Bala Ged Thief
Creature — Human Rogue Ally
Whenever this creature or another Ally you control enters, target player reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of Allies you control. You choose one of them. That player discards that card.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Zendikar
- Price
- $0.32
- EDHREC rank
- #18679
Bala Ged Thief punishes opponents proportionally to your Ally count — the more you've assembled, the more cards they discard per trigger. The cost is four mana for a 2/2 with no immediate effect unless you're already running a critical mass of Allies, which limits it to dedicated tribal shells.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Bala Ged Thief is a Commander card through and through — it needs the long game and a tribal support structure that only the 99-card format reliably provides. In Legacy and Vintage it's strictly unplayable; those formats have no patience for a four-mana 2/2 that does nothing without setup. Modern technically allows it, but Ally tribal there is fringe at best and Bala Ged Thief is nowhere near the payoff those decks want. Commander is the only context where the discard trigger scales into something opponents actually fear, especially under a dedicated Ally commander that floods the board.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.32 bulk tier
At $0.32, Bala Ged Thief is pure bulk — the price of a card that sees narrow, tribal-specific play. It's unlikely to climb without a new Ally commander or set pushing the archetype into relevance, so don't expect it to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.