save the majority of your creatures during a board wipe.
In addition his unique ability allows you to gain additional value out of enter the battlefield effects from your creatures and acts as a constant piece of soft-removal.
As a sacrifice outlet, so you can reliably get rid of things like a donated Pyromancer's Swath from Zedruu or sacrifice your permanents in response to an opponent's Karn Liberated so that way your card doesn't get exiled!
Barrin is very cheap and the most I've ever had to pay for him was 3UU because he's constantly able to just jump back into your hand. On top of all this, he only amplifies the strategy but the strategy isn't reliant on him.
Arcanis the Omnipotent - Draw three on a stick is a really powerful effect but seems to be overkill in mono-blue. He's also got the built in protection clause that makes Barrin so appealing, but it doesn't double as soft removal like Barrin's ability and all around this guy is a lot bigger of a mana investment than Barrin. I personally like my generals costing three or less mana.
Arcum Dagsson - I'm a big fan of this guy and wouldn't mind building a STAX/Prison list around him, but his ability calls for a very specific type of deck, and one that would look a lot different from the chronomatic theme that Barrin brings to the table. He also has no built in evasion clause or a way to deal with opponent's threats like Barrin does. While I give Arcum a thumbs up, Barrin still wins through versatility.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - I've yet to play with this general, but from what I've heard she might be the way to go over Barrin. But I'm still convinced that games lead by Azami would be highly streamlined and play out the same each time you sat at the table. Also for those of you who enjoy playing with obscure generals, you couldn't pick a more "cookie cutter" mono-blue legend to represent your 99. I've steered away simply because of the hype. Also costing 2UUU is a little over where I like my general's costs.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir - Another high mana cost general for effects that aren't really that relevant, at least in my meta. Again, doubling as soft removal, especially if supported by his other 99, Barrin wins out here again.
Thada Adel, Acquisitor - Definitely scores high next to Barrin for having a powerful and underrated effect. She also costs the same! Probably the better choice if you're looking at building STAX as the extra mana rocks she can net will really help push your strategy. Also, she's fragile and has no way to protect herself and will draw a lot more hate than will Barrin.
6/19/13:
- Diluvian Primordial
+ Jace, Architect of Thought
// The Primordial came up a dead card in my hand more than I wanted it too and a seven mana one at that. Jace acts as an additional win condition and can be protected more easily by Barrin here than with other decks.
- Mystifying Maze
+ Eldrazi Temple
// Maze of Ith seemed to be good enough at what it does without Mystifying Maze and I figured I'd rather go with an offensive card in this slot than another defensive one. The Temple helps cast Eldrazi which are the main win-cons
6/21/13
- Jace, Architect of Thought
+ Blatant Thievery
// To get Jace's ultimate off was just a bit too much work, even with Barrin. Blatant Thievery performed wonders for me however today. Being able to grab permanents from off the board, even just lands, helps sustain Barrin's ability that much more and on top of that I was able to Snapcaster it for a second round!
6/24/13
- Blue Sun's Zenith
- Mystical Tutor
- Hatching Plans
+ Intuition
+ Codex Shredder
+ Stroke of Genius
//Stroke over Blue Sun because it can be recurred using Snapcaster Mage and because with Timetwister effects, it can also easily be dumped back into the graveyard.
Mystical Tutor dropped for now in favor of Intuition piles as a means to tutor for Omniscience.
Codex Shredder part of the Intuition pile.
9/15/13
- Duplicant
- Cunning Wish
+ Rapid Hybridization
+ Memnarch
//Testing this out for a bit, but the added versatility that Memnarch has over Duplicant to be able to deal with problem permanents such as Enchantments AS WELL AS still serving as a silver bullet against Iona, made me want to give this a look.
9/20/13
- Everflowing Chalice
+ Torpor Orb
//Sylvan Primordial and a slew of other ETB cards typically give my opponents swings in their favor that I'd rather have more answers to. Since the list typically has more than enough mana available to it at any given time, the Chalice often came up a dead card.
9/26/2013
- Buried Ruin
+ Darksteel Citadel
// With all of the Timetwister effects, artifacts weren't in the yard all that often and the ones that were amounted to stuff like Chromatic Star. The Citadel works especially well with Mox Opal, Tezzeret and Trinket Mage and leaves us with one land after mass LD.
10/5/2013
- Gods' Eye Gate to the Reikai
+ Wasteland
//I really love the Kamigawa land and its 1/1 token really is great value, alas, problem lands like High Market and Homeward Path demand I run an answer.
10/23/13
- Memnarch
- Flooded Strand
- Torpor Orb
- Thada Adel, Acquisitor
- Rapid Hybridization
+ Curse of the Swine
+ Misdirection
+ Duplicant
+ Expedition Map
+ Strip Mine
// Just playtesting some things. Torpor is always a great non-dead card in this format for me, however, with the number of ETB effects I run, alongside of Barrin being able to reuse them, it fights my strategy and I'd rather have no internal conflict among the list. Memnarch delivers, but sometimes not as instantaneousely as I'd like. Expedition and Strip Mine to add to the overall number of answers and spot removal the deck has.
12/29/2013
- Darksteel Citadel
- Misdirection
+ Oblivion Stone
+ Flooded Strand
// Needed more mass removal and ways to deal with Artifacts and Enchantments also noticed by colorfixing was more stable before I cut Flooded Strand.
9/30/12
- Glen Elendra Archmage
+ Ugin's Nexus
// Being able to hold a pseudo-Stranglehold on my opponents, while having the freedom to sacrifice the artifact to Barrin's ability for an extra turn + bounce value when we don't want to be restricting ourselves anymore struck me as something worth trying out. I'll be moving things to playtesting today and reporting back on results. Glen Elendra Archmage is a fine card, but I've often found myself feeling bad about its counter ability A: Being limited to only noncreature spells and B: My opponents can play around it since they know its coming.
1/22/15
- Karn Liberated
+ Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
//I always felt somewhat dissapointed for paying to exile a permanent and then have Karn's value end there. Ugin offers a slightly better + ability and a significantly better ultimate and also doubles a second All is Dust! Going to be playtesting this for a while.
8/31/15
- Thwart
+ Unsubstantiate
//Thwart was always fun to cast for free during the late game but I had some feel bad moments with it early on when someone would ramp out their general on T2 or 3 with Mana Vault and I felt Unsubstantiate's versatility would help out more in this list for its effective cost.
9/26/17
- Prophetic Prism
- Surveyor's Scope
+ Search for Azcanta
+ Spell Swindle
//The manafixing and land ramp are great with the two cut artifacts but often times I found that these were the two of the most lackluster performance cards in the deck. Not that they didn't perform at all, but definitely could use to be more splashy. I think that's what these two Ixalan cards offer here.
Early game and during the mulligan, make sure to be able to assemble some fast mana to get yourself above the curve. Cards like Trinket MagePhyrexian Metamorph and Tolaria West can help you do this.
If you get some really fast mana early on with Grim Monolith and Mana Vault but will bascially be able to use it once until later on, one of the best things to do is attempt to Kick Rite of Replication on a creature that will put lands from your deck onto the battlefield, such as Solemn Simulacrum OR cast Blatant Thievery and grab a land from each opponent.
Once you've got some ramp together, you'll want to exploit one, two or both of two resources:
The first is to set up Barrin if you have some egg cards like Ichor WellspringTerrarion and Chromatic Star. With this you can ensure you'll be able to either A: Get rid of a problem creature like Kaalia of the Vast, B: Protect Barrin or other creatures you control and/or C: Reuse an enter the battlefield effect from cards like Trinket Mage.
The second resource is counterspells. If you have some early game sit back on them to help smooth out and slow the game so that you may assemble stronger board position and hand size. Ideally you'll be able to use these to get you to the point where you're exploiting the first strategy.
Mid Game
As the board state progresses and politics began to take shape, certain key cards become valuable to Barrin. Gilded Drake interacts in a way with Barrin that allows you to steal any creature, and then sacrifice any permanent to bounce any creature. So you can take their creature, sacrifice it and bounce gilded drake, all for just 2UU , or you can take their creature, sacrifice a Mana Vault thats past its prime and ticking away at your life, and bounce gilded drake while keeping their creature! Likewise, with Barrin being able to sacrifice any permanent, Vedalken Shackles becomes an equally important part of Barrin's removal package.
Another card that becomes essentially at this point in the game is Extraplanar Lens. Snow-covered basics aren't essential, but definitely recommended. So if you don't already have this card by now, it should ideally be your first target when you land Tezzeret the Seeker.
If your mana is already well established, Tezzeret can also grab Tormod's Crypt against graveyard decks, Brittle Effigy if you're in need of spot removal or Sensei's Divining Top if you've ramped out Tezzeret on artifact ramp and you've been missing land drops or if that is the case Crucible of Worlds if you've already cracked a fetch land. Finally one of my favorite Tezzeret abilities is to grab Phyrexian Metamorph and place it directly onto the battlefield. If all of the other issues, mana, removal and graveyards, are already addressed, then this is your best bet with Tezzeret!
Other than Tezzeret, Trinket Mage and Eye of Ugin the deck doesn't run any tutors but this is because there aren't and combos that Barrin intentionally is trying to assemble in order to win so in order to get to the cards we want, Time Reversal and cards like it are used to A: Refill our hands, B: As graveyard hate and C: To refill the deck with counter spells and eggs like Mycosynth Wellspring. Be sure to keep all three of these functions of the Timetwister cards in mind when you have them in hand. Also if you can afford to have three variants they make for a great Intuition pile in a pinch.
Be mindful during this part of the game that Barrin can bounce your own creatures and reuse their enter the battlefield effects, so Snapcaster Mage and Gilded Drake can help you smooth out extra counterspells, extra turns and removal needs so long as you have resources to sacrifice to Barrin.
The Eldrazi Titans and Blightsteel Colossus can all be tutored for with Eye of Ugin. Once out onto the battlefield, if you have to pass turn, be sure to keep some mana open if you can so that way Barrin or a counterspell can protect them until you get some value out of them. Also, use any means necessary to start taking extra turns. If you can, save Time Warp and its variants until you have one of the big three out onto the battlefield. Otherwise, Snapcaster Mage can be used to reuse them out of the graveyard and Intuition can go grab them as well. Barrin is often able to take multiple consecutive turns by abusing his ability with Snapcaster. Once your manabase is stabilized, if you have the opportunity, transmute Tolaria West for Eye of Ugin so that way you may search for your win conditions.
