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Ghostly Pilferer

Creature — Spirit Rogue

Whenever this creature becomes untapped, you may pay {2}. If you do, draw a card.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell from anywhere other than their hand, draw a card.
Discard a card: This creature can't be blocked this turn.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{U}
Color identity
U
Rarity
rare
Set
Core Set 2021 Promos
Price
$2.45
EDHREC rank
#1403
Buy on TCGplayer
Ghostly Pilferer card art
Ghostly Pilferer draws a card whenever an opponent casts from anywhere other than their hand — a passive engine that pays dividends against flash, cascade, and any graveyard-based gameplan without requiring a single mana investment after it lands. The cost is a 2/2 body at three mana that does nothing proactive, so it earns its slot by how your table plays, not by how your deck is built. In Millicent, Restless Revenant and Glint-Horn Buccaneer builds, the draw triggers stack fast enough that the passivity stops being a liability.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Millicent, Restless Revenant

Millicent, Restless Revenant

74.7% of decks · synergy 0.72

Ghostly Pilferer is a Spirit that draws cards, which means Millicent, Restless Revenant gets a free token whenever another non-token Spirit enters — Pilferer fits both the tribal count and the passive draw role the deck wants on a two-for-one body.

02
Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

73.4% of decks · synergy 0.70

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge rewards running Pirates and punishes opponents for casting spells, so Ghostly Pilferer slots in as a Pirate that generates card advantage whenever opponents lean on their graveyards or flash spells — exactly the pressure that deck wants to apply.

03
Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer

Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer

70.4% of decks · synergy 0.67

Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer casts spells discarded from your hand, and Ghostly Pilferer triggers every time an opponent does the same in reverse — casting from outside their hand — giving the deck a passive draw engine that keeps pace without spending resources Oskar needs for his own engine.

04
Hashaton, Scarab's Fist

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist

70.2% of decks · synergy 0.63

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist works in graveyard-heavy Egyptian-themed shells where opponents frequently cast from exile or graveyards, and Ghostly Pilferer converts those moments into raw card advantage that keeps Hashaton's hand stocked for its own recursion gameplan.

05

Norman Osborn

56.2% of decks · synergy 0.54

Norman Osborn builds around scheming and hidden-role effects where opponents take unexpected actions, and Ghostly Pilferer punishes any opponent who casts from a zone other than their hand — a consistent incidental draw trigger in a deck that already wants to watch everything the table does.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Ghostly Pilferer is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is where it actually sees meaningful play. In 60-card formats, a 2/2 for three mana that draws cards only on opponent triggers is too slow and too conditional against linear strategies that rarely cast from outside their hand. Commander flips that calculus: four opponents running reanimation, cascade, flashback, and graveyard recursion means Ghostly Pilferer is drawing a card almost every turn cycle at a typical table. The floor is still low in Commander metas that lean heavily on hand-cast spells, but the ceiling in graveyard-heavy pods is genuinely high.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$2.45 cheap tier

At $2.45, Ghostly Pilferer sits at the cheap end of the Commander staple range — affordable enough to throw into any Spirit or draw-engine build without deliberation. Niche cards at this price tier tend to stay flat unless they spike from a reprint or sudden format relevance, so buy it when you need it and don't expect movement.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.