Baru, Fist of Krosa MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Legendary Creature — Human Druid |
| Abilities | Grandeur |
| Released | 2007-05-04 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Future Sight |
| Set code | FUT |
| Power | 4 |
| Toughness | 4 |
| Number | 142 |
| Frame | future |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Lucio Parrillo |
Key Takeaways
- Baru, Fist of Krosa can provide card draw per Forest when entering the battlefield, increasing hand resources.
- Enables land-based strategies and instant power boosts, making each land drop significantly more impactful.
- Its utility and combo potential make it a versatile and meta-relevant component for various green deck builds.
Text of card
Whenever a Forest comes into play, green creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain trample until end of turn. Grandeur Discard another card named Baru, Fist of Krosa: Put an X/X green Wurm creature token into play, where X is the number of lands you control.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Baru, Fist of Krosa offers a powerful ability to potentially draw an additional card for each Forest you control when it enters the battlefield. This can significantly bolster your hand, providing the fuel for your strategic plays.
Resource Acceleration: This card encourages ramp strategies, as it allows you to capitalize on playing additional lands. With Baru’s ability, every land drop can become more impactful, contributing to the acceleration of your resource base and enabling you to execute high-cost spells ahead of schedule.
Instant Speed: Baru’s formidable ability to grant your creatures +3/+3 until end of turn as a response to a spell can be executed at instant speed. This surprise factor can turn the tides during combat, morphing unassuming creatures into threatening adversaries in the flash of a moment.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Baru, Fist of Krosa necessitates pitching a card to activate its key abilities. This requirement could be a substantial drawback in gameplay scenarios where maintaining card advantage is pivotal.
Specific Mana Cost: The activation of this card’s abilities demands a rigorous combination of green mana. Such specificity may challenge deck building, confining it mostly to mono-green or heavily green-influenced decks, potentially deterring a broader deck incorporation.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Bearing a mana cost that rivals many other impactful cards in the format, Baru, Fist of Krosa may not always be the most mana-efficient choice, particularly in the fast-paced games where tempo and cost-effectiveness dictate the flow of play.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Baru, Fist of Krosa offers a multifaceted approach to green deck strategies, easily slotting into both aggressive and ramp-centric decks. Its ability to grant +3/+3 and Overrun can turn the tide of any game, making it a utility player in a variety of deck builds.
Combo Potential: The Wurms you create with Baru can quickly cascade into overwhelming numbers, especially when combined with cards that allow you to play multiple lands in a turn. This throws open the doors to a range of explosive plays and synergies, solidifying Baru’s role as a combo enabler.
Meta-Relevance: With the ever-changing landscape of the MTG meta, Baru’s inherent strength against control by producing continual creature threats is indispensable. Its ability to create large creatures every turn can strain your opponents’ resources, keeping your deck competitive in a variety of matchups.
How to beat
Baru, Fist of Krosa is a formidable card that can amplify green creature strategies in Magic: The Gathering by creating an overwhelming presence on the battlefield. To effectively counter this card, it’s crucial to disrupt the play pattern that Baru encourages. This can be achieved by maintaining control of the board with removal spells to prevent the cascading creature growth Baru can generate.
Utilizing board wipes such as Wrath of God or Doomskar can be key to resetting the board state and removing the accumulated advantage. Spot removal spells like Path to Exile or Assassin’s Trophy can also be particularly effective at dealing with Baru before its abilities trigger. It’s imperative to keep removal in hand and play reactively as Baru hits the board or when the opponent attempts to declare the beginning of the combat phase where Baru’s Grandeur ability can be problematic.
In essence, beating Baru, Fist of Krosa is about staying one step ahead, strategically managing your removals, and disrupting the natural flow of green-based creature decks. With the right approach and timing, the threat posed by Baru can be mitigated to ensure you maintain the upper hand throughout the game.
Cards like Baru, Fist of Krosa
Baru, Fist of Krosa presents a unique playstyle for those looking to enhance their MTG decks with a creature that can influence the battlefield profoundly. Much like the widely known card Kamahl, Heart of Krosa, Baru also embraces the theme of empowering creatures. Kamahl offers an ability to animate lands and a potent end-of-turn boost for all creatures, while Baru focuses on a more specific condition, rewarding you for playing lands with an instant boost to a single creature.
Exploring further, Tatyova, Benthic Druid is another card that rewards land plays but it does so by permitting you to draw a card and gain life instead of bolstering your creatures. Where Baru, Fist of Krosa is about immediate board impact through power, Tatyova is about incremental value and sustaining your resources.
Another comparison can be drawn with Azusa, Lost but Seeking, which doesn’t directly provide creature boosts but instead allows the player to play additional lands, indirectly magnifying the potential impact of Baru’s playstyle. While the tempo of Azusa’s strategy differs, both cards carry the quintessential green color identity, urging players to relish in land-play synergies.
Comparing these options, Baru, Fist of Krosa fits nicely into a niche for players looking for growth and combat advantages each time they play a land, standing out in decks that aim to make a significant and immediate impact on the game through land-centered strategies.
Cards similar to Baru, Fist of Krosa by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Baru, Fist of Krosa MTG card by a specific set like Future Sight, 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 Baru, Fist of Krosa and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Baru, Fist of Krosa has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Baru, Fist of Krosa card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2007-05-01 | The first ability triggers when a Forest enters the battlefield under any player’s control, but only your creatures get the bonus. |
| 2007-05-01 | The size of the Wurm token is determined when the activated ability resolves. It won’t change as the number of lands you control changes. |