Jin-Gitaxias can also readily win games by himself as well. If you can flash him in, untap and then ensure that its protected either by Barrin or counterspells, slowly the card advantage will be so far in your favor that you'll be ensured to secure victory.
Finally Omniscience opens up may doors for example, getting out all of the ACTUAL win condition cards mentioned above, but also gives rise to other absurd interactions such as Consecrated Sphinx and Time Spiral. Or Barrin, Master Wizard and Spine of Ish Sah which, with Omniscience reads 2 : Destroy target permanent. This is done by sacrificing the Spine, bouncing Barrin and then recasting both.
Mass Artifact removal such as Austere Command or Terastodon can be a pain for this list sometimes as it relies heavily on casting high mana cards. Luckily, Academy Ruins can help a bit when this happens. Make sure to save one of your 10 counterspell variants if you suspect an opponent of playing a mass artifact removal.
Swarm decks can also be troublesome at times. Cyclonic Rift is the best board wipe against tokens, and All is Dust is good against everything else that Barrin can't Unsommon, Ixidron a close third because it can't hit tokens.
Although not a combo deck, a Sadistic Sacrament or Jester's Cap hitting the two Eldrazi Titans and Blightsteel can leave the deck rather crippled in its winning capacities. This is the deck's real Achilles heel.
Archaeomancer - This card can be great in Barrin. Being able to return an extra turn card or counterspell to your hand almost infinitely with Barrin's bounce ability can be really powerful. Definitely a budget stand in for Snapcaster Mage who ends up exiling your instant or sorcery. So although there's a difference in these options, you get an added upside as well.
Artisan of Kozilek - Heavy artifact ramp and Eldrazi lands make it easy to cast Eldrazi cards and being able to recur another creature that you might have sacrificed to Barrin's effect can be great. Even sacrificing Barrin himself at the end of an opponents turn and then casting this guy during yours can be a solid move, especially since you get to rez off the cast trigger so you won't have to worry about counterspells.
Aura Thief - If your meta has any enchantment heavy decks like Zur or Enchantress.dec, this card can be a great hate card. For :5mana::symu: with Barrin out, you can just steal all the enchantments off the board. Especially given that Blue doesn't have access to the best Enchant removal otherwise this card might be something to consider main boarding.
Blightsteel Colossus - Douchy spike win condition. If your play group or LGS has rules about 20 or increased infect, look at other options like the Original Colossus or an Eldrazi. Other than than, can be tutored for with Eye of Ugin and will be one of the primary win cons here.
Body Double - A really powerful card in the format and even more so alongside Barrin. Being able to copy anything thats hit the graveyard without exiling that card in the process means than Barrin can bounce Body Double back to your hand to abuse enter the battlefield effects of creature cards in graveyards repeatedly.
Clone Shell - An interesting way to cheat in some of the high costed creatures in the deck such as Eldrazi or the Colossuses with Barrin being a sac outlet. Frankly I feel this card to be a bit too slow and swingy.
Consecrated Sphinx - I would consider this an auto-include in most decks that run blue and and surprised that it hasn't been banned. He will reliably draw you at least 2 cards and if played during the right time can almost ensure the win due to the insane amount of card advantage he brings to the table especially in multiplayer settings. With Barrin out as well, you can be sure to protect Sphinx from all sorts of removal.
Darksteel Colossus - If you don't like using infect, I would suggest running this guy over Blightsteel. In a format where you start at 40 life, an 11/11 trample, indestructible is something reliable for pushing an honest strategy.
Diluvian Primordial - My meta runs a lot of extra turn cards, so for me, playing this can usually result in a Time Stretch or at least net some good removal. Being able to bounce back to my hand with Barrin and reuse makes this card very powerful and being a flyer really helps out when trying to chump block. Depending on your meta, I would also consider looking at Body Double or Spelltwine in place of this card. There have been a few instances though where this card really ends up as a 5/5 flyer for the most part and an expensive one at that.
Draining Whelk - As a creature, this guy can act as a reusable counterspell with Barrin around and can reliably come down as a 5/5 flier to help beat face. Also, playing mono-blue, I like to have permission in my hand as often as possible. A bit expensive for my tastes though. Great budget inclusion.
Drift of Phantasms - A solid mono blue tutor card. There are a few things like Trinket Mage or Barrin himself should he get tucked, that you can use this card to tutor for, but since this isn't a combo deck I wouldn't bother running this card since there aren't any 3-drops other than Barrin that are crucial to the deck's strategy.
Duplicant - One of the cards in the format that can handle Iona, Shield of Emeria should it hit the board. Exiling a creature is almost always preferable and being able to abuse the effect by returning it to your hand for a few more rounds makes this a great inclusion alongside of Barrin. Being an artifact and colorless both Eye of Ugin and Fabricate have no problem tutoring it up either when you need it in a pinch.
Epochrasite - An interesting egg for Barrin to sacrifice for his effect. It will continually come back after three turns. I just found this card too slow to really warrant a spot for it as it didn't provide any immediate value when it got sacrificed such as with Hatching Plans. Though it is an artifact that can be tutorted for with a lot of other cards in the deck and can be a great budget option if you find yourself not having enough permanents to sacrifice.
Floodgate - This is another fun board wipe card that I see in many of the other Barrin lists. Its honestly though a bit slow and clunky for my tastes and not being able to hit flying creatures is a big downside to this card for me. There are better creature-wipe options available than this although it can be a solid budget include.
Frost Titan - While I do love this guy, only being able to tap down a single permanent in a multiplayer game makes him less appealing to me than he does in 60 card formats.
Gilded Drake - Covered in the Mid Game section above, definitely an all star here. Can't go wrong with repeatable removal.
Inkwell Leviathan - I ran this for sometime, its a great finisher for monoblue and being an artifact is easy to tutor for.
It That Betrays - A big fat creature that steals permanents. Nothing more could be asked for in a Barrin build. You're advancing your end game and building up more disposable resource to feed into Barrin.
Ixidron - Perhaps one of my favorite board-wipe cards. It handles indestructible and other cards that trigger when they hit the graveyard like Reveillark. Alongside Barrin, who needs to be off the battlefield at the time you play Ixidron, can be reused by being bounced back to your hand.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur - Didn't give this card a second look at first, but realized I usually have no problem costing Kozilek, so I gave it a test run and wow does it deliver. Flash make it insane! I love it to death.
Junk Diver - I ran this and Myr Retriever for sometime but found that both of them would be in my hand without any artifacts in my graveyard during the early game and since replaced them with more immediate value cards.
Kederekt Leviathan - A board wipe I've been considering though the high mana cost currently makes Ixidron my go-to card for this type of effect.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth - The most affordable of the finishers. His cast trigger is usually enough to compensate him eating removal before getting to annihilate.
Lighthouse Chronologist - I ran him for a little while and had no reason to cut him other than that he was usually a "win-more" card. He might find his way back into the deck if other cards don't end up holding their own, especially because he feeds into the Chronomancy theme.
Lorthos, the Tidemaker - Can be a great way to lock out the win if you've got enough mana going with things like Extraplanar Lens. A definite consideration for budget options to replace the Eldrazi Titans.
Master Thief - Works just like Gilded Drake except with artifacts. If you feel you need some extra artifact removal in your list because of the meta, this one isn't a bad option.
Memnarch - The ability to have repeated permanent "removal" in the form of stealing things, as well as regular artifact theft, permanently, for :3mana::symu:, as well as being able to handle Iona, makes this a finisher worth looking at.
Mulldrifter - Not a bad card draw engine here, but most of the eggs in the deck fufill the role Mulldrifter would except the egg cards, Terrarion, can be sacrificed themselves and net draw, so maybe run it as a budget option, but not the best when compared to some of the other draw power mono blue gets.
Myr Battlesphere - Another clunky token producer. Its mana cost is just too high to warrant the four 1/1's that you would get to help satisfy Barrin. Cards like this make the deck more reliant on the general than it needs to be.
Nevermaker - I've seen this card pushed in other Barrin lists and for good reason, though I'm more partial to Venser, Shaper Savant filling this role in the deck, although if you can't get your hands on a Venser, this guy can be a great, great budget substitute.
Palinchron - As I'm not a combo player anymore, this card doesn't really appeal to me as it used to. So if you know how to abuse it and wish to be my guest as it is very powerful but currently I"ve got enough artifact ramp that even if I wanted infinite mana, this might just clog up the list.
Pathrazer of Ulamog - "Not the worst Eldrazi ever printed." Thats what someone said at my LGS the other day and I couldn't agree more. Frankly I'm surprised it was only uncommon. Practically unblockable and the highest annihilator next to the titans. Definitely a budget all-star. I've got my eye on it for main decking right now and its a definite candidate to replace Blightsteel during games where the infect rules fluctuate.
Phantasmal Image - Because of its targeted drawback, its less resourceful alongside of Barrin, and although very cheap, Phyrexian Metamorph just outclasses it in this build.
Phyrexian Ingester - Serves the same role as Duplicant. It can be reused again with Barrin and is a solid piece of removal in monoblue, if a bit expensive. A solid budget include though!
Phyrexian Metamorph - Probably the best clone to date. Especially for mono-blue who relies a lot on artifacts. Not to mention you can drop it onto your board position from your library with Tezzeret the Seeker and it can be rezed with Academy Ruins.
Precursor Golem - This card interests me and may get playtested soon. Its an immediate three creatures for and you can sacrifice the original copy right away to ensure that the other 3/3 tokens will stick around to be fodder to Barrin or just to chump block/beat face with.
Runed Servitor - Another egg card that will help push a group hug mentality to steer the angry players away from wanting to kill you, if just for a turn. I ran this early on and there wasn't anything I didn't like about it other than there are other eggs that won't net your opponents draw, but its a nice budget card and being an artifact works well alongside the rest of the monoblue cards.
Sharding Sphinx - A solid include in this list because of the amount of tokens it can generate and Barrin does love when you've got disposable resource. Overall though, if you're not running a Stax build, I would steer away from this creature because it is just too slow compared to other cards you can be running that will net you immediate value or outright win you the game.
