Probably the most under rated card in the whole game, tbh it was a shame that it come out into a race that was dead because of the dragons and a lack of support. Its effect were the best one could hope to get in the set and the few following. A card that i would rate 10/10 for its design, power, balance and effect. To this day no other extra turn card was as balanced and race true as this one and its a shame that the wyverns  had to be killed by wotc. On tco this card may be shit cause every 3 y/o with a mouse is copying top decks and carrying 4 cranium but irl this card may be one of the best trump cards, i personally have won many tournaments and matches with this card as a finisher and it is very hard to remove if you have no blockers because extra turn is guaranteed.
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"As the sky tore open and the beast descended, those fighting on the ground were left awe struck, enemies dropped their weapons and waited in anticipation to see whose side the beast was to be on. It glided through the sky for a few eerily silent seconds, flames burning from its skull shaped cannons of destruction, then it let out a bone chilling roar and fired its weapons, they could see now why it was the time burner for all time had stopped the cannons had ripped through the fabric of time and space, everyone was helpless, no one would be spared."

Balesk is absolutely gorgeous creature! My friend runs FNL deck with Mana Bonanza boost. Early game blockers like Jil Warka makes some time to prepare for 16 mana. Kind a cool when Cutthroat evolves to Balesk Baj and extra turn is real thing

True, Balesk Baj is a very cool card and yes i also think it's underrated and deserves more attention and like you said, it's well balanced!
I also played a simple FN deck many many years ago with Balesk Baj along with Cutthroat, Scarlet Skyterror and Mana Bohnanza. Cryptic Totem could also be very useful... Maybe Metalwing could also make some sense or play some hulcus and energy stream or blocker return/remove stuff... or just Mist Rias?
I have two Balesk Baj's left and now i'm really curious how your decks look like but then it would be another topic/thread in another section...

Funny to see this thread because I got my hands on 3 copies of Baj a few weeks ago and was thinking about it earlier today.

Building a deck around Mana Bonanza is certainly an interesting idea and makes sense given how much mana you need to spend each turn to play Baj.

Any videos or content surrounding your friend's deck, Zach?

I can list the cards which he use in that deck:

3x Cutthroat Skyterror
2x Twin-Cannon Skyterror
2x Rocketdive Skyterror
2x Scarlet Skyterror
4x Balesk Baj, the Timeburner
3x Fists of Forever
2x La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian
3x Jil Warka, Time Guardian
4x Mist Rias, Sonic Guardian
3x Holy Awe
3x Essence Elf
3x Mana Nexus
3x Bronze-Arm Tribe
2x Ultimate Force
3x Mana Bonanza
3x Natural Snare
4x Soulswap
2x Wind Axe, Savage Warrior

All rights and regards go to @OsQ

Thanks, I'll try give it a whirl one of these days if I have the necessary cards.

Do you think Rocketdive is better than Ruthless Skyterror?

I didn't think I'd ever see Ultimate Force in a deck but I guess in makes sense with Essence Elf. No Faerie Life, though?

Ultimate Force is so underrated card. Imagine that situation when you play Elf -> BAT -> Ultimate -> Bonanza. There you go to 16 mana and thats all you need to run Balesk Baj.

Rocketdive is a powerful bitch. Cant be attacked so... Id say its better Ruthless.

Sorry for the long disappearance, now unto the fact as to what my deck is, you see boys i have seriously considered mana bonanza but since my local torney rules only allow upto 40 cards, deckout is a prob. There for i run a very simple board control, defensive deck with cards such as critical strike, Comet Missile, Spiral gate and Faerie life with secondary mana boosts. Normally at mana 14 i combo either rocket dive + Balesk or Torpedo + Balesk which is sufficient for my purposes. Due to the discontinuation and my country's backward state at the time, cards rarely reached the Multi-Colored era or many fire birds. Since my deck is very versatile and constantly changed to keep it that way i am not prone to put it up here due to the fact that i will have to regularly change it.
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Time knows no allies, no friends, no mercy. it devours all without recognition and so it is fitting that the Beast kills all without hesitation or care. Monuments dont do its greatness justice for they are a temporary concept for a being unbound by time

Who the fuck restricts TCG decks to 40 cards...

No point using Balesk if you can instant win with the Invincible Technology combo

äksä wrote:No point using Balesk if you can instant win with the Invincible Technology combo

That would be?
I guess its more unrealistic to get the combo done haha

I suppose he's talking about first casting Mana Bonanza, then Invincible Technology and then looping Zalva, Hurricane Crawler and Abduction Charger, or alternatively looping Hurricane Crawler, Abduction Charger, 2 Slash Chargers, Mystic Dreamscape and Phal Eega.

It's a surprisingly doable loop but I wouldn't let it take away the majesty of Balesk Baj.

Ah i see, know that loop, thought he had something new?

Balesk is nothing against the power of the Scissor Eye combo haha

All hail the mighty Scissors!