The 34 Best Theft Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 15, 2026

Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

One of my favorite deck themes is “steal and sac,” where the game plan revolves around stealing creatures with cards like Mark of Mutiny and then sacrificing them with others like Bone Shards to start clearing the board. Over time, this strategy has evolved, and many similar mechanics have been introduced in Magic: The Gathering.

Today, I’ll explore a twist on this concept that lets you not just borrow but keep the spells you steal indefinitely: theft. This approach takes the classic “steal and sac” strategy to the next level, adding long-term value by permanently using your opponents' best tools against them.

Intrigued by what the best of these cards are? Let's dive into it!

What Are Theft Cards in MTG?

Smirking Spelljacker | Illustration by Borja Pindado

Unlike steal effects like Act of Treason or Mind Control, theft cards let you keep control of your opponent’s spells permanently. They often exile or copy spells and grant you the ability to cast or maintain them as though they were your own.

For this list, I’ll go over the cards that specifically let you do this, meaning that cards like The Scarab God won’t be part of the list. They don’t let you play the original card, but rather create a copy of a creature.

#34. Abstruse Appropriation

Abstruse Appropriation is our instant-speed theft effect that allows us to get rid of non-land permanents and use it in our favor, though you might need some colorless mana to do so.

#33. Intellect Devourer

Intellect Devourer may not be the strongest card, but it can steal cards from your opponent’s hand and play them for as long as they remain exiled. Unlike other spells from the list, this is among the worst since you can’t choose the cards your opponents put into exile. Otherwise, it would be a straight-up better card.

#32. Crabomination

Crabomination is a solid creature to get cards from your opponents and cast them for free, along with a decent-sized body. I’ll take it rather strongly in Cube, and hopefully pick up some expendable artifacts for emerge.

#31. Breeches, Brazen Plunderer

I often see Breeches, Brazen Plunderer as one of the top Pauper commanders when played alongside Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator. With a bit of investment and a lot of creativity, you can do some reckless infinite combos with other cards like Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator, Reckless Fireweaver, and Runed Stalactite making it so you can exile all libraries and get infinite tokens. Of course, you need a lot of investment, but it's an option if you ever want to venture on this route.

#30. Bloodsoaked Insight / Sanguine Morass

I highly value MDFC cards like Bloodsoaked Insight as they’re a decent way to prevent you from flooding. This one has a fine theft effect and works better within aggressive decks.

#29. Ashiok, Nightmare Muse

One of the first Dimir planeswalkers () ever printed was Ashiok, Nightmare Muse, whose ultimate lets you cast up to three spells from exiled cards your opponents own without spending any mana. This pairs extremely well with its other two activated abilities, which also exile cards from your opponents in one way or another.

#28. Arvinox, the Mind Flail

Although it’s a bit expensive, and more importantly, doesn’t have any kind of evasion, Arvinox, the Mind Flail is a card that fits in theft decks as it benefits from previously stolen permanents by becoming a 9/9. On top of that, at the beginning of your end step, you exile each opponent’s bottom card of their library and can play them for as long as they’re exiled. Even without proper setup, you can be lucky enough to play three stolen permanents on your next round and attack with this horror.

#27. Valgavoth, Terror Eater

While I’ve seen Valgavoth, Terror Eater do some insane things in Standard in pseudo-reanimator shells, it’s a fine Commander card to brew around but restricts you from running other colors. The trick here is that it pairs perfectly with removal spells, as you can kill a an opponent’s creature and then cast it by just paying life.

It also applies to other cards like fetch lands and pretty much everything that should go to the graveyard after it's used.

#26. Valki, God of Lies / Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor

One of my favorite planeswalkers to cast is the other side of Valki, God of Lies: Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor.

Technically, both cards can do the same theft effect with a small difference: The creature half can exile a card from an opponent's hand, and they pay its mana value to have Valki transform into it. That said, the monstrous effect comes from Tibalt’s static ability that lets you play cards exiled with it, making it a threat in late game scenarios. Sadly, long gone are the days when you could cascade into a Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor; the rules were changed to prevent that.