Snapcaster Mage - The blue goyf, bob, stoneforge. Having an ETB effect and only costing :1mana::symu: makes this an absolute house to run alongside of Barrin and Time Warp. I took seven turns in a row one game using Snapcaster, Barrin and my three Time Warp variants only.
Solemn Simulacrum - One of the few ramp options available to mono-blue, and a great sac target for Barrin. He's also a great clone target and can be recurred using Academy Ruins, Buried Ruin or Trading Post for added value across the course of the game.
Sower of Temptation - A Gilded Drake variant. Obviously run the Drake first and this one second for budget reasons or if you can find room in your list for it. It has the same type of repeatable removal effects as does the Drake and Master Thief with Barrin so its definitely a card to keep an eye on.
Steel Hellkite - I like this card in a vacuum but its just never really managed to deliver for me. Its ability to selectively Ratchet Bomb things appeals to me however and would be something I'd consider running if you've got a token heavy meta as it can be tutored for with a various assortment of cards available to Monoblue.
Summoner's Egg - I ran this card for sometime because of its nifty interaction with Barrin to help cheat in Eldrazi and Blightsteel for :6mana:. However I've since replaced my cheater cards with Quicksilver Amulet.
Thada Adel, Acquisitor - What a powerhouse! People don't lie when they say you'll end up with a table full of Sol Rings. My playgroup runs a lot of Islands as well so she's always ready to steal me some goodies. An auto-include in this list IMO!
Thopter Assembly - This guy offers up five 1/1 tokens as sacrifice fodder for Barrin. Overall though, I've found this card a bit slow, but perhaps could find its way into a Stax version of Barrin.
Tidespout Tyrant - A go-to blue finisher in this format. Great with all of the enter the battlefield effects and a powerful way to cripple opponents mana bases. I'm not running this card right now but it is one of the many that I've got my eye on and will be playtesting with currently.
Treasure Mage - Depending on what kind of finishers you're using, Treasure Mage can be a solid include. Wurmcoil Engine, Inkwell Leviathan, Blightsteel Colossus, Spine of Ish Sah are all cards that come to mind that this guy can grab up on. And as an enter the battlefield creature chances are you'll be able to use it at least once more with Barrin.
Trinket Mage - There are just too many powerful artifacts to not run Trinket Mage. Especially when your general allows you to bounce your creatures. Sol Ring and Sensei's Divining Top just to name the two format staples. An auto-include in Barrin lists. Can even be used to grab a Seat of the Synod if you want that option available to you.
Ulamog's Crusher - A nice budget creature. 8/8 annihilator 2 is nothing to scoff at even for a common. With a solid mana rock package he can come down early and start setting your opponents board states back.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - Perhaps the most widely used finisher in my meta. Blowing up a permanent and being an 11/11 indestructible that makes your deck mill-proof are just some of the few upsides to this guy. With all of the mana rocks and Eye of Ugin, hard casting Ulamog shouldn't be too much of a problem and there are ways with Barrin to cheat him out early as well.
Venser, Shaper Savant - A staple for monoblue. He can handle uncounterable spells, get rid of pesky permanents for a turn or even help to save one of your other permanents such as a mana rock from removal. On top of this he can continually be reused and abused with Barrin out.
Void Stalker - Great piece of cheap removal in this format to get rid of pesky generals. Given its a creature and it doesn't have haste it will sit around a turn before you get to use it which is what didn't make the cut for me. Although if your build isn't as counter-magic heavy, this guy can be a great way to ensure you've got ways to handle your threats.
Walking Atlas - A great underrated colorless ramp card in EDH. And when his usefulness has been exhausted you can sacrifice him to bounce something. Definitely a card I'm looking at right now since ramp is important in this deck, although his purpose can be fulfilled with Terrain Generator pretty reliably given we're playing a mono colored deck so we have lots of basics.
Wurmcoil Engine - A solid include in this list. It can be searched for with the typical Eye of Ugin/Fabricate effects and profits with two relevant 3/3 when you sacrifice it to Barrin's effect. Overall, if you're not running Mimic Vat this card just doesn't stand up to the other finishers like the Eldrazi Titans and Blightsteel.
Artifacts
Brittle Effigy - I usually run this card in the decks that I run with Trinket Mage. Especially my mono-color decks as it is one of the other cards that can get rid of Iona, Shield of Emeria if your color gets called. "Exile target creature" and its easy to tutor for? Yet please.
Chromatic Star - One of the "Egg" cards. A solid investment that lets you sacrifice it to Barrin for value later on. Somewhat crucial to the strategy of the deck but you can take it or one of the others out for something else you find might be needed.
Crawlspace - Probably the best option to offset the weakness to swarm and token decks should your meta be thick with them. I'm not currently running it A: Because the deck's sweeper cards Cyclonic Rift and All is Dust have seemed to be enough for now and B: Because my meta just doesn't warrant its inclusion just yet.
Crucible of Worlds - This card helps to offset Barrin's sacrifice cost during mid/late game and creates a nice soft-lock with Gods' Eye Gate to the Reikai and Barrin. Also, while run in conjunction with cards like Bant Panorama or Misty Rainforest it can help to thin out your deck and net you extra spell cards when you might have drawn a basic Island.
Darksteel Ingot - With mass artifact removal being one of the deck's weak spots, indestructible mana could be worthwhile in the list. Though for does fall a little behind the curve of other mana rocks that could be run in the list.
Elixir of Immortality - If you don't have access to all three Time Reversal cards, this might be something to consider as keeping the library renewed ensures you'll still have counter magic and sweeper cards during the mid to late game.
Everflowing Chalice - I like this card here because there are a lot of high CMC colorless cards and the chalice can get big mid/late game and can get you just enough ahead of the competition in the early game. Another rock that can be grabbed with [c]Trinket Mage[c] and at you can cast it for no charge counters and use it as something to sacrifice to Barrin's ability.
Expedition Map - Good Trinket Mage target and lets you grab key utility lands like Eye of Ugin which will let you tutor up your finishers when you've established board position or help you ramp early game with Ancient Tomb
Extraplanar Lens - Much cheaper than the other mana doublers, Caged Sun and Grim Monolith. Also with the lens you can usually offset the effect and make it one-sided if run with snow-covered basics. Since it costs less than the others, it helps to push on explosive starts that much better. Being offset the one land should it get blown up usually is something I don't prefer but I've found that in this build, it doesn't hurt too badly.
Flayer Husk - A cute card I put in my original Barrin list long ago. Its nice because it gives you two things that you can sacrifice for the investment of :1mana:, but cards like this that don't have much use outside of synergizing with the general I try to steer away from.
Genesis Chamber - Most of the token production cards, like Flayer Husk and Sharding Sphinx I steer away from because they make the deck to dependent on Barrin, but this one, being so cheap might get some playtesting. The only downside is that it give the tokens to your opponents as well which would help facilitate the strategies that this list is weak against.
Grim Monolith - A solid cheap mana rock that can help turn out explosive starts. For those building on budget, Basalt Monolith can be just as good, if not better in some situations.
Heartstone - I like this card and it could really make leaving mana open for Barrin's effect to be used during opponents turn that much easier, however its another of those "only in here for the general" cards and the more the list can run properly without the general around, the better.
Ichor Wellspring - One of my favorite egg cards. Draw a card right away for instant value, and then let is sit around to be fodder for Barrin to bounce something off the table and yet again net ANOTHER card!
Illusionist's Bracers - More "overly reliant of Barrin" stuff, but perhaps this one could warrant some face-time as being able to bounce two creatures for the price of one seems like good enough of a value turn out. I doubt it though.
Journeyer's Kite - Perhaps a card I'd consider in other mono-colored builds, but since we're running blue, the draw power should be sufficient enough to make sure you're hitting land drops. Maybe this could be a budget option in place of Crucible of Worlds however, as both seek to help thin the deck.
Mana Vault - The other broken low CMC artifact. Yet another Trinket target and can end up netting you a T2 Bribery.
Mimic Vat - Definitely a card to consider, especially for budget fill ins. It can be graveyard hate, take use of your own or opponent's creatures and plays nicely with Barrin's sacrifice effect. Its especially cool when you run it alongside of Wurmcoil Engine and Barrin. Its one of the first I will consider should any in my list prove to not hold their weight.
Mind's Eye - A budget option for Timetwister and its cousins as they are the primary draw engines in this deck. Other than that, since we're running mono-blue, Rhystic Study fills the role that Mind's Eye would for non-blue decks.
Mox Opal - A great way to get above the curve as it will almost always have metalcraft, and when it doesn't... its a card you can dump to Barrin's ability! So never truly a dead card!
Mycosynth Wellspring - Some decent value compared to its cousin Ichor Wellspring both are fine inclusions alongside of Barrin. This one perhaps will be the first egg to get cut should some other card be needed to be added to the list.
Nevinyrral's Disk - One of the few board wipe options available to blue. I try to steer away from it however since it destroys other valuable artifacts that you may need where as All is Dust will nuke everything BUT your artifacts, which is really what we want here.
Oblivion Stone - A bit more versatile than the Disk, but still not exactly what we're looking for. If your list doesn't run as much artifact ramp, this should probably make it into your deck as it can be recurred with Academy Ruins and if you have enough mana open can be used right away as opposed to Disk.
Planar Portal - A bit expensive for my tastes and there are already enough tutor options to assemble the key cards you need in order to push toward your winning strategy that this one is superfluous.
Proteus Staff - An interesting removal card for blue as it can tuck generals and possibly polymorph you into an Eldrazi. However, the sorcery speed restriction makes this a bit less glamorous to me than other removal available.
Quicksilver Amulet - Its a great way to artificially give flash to some of your creatures or just to early game drop out Blightsteel. Also makes Draining Whelk a counter, rather than a :4mana::symu::symu: one.
Salvaging Station - Combos with the Flayer Husk for infinite sacrifice fodder, but again giving two slots just to push the general's ability in a deck that isn't relying on Barrin to outright win, like say Rafiq of the Many for example, shouldn't really find a spot into your lists.
Sapphire Medallion - I ran this for a while to great effect! Its an awesome card in this deck that sometimes outshines any of the other mana rocks. Right now though I don't have room and because my highest cost spells are colorless anyway, it got cut. But I would most certainly use this as you substitute for Mana Crypt if you're building on budget.
