Bala Ged Thief

Creature — Human Rogue Ally

Whenever Bala Ged Thief or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, target player reveals a number of cards from his or her hand equal to the number of Allies you control. You choose one of them. That player discards that card.

Combos

• Bala Ged Thief + MImic Vat

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (30)

Spaghetti_boy on General Tazri's Allies

2 years ago

Personally I would remove Bala Ged Thief and Beastcaller Savant because 1. While Bala Ged Thief is a good card, it doesn't really contribute to your wincons and 2. I would remove Beastcaller Savant because it has a very minimal effect on your board state as a whole(in other words I think that card slot would be used more effectively with a different card). I run a similar setup to you but with less lands without any mana issues if youre worried about that. Gideon's Phalanx is very expensive for the effect that it gives but I respect your choice. If anything you should probably swap Join the Ranks with Unified Front since it does the same thing but better, same with Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves . I'm not sure how much use you get out of Amulet of Vigor but it doesn't seem like it would have a big effect on this deck, maybe consider Darksteel Plate instead. Selfless Glyphweaver  ^Flip could also be a really good choice for on demand indestructible, maybe replace Drana's Emissary .

mfogle on We Are Stronger Together, Brother

5 years ago

This deck has an awesome mana curve. lol literally cannot brick. Seems aggressive enough that it shouldn't have to worry about late game, though some removal options might be useful. If i was to make any recommendations, I could see tightening it down to just two color so you could drop City of Brass (and the price). Maybe replacing Shapeshifter and Battlesinger for something like Drana, Liberator of Malakir , Makindi Patrol , and a 4th Champion of the Parish . Bala Ged Thief could be really good in this deck, but admittedly high on you curve. Really cool deck though, +1 for sure.

KongMing on Unity (An Ally Tribal Deck)

5 years ago

Seems like a great deck! I love playing Allies in Modern too. +1 from me.

What do you do with this deck against UB creature hate? I noticed you don't really have any post-boardwipe options, or ways to protect your field.

Some ideas for you that I use in my Ally deck: Eerie Interlude can not only bounce your whole field, since all the Allies re-enter at the same time you get to trigger all their abilites for as many times as you have Allies. This can get you some big Blademasters or gain you a lot of life with the Clerics.

Other options would be graveyard recursion, like March from the Tomb or Return to the Ranks. The big problem is having enough mana to cast them after your Druid dies - 20 land is too few to be consistent enough to get you the 5 land you need to recover by the time the opponent locks out the board post-wipe (not to mention counterspells...) This may mean splashing black, yes, but it also means you can add key Allies like Hagra Diabolist and Bala Ged Thief, who present alternate paths to victory that don't hinge on combat damage.

If you end up adding some of these spells for recursion's sake, then might I also recommend Bring to Light? If you Converge for 5, you can tutor for March from the Tomb and cast it for free, meaning you only need 1 copy of your recursion spell to have access to it. Then just pack as many Bring to Light's as you want in order to tutor out the spell you need. In fact, if you Converge for 5 with Bring to Light, you can tutor any Ally, Instant, or Sorcery out of your deck and cast them for free.

Last suggestion is Unified Front. It gets you up to 4 Ally ETBs for as little as 4 mana - as an Ally player you should know how swull that can make your board. If you have a Harabaz Druid out, Unified Front's creature generation pays for itself.

ryanhtg91 on MTGOnline

6 years ago

I added Hero of Goma Fada, Bala Ged Thief, and Sea Gate Loremaster.

Sea Gate Loremaster adds an Ally and card advantage. Bala Ged Thief is great because you can really take advantage of multiple Allies entering the battlefield on the same turn, and it can cause discard at instant speed. Hero of Goma Fada is perfect for protecting against some board wipes and protects your creatures when you swing.

I would also recommend looking at Herald’s Horn (ramp of a sort/card advantage), Vanquisher's Banner (card advantage/boosts creatures), Harabaz Druid (ramp/mana fixing/Ally), Chasm Guide (haste is EXTREMELY useful in EDH), Tuktuk Scrapper (artifact removal/damages opponents/Ally), and Vedalken Orrery (makes ALL your Allies have flash!).

