I have no code of ethics. I will steal anything, anywhere. Artifacts, Creatures, Lands. Doesn’t matter. I just love stealin’. Now here I go, writing an article about stealing again. And why not? Stealing is OK in EDH because you give the card back after you use it to ruin their strategy and crush their dreams under your bootheel. It’s very 75% to scale the power level of our deck to the power level of the rest of the decks at the table and it’s easy to do that when your deck is their deck. You take their deck and play against them with it. Can they get mad at you for drawing a bunch of cards with Consecrated Sphinx? No, they can not. You didn’t bring Consecrated Sphinx into this, they did. If they can’t hold onto their Sphinx because you made a more tempting offer, is that your fault? I will answer for you. No. It is not your fault. You built a 75% deck, after all.

Maybe it’s a crutch of mine, but I think my favorite way to build a 75% deck is to be all stealy. “Just call me Stealy Dan, everyone!” I’ll say at the LGS. It really goes over. People say stuff like “yeah, we’re not calling you that” which makes the game fun for everyone. While they’re distracted by my failed attempt to self-apply a nickname, I’m sliding their Hellkite Tyrant that I stole with a Bribery into the red zone and swiping a fistful of artifacts. This is what I call “living the dream.” My ultimate goal is to win the game with a stolen Hellkite Tyrant and 20 stolen artifacts. But what deck can make that happen for me? I’m glad I asked. Observe.

Meet Taigam. His hobbies include dabbling in dark Sultai Magic, dragon-riding and not having Prowess. His pal Narset taught him that if you just attack people, good things will happen. Could Taigam unseat Narset as the ultimate “take extra turns” commander? The fact that you get two walks out of every Time Walk could make that come true. I’m not big into taking extra turns in a deck where I’m trying to steal a ton of goodies, though, so I’ll leave that to Narset and her access to cards like Relentless Assault. Luckily for Taigam, he’s just as good if you only attack once in a turn and we won’t sweat our lack of access to Red. What are we going to do with Red? Play Threaten? Good luck with that, Jack. I’m not giving their cards back until the game is over. How are we going to do that? By getting all up in their personal space.

I want to run as many Sorceries that steal their cards as possible; but, I also want to win the game, so any instants or sorceries that have Rebound or interact with Rebound well will fit in nicely. If you manage to steal one of their spells, that spell will get rebound, also, which is super useful. One copy of Knowledge Exploitation will get you a ton of value this way. Spells that copy spells will be nice, also, so make sure and jam Insidious Will or Twincast or what have you. Run some spells to protect your commander, run some removal, run some other creatures which play nice with Taigam and you should have a stew going, baby! Yes, I totally could have made this deck months ago because there is nothing that was revealed later on that really wants to go in this deck, but I waited patiently anyway. So, I’m itching to get this deck built. How did I do? Let me know in the comments. Now let’s get stepped up to stepping up to my deck.

Dennis Rodman, Ojutai Master ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (1)
• 1 Taigam, Ojutai Master

• Creatures (17)
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1 Daxos of Meletis
• 1 Diluvian Primordial
• 1 Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1 Empress Galina
• 1 Eternal Dragon
• 1 Grand Abolisher
• 1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
• 1 Medomai the Ageless
• 1 Phyrexian Ingester
• 1 Pristine Skywise
• 1 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
• 1 Sphinx Ambassador
• 1 Sunscorch Regent
• 1 Steel Hellkite
• 1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Narset Transcendent
• 1 Venser, the Sojourner

• Instants (10)
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Dig Through Time
• 1 Disallow
• 1 Insidious Will
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Shadow Rift
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (15)
• 1 Artful Dodge
• 1 Blatant Thievery
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Clone Legion
• 1 Expropriate
• 1 Knowledge Exploitation
• 1 Plea for Power
• 1 Research the Deep
• 1 Saheeli's Artistry
• 1 Stolen Goods
• 1 Talent of the Telepath
• 1 Time Warp
• 1 Tragic Arrogance
• 1 Ugin's Insight
• 1 Wrath of God

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 As Foretold
• 1 Dream Halls
• 1 Mind's Dilation
• 1 Reconnaissance
• 1 Rhystic Study

• Artifacts (10)
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Dolmen Gate
• 1 Mirari
• 1 Quietus Spike
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak

• Lands (40)
• 11 Plains
• 15 Island
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Nimbus Maze
• 1 Port Town
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment

Buy This Deck

OooooooWEeee this is a spicy one! You’re going to hit them about the head and shoulders with this one and they’re going to watch you rebound all of the spells. I maybe added too many creatures and you can even add more spells to make sure you get those rebounds every turn.

I included some creatures that I think fit nicely with the enchantments and equipment that make it safe to attack with Taigam all of the time. Thada Adel, Acquisitor and Daxos of Meletis are my main staples for a deck like this, and I added Medomai the Ageless for even more fun. Strap on Quietus Spike or Darksteel Plate and any creature is a persistent threat that can do real damage, and that’s what we like. While there aren’t that many Sorceries that can steal their creatures, we’re playing basically all of them and it’s going to be even tastier when those spells rebound.

What do we think of this brew? It needs some tweaks but is it ready to test? Should I un-cut the Time Walk effects or is it better to use our rebounding to steal their permanents? Do I need more counters, card draw or removal than I’m running? Leave it in the comments section.

I think this is a fun card to build around, and while it doesn’t get much help from the Dragon deck, it is an interesting card that I’m glad they printed and found a way to include in Commander 2017. It could just as easily been left out since it feels like a bit of an afterthought in the Dragon deck, but I’m glad it made the cut. I’m looking forward to serving up some damage and swiping some of their cards. Until next time!