#25. Spelljack + Desertion

Spelljack and Desertion are almost identical cards, with the slight difference that the latter is easier to cast, at the expense of only being able to cast free creatures and artifacts, while the former can hit anything unconditionally.

If I were to choose one, I’d go with Desertion, but it's okay to run both in your Talrand, Sky Summoner EDH deck.

A very similar card is Gale's Redirection, which basically gives you the same effect, but you have to get lucky to cast it for free.

#24. Smirking Spelljacker

Smirking Spelljacker is the upgraded version of Desertion and Spelljack as ultimately it accomplishes the same effect, except you need to attack with it first. In practice, it's almost identical to what you’d do, which is cast to counter their spell, untap, and attack, making the difference nearly negligible with the big upside of having a 3/3 flying creature, which is extremely good.

#23. Siphon Insight

I haven’t seen Siphon Insight outside of Alchemy on MTG Arena, which is interesting considering that it’s not a card exclusive to it. For 5 total mana divided across turns, you can steal opposing cards and pay mana to play them later, which can be beneficial in the grindy match-ups.

#22. Thada Adel, Acquisitor

Thada Adel, Acquisitor is a dedicated Sol Ring thief against blue based decks in Commander. Since the format has pretty much developed into one that's full of mana rocks and other artifact staples, it’ll be extremely rare that you miss once this rogue hits a random player.

#21. Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh

Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh is one of the hardest planeswalkers to resolve due to its total 7 mana value. Still, once it resolves, you can choose how to kill your opponent slowly by either casting spells from the top of their library without paying mana, shrinking their hand, killing their creatures, and, if they've survived long enough, exiling all their non-land permanents with the ultimate. This, combined with its Grixis identity (), makes it a perfect addition to a dedicated theft deck.

#20. Laughing Jasper Flint

Introduced in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Laughing Jasper Flint has the nasty tendency to snowball as turns pass. At each of your upkeeps, you can exile cards from your opponent's library based on the number of mercenaries you control and play them until the end of turn. On top of that, each creature you “steal” becomes a mercenary, meaning you exile more and more cards as turns pass, especially when you run a mercenary-themed deck or effects that focus on stealing creatures from your opponents in other ways.

#19. Knowledge Exploitation

Commanders like Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive or Bilbo, Retired Burglar benefit a lot from running Knowledge Exploitation due to their nature to hit their opponents with ease. For 4 mana, you can search your opponent's most powerful/game-breaking spell and cast it against their will to either put you very far ahead in the game or straight-up win if it resolves.

#18. Jace, Architect of Thought

Back in the day, the previous 4-mana Jace, Jace, the Mind Sculptor dominated Standard fiercely and was ultimately banned. The new one, Jace, Architect of Thought, had some large shoes to fill when released. It was a fine choice and used in control decks due to its ability to shrink attacking creatures and ultimately steal spells from everyone's library and cast them for no mana.

#17. Ian Malcolm, Chaotician

Ian Malcolm, Chaotician is your dedicated chaos commander who lets the whole table play with cards they don’t own. Be warned that while some players may like this different and unique way to play the game, some others may just kill Malcolm to avoid confusion and call it a day.

#16. Halo Forager

Due to its nature, Halo Forager reminds me a bit of Snapcaster Mage as they both let you cast instants and sorceries from graveyards, with the faerie being a bit better as it’ll let you use spells from anyone's graveyard. The biggest downside is that it misses flash, so you won't be able to target counterspells like the Mage does.

#15. Evelyn, the Covetous

Evelyn, the Covetous is a solid Grixis vampire commander that exiles cards from libraries that later can later be played one at a time each turn. It saw a decent amount of play briefly in Standard and Alchemy but ultimately didn’t rise in popularity as Esper () was a better color combination overall.

