Last updated on January 17, 2025
Unnamed Card Art | Illustration by Chris Seaman
Oh, mascot characters. They have a long tradition in all sorts of media, and often act as Master Decoys for much of a community's discontent. WotC flirted with using Fblthp as MTG's mascot for a bit, but quickly realized their one-eyed inside joke would not withstand the Eyes of the Beholder. Sugar, spice, and everything nice… those were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little mascot. But Professor MTG accidentally added an extra ingredient to the formula; chemical capitalism. Thus, Loot was born.
Who is Loot, Anyways?
Unnamed Card Art | Illustration by Izzy
In the Magic lore canon, Loot is a little orange MacGuffin that was locked away in the vault on Thunder Junction. He is a tiny bipedal beast (that looks kind of like a dragon) with large green eyes, which are perfectly sized to guilt parents into buying plushies. He has telepathic abilities, and uses those to communicate with others. In addition, Loot possesses a seemingly complete knowledge of the Multiverse, and can see planes “returning to life and darkness.” As we saw in the most recent story, he can even use this power to make Omenpaths on the spot!
He first appeared in Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 6: The Ballad of Thieves and Thunderslingers, wherein he was freed from the vault by Jace and Vraska. Jace in particular has plans to use Loot for some kind of larger purpose, possibly to restore the Multiverse to what it was. He was kidnapped by Valgavoth in Duskmourn: House of Horror – Episode 6: Don't Die, and forced to be Winter's prisoner for the Ghirapur Grand Prix. Aetherdrift – Episode 4: Little-Guy Shortcuts saw him escaping Winter's clutches, and interacting with Daretti, Chandra, and Pia Nalaar.
Humble Beginnings
The initial reaction to Loot wasn't nearly as vociferous as some of today's posts. He was mostly seen as an odd novelty on top of another novelty, that being The Big Score. Everything changed however, when the plushie attacked…
The Loot plushie was the beginning of the end of Loot's free ride. Redditors excoriated Loot for this, with one user (who deleted their account) saying: “For a toy company, Hasbro sure is bad at creating cute little marketable characters and then selling toys of them. Loot's visual design on the card needs a lot of work; this design is somehow even worse.” Others questioned who the character even was, or tried assuring themselves that this would be a one-off thing like other plushies. One user even went so far as to post the card art from Greed!
1,600 Redditors Celebrate Loot Hate
Fast forward to today, and anti-Loot prejudice has reached a fever pitch. Yesterday, Hideous Laughter echoed all over Reddit, with over 1,600 people upvoting the poor mascot's fate. Loot's boardroom perfected cuteness was no match for the boundless cynicism of Redditors, who wished they could be the ones pointing the spears in this art. “Is that Loot?” user That_D chimed in, “He looks like a terrible Star Wars character with an offensive accent that George would have chuckled about in an obscure interview. Amazing art design.”
Don't let this fool you into thinking everyone hates Loot. @Dork4Short got over 700 likes on X saying “LET HIM OUT HE'S JUST A LIL GUY,” and there were other sympathetic takes as well. As it turns out, some people still have hearts, and want to protect this adorable little guy from sharp pointy objects.
So… Is Loot on Any Cards?
He is, actually! There have been two printings of Loot so far, Loot, the Key to Everything and Loot, Exuberant Explorer. Given his focus in Aetherdrift so far, a third Loot is likely coming as well.
Loot, the Key to Everything
Loot's Temur version is a tiny card advantage creature that rewards you for having a diverse collection of permanents. It hasn't seen much play in any format, as it has a specific mana cost, tough deckbuilding requirements, and useless stats for combat. Loot, the Key to Everything seems best in Commander, as the relative length of Commander games plays well to this Loot's strengths and mitigates its weakness in combat.
Loot, Exuberant Explorer
The next Loot hasn't been popular either, though it's power level does seem a bit higher. Rather than passively drawing cards, Loot, Exuberant Explorer let's you make land drops quicker, then cheats creatures directly into play with its powerful activated ability. It also has enough toughness to do some actual blocking, unlike Loot, the Key to Everything.
Conclusion
Love Loot or hate him, it does seem like everyone's “favorite” orange friend is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. Time will tell if people soften up to Loot, or if the community's Hatred grows ever more deadly. If you ever see Loot plushies being burned outside a MagicCon, then you'll know we've hit peak Loot Derangement Syndrome. Until next time, may your mascot characters always be beloved!
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