Scroll Rack - A really nice filter card, but with the amount of outright draw from cards like Blue Sun's Zenith, I couldn't find room for it right now. Almost an auto-included in my non-blue decks though.
Sculpting Steel - Another great utility artifact that I ran for some time. I let it go in favor of some other key pieces for the fact that Phyrexian Metamoph satisfied the same needs and right now I wasn't sure if two cards with that same effect could clog up the deck slots.
Sol Ring - Again, I run this in pretty much every deck.
Spine of Ish Sah - Covered a bit in the Winning the Game section, this card is also one of the five colorless outlets to get Iona off the board should she have blue spells turned off.
Tormod's Crypt - Great graveyard hate card that you can tutor for with Fabricate, Tezzeret, Trinket Mage or Tolaria West. The Timetwister effects offset the graveyard players enough already but this is a great, easily tutorable silver bullet!
Torpor Orb - I love this card. Hoses Sylvan Primordial and is easy to tutor for in Blue. Usually will start my deck constructions with this and Tormod's Crypt. Not included in the current build do to reliance and a certain number of ETB creatures like Duplicant and Snapacter Mage.
Trading Post - Its almost as if this card was built for Barrin. It creates fodder tokens, recurs your eggs and can net you cheap card advantage. I cut this because at I felt it was just slightly over my curve, but I've invested A LOT of resources into this deck as it was the FIRST EDH deck I ever attempted building which was about 4 years ago and I just stuck with it ever since. So definitely include this is you're on budget.
Vedalken Orrery - Being able to play flash makes the deck better equipped at controlling the board state, which is important in mono-blue. This one outclasses Leyline of Anticipation in that it can be tutored for and recurred. However, with Quicksilver Amulet, accomplishes a similar role with much bigger upside, though both may be worth running.
Vedalken Shackles - Why not in mono-blue? It can take opponents resources and turn them into yours for sacrificing to Barrin or just to utilize them for the sake that they may be a bomb. I wouldn't say this is auto-include as I've considered taking it out for other three drops, but its pretty close to auto-include.
Voltaic Key - Great for the budget option. This card can untap your other mana rocks and can further be pushed with Tezzeret the Seeker. Not only that but it has added versatility beyond untapping mana rocks and is even tutorable by Trinket Mage.
Wayfarer's Bauble - This is usually an auto include for me in my non-green mono-colored lists. Rampant Growth for allows an early game jump on the rest on the table and the fact that its a land source and not an artifact makes it that much more valuable.
Enchantments
Confiscate - This card and all of its other variants might be some good substitutes as budget options as you can steal your opponents stuff but then you're either relying the deck on the general more heavily or relying on your opponents to play bombs and sometimes they won't have anything worth taking for the mana you invest in the Aura.
Fool's Demise - A bit expensive for what it does, but it works neatly with Barrin but seems to be too much a mana investment for Totem Armor.
Hatching Plans - I like having something around to sacrifice to Barrin if I need it and this one gives the best payout for its mana investment. It can't be tutored for or recurred but is almost always a reliable draw three and then some.
Homarid Spawning Bed - Another one of those Barrin only cards, and I'm not sure if I would run it even if I was building around Barrin specifically.
Mystic Remora - While powerful, especially when played at the right time, I'm not really that interested in any extra card draw especially when it locks down your mana.
Omniscience - I almost didn't play this card because its almost too good, but the game has to end at some point and this one will bring you closer to that point.
Propaganda - Helps against aggro/token heavy metas. Run Crawlspace over this but run both if they are needed.
Reality Acid - Honestly not a bad card for budget. Its a five mana vindicate with Barrin and will take out the permanent eventually for only three. Not running it in my current list but it may be up for playtesting soon.
Rhystic Study - I'd consider this a staple. Free card draw every so often and it somehow never attracts enough attention to warrant wasting removal on it.w
Training Grounds - Barrin would be the only card in the deck to benefit from this even though it'd be a nice effect for us. Its just simply too narrow.
Instants
Arcane Denial - A solid go-to counterspell for two mana. And in multiplayer the card draw your opponents get is negligible. Plus you get to draw a card yourself. Because it is so cheap I run it in almost all decks that require a dedicated counter suite.
Blue Sun's Zenith - Really good card draw, plus it shuffles back into your library for use later. Stroke of Genius is another option here, but since we're monoblue the :symu::symu::symu: on the Zenith is less intimidating.
Capsize - A nice piece of spot removal, especially for the budget decks. The buyback is really nice and it acts as almost a second Barrin in many ways but it can hit ANY permanent. Its just a bit over my curve for what it does for me to main deck it right now.
Commandeer - A nice counterspell for those pushing Barrin's ability and/or looking for budget counters. It nets you their permanent which you can first use and then sacrifice to Barrin. A bit too general-focuses of a card for me but a nice inclusion if you can't get a hold of some of the more $$$ counters.
Counterlash - It can cheat in your Eldrazi or Colossus cards earlier than normal AND acts a counter magic removal.
Cryptic Command - Normally its Dismiss, but the added versatility makes this card a home run. Just run Dismiss here though if you're on budget.
Cunning Wish - Out of the five wishes, being an Instant make this one the best in my opinion. You can tutor for your Wish Card at the end of an opponent's turn freeing up mana for it on your following turn. Overall though if your playgroup allows for it definitely play this card because its so, so good at what it does.
Cyclonic Rift - One of monoblue's staples in my opinion. It great as a spot removal card or if overloaded, against tokens and can overall set you up for a huge board advantage. Beware of becoming archenemy after overloading it though.
Dismiss - Cryptic Command's #1 budget stand in. They're essentially the same thing and both great counter spells.
Deprive - If you've got enough of the artifact ramp cards, this is a decent budget replacement for mana drain..
Evacuation - This my end up getting mainboarded soon, as its a great board clearer and is also an instant! It helps to further patch the hole's in the deck's weaknesses.
Fact or Fiction - A really great instant speed draw spell, but with all the draw from the various cantrips from eggs like Ichor Wellspring and Consecrated Sphinx I just couldn't find a spot for it right now.
Force of Will - Mono blue so why not? Its just really good to have around when you're trying to make sure your Omniscience stays around or just for psyching out opponents who think you can't counter their bomb.
Gather Specimens - A nice card to activate in response to a large token effect like Rhys, the Redeemed or just a round out on the Desertion variants for the counter package.
Hinder - Tucks generals and other problem cards that you don't want in the graveyard. It just barely makes the cut over Spell Crumple for its ability to accessible to Snapcaster Mage, but I still do run both.
Mana Drain - The first card I would cut if you're building on budget. Its only marginally better than having Memory Lapse for instance.
Memory Lapse - A nice alternative to Remand. For me, the lower the CMC the better.
Mindbreak Trap - Its one a few counters that can deal with uncounterable spells.
Mystical Tutor - This is very versatile as it can grab Time Warp mid to late game to end the game with.
Pact of Negation - This is really great in a pinch and just by having it in your hand you can ensure that your board state will most likely be safe from any mass artifact removal.
Pongify - I've never felt bad about casting Beast Within on a problem creature for :2mana::symg:, I sure don't mind doing it for :symu:.
Reins of Power - This is a card I've got my eye on. Steal an opponents whole team, swing on another opponent and then sacrifice them to Barrin to bounce some of your enter the battlefield effect creatures back to your hand? Not bad for :2mana::symu::symu:..
Remand - Love, love love to cast this to Miracled Temporal Mastery. The card draw and low CMC is what makes this card an all star.
Rewind - Here's a solid "free" counterspell for budget decks. It can leave up mana for that other counter in your hand so you can make sure to have responses on multiple opponent's turns.
Spin into Myth - Powerful blue spot removal in this format as it can tuck an opponent's general. Overall a bit pricey for the final cut, but a good inclusion if you've got one laying around and have a slot that needs to be filled.
Stoic Rebuttal - Given that Mox Opal continues to deliver, it would seem I'd have Metalcraft often enough that this costs 1 less and like I said, you can't go wrong with UU: Counter target spell!
Stroke of Genius - Less mana intensive than Blue Sun's Zenith and can be used by Snapcaster Mage at points in the game where its counterpart can not. Excellent instant speed card draw to make a comeback during mid/late game.
Time Stop - One of the only other counters that can counter uncounterable effects. It plays up the chronomancy theme as well! Still, six mana is asking a lot for a counterspell, especially as its not as much of an extra turn as it is in 1v1.
Sorceries
All Is Dust - Just about the best board wipe this deck has available to it. It costs less with Eye of Ugin out and wipes everything, even indestructible cards leaving you with all your artifact mana yet.
Blatant Thievery - Great with Barrin since you can use the stolen goods, no matter how meager, to feed his ability. It really shines when you can reuse it again with cards like Snapcaster Mage or shuffle it back into your library with Time Reversal!
Bribery - A five mana Eldrazi in most cases that comes down as early as T2.
Capture of Jingzhou - A far too expensive ($) card that I run. Easily taken out for Walk the Aeons or Temporal Mastery. Although small, the advantage of being five mana has come up during games, so if you've got some dissposable income, this is the first non-budget card I'd invest in, just for the fact you'll run it in almost all your EDH decks with Blue.
Curse of the Swine - Great mass removal for this deck. Exile is really so much better off in this format than destroying and the 2/2's are almost always irreverent.
Enter the Infinite - This combos off with Omniscience so I didn't really feel like playing it as it felt too much insta-winny and it'd be the only win strategy I shot for every game, making the deck dull. Its a good inclusion as a win-con in the budget decks though, especially with Laboratory Maniac.
Merchant Scroll - A tempting card to run as it can go grab your Force of Will or Pact of Negation. Probably wouldn't run it unless you're also packing one of the two mentioned counter spells.
Rite of Replication - A game finisher. The :7mana::symu::symu: is fairly reasonable to reach with all the artifact ramp and with targets like Consecrated Sphinx or any other bomb your opponents might be playing like Rune-Scarred Demon this card can swing the board position wildly in your favor. Not bad on versatility either as it can be cast for :2mana::symu::symu: to net a single copy of something.
Show and Tell - With Barrin being able to bounce creatures, this might not be a bad inclusion if you have one. It can drop your heavy hitters down as early as T2 and then you can be free to bounce your opponents threats back to their hands!