#14. Dire Fleet Daredevil

For just , you get a 2/1 with first strike, which is already solid for early-game aggression. But the real treasure is its ETB ability that lets you swipe an instant or sorcery from an opponent’s graveyard, exile it, and cast it that turn using any mana, making it beneficial for attrition or grindy matches.

#13. Diluvian Primordial

There’s a big difference between exiling your opponents’ cards and paying mana later to cast them or doing the same for free. Diluvian Primordial does the latter for each opponent, which makes it a huge threat once it resolves. Chancellor of the Spires accomplishes the same role, but you only get to cast one spell instead.

#12. Hostage Taker

Butcher creatures like Fiend Hunter and Brutal Cathar can exile others for as long as they remain on the battlefield, but what if there was one that let you play those cards as well? That’s exactly what Hostage Taker does for both artifacts and creatures, so you can easily steal a Sol Ring or a threat that you can use in your favor.

#11. Sen Triplets

Sen Triplets is among the most popular Esper commanders thanks to its ability to steal your opponent’s resources if they let you untap with this trio. Essentially, you have a second hand and may use their cards instead of yours to leave them with no plays and potentially make them vulnerable to the table.

#10. The Etalis

I’ve found that Etali, Primal Conqueror is the better version of Etali due to its immediate impact on the board and the potential game ending threat it poses once it's flipped. That said, if you can give Etali, Primal Storm haste or pair it with the likes of Aggravated Assault, you’ll have a creature that continuously lets you steal spells and cast them for free.

#9. Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor

While not many people use Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor’s second ability, it’s there for when you want to discard a handful of lands and, in turn, play free spells from your opponent’s side. This happens rather often when you aren’t in the driver's seat and your only hope is that your opponent is packing a spell to let you bounce back in the game.

#8. Robber of the Rich

One of the most annoying cards that I had to face when I started playing Magic again after a long break was Robber of the Rich. I found it so because I was playing Dimir Rogues, a deck that relies on evasive creatures with flying that had a somewhat hard time beating other aggressive decks. And guess which card both has reach and is aggressive…? On top of that, being on the draw against an opposing Robber of the Rich is somewhat bad as it's almost guaranteed that it’ll steal a card from you, and god forbid they take your one-of win condition.

#7. Narset, Enlightened Exile

For anyone who loves spell slinging shenanigans and combat tricks, Narset, Enlightened Exile is an absolute powerhouse.

I’ve played against it a couple of times in Brawl on MTG Arena, and if you can’t deal with Narset before it attacks, it's pretty much game over due to its ability that lets it target non-creature spells from any graveyard, exile them, and cast a copy for free.

On top of that, Narset gives all your creatures prowess, so every spell you cast makes your team hit harder, meaning you can chain removal, card draw, or even extra combat spells right out of the graveyard while buffing your board.

#6. Thief of Sanity

Thief of Sanity is a card I see a lot of people taking in Cube Drafts of either Arena or MTGO, but I’d say its power level really is diminished depending on how the cube is structured and what the meta looks like. In particular, I’m the kind of person that likes drafting a lot of removal, and building control-ish decks. As such, I just kill an opposing Thief of Sanity and move on with my life, and it has rarely done anything bad when I play against it. That comes from my particular experience, but the card is probably better in more capable players' hands. At the end of the day, if you manage to make it stick, you get the chance to get a lot of value.

#5. Gonti, Lord of Luxury

Gonti, Lord of Luxury is an effect I like to recur in blink decks as you can continuously use cards from your opponents’ libraries in your favor, even after Gonti dies. On top of that, deathtouch makes Gonti a solid wall against bigger threats.

#4. Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge

I’ve mostly known Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge for being a Grixis combo commander that lets you get resources from your opponents and use them to get ahead in the game. If you read between the lines, for 4 mana on the first cast, you get to choose from 16 cards in a full-sized Commander table that then can be cast to assemble your remaining combo or just find the combo pieces you need to kill them on the next turn with, of course, Demonic Consultation + Thassa's Oracle.

