Barishi MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Elemental
Released	1997-06-09
Set symbol
Set name	Weatherlight
Set code	WTH
Power	4
Toughness	3
Number	119
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Ted Naifeh

Key Takeaways

Barishi excels in providing resource acceleration and a sustained land presence on the battlefield.
The card’s synergy with instant speed interactions enhances its tactical flexibility.
Awareness of its high mana cost and specific mana requirements is crucial for optimized use.

Text of card

If Barishi is put into any graveyard from play, remove Barishi from the game, then shuffle all creature cards from your graveyard into your library.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Barishi provides a unique twist on card advantage. When Barishi dies, you get to put an equal number of lands from your deck into play, ensuring continuous resource flow and maintaining a strong board presence.

Resource Acceleration: This card essentially turns any lands in your deck into potential accelerators. Upon Barishi’s demise, those new lands are untapped, providing an immediate surge in available mana for casting larger spells or activating abilities sooner than expected.

Instant Speed: Although Barishi itself isn’t an instant, it synergizes well with spells and effects you can cast at instant speed. This interplay allows you to get the most out of your deck by manipulating the timing of Barishi’s death and the subsequent land retrieval, crafting your strategy and responses with more flexibility.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Barishi demands that you discard a card to utilize its ability. While enabling graveyard strategies, this can be a setback when your hand is already depleted, potentially costing you valuable card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: The card’s activation hinges on green mana, which means it might not fit seamlessly into decks that aren’t predominantly green or that struggle with mana flexibility. This can hinder its playability in a more diverse mana base environment.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With Barishi’s effect coming at a significant mana investment, it’s worth considering alternative options. Players might find that other cards offer similar or better functionality at a lower mana cost, making them more attractive choices in a competitive setting.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Barishi is a unique card that can seamlessly blend into various deck types, often finding its place in builds that capitalize on graveyard mechanics or those that can benefit from its self-recurring attribute when it’s in the graveyard.

Combo Potential: This card can synergize exceptionally well with mechanics that manipulate the top of the library or with cards that thrive on creatures entering the battlefield or dying. Barishi’s ability to return to the top of the library when in the graveyard ensures ongoing combo interactions.

Meta-Relevance: Given that creature-based strategies are commonplace in various MTG formats, having Barishi can prove advantageous. Its ability to persist against removal makes it a solid choice against control decks that rely heavily on sending creatures to the graveyard.

How to Beat Barishi

Getting around Barishi in your Magic: The Gathering matches involves strategic planning and a sharp understanding of your deck’s capabilities. Barishi shines in environments where it can capitalize on a dense graveyard — that’s where its true strength lies. To mitigate its effect, graveyard management becomes key. Whether it’s employing graveyard hate cards that exile creatures like Scavenging Ooze, or using instant-speed removal spells such as Path to Exile before its death trigger can be used to its full advantage, disrupting Barishi’s synergy with the graveyard is the goal.

Cards like Rest in Peace are also highly effective, as they prevent cards from touching the graveyard altogether. By incorporating such strategies, players can hinder Barishi’s potential and keep the upper hand. Importantly, timing your interventions before the opponent can exploit Barishi’s leafy grasp on the graveyard will ensure its effects are minimized, and your path to victory remains clear.

Ultimately, while facing a card with the unique dynamics of Barishi, evolving your gameplay to be proactive against graveyard strategies is essential. With the right sideboard choices and timely reactions, you’ll find yourself well-equipped to handle the challenges it brings to the table.

Cards like Barishi

Barishi is a unique creature card in MTG that has stirred discussions among players who appreciate its graveyard interaction dynamics. It can be likened to other creature cards like Golgari Grave-Troll, which has a dredge mechanic, allowing it to replace a draw and return from the graveyard to the hand. However, Golgari Grave-Troll does not offer the same drawback as Barishi, which is shuffled into its owner’s library if it goes to the graveyard from play.

Another card that mirrors Barishi’s graveyard synergy is Stinkweed Imp, which also features the dredge mechanic but with a smaller dredge number. Stinkweed Imp also adds a flying ability and a deathtouch-like effect upon dealing combat damage to a creature, making it a more defensive option compared to Barishi’s potential for reshuffling and library interaction. Lastly, Nighthowler shares some thematic resemblance as it also benefits from creatures in graveyards but scales differently by gaining power and toughness from the number of creature cards in all graveyards.

Ultimately, while each of these cards has its specific role within grave-centric decks, Barishi holds a distinctive position due to its consistent ability to reshuffle back into the library, thus providing a different layer of strategic depth to gameplay.

Cards similar to Barishi by color, type and mana cost

Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth - MTG Card versions

Viridian Lorebearers - MTG Card versions

Monkey Monkey Monkey - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Barishi MTG card by a specific set like Weatherlight, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Barishi and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Barishi has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Barishi card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2008-04-01	If Barishi isn’t in your graveyard by the time the ability resolves, you still shuffle all creature cards from your graveyard into your library.
2008-04-01	The player who controlled Barishi when it left the battlefield is the player who controls the ability. It doesn’t matter whose graveyard Barishi is put into.