Spelltwine - A darn powerful card. Im always switching back and forth with Spelltwine because unlike Diluvian Primordial spelltwine can net one of your own Time Warp effects and it comes down a turn earlier. Unfortunately , unlike the primordial, it can't be bounced back into my hand for repeated use.
Temporal Manipulation - Another one of the key extra turn cards. Replace this with the card below if you're playing on budget.
Temporal Mastery - I really like this extra turn card especially when run alongside of Mystical Tutor and Personal Tutor. Costing seven mana when it gets stuck in your hand though is a bit of a downside, but it sure beats shelling out $50 for Temporal Manipulation.
Time Reversal - Allows for the mid to late game strategy to ensue through renewing your library with your counter spells and fodder cards as well as drawing you a new hand when you're low on cards.
Time Spiral - The same as Time Reversal except you get to untap six of your lands afterward and play out cards from the new hand.
Time Stretch - Not a fan of this card simply because its a one card combo. Two turns off one card should win you the game, and if it doesn't it really drags out your turn taking to the point of boring your opponents, and I like keeping the games fun.
Time Warp - Extra turns allow for additional land plays, an extra draw step, and an extra combat phase. This card can swing the tempo of the early game in your favor. I'd consider this an auto-include.
Timetwister - I still don't have my real one yet. Right now I'm running a square edged collector's edition until I save up enough to buy the real thing. This card is P9 for a reason though. Its Time Reversal for :2mana::symu: AND it can be targeted by Snapcaster Mage or shuffled back into your deck by Time Reversal! If you can't grab this one Enter the Infinite give the deck an equivalent amount of win-power if run alongside of Omniscience.
Transmute Artifact - An artifact tutor I'm considering, but don't think that there are any artifacts that are crucial enough to warrant a second tutor spell for. Its the closest thing to Tinker but it also still requires an artifact to sacrifice which means it can be as reliable as Fabricate to go get some early game fast mana.
Jace Beleren - The deck already runs enough draw power that baby Jace's inclusion isn't needed as you'll not ever be needing to get off his ultimate.
Jace, Architect of Thought - Its ultimate is perhaps the only PW ult that can win you the game in multiplayer right away. With Barrin being able to bounce away attackers and him being able to protect himself from 1/1's, its a viable strategy, but it proved too slow for my tastes.
Jace, Memory Adept - As there is no mill strategy going on in Barrin and no need of extra card draw, this Jace should not be included.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - Powerful, but the deck is sufficient and digging and filtering without him and that's about all he's good for in multiplayer. I would perhaps only run him alongside of Melek, Izzet Paragon.
Karn Liberated - My favorite mutliplayer planeswalker. He fits into almost all of my decks and is the last silver bullet against Iona. Being able to exile any permanent even for is more than welcome here.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage - Not sure she's worth it here, here ultimate would be nice but doesn't win you the game outright like with the Architect.
Academy Ruins - One of the top utility lands available to blue and the format in general. Being able to recur artifacts like Ichor Wellspring can be especially powerful alongside of Barrin.
Ancient Tomb - Some solid fast mana at the cost of some life. With such a large starting life total, the drawback here is almost always worth it, especially when trying to cast cards like Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - A solid inclusion to make sure that your key spells like Time Warp and Time Reversal go through. Its been something I've been considering including in my list for sometime now.
Eye of Ugin - Perhaps the most important utility land in the deck. It will help to search up our finishers when we need them and makes them cost that much less as well.
Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai - Another key card to run alongside of Crucible of Worlds. You can sac this land and get additional value from it in the form of a 1/1 token. By being able to play it from your graveyard you can build up a soft lock with Barrin.
Maze of Ith - A great defensive card. Although it doesn't tap for mana, it does stave off just about any threat no matter how big, save for hexproofed and shrouded creatures.
Strip Mine, Wasteland - The best of the best in terms of land removal cards.
Temple of the False God - Not quite as good as Ancient Tomb for me, but still a solid that I can use on all my spells, not just Eldrazi like with Eldrazi Temple. Hurts early game but comes through mid/late.
Terrain Generator - This card can really help push out that early Bribery or Consecrated Sphinx that much faster. surprised at just how well this land has played out, never dissatisfied with running it in mono-colored decks.
Thawing Glaciers - Another option to consider for added deck-thinning and ensured land drops, especially in these mono-colored builds.
Thespian's Stage, Vesuva - The two copy lands. There's not much in terms of non-legendary utility here to make use of other than perhaps Ancient Tomb and the like, but Extraplanar Lens and the other artifact ramp make these slower cards less worthwhile.
Tolaria West - See Expedition Map. This tutors up any of your utility lands, or Pact of Negation and it also taps for :symu:, though both cards have their upsides and downsides.
Tower of the Magistrate - This card, like Tormod's Crypt is a meta call. If you've got some runaway voltron generals, then this card might be a nice addition to give those creature protection from equipment for a turn and keep them from getting too beefy or from gaining hexproof/shroud in the first place.
This list was put together specifically to most mimic the strategy of the primary Barrin Master Wizard list above. Each card chosen for this list costs $1 or less with the exception of Sol Ring. So to invest in Barrin, you could purchase this list, for under $100 not counting the cards already in your collection. From there you could slowly trade and open packs on your way toward greater mirroring of the Barrin's Tome list.
A DISCLAIMER.
The Budget Barrin list shown here, Aggro Barrin below, and Barrin, Pendrell Stax below that, have not personally been playtested by me yet, they are simply alternative theoretical strategies built around Barrin's ability, where as the main deck list was built to be less reliant on the general. So I can only give you opinions on those deck lists without having had any experience playing them myself, YET!
Barrin can be quite the resourceful STAX commander. Being able to sacrifice any permanent for the cost of allows him to create favorable one sided effects with some of the resource denial cards available to STAX decks such as Mana Vortex. You can place cards like Winter Orb onto the battlefield and then sacrifice it at the end of an opponents turn before your upkeep to make the effect one sided. It become especially abusive if you're able to recur it with cards like Trading Post and Academy Ruins.
To really push to tax effects, the deck only runs one sorcery, All is Dust, and also Squeeze. Since the deck is particularly vulnerable to mass artifact destruction, putting that much of a strain on casting sorcery spells provides some defense or at least some stalled time against Austere Command and friends.
Through cards like Pendrell Mists, Invoke Prejudice and Barrin himself, the board state is left nearly creatureless, providing you time to assemble the prison. From there, using mana ramp to offset the resource denial from cards like Mana Vortex and Winter Orb get one of the finishers out onto the battlefield, such as Blightsteel Colossus and then swing away.
Intuition provides us with some great tutoring that gets around Squeeze. The two piles I usually grab are Artifact + Crucible of Worlds + Academy Ruins and Card + Codex Shredder + Trading Post. With the Shredder+Post pile you can even recur Intuition and continue to grab artifacts and dump them into the yard for post to grab from that point.
Another plus side to Barrin having the ability to sacrifice permanents is to terminate your own Quicksilver Fountain just as almost, but not all, of the lands on the battlefield are Islands. The flood counters make the lands remain islands and with the fountain sacrifice to Barrin's effect, your opponents lands won't have a chance to change back.
The more resources available the more powerful Barrin becomes. This lists utilizes a lot of small value creatures that will net card advantage in some form when they either die or enter the battlefield.
All of your enter the battlefield effects, such as those from Myr Battlesphere can be used again and again by allowing them to be bounced back to your hand with Barrin's ability, while other cards such as Oculus will allow you to draw a card while you return your Council of Advisors to your hand, ready to draw you yet ANOTHER card!
Once you've established some board control with a small army of 1/1's and soft locking your opponents out of creatures, work toward pumping your army with cards like Eldrazi Monument, Day of the Dragons and Grand Architect.
Finally, the Time Warp effects here help to net extra combat phases as well as to generate additional tokens from your generators such as Myr Turbine. Again they are easily substituted with cards like Walk the Aeons if on budget.
Nope, lol just something I threw together myself for aesthetics to help sell the primer. I felt it was an aggressive artwork to capture the vibe of the aggro barrin build.
Made some changes yesterday after playing with Blatant Thievery. Went 2-0 during two four-player games and 1-0 during a three player game and 1-0 during a 1v1 match. The opposition was Lazav, Kaalia and Linvala.
Have you considered adding a Hakim, Loreweaver package. Beard-man can get back multiple permanents every turn to fule your shenanigans. The package would include a few auras that like coming into play over and over like Flight of Fancy and Traveller's Cloak.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You would never guess, at the terrifying sight of the man, that Hunding was as charming a companion as one could wish for.
^ It seems like something worth exploring in the "Aggro Barrin" version, as that is the one that's most centric on using Barrin's ability. Drawing into Hakim and not having any of the other cards on had at the time would feel real bad in the main list. Also I'm not sure how I feel about a five drop who's ability is only viable during my upkeep.
^ That was my thoughts. All in all I've never been short on things to sac so far. Mana Crypt becomes good to re-purpose in the late game to not take so much life, and Academy Ruins/Trading Post with Ichor Wellspring can be great too.
I found It That Betrays a little off to play today as I cast it for only to eat a Doom Blade with no gain there, unlike the Titans which get immediate value.
Not sure what else could be used in its slot as its a solid win con if it sticks.
I love my Barrin deck- was thinking about updating it this weekend, as I'm stuck around the house with a cold.. this has been awesome to sift through. Lots and lots of great stuff here! Very well done!
^ Thanks. I worked quite a bit putting this together and playtesting all the different cards. I'm glad to see more Barrin players though, hes a real hoot to play and I'd like to be able to share the experience with other MTGS users.
On that note, 6/24/13 Changelog updates.
- Blue Sun's Zenith
- Mystical Tutor
- Hatching Plans
+ Intuition
+ Codex Shredder
+ Stroke of Genius
//Stroke over Blue Sun because it can be recurred using Snapcaster Mage and because with Timetwister effects, it can also easily be dumped back into the graveyard.
Mystical Tutor dropped for now in favor of Intuition piles as a means to tutor for Omniscience.
Codex Shredder part of the Intuition pile.
I hadn't realized that you had moved on to a new thread.
For stax, have you considered trying Rishadan Port? Its great to keep utility lands tapped down and reducing a players mana base. I have also considered trying out a ghost quarter to of of the interactions with crucible of worlds and land equilibrium.
