Interesting ability. Its quite useful if you have a lot of tokens in play that your willing to sac.
ESUpin
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(8 votes)
Rather underwhelming considering he's Barrin.
Fictionarious
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
The sacrificial ability cost makes him seem more black than blue. Could be improved in a number of ways.
Like - (2), return a creature you control to it's owners hand: Return target creature to it's owner's hand. Would have been perfect.
ChampionofSquee
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
in order to make his effect essentially blue, combo with Squee, Goblin Nabob the only catch is its (4)(R) per round which can get a little pricey but hey, if you've got the mana then it works
Kirbster
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(13 votes)
His spelling is at a grade 3 level. But he counts as a wizard!
Sironos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Type your comment here.
LiXinjian
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
When waiting 3 turns for your Reality Acid to vanish isn't quite fast enough... Two-for-One your opponent by bouncing a creature and having him/her sacrifice the enchanted permanent.
beerious
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
I give him a 3.5/5. The only time I have used him effectively is in a desperate situation. Usually late game, you can sacrifice a bunch of lands and clear your opponents side of their four or five best creatures at once, and then attack to win. You can even sac Barrin to himself. Barrin has won me games, but only as a last ditch effort. Which is why I like him, he can be sort of an ace-in-the-hole that no one expects until its too late. Don't underestimate his power.
It's a shame they didn't do a later version of Barrin, during the Invasion block where his true level of power was more openly shown (see: Obliterate). The loss of his daughter, Hanna (Hanna, Ship's Navigator) wasn't taken very well.
Nins_cupholder
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Bros' for life with Gilded Drake. Gives you recurring kills of your opponent's creatures.
Also, lots of fun as a commander.
Ideatog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Dispersing Orb on legs. Not bad, especially with both the activation and initial mana costs reduced. Except that he dies to Zap. Of course, you can always sac a permanent to bounce him in response...
Jokha
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This is the first card that made me love MTG
LordRandomness
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Dunno why the reality acid combo only got 2.5, that's a great idea =/
@Fictionarious: Not only would that be better for flavor reasons but that would be better. You could use it to fizzle a removal card targeting your creature and return it to your hand to play again and get rid of one of their creatures so it couldn't either attack you if it's their turn or block if it's yours.
@SirZapdos: Clearly you underestimate the supreme power of Sanctuary Cat
ChumleyX
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
The Barrin is truly legendary, an MVP in one of my best decks -- so amazing that I included three copies. What makes him so good is that you can use his ability immediately (and use it on himself in a pinch).
Here's the deck build -- an original / creation of mine:
You can substitute other less expensive dual land variants for the ones I included. In addition, the Flagstones of Trokair and Karakas aren't essential. Otherwise, this deck is fairly cheap to build and tons of fun to play.
Also, while you may think the Aven Riftw@tcher is a poor substitute for Kitchen Finks, notice that the Riftw@tcher gives life when he leaves play. Use the Barrin to pop him back to your hand and recast him (netting 4 life) or enjoy the 2 life when you sac a False Prophet and exile your opponent's board. Like I said, a fun deck. :-)
raptorman333
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Played with Tamiyo, the Moon Sage (le finisher), Tamiyo basically projects herself onto Barrin, turning him into the same mechanic as nearly all the other moonfolk--(Cost): Return X land(s) to your hand, do said function. Only, for the Master Wizard, it's not just lands.
#such.flavor
Majora_13
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Seems like he would work well in a deck with Azusa, Lost but Seeking and Meloku the Clouded Mirror repeated 3 1/1 fliers a turn plus the option to sac those 1/1 fliers to bounce seems like a good set up. Add in some decent landfall effects/ ETB trigger land and you've got yourself a decent casual deck.
c0d3br34k3r
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
ChumleyX, that's an awesome deck. I kind of want to build it. Maybe you should add some white token generators, though.
Even though Barrin is easy to underestimate, I think he's a very strong card. He seems very strong in EDH as a sack outlet and protection against attackers. He's also a great response to a board wipe if you have enough mana open.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
With the right board position, this could become lockdown. Maybe Oracle of Mul Daya + Azusa, lost but seeking and this. Enough lands and mana to lockdown bounce them.
Aquillion
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Comparing him to Temporal Adept is just sad, especially when you realize that the adapt is theoretically a nameless student of his.
