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.
Cast a spell each turn to trigger Baral and Kari Zev, chaining a free lesser-value instant or sorcery to generate massive value, or banking Ragavan tokens when you can't. Build a low-curve spellslinger shell that abuses the free-cast trigger to bury opponents in card advantage, then close with burn, spell-payoffs, or aggressive Monkey Pirate beats backed by an evasive first-strike commander.
Free spell every turn generates enormous tempo and card advantage in a tight curve
Built-in fallback: a hasty 2/1 token if you have no chaser, so the trigger is never wasted
First strike + menace makes the commander a real evasive threat and decent blocker
Loves cheap instants/sorceries, which double as interaction, making the deck reactive and proactive
Stacks beautifully with spell-copy and cost-reduction effects to snowball
Trigger only fires on your FIRST instant/sorcery each turn, so it's one chain per turn
Requires a chaser with strictly lesser mana value sharing the type, demanding careful curve construction
Color identity locks out tutors/recursion outside blue-red
Commander-reliant value engine is vulnerable to repeated removal and tax effects
Token plan is weak against board wipes and go-wide hate
Legendary Creature — Human