So, I made up a Barrin deck myself, based on your list. I really loved it, so I made it. It's been working fantastically so far, very fun to play. My list isn't perfect, due to budgetary concerns, but it's pretty fun. Thought I'd chime in.
The Trinket Mage package. I love Paradise Mantle on turn 3/4 to help ramp a little. My favorite play so far with the deck actually involved Trinket Mage. I had a Tormod's Crypt in my graveyard and used Academy Ruins to put it into my deck so I could bounce and replay my Trinket Mage, grab the Crypt again, then Crypt someone so they didn't win on their upkeep.
Master Thief. I'm surprised I haven't seen this one elsewhere. He is AMAZING with Barrin. Steal a critical piece of equipment, sac it to Barrin, and bounce the Thief to do it all again. It's like Gilded Drake, but with artifacts.
Argivian Restoration has been an all-star, getting back all sorts of good stuff. I highly recommend it.
Oculus. He's so cute.
Least-Favorite Cards:
Temporal Cascade hasn't been very good thus far. It just costs too much. I've got a Timetwister proxy that's really good, but most of my group hates proxies so I rarely get to play with it. Is there a solid substitute to Cascade that isn't 'twister or Reversal (which I already run)?
Orochi Hatchery just costs too damn much, good lord it's expensive.
Artisan of Kozilek and Frost Titan need to turn into the Eldrazi Titans, but I just can't afford a second set right now.
Master Thief. I'm surprised I haven't seen this one elsewhere. He is AMAZING with Barrin. Steal a critical piece of equipment, sac it to Barrin, and bounce the Thief to do it all again. It's like Gilded Drake, but with artifacts.
What a great idea! And of course, if you want to repeatedly steal and sac creatures for the same cost, Sower of Temptation is available as well. I think both deserve a place.
Orochi Hatchery just costs too damn much, good lord it's expensive.
If all you want from Hatchery is Barrin fodder, there's Wall of Kelp which is a surprising, fun option that costs much less.
Is there a solid substitute to Cascade that isn't 'twister or Reversal (which I already run)?
There's Diminishing Returns, which costs 4 and whose exile effect is pretty negligible in this format with a deck like this.
What a great idea! And of course, if you want to repeatedly steal and sac creatures for the same cost, Sower of Temptation is available as well. I think both deserve a place.
Huh, Sower. I never thought of him. I'll have to hunt one down. Thanks for that thought!
If all you want from Hatchery is Barrin fodder, there's Wall of Kelp which is a surprising, fun option that costs much less.
Well, the idea was to use it kinda like a more expensive Myr Turbine. I was hoping to use the Hatchery to produce a wave of dudes to overwhelm my opponents. Sadly, that hasn't really happened. To make 5 tokens requires an up-front mana investment of 10. That just isn't realistic, especially not when I have to generally keep mana up to protect my field and to protect Barrin himself, not to mention trying to use the damn Hatchery the turn it hits play.
I like the hilarity of Wall of Kelp for making Barrin fodder, but feel like it's not really what I want. I want a token generating finisher in that slot alongside Throne of Empires and Myr Turbine, but want it to make more than one guy a turn (often not enough).
There's Diminishing Returns, which costs 4 and whose exile effect is pretty negligible in this format with a deck like this.
...duh. Of course! I even have one in my binder. I'll give it a shuffle right away! Thanks for reminding me of that one, my friend!
I want a token generating finisher in that slot alongside Throne of Empires and Myr Turbine, but want it to make more than one guy a turn (often not enough).
Thopter Assembly is a pretty good way of ensuring a steady supply of (flying!) tokens that doesn't even require you to commit mana each turn to get multiple tokens, and which also gives you the option of having a 5/5 flyer stick around if you leave at least one token on the field.
Hey guys! Sorry for so long without any replies, I thought the thread had died and just now am visiting again to see these new posts!
Anyways, I've actually never had a chance to sleeve up with Aggro or Stax lists yet so take any advice I give on those strategies with a grain of salt.
I did want to comment though that I have been doing a lot of playtesting lately with the list in the Original Post!
My win percentages are still really high and this deck is
+ Really fun to play. I've even gotten comments from opponents after the game that, even though I won with Omniscience out, that they had a fun time playing the game too! This is probably because the deck really does thrive off of interactions.
So based on that I would argue this MIGHT be a mono-blue build that isn't oppressive enough to where both the Piolet and the other players can still walk away satisfited.
That said, I'd love to hear more from you guys, perhaps help to advance Barrin to Primer status and with that, heres the latest Changes Update:
9/3/13
- It That Betrays
- Draining Whelk
- Stroke of Genius
- Trading Post
- Codex Shredder
- Quicksilver Amulet
+ Spelltwine
+ Diluvian Primordial
+ Thada Adel, Acquisitor
+ Spell Crumple
+ Tormod's Crypt
+ Mox Opal
EDIT: @ Arguskos: I really like the idea of Trinket Mage into Paradise Mantle. I'm probably going to stick with Mox Opal but you're interaction is probably THE best budget alternative for that slot! Bravo!
@ u-579: Both of those lands would be great inclusions in the STAX list I'm sure, I'll work them into the posts. Again I haven't playtest any of the lists other than the one in the Original Post, also I traded my Rishadan Port away a while ago for a Mutavault when they were hovering around the same price -_-* ..
9/3/13
- Fabricate
- Diluvian Primordial
- Temple of the False God
- Rapid Hybridization
- Eldrazi Temple
+ Tower of the Magistrate
+ Cunning Wish
+ Reliquary Tower
+ Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
+ Glen Elendra Archmage
Made a few changes to the deck list as well as completely revamped the front page with a much more in depth strategy guide for piloting the deck and added a Budget Barrin list for getting started with Barrin as well as a graphical/aesthetical overhaul of the guide as well.
Made a few changes, the first in response to the "End of the wish board" announcments made recently and the other, removing Duplicant for Memnarch. Duplicant is great removal that nets value right away, so he's only being taken out as a test run for now.
Memnarch was brought it because:
A: He is also a colorless card that can directly deal with Iona on the board.
B: He allows for us to handle problem permanents such as Enchantments which Duplicant could not.
C: He can act as a win condition himself, which Duplicant could not.
Having played with him a few times I really like what he does and the high mana investments are usually never a problem with all of the artifact ramp provided.
I had skimmed past Ertai at first because I wanted my counter-magic to be "surprises". However, having played with Glen Elendra Archmage now, having counters on a stick has proved to be quite useful. He seems like a worthy inclusion in the deck but I will likely have to playtest it because casting something without the ability to get immediate value out of it is something I try to steer clear of when constructing my deck lists.
9/20 Update:
- Everflowing Chalice
+ Torpor Orb
The deck is already so efficient at assembly mana that the Chalice almost was never relevant and its a dead target for Tezzeret. Torpor Orb on the other hand helps to shut down problem cards like Testradon and Sylvan Primordial which normally wreak havoc on my mana base. Its also a solid target for Tezzeret and can be sacrificed to Barrin should I need to Snapcaster Mage.
9/26/2013
- Buried Ruin
+ Darksteel Citadel
// With all of the Timetwister effects, artifacts weren't in the yard all that often and the ones that were amounted to stuff like Chromatic Star. The Citadel works especially well with Mox Opal, Tezzeret and Trinket Mage and leaves us with one land after mass LD.
Played four 4-person games today and won all four.
Generals faced:
Kaervek
Sedris
Krador
Kaalia
Teneb
Also, updated the front page with an image of my foil Eldrazi Titans and Barrin on my Playmat
A goodstuffs production.
"Knowledge is no more expensive than ignorance, and at least as satisfying."
— Barrin, master wizard
Introduction/Histroy
At the core of my nature both as a Magic player, and an individual, I am centered in Blue in terms of what color best capture's my essence. My favorite flavor in magic is the use of Chronomancy, or Time Magic. So, when searching for a General on magiccards.info, filtering for Mono Blue Legends, I came across an artwork and creature type that caught my eye! Barrin, Master Wizard. I knew when I saw this card that it was going to be my general. Much to my enjoyment, after I did a quick wiki search on his character from the story, I came to find he was both involved in helping Urza create a TIME machine, and was headmaster of the Tolarian Academy! In addition to time magic, Wizards are my favorite tribe in the game, and I honestly just am not a fan of Azami. (Both because she's already too popular and because Barrin looks much cooler.)
I built a Barrin deck as my first Commander deck that slowly evolved into an Oona, Queen of the Fae deck because I was a combo player at the time. Slowly instant-win games with Oona, Power Artifact and Grim Monolith became very dull and I began to hate combo and others who played it. Which is why this Barrin list, along with most of the rest of my decks, is geared at winning through smashing face.
I played a many more generals from this point but none, other than Doran, the Siege Tower really did it for me. Finally I came full circle and dedicated myself to pulling together my ultimate Barrin deck.
So, after some extensive research and refining of the overall play strategy that Barrin brings to the table, I was able to conjure up what looks like a seriously competitive (and Expensive) decklist.
The Deck List
Current Deck Stats
CMC: 3.50
Last Updated: 06/03/2021
1 Barrin, Master Wizard
// Creatures
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Thieving Skydiver
1 Gilded Drake
1 Trinket Mage
1 Hullbreacher
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Archaeomancer
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Conduit of Ruin
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
// Planeswalkers
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
// Instants
1 Pact of Negation
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Narset's Reversal
1 Mana Drain
1 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Intuition
1 Force of Negation
1 Cryptic Command
1 Force of Will
1 Mystic Remora
1 Rhystic Study
1 Omniscience
// Sorcery
1 Finale of Revelation
1 Timetwister
1 Rite of Replication
1 Time Reversal
1 Capture of Jingzhou
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Time Warp
1 Spelltwine
1 Time Spiral
1 Blatant Thievery
1 All Is Dust
// Artifacts
1 Mox Opal
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mana Crypt
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Expedition Map
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sol Ring
1 Chromatic Star
1 Mana Vault
1 Arcum's Astrolabe
1 Grim Monolith
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mycosynth Wellspring
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Skyclave Relic
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Prismatic Vista
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Drownyard Temple
1 Eldrazi Temple
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Scalding Tarn
22 Snow-Covered Island
1 Mystic Sanctuary
1 Strip Mine
1 Terrain Generator
1 Tower of the Magistrate
1 Crystal Vein
Change Log
6/19/13:
- Diluvian Primordial
+ Jace, Architect of Thought
// The Primordial came up a dead card in my hand more than I wanted it too and a seven mana one at that. Jace acts as an additional win condition and can be protected more easily by Barrin here than with other decks.