Sure, he doesn't tap, uses colorless mana, and costs one less to activate, but none of those things are even remotely worth sacrificing a permanent for -- and the Adept can bounce all kinds of permanents, not just creatures, which is a really big deal and enables many more combos.
TheMurderousKitten
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Yes, Barrin should have something more spectacular for his card, but I think people are underestimating the usefulness of this card. My favorite place to use him is in a Jhoira of the Ghitu EDH deck. A good Jhoira deck only requires 2 to 3 mana on the table to function properly. That means that any lands beyond those first few are expendable. And since playing Jhoira is all about stalling until the suspended nastiness hits the table, Barrin is quite useful. He keeps opponents from attacking with big creatures for at least a few turns, which is all Jhoira needs. And as long as you are playing a land each turn, you should have plenty of permanents to sacrifice. Not really a game winning card, but it does have its uses.
groglord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In my commandeer games he usually works well; instead of chump blocking I now have the choice of bouncing your creature, dodge mass revoval for 2 (plus whatever creatures I'm gonna lose anyway), "redirect" removal spells for 2, clear a path for the final blow (cause who needs those lands anymore).
He is only use in specific situations but he has saved me a bunch of times.
jfuite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use Barrin, Master Wizard in a Talrand, Sky Summoner commander deck. There are plenty of drakes that are getting into trouble anyway, which I can sacrifice to his powerful ability. His ability does not require tapping, and can be used to target multiple permanents, including planeswalkers. You can clear your opponents board of defenders by sacrificing your lands for a game-ending attack. It can be a very good card.
A_Real_Travesty
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
We have a new perfect EDH friend for this guy: Master of Waves. A slough of elementals to beat on people with or use as bounce material. Use the last one to bounce Master of Waves and reset your elemental numbers.
Hah! With Chamber of Manipulation, this becomes some weird, manual version of Far // Away that gives you more control over the outcome!
...I know it's not actually very close to that, but it has theft and bounce in blue in one card spent, so...
TheDoomknight
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Edh wise I like it. Play cards like Gilded Drake and Chromeshell Crab. Exchange control with their threat and when the time comes, sacrifice it bouncing your drake, crab etc back to your hand.
Comments (31)
Like - (2), return a creature you control to it's owners hand: Return target creature to it's owner's hand.
Would have been perfect.
Also, lots of fun as a commander.
@SirZapdos: Clearly you underestimate the supreme power of Sanctuary Cat
Here's the deck build -- an original
GIX TRICKS
CREATURES (15)
3x Barrin, Master Wizard
4x Aven Riftw@tcher
4x False Prophet
4x Archon of Justice
OTHER SPELLS (22)
4x Claws of Gix
4x Perilous Research
4x Hatching Plans
4x Ichor Wellspring
2x Mycosynth Wellspring
2x Reins of Power
2x Spine of Ish Sah
LANDS (23)
7x Island
6x Plains
4x Tundra
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Flooded Strand
2x Sejiri Refuge
1x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Karakas
You can substitute other less expensive dual land variants for the ones I included. In addition, the Flagstones of Trokair and Karakas aren't essential. Otherwise, this deck is fairly cheap to build and tons of fun to play.
Also, while you may think the Aven Riftw@tcher is a poor substitute for Kitchen Finks, notice that the Riftw@tcher gives life when he leaves play. Use the Barrin to pop him back to your hand and recast him (netting 4 life) or enjoy the 2 life when you sac a False Prophet and exile your opponent's board. Like I said, a fun deck. :-)
#such.flavor
Add in some decent landfall effects/ ETB trigger land and you've got yourself a decent casual deck.
Even though Barrin is easy to underestimate, I think he's a very strong card. He seems very strong in EDH as a sack outlet and protection against attackers. He's also a great response to a board wipe if you have enough mana open.
Sure, he doesn't tap, uses colorless mana, and costs one less to activate, but none of those things are even remotely worth sacrificing a permanent for -- and the Adept can bounce all kinds of permanents, not just creatures, which is a really big deal and enables many more combos.
He is only use in specific situations but he has saved me a bunch of times.
A slough of elementals to beat on people with or use as bounce material. Use the last one to bounce Master of Waves and reset your elemental numbers.
...I know it's not actually very close to that, but it has theft and bounce in blue in one card spent, so...