How To Build A Loot, The Pathfinder Commander Deck In MTG

Loot, the Pathfinder is one of the many legendary creatures introduced in Magic: The Gathering’s Aetherdrift set. The third iteration of Loot also happens to be its best, with versatile abilities to help you do a ton of different effects over the course of a game.

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Loot, the Pathfinder is largely a combo deck, built around constantly blinking Loot so it “forgets” it used its exhaust abilities so you can keep using them. It’s very much a blink deck with various combo lines to close out games. If you’re after a very consistent combo deck, Loot, the Pathfinder is the perfect commander for you.

Decklist

Key Cards

Loot, The Pathfinder

Loot, the Pathfinder is what the entire deck is built around. You have a ton of options for what you can do with Loot, be it ramp quickly, deal some burn damage, or draw three cards. Even without these abilities, Loot has solid keywords to make it great in combat both offensively and defensively.

Generally, you won’t want to or need to use Loot’s burn damage effect, as the combos will do the burn damage for you. In some cases, it can be used to remove a problem creature. Drawing cards helps you quickly get to your combo pieces while adding three mana of any color is the main ability used in various combos.

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Displacer Kitten

The key to just about every combo in the deck, Displacer Kitten is the best card in the 99. The effect to blink a creature when you cast a noncreature spell is phenomenal, and how to consistently reset Loot so you can keep using its exhaust abilities.

Since Displacer Kitten triggers every time you cast a noncreature spell, you can loop it with various other cards, primarily the combo of Isochron Scepter and Dramatic Reversal. These two let you cast an infinite number of copies of Dramatic Reversal which in turn gives you an infinite number of Displacer Kitten triggers.

There is also a combo with Sensei’s Divining Top and The Reality Chip or Mystic Forge that lets you draw your whole deck.

Helm Of The Host

Helm of the Host is the best Equipment for Loot, the Pathfinder as it lets you create multiple copies of it. A copy of Loot will be individual from the original. This means that you can use all the exhaust abilities on the new copy, even if the original had used any of them.

Since Loot’s effects can be used right away, you can immediately use them for whatever you need for any given gamestate. This is one of the times it can be good to use Loot’s burn damage effect, as multiple triggers of it can drain your opponent’s life totals quicker.

Deadeye Navigator

Deadeye Navigator is one of the key combo pieces with Loot, the Pathfinder. You’ll always want to soulbond with Loot, as this allows Loot to easily blink itself. When it returns to the battlefield, you can soulbound it to Deadeye Navigator right away.

While Deadeye Navigator does cost a hefty bit of mana to cast, once it’s on the battlefield you can generally win the game with it. The main combo with Deadeye Navigator and Loot, the Pathfinder is this:

How To Play The Deck

A Loot, the Explorer Commander deck is all about comboing off. You want to get to your combo pieces as quickly as possible, as the sooner you do, the quicker you can win the game. Loot’s ability to draw three cards is an excellent way to get your key cards into your hand, especially when you copy or clone Loot with other cards like Spark Double and Sakashima the Imposter.

Since your combo is so important, counterspells are vital to keeping the combo safe​​​​​​. You also have cards such as Whispersilk Cloak, Lightning Greaves, and Swiftfoot Boots to help give extra layers of protection to your creatures vital to your combos.

The primary win condition is winning through combo. This is done with infinite blink loops with Impact Tremors, Agate Instigator, and Purphoros, God of the Force all dealing infinite burn damage to go along with it. Alternatively, you can win by casting an infinite number of spells to use a maxed-out storm count with Brain Freeze and Grapeshot

The biggest weakness of the deck is its lack of sustainability in combat. There aren’t a ton of creatures in the deck, and most of them exist to help your combos as opposed to keep you defended. Counterspells help control the battlefield somewhat, but it is very hard to defend yourself from a large onslaught of multiple attackers. It’s a race to get your combo off before your opponents take you out of the game.

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