- Mystifying Maze
+ Eldrazi Temple
// Maze of Ith seemed to be good enough at what it does without Mystifying Maze and I figured I'd rather go with an offensive card in this slot than another defensive one. The Temple helps cast Eldrazi which are the main win-cons
6/21/13
- Jace, Architect of Thought
+ Blatant Thievery
// To get Jace's ultimate off was just a bit too much work, even with Barrin. Blatant Thievery performed wonders for me however today. Being able to grab permanents from off the board, even just lands, helps sustain Barrin's ability that much more and on top of that I was able to Snapcaster it for a second round!
6/24/13
- Blue Sun's Zenith
- Mystical Tutor
- Hatching Plans
+ Intuition
+ Codex Shredder
+ Stroke of Genius
//Stroke over Blue Sun because it can be recurred using Snapcaster Mage and because with Timetwister effects, it can also easily be dumped back into the graveyard.
Mystical Tutor dropped for now in favor of Intuition piles as a means to tutor for Omniscience.
Codex Shredder part of the Intuition pile.
9/3/13
- It That Betrays
- Draining Whelk
- Stroke of Genius
- Trading Post
- Codex Shredder
- Quicksilver Amulet
+ Spelltwine
+ Diluvian Primordial
+ Thada Adel, Acquisitor
+ Spell Crumple
+ Tormod's Crypt
+ Mox Opal
//Most of the cards removed were too high of a mana investment to keep up with what I wanted out of them. Added some more cards to keep up with a shifting meta. Tormod Crypt now lets us graveyard hate and the mana production was to try and push out the end game faster.
9/10/13
- Temple of the False God
- Fabricate
- Diluvian Primordial
- Eldrazi Temple
- Rapid Hybridization
+ Cunning Wish
+ Tower of the Magistrate
+ Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
+ Glen Elendra Archmage
+ Reliquary Tower
//The Blue Primordial gets worse when running it alongside three Timetwister effects. Most of the other changes were simple enough, just some land based things and a response to having had the playgroup agree on wish boards.
9/15/13
- Duplicant
- Cunning Wish
+ Rapid Hybridization
+ Memnarch
//Testing this out for a bit, but the added versatility that Memnarch has over Duplicant to be able to deal with problem permanents such as Enchantments AS WELL AS still serving as a silver bullet against Iona, made me want to give this a look.
9/20/13
- Everflowing Chalice
+ Torpor Orb
//Sylvan Primordial and a slew of other ETB cards typically give my opponents swings in their favor that I'd rather have more answers to. Since the list typically has more than enough mana available to it at any given time, the Chalice often came up a dead card.
9/26/2013
- Buried Ruin
+ Darksteel Citadel
// With all of the Timetwister effects, artifacts weren't in the yard all that often and the ones that were amounted to stuff like Chromatic Star. The Citadel works especially well with Mox Opal, Tezzeret and Trinket Mage and leaves us with one land after mass LD.
10/5/2013
- Gods' Eye Gate to the Reikai
+ Wasteland
//I really love the Kamigawa land and its 1/1 token really is great value, alas, problem lands like High Market and Homeward Path demand I run an answer.
10/23/13
- Memnarch
- Flooded Strand
- Torpor Orb
- Thada Adel, Acquisitor
- Rapid Hybridization
+ Curse of the Swine
+ Misdirection
+ Duplicant
+ Expedition Map
+ Strip Mine
// Just playtesting some things. Torpor is always a great non-dead card in this format for me, however, with the number of ETB effects I run, alongside of Barrin being able to reuse them, it fights my strategy and I'd rather have no internal conflict among the list. Memnarch delivers, but sometimes not as instantaneousely as I'd like. Expedition and Strip Mine to add to the overall number of answers and spot removal the deck has.
12/29/2013
- Darksteel Citadel
- Misdirection
+ Oblivion Stone
+ Flooded Strand
// Needed more mass removal and ways to deal with Artifacts and Enchantments also noticed by colorfixing was more stable before I cut Flooded Strand.
4/20/2014
- Wayfarer's Bauble
+ Stoic Rebuttal
9/30/12
- Glen Elendra Archmage
+ Ugin's Nexus
// Being able to hold a pseudo-Stranglehold on my opponents, while having the freedom to sacrifice the artifact to Barrin's ability for an extra turn + bounce value when we don't want to be restricting ourselves anymore struck me as something worth trying out. I'll be moving things to playtesting today and reporting back on results. Glen Elendra Archmage is a fine card, but I've often found myself feeling bad about its counter ability A: Being limited to only noncreature spells and B: My opponents can play around it since they know its coming.
11/29/14
- Rhystic Study
- Spelltwine
- Wasteland
- Blightsteel Colossus
- x3 Snow-Covered Island
+ Brainstorm
+ Mystical Tutor
+ Fact or Fiction
+ Clever Impersonator
+ The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
+ Arcane Lighthouse
+ Myriad Landscape
// There were some new lands coming out in the Commander 2014 series I wanted to make room for as well as to increase the overall draw power of the deck to help smooth out and speed up game-play.
1/22/15
- Karn Liberated
+ Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
//I always felt somewhat dissapointed for paying
8/31/15
- Thwart
+ Unsubstantiate
//Thwart was always fun to cast for free during the late game but I had some feel bad moments with it early on when someone would ramp out their general on T2 or 3 with Mana Vault and I felt Unsubstantiate's versatility would help out more in this list for its effective cost.
9/26/17
- Prophetic Prism
- Surveyor's Scope
+ Search for Azcanta
+ Spell Swindle
//The manafixing and land ramp are great with the two cut artifacts but often times I found that these were the two of the most lackluster performance cards in the deck. Not that they didn't perform at all, but definitely could use to be more splashy. I think that's what these two Ixalan cards offer here.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
Creatures
Artifacts
Enchantments
Instants
Sorceries
Planeswalkers
Utility Lands
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
A DISCLAIMER.
The Budget Barrin list shown here, Aggro Barrin below, and Barrin, Pendrell Stax below that, have not personally been playtested by me yet, they are simply alternative theoretical strategies built around Barrin's ability, where as the main deck list was built to be less reliant on the general. So I can only give you opinions on those deck lists without having had any experience playing them myself, YET!
1 Barrin, Master Wizard
//Creatures
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Nevermaker
1 Roil Elemental
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Master Thief
1 Ixidron
1 Draining Whelk
1 Sphinx of Magosi
1 Clone
1 Archaeomancer
1 Trinket Mage
1 Daring Apprentice
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Magus of the Future
1 Mnemonic Wall
//Instant
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Dissipate
1 Negate
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Dismiss
1 Counterspell
1 Arcane Denial
1 Dream Fracture
1 Negate
1 Memory Lapse
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Pongify
1 Rhystic Study
1 Confiscate
1 Control Magic
//Sorcery
1 Fabricate
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Time Reversal
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Spelltwine
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Call to Mind
1 Acquire
1 Dominate
1 Evacuation
//Artifacts
1 Trading Post
1 Argentum Armor
1 Paradise Mantle
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Sol Ring
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Ur-Golem's Eye
1 Sky Diamond
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Crystal Ball
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Terrarion
1 Chromatic Star
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mycosynth Wellspring
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Buried Ruin
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Terrain Generator
1 Temple of the False God
1 Thespian's Stage
31 Island
Change Log
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
To really push to tax effects, the deck only runs one sorcery, All is Dust, and also Squeeze. Since the deck is particularly vulnerable to mass artifact destruction, putting that much of a strain on casting sorcery spells provides some defense or at least some stalled time against Austere Command and friends.
Through cards like Pendrell Mists, Invoke Prejudice and Barrin himself, the board state is left nearly creatureless, providing you time to assemble the prison. From there, using mana ramp to offset the resource denial from cards like Mana Vortex and Winter Orb get one of the finishers out onto the battlefield, such as Blightsteel Colossus and then swing away.
Intuition provides us with some great tutoring that gets around Squeeze. The two piles I usually grab are Artifact + Crucible of Worlds + Academy Ruins and Card + Codex Shredder + Trading Post. With the Shredder+Post pile you can even recur Intuition and continue to grab artifacts and dump them into the yard for post to grab from that point.
1 Barrin, Master Wizard
//Creature
1 Trinket Mage
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Lodestone Golem
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Blightsteel Colossus
//Planeswalker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Karn Liberated
//Instant
1 Pact of Negation
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Intuition
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
//Sorcery
1 All is Dust
//Artifact
1 Mox Opal
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mana Crypt
1 Voltaic Key
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Expedition Map
1 Codex Shredder
1 Chromatic Star
1 Terrarion
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mycosynth Wellspring
1 Torpor Orb
1 Winter Orb
1 Sphere of Resistance
1 Grim Monolith
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Blinkmoth Urn
1 Coalition Relic
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Trading Post
1 Clock of Omens
1 Smokestack
1 Quicksilver Fountain
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Ward of Bones
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Overburden
1 Hatching Plans
1 Copy Artifact
1 Back to Basics
1 Arcane Laboratory
1 Mana Vortex
1 Rhystic Study
1 Pendrell Mists
1 Squeeze
1 Frozen Æther
1 Invoke Prejudice
//Land
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Buried Ruin
1 Flooded Strand
1 Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Tolaria West
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Dust Bowl
24 Island
Change Log
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
All of your enter the battlefield effects, such as those from Myr Battlesphere can be used again and again by allowing them to be bounced back to your hand with Barrin's ability, while other cards such as Oculus will allow you to draw a card while you return your Council of Advisors to your hand, ready to draw you yet ANOTHER card!
So through other token generators such as Snake Basket, Throne of Empires, Acorn Catapult and Myr Turbine, you assemble a small army ready to swing in for some damage all while feeding the ability to clear blockers via Barrin's bounce effect. Homarid Spawning Bed also works nicely to turn your extra Merchant of Secrets into three 1/1 blue creatures.
