Thieves' Auction

Sorcery

Set aside all nontoken permanents. Starting with you, each player chooses one of the cards set aside and puts it into play tapped under his or her control. Repeat this process until all those cards have been chosen.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Big Apple Highlander	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
PreDH	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (51)

DreadKhan on Misery in Weasel Form

2 months ago

I find Rite of the Raging Storm does a lot of work in a Chaos type deck, it also makes sure opponents have some defenses up (or they're going to get swamped by 5/1 Trample tokens), extra good with some kind of Goad effect.

My all time favorite Chaos effect is probably Thieves' Auction, this is extra good if you run cards that don't care about who controls them, they'll go last and odds are someone else will get stuck with it, and the effects continue! You get to pick first, so you'll always get the best thing.

Static Orb is one of the crazier Stax pieces, and it's got huge synergy with your Commander IMHO because you don't need mana to cheat out your next crazy effect, just to swing! You could also try Winter Orb, but Static Orb changes the game FAR more (fwiw both out is also great for obvious reasons). Not many people remember Smoke at this point, but it's a reasonably strong effect. Silent Arbiter would be pretty funny with your Commander, you're much harder to swarm AND nobody can block your Commander!

I'm not sure if you enjoying sharing your fun, but I've had a blast using Allure of the Unknown, usually I give the player who's behind a free spell, this is especially useful if you're using spells/effects that are symmetrical.

Oh, since this list should mulligan INCREDIBLY well, how about Winds of Change? If you play this turn one before everyone else goes then you will have DRAMATICALLY changed the game without having risked much yourself, since you simply need 2 more mana to cast your Commander, one of them Black.

KongMing on "You've Heard of Chaos Theory?"

1 year ago

Thanks for the comment and reading the description bjgivesbj! Yeah, Forced Fruition is great at flooding people with options while simultaneously functioning as a one-sided doomsday device.

I have considered Mind's Dilation and Well of Ideas before, but I haven't included them for the same reason I haven't included Eye of the Storm, they're just a little high on the CMC. I might consider putting Mind's Dilation in, but the other two are too high cost to be that symmetrical.

I have considered Grip of Chaos, but it introduces just a tiny bit too much chaos for this deck. This deck functions best when its Disruption is reliable, and Grip of Chaos just messes with our plan too much.

Cultural Exchange might work, since often this deck doesn't care about who controls the creature (like Ian), just that they are on the battlefield. But I don't know, it might be too situational to be good. (I do use this card in my Xyris deck, great in that.)

Storm Cauldron is interesting - it means if people take lands out of a Share the Spoils or Thieves' Auction pile, that those lands would end up going back to their owner. Possibly... But this might attract too much aggro our way, without us being able to actually shut down reliable play.

Shared Fate is interesting at first, but that would just turn into everyone putting the gun to my head and exiling my library when I force them to draw a bunch (like with Forced Fruition. They cast two spells and exile fourteen cards from my library? And then cast Pongify from those cards to get seven more? HA!). It has WAY too much potential to backfire once people realize what they can do. Nope.

bjgivesbj on "You've Heard of Chaos Theory?"

1 year ago

Hi! I can tell by the way you speak and by the cards you considered that you really love this deck! Glad to hear your playgroup enjoys it. I had never heard of Thieves' Auction before, and it looks absolutely wild. It’s fairly affordable too. Forced Fruition is another great addition too. As for as other forms of randomization, it’s too bad coin flipping has never been that good in MTG (otherwise I would recommend some coin flippage). Had you considered Mind's Dilation, Well of Ideas Grip of Chaos, Cultural Exchange, Storm Cauldron, or Shared Fate?

Flarhoon13 on Everybody Hates Zedruu

1 year ago

May 3, 2024, I started a new quest. Having built 52 decks, I endeavoured to play them all, in roughly the same order as I created them. July 26

Everybody Hates Zedruu Won, record goes to 17 - 22 -1.Thieves' Auction let me draw 17ish cards with Zedruu over a couple turns. Drew into Felidar Guardian and Saheeli Rai after a couple turns. Well, that wins the game. Had Gift of Immortality plus Tragic Arrogance, which killed 2 of Mira's Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Detention Sphere got the remaining Sakashima of a Thousand Faces "Ulamog." Win percentage goes to .436

DreadKhan on What makes a card or …

1 year ago

I like to build some fairly toxic Commander decks, though I try to warn people if a deck dips too deeply into any of the elements I've noticed that cause toxicity. In Commander most people consider decks that take away player agency to be toxic, so that includes; -excessive permanent removal (clearing each opponent's board repeatedly, or Obliterate/Jokulhaups) -things that limit what you can do (like Rule of Law or Collector Ouphe) -excessively pushed Commanders in Casual (stuff where they throw Ward on for no reason, most of these are also the payoff and enabler in one card) -Chaos effects that turn the game on it's head (Thieves' Auction and Grip of Chaos for example) -stuff that prevents untapping (Static Orb and Winter Orb) -stealing everything strategies (flickering Agent of Treachery infinitely, Insurrection late game) -excessive discard (multiple Necrogen Mists and Bottomless Pit effects) -'win on the spot' effects that don't have an upkeep trigger (there is a few of these on the banlist, like Biorhythm and Coalition Victory) -counter everything strategies (Dovescape) -overly efficient tutoring (Zur the Enchanter *f-etch* fetching out Necropotence, and people are weirdly salty about Vampiric Tutor) -faster elimination strategies that encourage you to target a specific opponent (think anything Infect, and lower to the ground Voltron decks) -I think the last one I can think of is optional tax effects that encourage people to screw their pod and play into the Rhystic Study, if the tax is just a tax, like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben people tend not to mind as much, it's the ability to king make if you're dumb.

