Thieving Magpie

Thieving Magpie first appeared in the Urza's Destiny expansion in 1999, designed as a classic blue creature that rewarded the player with card advantage whenever it dealt combat damage. The mechanic, often referred to as 'pinging' or 'curiosity' effects, became a staple of blue control decks, embodying the color's thematic obsession with acquiring knowledge and resources through cleverness rather than brute force.

The Tenth Edition version, released in 2007, featured artwork by Greg Staples. As part of the first modern-era core set to include modernized frames and a curated selection of reprints, this version brought the creature to a new generation of players. Staples' illustration depicts the magpie as a cunning, jewel-eyed bird, leaning into the creature's lore as a collector of shiny objects, a visual interpretation that became the definitive look for the card in subsequent years.