This deck runs all the same Intuition piles that the Barrin Pendrell Stax does, Artifact + Crucible of Worlds + Academy Ruins and Card + Trading Post + Codex Shredder. So going to grab the shredder pile along with Snake Basket can set up an early way to start producing lots of 1/1's.
Once you've established some board control with a small army of 1/1's and soft locking your opponents out of creatures, work toward pumping your army with cards like Eldrazi Monument, Day of the Dragons and Grand Architect.
Finally, the Time Warp effects here help to net extra combat phases as well as to generate additional tokens from your generators such as Myr Turbine. Again they are easily substituted with cards like Walk the Aeons if on budget.
1 Barrin, Master Wizard
//Creature
1 Ixidron
1 Beguiler of Wills
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Precursor Golem
1 Grand Architect
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Myr Retriever
1 Junk Diver
1 Oculus
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Surveilling Sprite
1 Gilded Drake
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Merchant of Secrets
1 Council of Advisors
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Trinket Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Body Double
//Artifact
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Skullclamp
1 Eldrazi Monument
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Mimic Vat
1 Smokestack
1 Snake Basket
1 Acorn Catapult
1 Myr Turbine
1 Throne of Empires
1 Trading Post
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Chromatic Star
1 Terrarion
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Codex Shredder
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Day of the Dragons
1 Opposition
1 Hatching Plans
1 Copy Artifact
1 Homarid Spawning Bed
//Sorcery
1 Fabricate
1 Notorious Throng
1 Rite of Replication
1 Cultural Exchange
1 Time Warp
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Capture of Jingzhou
//Instant
1 Intuition
1 Cyclonic Rift
//Planeswalker
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
//Land
1 Mutavault
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Academy Ruins
1 Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Polluted Delta
24 Island
Change Log
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
Sig and Avatar Credit: Heroes of the Plane Studios
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
I can see that. It's just that mono-blue is not famous for its permanent production. Hakim is probably more cute than good.
I lost two 3 player matches today. Once to Time Stretch into infinite storm combo with Top+Future Sight+Helm of Awakening and once again to a large Debt to the Deathless, my own Mana Crypt.
The generals were Obzadet, Ghost Council and Melek, Izzet Paragon the first game and Obzadet again and Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker.
I found It That Betrays a little off to play today as I cast it for
Not sure what else could be used in its slot as its a solid win con if it sticks.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
Phelddagrif - Hippopolitics!
Barrin, Master Wizard counts as a Wizard
Radha, Heir to Fun
To be posted soon....
Ulasht, the Hate Seed
Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper
Vaevictis Asmadi (Pauper)
On that note, 6/24/13 Changelog updates.
- Mystical Tutor
- Hatching Plans
+ Intuition
+ Codex Shredder
+ Stroke of Genius
//Stroke over Blue Sun because it can be recurred using Snapcaster Mage and because with Timetwister effects, it can also easily be dumped back into the graveyard.
Mystical Tutor dropped for now in favor of Intuition piles as a means to tutor for Omniscience.
Codex Shredder part of the Intuition pile.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
For stax, have you considered trying Rishadan Port? Its great to keep utility lands tapped down and reducing a players mana base. I have also considered trying out a ghost quarter to of of the interactions with crucible of worlds and land equilibrium.
UWRasputin DreamweaverUW
UWBSen TripletsUWB
The List:
1 Temple of the False God
1 Academy Ruins
1 Tolaria West
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Buried Ruin
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Terrain Generator
30 Island
Enchantments
1 Hatching Plans
Sorceries
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Temporal Cascade
1 Fabricate
1 Time Reversal
1 Temporal Mastery
1 Argivian Restoration
Instants
1 Brainstorm
1 Perilous Research
1 Pongify
1 Dissipate
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Spell Crumple
1 Pact of Negation
1 Memory Lapse
1 Cryptic Command
1 Dissipate
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sky Diamond
1 Mycosynth Wellspring
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Sisay's Ring
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Paradise Mantle
1 Caged Sun
Dude-ifacts
1 Orochi Hatchery
1 Myr Turbine
1 Throne of Empires
1 Trading Post
Random Artifacts
1 Codex Shredder
1 Portcullis
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Quicksilver Fountain
1 Elixer of Immortality
1 Proteus Staff
Win Con Dudes
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Frost Titan
1 Colossal Whale
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Runed Servitor
1 Myr Sire
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Perilous Myr
1 Myr Retriever
1 Ixidron
1 Master Thief
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Aethersnipe
1 Treasure Mage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Mulldrifter
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Oculus
1 Grand Architect
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
Favorite Cards/Interactions:
Least-Favorite Cards:
What'd ya'll think?
Radha, Heir to Keld, Vorel of the Hull Clade, Kemba, Kha Regent, Vela the Night-Clad, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Barrin, Master Wizard, Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer, Patron of the Orochi, Oloro, Ageless Ascetic, Thraximundar, Roon of the Hidden Realm, Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, Marath, Will of the Wild, Teneb, the Harvester
If you did this, tell me and I'll credit you!
What a great idea! And of course, if you want to repeatedly steal and sac creatures for the same cost, Sower of Temptation is available as well. I think both deserve a place.
If all you want from Hatchery is Barrin fodder, there's Wall of Kelp which is a surprising, fun option that costs much less.
There's Diminishing Returns, which costs 4 and whose exile effect is pretty negligible in this format with a deck like this.
Huh, Sower. I never thought of him. I'll have to hunt one down. Thanks for that thought!
Well, the idea was to use it kinda like a more expensive Myr Turbine. I was hoping to use the Hatchery to produce a wave of dudes to overwhelm my opponents. Sadly, that hasn't really happened. To make 5 tokens requires an up-front mana investment of 10.
I like the hilarity of Wall of Kelp for making Barrin fodder, but feel like it's not really what I want. I want a token generating finisher in that slot alongside Throne of Empires and Myr Turbine, but want it to make more than one guy a turn (often not enough).
...duh. Of course! I even have one in my binder. I'll give it a shuffle right away! Thanks for reminding me of that one, my friend!
Radha, Heir to Keld, Vorel of the Hull Clade, Kemba, Kha Regent, Vela the Night-Clad, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Barrin, Master Wizard, Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer, Patron of the Orochi, Oloro, Ageless Ascetic, Thraximundar, Roon of the Hidden Realm, Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, Marath, Will of the Wild, Teneb, the Harvester
If you did this, tell me and I'll credit you!
Thopter Assembly is a pretty good way of ensuring a steady supply of (flying!) tokens that doesn't even require you to commit mana each turn to get multiple tokens, and which also gives you the option of having a 5/5 flyer stick around if you leave at least one token on the field.
Anyways, I've actually never had a chance to sleeve up with Aggro or Stax lists yet so take any advice I give on those strategies with a grain of salt.
I did want to comment though that I have been doing a lot of playtesting lately with the list in the Original Post!
My win percentages are still really high and this deck is
+ Really fun to play. I've even gotten comments from opponents after the game that, even though I won with Omniscience out, that they had a fun time playing the game too! This is probably because the deck really does thrive off of interactions.
So based on that I would argue this MIGHT be a mono-blue build that isn't oppressive enough to where both the Piolet and the other players can still walk away satisfited.
That said, I'd love to hear more from you guys, perhaps help to advance Barrin to Primer status and with that, heres the latest Changes Update:
- It That Betrays
- Draining Whelk
- Stroke of Genius
- Trading Post
- Codex Shredder
- Quicksilver Amulet
+ Spelltwine
+ Diluvian Primordial
+ Thada Adel, Acquisitor
+ Spell Crumple
+ Tormod's Crypt
+ Mox Opal
EDIT: @ Arguskos: I really like the idea of Trinket Mage into Paradise Mantle. I'm probably going to stick with Mox Opal but you're interaction is probably THE best budget alternative for that slot! Bravo!
@ u-579: Both of those lands would be great inclusions in the STAX list I'm sure, I'll work them into the posts. Again I haven't playtest any of the lists other than the one in the Original Post, also I traded my Rishadan Port away a while ago for a Mutavault when they were hovering around the same price -_-* ..
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
- Fabricate
- Diluvian Primordial
- Temple of the False God
- Rapid Hybridization
- Eldrazi Temple
+ Tower of the Magistrate
+ Cunning Wish
+ Reliquary Tower
+ Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
+ Glen Elendra Archmage
Made a few changes to the deck list as well as completely revamped the front page with a much more in depth strategy guide for piloting the deck and added a Budget Barrin list for getting started with Barrin as well as a graphical/aesthetical overhaul of the guide as well.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
Memnarch was brought it because:
A: He is also a colorless card that can directly deal with Iona on the board.
B: He allows for us to handle problem permanents such as Enchantments which Duplicant could not.
C: He can act as a win condition himself, which Duplicant could not.
Having played with him a few times I really like what he does and the high mana investments are usually never a problem with all of the artifact ramp provided.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
UBRBLACK ROSE COMMANDERUBR
WURGBTrades - Looking for ABU Duals, Fetches, Ect. Have Liliana otV, Snapcaster Mages, Chrod of Calling, Alters!WURGB
Commander
I had skimmed past Ertai at first because I wanted my counter-magic to be "surprises". However, having played with Glen Elendra Archmage now, having counters on a stick has proved to be quite useful. He seems like a worthy inclusion in the deck but I will likely have to playtest it because casting something without the ability to get immediate value out of it is something I try to steer clear of when constructing my deck lists.
9/20 Update:
- Everflowing Chalice
+ Torpor Orb
The deck is already so efficient at assembly mana that the Chalice almost was never relevant and its a dead target for Tezzeret. Torpor Orb on the other hand helps to shut down problem cards like Testradon and Sylvan Primordial which normally wreak havoc on my mana base. Its also a solid target for Tezzeret and can be sacrificed to Barrin should I need to Snapcaster Mage.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
9/26/2013
- Buried Ruin
+ Darksteel Citadel
// With all of the Timetwister effects, artifacts weren't in the yard all that often and the ones that were amounted to stuff like Chromatic Star. The Citadel works especially well with Mox Opal, Tezzeret and Trinket Mage and leaves us with one land after mass LD.
Played four 4-person games today and won all four.
Generals faced:
Kaervek
Sedris
Krador
Kaalia
Teneb
Also, updated the front page with an image of my foil Eldrazi Titans and Barrin on my Playmat
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.