Yesterday, after much anticipation, Wizards of the Coast delivered the latest MTG ban announcement. As expected, the majority of competitive formats weren’t touched, outside of MTG Arena, at least. Thankfully, there were some changes for paper players to enjoy, as Commander got a trio of updates.
While many MTG players expected that Biorhythm would leave the Commander ban list, other changes weren’t as expected. Despite constant calls for change, very few players expected that Lutri, the Spellchaser would actually be unbanned this year. Miraculously, that’s exactly what Wizards decided to do, creating the new “Banned as Companion” category.
Thanks to catching players off guard, it’s safe to say there’s been a rush to pick up copies of Lutri. This, in turn, has created one hell of an overnight price spike. In just 24 hours, the price of Lutri, the Spellchaser has shot up by over 3000%!
MTG Lutri, the Spellchaser
From the moment that it was released, Lutri, the Spellchaser has always been a cheap MTG card. This is thanks to Lutri being pre-banned in Commander from the moment they were spoiled. This was done due to Lutri’s unique Companion condition, which, while interesting for most constructed formats, was trivial to fulfill in Commander.
Thanks to this Lutri, the Spellchaser was essentially a free auto-include within every single Izzet-aligned MTG Commander deck. Subsequently, the Commander Rules Committee decided not just ban the card, but to pre-ban it, to prevent players from investing. While this was a sensible move, outside of their Companion ability, Lutri really isn’t that powerful.
By modern standards, Lutri’s ability to copy an instant or sorcery upon entry is rather tame. Hell, even when this card was released in 2020, Dualcaster Mage had been doing the same thing for six years already. In fact, Dualcaster Mage is arguably just better, since it can also copy spells your opponents cast, and has a more accessible color identity.
With this in mind, Lutri has long felt held back by their Companion ability, as the card is otherwise far from broken. Now, thanks to the “Banned as Companion” rule, this Otter’s potential has finally been unlocked. This puts an infinite combo with Release to the Wind back on the table, alongside plenty of general utility.
Even though Lutri doesn’t enable many combos, demand for this card has still skyrocketed from 0 to 100. This is hardly surprising, considering Lutri has long tormented fans by being just out of reach. Now that they’re finally playable, many MTG players evidently can’t wait to use them in the command zone and the 99.
The Spike
In the past 24 hours, over 1,200 near-mint non-foil copies of Lutri, the Spellchaser have been sold on TCGplayer. Unsurprisingly, this utterly immense spike in demand has put huge strain on the market, causing prices to rise dramatically.
Previously, thanks to a complete lack of demand, copies of Lutri used to sell for around $0.25. Now, however, prices have surged by 3096% as near-mint non-foil copies are selling for $7.99. Unfortunately, while there are still a lot of copies available at this price point, prices are up across the board.
Even if you don’t care about quality, for instance, you’ll still have to shell out $7.95, including shipping. The reprint from March of the Machine’s bonus sheet, Multiverse Legends, is no better either. Currently, near-mint copies of this reprint start at $8.79, and there aren’t any worse-condition copies available for cheaper.
Unsurprisingly, the price of Lutri’s rarer variants has also shot up considerably since the Commander ban announcement. Extended Art copies, for example, are now selling for $15, and Halo Foil Multiverse Legends are selling for around $79. As if that somehow wasn’t expensive enough, serialized copies of Lutri are now listed at $700!
An Optimistic Opportunity
While it’s hardly surprising that MTG players are excited to finally use Lutri, the Spellchaser, this isn’t a $7 card. By comparison, Dualcaster Mage is worth less than $5, although that card has been reprinted a few times. Even with those reprints in mind, however, Lutri is hardly a rare card. After all, there used to be several thousand copies of this card just sitting on store shelves.
Realistically, many of these copies will likely have been bought up by investors looking to capitalize on demand. Considering the amount that Lutri has spiked so far, there’s no denying there was money to be made here. In the longer term, however, it feels incredibly unlikely that Lutri will be a format staple going forward.
Instead, while Lutri will surely feature within a fair few Spellslinger decks, the majority of MTG players don’t need this card. Due to this, I suspect that demand for this Otter will dry up sooner rather than later. Admittedly, it may take a few months for things to die down, but I doubt this’ll be a $7 MTG card forever.
Unfortunately, while a price crash for Lutri, the Spellchaser is expected eventually, in the short term, it may continue spiking. Ultimately, we’ll just have to see what happens in the near future.
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