Baral and Kari Zev

Baral and Kari Zev card image

Baral and Kari Zev: Legendary Creature - Human, Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander. MTG card printings, market prices, rulings, and format legality on Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{1}{U}{R}
Mana value
3
Type
Legendary Creature - Human
Colour identity
Blue and red (UR)
Power / toughness
2/4
Rarity
Rare
Set
Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander (TDC)
Released
2025-04-11
Collector number
282
Artist
Fariba Khamseh
Commander rank
7,314 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Keywords
First strike, Menace
Commander
Can be your commander

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About Baral and Kari Zev

Baral and Kari Zev is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare blue and red legendary creature from Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander (TDC), a Commander product released in April 2025. It is collector number 282 in that set, with art by Fariba Khamseh. It costs {1}{U}{R} (one generic, one blue and one red mana) to cast, for a mana value of 3. It is a 2/4 creature. Its colour identity is blue and red. It is legal in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. It has been printed in 3 sets, from March of the Machine (2023) to Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander (2025). It can be your commander. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.26 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-12).

Card text

First strike, menace

Whenever you cast your first instant or sorcery spell each turn, you may cast a spell with lesser mana value that shares a card type with it from your hand without paying its mana cost. If you don't, create First Mate Ragavan, a legendary 2/1 red Monkey Pirate creature token. It gains haste until end of turn.

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.26 (as of 2026-11-12).

The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.

Format legality

Legality of Baral and Kari Zev by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

PioneerLegal
ModernLegal
LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
BrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
TimelessLegal
GladiatorLegal
Penny DreadfulLegal

Other printings of Baral and Kari Zev

Baral and Kari Zev has been printed in 3 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.

PrintingRarityYear
March of the Machine (MOM) #218Rare2023
March of the Machine (MOM) #302Rare2023
March of the Machine Promos (PMOM) #218pRare2023
March of the Machine Promos (PMOM) #218sRare2023

Official rulings

Four official rulings apply to Baral and Kari Zev, newest first.

  • Baral and Kari Zev will count any instant or sorcery spell you cast during a turn, even if it wasn’t on the battlefield at the time. This means if you cast an instant or sorcery spell, then Baral and Kari Zev comes under your control, its triggered ability won’t trigger that turn.
  • If the spell has {X} in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.
  • If you cast a spell without paying its mana cost, you can’t choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay any additional costs. If the spell has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those.
  • The spell you cast from your hand without paying its mana cost is cast during the resolution of the triggered ability. Timing restrictions of that spell based on card type are ignored. It will resolve before the spell that caused the ability to trigger.

Similar cards

Other creature cards with a blue and red colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.

In these precons

Baral and Kari Zev is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.

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