Black Cat, Cunning Thief
Legendary Creature — Human Rogue Villain
When Black Cat enters, look at the top nine cards of target opponent's library, exile two of them face down, then put the rest on the bottom of their library in a random order. You may play the exiled cards for as long as they remain exiled. Mana of any type can be spent to cast spells this way.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Through the Omenpaths
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #7904
Black Cat, Cunning Thief puts opponents on the back foot immediately — stealing permanents or picking apart hands while you build your own board. The cost is real: it demands a specific theft-and-treasure shell to reach full power, and it's a near-auto-include in Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter decks for good reason.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter
Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter appears in nearly half of all Nathan Drake decks because Black Cat, Cunning Thief slots directly into the treasure-generation and opponent-resource-denial engine that Nathan Drake rewards — every stolen permanent or discarded card fuels the gameplan.
Gonti, Night Minister
Gonti, Night Minister builds around taking things that don't belong to you, and Black Cat, Cunning Thief extends that plan to hands and permanents rather than just libraries.
Rev, Tithe Extractor
Rev, Tithe Extractor prizes squeezing value out of opponents' resources, and Black Cat, Cunning Thief's disruptive theft effects align cleanly with that extraction gameplan.
Laughing Jasper Flint
Laughing Jasper Flint rewards consistent pressure and hand disruption, and Black Cat, Cunning Thief's ability to strip opponent resources while advancing your own board makes it a natural fit.
Tasha, the Witch Queen
Tasha, the Witch Queen wants spells cast from opponents' hands and graveyards, so Black Cat, Cunning Thief's discard and theft effects generate the raw material Tasha needs to trigger and grow.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Black Cat, Cunning Thief does its best work — the multiplayer environment means stealing a permanent or forcing a discard at the right moment can swing political dynamics across the whole table. In 60-card constructed formats like Modern and Pioneer, theft effects at this mana investment face stiff competition from more targeted disruption, and Black Cat, Cunning Thief hasn't broken through those metagames. Standard gives it the most accessible proving ground right now, though the card's ceiling there depends heavily on whether a dedicated theft shell exists in the format. Legacy and Vintage have the raw power to make almost anything playable, but Black Cat, Cunning Thief doesn't offer enough speed or redundancy to compete with the engines those formats support.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Black Cat, Cunning Thief isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live market rate before picking up copies. Given its strong inclusion rate in Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter decks specifically, demand is real enough that supply could tighten if the archetype grows.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.