#3. Opposition Agent

Opposition Agent is one of those cards that makes you the villain of the table in the best way possible. It's a sneaky little rogue with flash, so you can whip it out as a surprise when someone is getting greedy with their tutors or ramp spells. The kicker? You get to control them while they search, exiling the cards they find—and then you can cast those cards yourself, spending mana as if it were any color. Just be prepared for some serious salt from your friends!

#2. Dauthi Voidwalker

Dauthi Voidwalker is one of the most powerful cards you can run with the theft effect on it, and you simply need to play your game regularly and attack with it from time to time. The thing is that in Eternal formats where this card is legal, cheap 1-mana spells and fetch lands are among the most popular strategies, and the static effect on this card prevents those from hitting the graveyard. Also, they can be played later at the expense of this creature's life.

More importantly, it hates on graveyard strategies while in play, and some may not even have maindeck removal, especially if they go all in on the combo plan. The Voidwalker also works greatly with the likes of Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize, where you can take an opponent’s key spell and later use it against them.

#1. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

The monkey has to be among the best cards in each category it fits due to its cheap and aggressive nature. It’ll not only hit you for some damage early on, but Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer also steals your resources and potentially plays them thanks to the Treasure token it generates.

Best Theft Payoffs

Since theft cards are all about stealing your opponents' creatures, spells, or resources, they rarely need payoffs to excel, as you have no idea what your opponents have added to your deck. That said, commanders like Laughing Jasper Flint or Don Andres, the Renegade benefit you when you use spells you don’t own, so they’re your first choices for building around this archetype.

Of course, you can use some sacrifice outlets to generate additional advantages from the likes of Ashnod's Altar or Fling. Still, you’d rather keep control of what you took than use it for other purposes, especially since these aren’t steal effects that return the property at the end of the turn.

Lastly, there are cards specifically built around this mechanic, like Thieving Varmint or Gonti, Canny Acquisitor, that let you cast spells you don’t own easily.

Can Commanders be Stolen in MTG?

Technically, they can, but you’ll rarely see that happen. The opposing player would have to decide not to send their commander to the command zone when hit by spells like Desertion or Abstruse Appropriation. That doesn’t happen with the likes of Commandeer though, as you’re actively gaining control of the spell, which is a big difference between doing that and just moving it between zones to then cast it.

Control Magic effects and temporary Act of Treason effects can steal commanders as well. Switching control between plays does not count as changing zones, so the opponent can't put their commander in the command zone against effects like this.

Should You Mention Theft Effects During Rule 0 Conversations?

In my opinion, as a random person on Twitter who writes articles about card games, I don’t think it’s necessary at all. These spells are typically aimed at achieving a goal, functioning much like Mind Control by leveraging opponents' resources to gain an advantage in the game. Sure, you might steal their win condition or prevent them from using it to their advantage, but even then, it’d seem contradictory for them to play game-winning cards while you’re discouraged from doing the same, right?

Moreover, these spells aren’t inherently game-winning on their own. While some commanders like Etali, Primal Conqueror are powerful and can establish a strong board presence, they’re not consistent enough to be considered a significant threat on their own. The conversation shifts, however, if you’re able to repeatedly utilize theft effects, like combining Deadeye Navigator with infinite blue mana. At that point, you’re talking about an entire strategy revolving around infinite resources—something that should already fall under the umbrella of a Rule 0 discussion.

What I’m trying to get at is that theft effects, on their own, rarely warrant a dedicated Rule 0 conversation unless they’re part of a larger, potentially problematic strategy. Instead, they should be viewed as tools within the game, much like removal or counterspells, and handled as such unless they consistently disrupt the play experience for your group.

Wrap Up

Thief of Sanity | Illustration by Igor Kieryluk

As you can see, there's a big gap between casting the spells for free or just having to spend mana on a stolen spell. Still, cheap cards can bypass this limit if their mana value is cheap enough and the effect is repeatable throughout the game.

What do you think about the ranking? Was there a card that I may have missed? Let me know in the comments!

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Take care, and see you next time!