MTG Players Unlock Potential of Underpowered Niche Artifact

Last updated on August 8, 2025

Legion Extruder (Thunder Junction – The Big Score) – art by Kev Fang

It's been a hectic week in the Magic card market – from the one and only legendary lobster Ragost, Deft Gastronaut from Edge of Eternities making space food really expensive and Inspirit, Flagship Vessel guzzling all the charge counters in the system, to Final Fantasy commanders showing they still run that the town… and one of Final Fantasy's Town becoming one of the most-played lands in Standard!

So when you see Legion Extruder going sky-high this week, it's easy to assume it's either because it plays well in space, or because it's got synergy with one of the many, many Final Fantasy legendaries. But, in this case, the story seems a bit more complicated.

Legion Extruder's Price Spike

Ragost, Deft Gastronaut – art by Zack Stella

Legion Extruder is a mythic rare found in the Big Score bonus sheet from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. While not exactly bulk-bin material (the regular copy, illustrated by Anton Solovianchyk, has never been below $1, and at times has fluctuated between $2 and $3), it had never reached $5. Yet last week it shot all the way up to $10 in US markets, a 500% increase in seven days.

Source: MTGStocks – Legion Extruder, regular version

This huge increase in price was heralded by the Showcase version, illustrated by Kev Fang, which started moving upward a few days earlier: from about $7 in late July to around $15 last weekend, and another push to around $35 during this week – again, a 500% increase in a bit more than a week.

Source: MTGStocks – Legion Extruder, showcase version

So, who's so interested in this red artifacts that loves sacking other artifacts?

Is Ragost Cooking?

Ragost, Deft Gastronaut is hands claws down the most popular Commander from Edge of Eternities, even outpacing the commanders from the EDH precons. He's a very particular Boros commander, loving to turn artifacts into food, and as we reported in the last few weeks he's behind several food-related cards spiking.

But… he doesn't seem to be the chef here.

For starters, Legion Extruder and Ragost have a bit of an anti-synergy here: they both want to sac the artifacts themselves (rather than triggering when you sac an artifact by other means). The Extruder does create a new artifact that Ragost can add to his stew, and there's an argument for having a bit of redundancy in your decks: If your opponents remove Ragost, and your deck is all about sacrificing artifacts, then Legion Extruder could be a good plan B.

But still, numbers on EDHREC are not convincing…

Source: EDHREC – Legion Extruder play rate

… with less than 100 Ragost decks (representing about 2% of lobster dishes) play Legion Extruder.

Doesn't seem enough to cause such a huge price spike.

New Standard Staple?

While a niche card, Legion Extruder has seen a bit of competitive play in Standard – it even made it to Top 32 on the Pro Tour Aetherdrift in Chicago, with Rémi Roudier piloting Izzet Control and packing four copies of Legion Extruder alongside another well-known Big Score card: Simulacrum Synthesizer.

And, this week, a rogue Jeskai Control with 4x Legion Extruder and 4x Weapons Manufacturing reached the finals of an MTGO Challenge 32.

Source: MTGO

Definitely an interesting deck that we'll keep an eye on going forward as the new Standard metagame shapes up post-rotation. Based on mtgdecks data, it appears that this archetype could be gaining steam.

Pioneer Play, Perhaps?

There's one very dedicated player on MTGO, who goes by the Hernan72 moniker, who seems determined to make Izzet Artifacts a thing in Pioneer…

Source: MTGTop8

… and they often bring Legion Extruder to the fray. But although it shows this red artifact is not a meme, it's not exactly taking over Pioneer, either.

So… What Will Happen With Legion Extruder's Price?

Aurelia, the Law Above (Murders at Karlov Manor) – art by Barbara Rosiak

Well… that's a good question!

Our usual caveat at this point is that this is not investment advice – but in this case it's clear you should do your own research if you're considering buying or selling Legion Extruder, since there doesn't seem to be a clear-cut reason for this price spike.

Legion Extruder‘s supply is certainly pretty scarce, given that it's a mythic rare from a bonus sheet. And, while always in fringe decks, it does see competitive play in several formats, so it's a good Magic card overall.

But there doesn't seem to be an avalanche of new decks drying up the market. And Legion Extruder doesn't seem to have much synergy with any Spider-Man or Avatar card that we know of.

If you find out what's going on, let us know what's up – after you're done doing business, of course!