The best Allies are the ones that either effect all other Allies (e.g. Hero of Goma Fada) or would really take advantage of multiple Allies/flashed in Allies (e.g. Bala Ged Thief, Tuktuk Scrapper).

Zeromonarch on Tazri: Allied Assault

6 years ago

I don't understand why no one ever suggests Soul Foundry for ally decks. Just exile a Jwari Shapeshifter under it and have Bala Ged Thief on the field, then during opponents draw step tap the foundry for 2 mana and make a copy of any ally and discard their draw at instant speed. Most annoying lock down ever complete XD

an_Elder_Dragon on U/B Ally

6 years ago

This is a pretty awesome deck! I really like the concept of allies! So as far as my suggestions, replace Mind Sculpt with Glimpse the Unthinkable as it has better value for the card cost. Also it might not be too bad of an idea for at least a little hand disruption, which is why Bala Ged Thief could fit nicely into this deck. Rite of Replication is also another possible consideration as it can serve as a REALLY brutal late game win if used on Halimar Excavator. Finally, see if maybe you can add some bounce effects or tokens. Captain's Claws might be good for tokens in this case.

Karzalar on K so all my creatures get:

6 years ago

Some of your allies can be replaced easily by other allies!

Target for replacement : Cliffside Lookout, Expedition Envoy, Goblin Freerunner, Kor Scythemaster, Vizier of Tumbling Sands (Blasphmey, it's not an ally!), Tajuru Pathwarden... and many others, almost all the common quality ones.

What to KEEP in the instants, sorceries, artifacts and enchantments (you can replace the rest) ;

Instants : Swords to Plowshares, Anticipate, Dismember and Oblation.

Sorceries : Bring to Light, March from the Tomb and Sylvan Scrying.

Artifacts : Commander's Sphere, Ghirapur Orrery and Lightning Greaves.

Enchantments : Phyrexian Arena and Retreat to Emeria.

Now that we've cut about 17 cards, what to replace them with?

Here's some suggestions!

Creatures : Jwari Shapeshifter, Kabira Evangel, Sea Gate Loremaster, Turntimber Ranger, Kazuul Warlord, Bala Ged Thief, Harabaz Druid, Munda, Ambush Leader, Veteran Warleader

Ramp/Colorfixing : Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Darksteel Ingot, Prismatic Omen, Cryptolith Rite

Buff : Coat of Arms, Shared Animosity, Beastmaster Ascension

Ally generation : Captain's Claws, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Recursion : Patriarch's Bidding, Aphetto Dredging, Eternal Witness (I know, it's not an Ally, blasphemy! But it's still too good to pass up), Living Death

Removal : Aura Shards, Warstorm Surge

Draw : Shamanic Revelation, Lifecrafter's Bestiary

Planeswalkers : Garruk, Caller of Beasts

I know some of these suggestions are maybe not budget, but the impact they could provide is good nonetheless.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!

TheDuggernaught on ally rule

7 years ago

I will start off by linking the TappedOut Ally Primer. I will also link my 2 current Ally decks Here and Here. I have personally played Allies since the OG Zendikar -- my lists are different from the ones found in the primer and offer a more mid range take on the traditional ally lists you see which are typically much more aggressive.

As for your list specifically, you seem to want to go the aggressive route. As such, cutting the allies that have higher costs will speed up the deck -- as well as the allies that just offer utility. Bala Ged Thief, Agadeem Occultist, Hagra Diabolist, Halimar Excavator, Harabaz Druid, Kazuul Warlord, Ondu Cleric, Sea Gate Loremaster, Seascape Aerialist, Tajuru Archer, and Tuktuk Scrapper would be the allies I would cut -- in addition to Panharmonicon, and Unified Front. In their place, Akoum Battlesinger, Firemantle Mage, Kabira Evangel, Kazandu Blademaster, Oran-Rief Survivalist, Reckless Bushwhacker, Taurean Mauler, and Umara Raptor. Again, these suggestions are for more aggro focused approach. If you are looking for something else, let me know and I can better tailor any advice or answer questions about interactions.