In 1v1 I don't think it really matters, unless you only have 1 deck to play kitchen table with just changing decks should generate enough novelty to avoid the build up of bad feelings, and if you're playing competitively it's your call if you want to play nightmarish stuff like Nadu, or something traditionally 'fun' like Aggro... only if everyone plays decks that aren't fun, more people will quit, so it's a 'tragedy of the commons' scenario too if you have a fairly small meta each player needs 'fun to play against' decks, even for 1v1.

DreadKhan on Painful chaos

1 year ago

I have a Rakdos deck that's trying to do some similar things, I leaned into creatures that could double as removal, some games you can eliminate a player by resolving an early Dwarven Miner/Dwarven Blastminer, Tsabo Tavoc is a hilarious card in a Commander game, Olivia Voldaren and Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief make very good use of late game mana and can create a whole mess of trouble, maybe War Cadence is a very political card I love to try to sneak into decks, the really sweet part is you can use it on an opponent's attack to help THEM get in, and an Archenemy is tapped out that means you only need to spend {1} to make everything unblockable... it's a real skill testing card IMHO. Rite of the Raging Storm can kill off any opponents that don't have blockers, and it survives most Wraths. It's also a sacrifice effect when it dies, so it works with Mayhem Devil without support. Even without it's combo I find Exquisite Blood can be an amazing card, it's hilarious with Protection Racket out! If you want things to get chaotic/people to have to make choices you might like some of the Dr. Who stuff, the only card I personally use is Ensnared by the Mara, which isn't too jarring IMHO, most people wouldn't realize it's Universes Beyond at a Glance IMHO. Humble Defector is a fun card even if you don't run ways to kill him off right after he changes hands, some players will agree to trade him back even! Din of the Fireherd and Fevered Suspicion are pretty chaotic effects, though some people will really get up in arms if you take away more than a couple lands! Speaking of taking a couple lands, Volcanic Offering is hilarious IMHO.

Rakdos isn't the ideal colours to make him pop but I still like Brash Taunter, he's also great with anything that gives him lifelink, but it's surprising value if you can resolve something like Scavenged Brawler on Taunter, it's worth noting that Brawler would also help turn Vial Smasher into a much better threat/life source.

Finally, have you thought about some auctions, maybe Thieves' Auction or Illicit Auction? 5 mana to maybe not get a creature isn't amazing, but in practice if you ever have the most life it's just 5 mana to steal whichever creature you want! Thieves' Auction is a good card if you have a lot of permanents that work just by being out (like symmetrical chaos effects), but it's also decent if you don't run an especially sturdy board (since you pick first!), I've had situations where nothing on my board was taken until everyone else's boards were taken, my cards were that bad! Such a great feeling to get value out of stuff like Thieves' Auction.

I like the idea of your list here, you might get a kick out of my Pavel the Mighty, Hero We Deserve list, it's a Chaos deck that overflows with pet cards!

SufferFromEDHD on Tsabo Tavoc Havoc

1 year ago

Damn you Mary Sue!

Scavenged Brawler incredible suggestion. I'm trying to keep the deck creatureless but this is definitely worth bending the rules for. Eternal Warrior might be worth considering too.

Starke of Rath I see your angle. Flavor, lore, tap effect and the decks lack of creatures. I'm gonna chew on this one.

Wow. I love jank and I never really use Thieves' Auction because it feels to random. Your analysis makes this seem like an underused EDH bomb. My deck is very symmetrical so if they steal my stuff it's still mine :) Clever!

You successfully got me to add a creature to my creatureless list. Fantastic suggestions DreadKhan

DreadKhan on Tsabo Tavoc Havoc

1 year ago

I think part of why you don't see as many is how dirty Tsabo was done in the lore, lots of villains are screwed over, but she's literally Protection from Legends and got taken out by a bunch of Legendary Mary Sue characters. It's nice to see a list where she's a right terror, as she deserves to be!

As one of the better sources of vigilance I feel like Scavenged Brawler might be a fun card in here, you'd mostly use it for the counters. Interestingly it'd be really good on either Tsabo or Kaervek, and the 4/4 creature version can be more impactful than expected, and it literally means nothing to lose it because it's better in the bin. I kinda like the idea of Starke of Rath in here as a 'backup' Commander, one that can come out pretty early potentially. In my limited experience with the card people tend to go after creatures first, and you don't run other creatures.

I'm not sure if it would work as well in here, but my Rakdos list gets a surprising amount of mileage out of Thieves' Auction, you obviously hold it up until someone else has something you want (you go first), but you also wait until you have nothing worth taking but lands/mana rocks, you can steal the best card each cycle of choices, and unless someone else is on the same colours they don't have any interest in your mana. The best decks for Thieves' Auction use a lot of cards that don't care who controls them, because they're symmetrical or are something like an Aura that applies an effect to something else and can't take any actions, if you end up with a board where you don't care about any of your permanents and can snag a WILDLY better board it feels pretty awesome.