After months of buildup, preview season for Aetherdrift, the first Magic set of 2025, is fully underway. As always, Wizards didn’t hold back on this one. We saw a huge number of new cards today, which showcased the myriad art styles and mechanics of the set beautifully. One of these new MTG mechanics is the once-per-game Exhaust, exemplified best in the very spicy Loot, the Pathfinder.
Wizards has been pushing Loot hard as a mascot for the game over the past year. This has mostly had the opposite effect, with many players feeling irrational hatred towards the diminutive orange critter. Competitively, neither of Loot’s previous incarnations made much of an impact, either. This one could well be the exception, however. The abilities on show here aren’t just good: they’re comparable to some of the most broken cards in MTG history.
Loot, The Pathfinder MTG
- Mana Value: 2GUR
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Beast Noble
- Stats: 2/4
- Card Text: Double Strike, Vigilance, Haste.
Exhaust – G, Tap: Add three mana of any one color. (Activate each exhaust ability only once.)
Exhaust – U, Tap: Draw three cards.
Exhaust – R, Tap: Loot deals 3 damage to any target.
There’s a ton to unpack here. Loot, the Pathfinder is a five-mana creature that demands three different colors to cast, so it needs to be pretty special to be worthy of consideration in MTG. Thankfully, it very much is. Loot’s stats and keywords start things off on a solid base. Swinging in for four on turn five isn’t super-exciting, but you’re in green so doing so on three or four instead isn’t out of the question. The Vigilance/Haste combo also allows you to attack and use Loot’s abilities right away, which is crucial.
These abilities are the main reason to run Loot at all. They’re all Exhaust abilities, which means you can only use them ‘once per game.’ This sounds like a major downside, but it doesn’t apply if you blink or bounce Loot and start a new instance of him. Keep this in mind going forward, as it’s key to the card’s appeal.
For one green mana, Loot can produce three mana of any one color. Sound familiar? Yup, that’s pretty much the exact text of Black Lotus, the most iconic broken Magic card of all time. Granted Lotus didn’t cost any mana to use, so it’s more like a cross between that and Dark Ritual. In any case, it’s a very powerful ability.
The other two are fantastic as well. For one blue, Loot can essentially cast Ancestral Recall and draw three cards. For one red, they can cast Lightning Bolt and deal three damage to any target. That’s a lot of eternal-level power on one card. With so many options, Loot feels a lot like a planeswalker. Whether you want removal, mana, or card advantage, they’ve got you covered.
Stocks In Standard?
Loot, the Pathfinder is certainly an eye-catching design, but does it have the goods to compete in real MTG formats? I think so, specifically with regard to Standard and Commander. While Standard is quite a speedy format right now, Loot could well be good enough to find a home regardless.
The most likely home for Loot among the current meta decks is probably Domain Ramp. Tools like Leyline of the Guildpact and Overlord of the Hauntwoods make Loot’s color requirements trivial. The deck also generates a lot of mana, which makes playing Loot and immediately using an ability pretty likely from the mid-game onwards. Domain Ramp doesn’t have any tricksy ways to get multiple uses out of Loot’s abilities, so it would just be a solid value card in the deck. Given how flexible and powerful it is, however, I think that’s fine.
In terms of decks that can get tricksy and repeat Loot’s abilities, the current bounce strategies in Standard come to mind. These are typically in Dimir or Esper colors, so significant structural changes would be necessary to accommodate our furry friend. That said some of the best self-bounce cards in Standard, like Fear of Isolation and This Town Ain’t Big Enough, are in blue. These let you reset your Loot and reuse its abilities, which is pretty stellar.
Alternatively, Loot plays very nicely with notorious combo enabler Agatha’s Soul Cauldron. If you can exile Loot from your graveyard with Cauldron, you’ll suddenly have access to three very broken effects pretty much whenever you want. Mono-Blue decks trying something similar with Arcanis the Omnipotent showed up in Standard around the release of Foundations, but never really took off. Perhaps Loot can push the archetype into the spotlight.
A New Commander Classic
Loot, the Pathfinder may or may not find a home in Standard, but it’s pretty much guaranteed a spot in Commander. This is the kind of card that can easily lead decks itself, while also slotting neatly into the 99 if you so wish.
As a Commander, Loot will play best with cards that can abuse their abilities. Cards like Lithoform Engine, which double down on those juicy activated abilities, are a great place to start. You’ll also want to include ways to blink or bounce loot, such as Conjurer’s Closet. Displacer Kitten is a particularly good option here and can lead to some infinite combos if you line things up right.
In a shell with cards like these, Loot becomes a powerful enabler for pretty much any kind of combo. They provide all the mana and draw you need to reach your goal and burn in a pinch. Alternatively, you can leverage Loot’s sizable keyword stack and go down the Voltron route. Haste and Double Strike are two abilities you rarely see bundled together and paired with a Whispersilk Cloak and some other Equipment/Auras you can really do some damage. With all the extra draw Loot offers, you can compensate for how fragile such strategies often are, too.
In the 99, Loot is the ultimate support card. Whatever situation you’re in, they can likely help in some way. Drawing three cards for one mana is always fantastic, but Loot can also remove pesky utility creatures or ramp you into a huge threat when needed. If your deck runs Temur colors, chances are there’s something you can cut for this card. Maybe this version will finally be enough to sway all the Loot haters.