If you’re familiar with D&D lore, you know that a Balor is an extremely powerful type of Demon.
And as far as Balor’s new Magic: the Gathering card goes, that holds true. Its variety of abilities will strike fear in your opponents’ hearts.
Balor
Balor is similar to
Vindictive Lich
Vindictive Lich
When this creature dies, choose one or more. Each mode must target a different player.
• Target opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice.
• Target opponent discards two cards.
• Target opponent loses 5 life.
as it has three different but equally devastating abilities, each of which affects a different opponent. But Balor is better in one big way.
Like Vindictive Lich, Balor’s abilities trigger when he dies, but Balor has the massive upside of triggering when it attacks too.
As far as Balor’s abilities go, they’re quite diverse. The first node is like a
Burning Inquiry
Burning Inquiry
Each player draws three cards, then discards three cards at random.
which can be a handy countermeasure if an opponent uses a
Demonic Tutor
Demonic Tutor
Search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then shuffle.
, since you can potentially strip away the card they tutored.
The second node is extremely relevant in Commander because the format is filled with mana rocks like
Sol Ring
Sol Ring
{T}: Add {C}{C}.
and
Mana Crypt
Mana Crypt
At the beginning of your upkeep, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, this artifact deals 3 damage to you.
{T}: Add {C}{C}.
.
Balor’s last ability puts extra pressure on one opponent’s life total by burning them equal to the number of cards they have in their hand.
Read More: So Many Commander Decks Will Desire This Baldur’s Gate Bomb
Best Commanders For Balor
Balor is a great inclusion in any aggressive deck that aims to win through attacking. But there are a few Commanders that really use Balor to its fullest potential.
Raphael, Fiendish Savior
Being that Balor is a powerful Demon, it works well in any Demon-themed deck, like the new Baldur’s Gate boss, Raphael.
Raphael gives +1/+1 and lifelink to a variety of creatures including Demons. And he can pump out pesky Devil tokens.
Read More: Is This Baldur’s Gate Mechanic Just a Better Version of MTG’s Monarch?
Isshin, Two Heavens as One
Every time you attack with Balor, its ability triggers. But if you play Balor in an Isshin deck, Balor’s ability will trigger twice with each attack, and you can target different opponents with each of the nodes.
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