Live Play Data

Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff

· Legendary Creature — Halfling Rogue · The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR)

12%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

943

Decks Running

484

Median Cast Turn

5.0

Drawn → Played

71%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

38% of games where Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff resolved ended in a win for the caster, a +13.9 percentage-point lift over the 24% baseline seen in decks where he never left the library.

Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff sits in 12% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live, a focused niche for a mythic that punishes every second spell cast by any player. Across 895 tracked games he has been cast 180 times, producing a clear and consistent performance signal.

The win-rate story is the most notable data point so far. Games where Lotho reached the battlefield show a +13.9 percentage-point lift over games where he stayed in the library, and the lower bound of that confidence interval sits above zero, making this one of the stronger directional signals in the dataset. At a median first-cast turn of 5.0, he arrives mid-game, when opponents' spell-per-turn rates are highest and Treasure generation is at its most productive.

His Orzhov color identity ({W}{B}) keeps him in a well-supported slice of the commander meta. Mr. House, Frodo, and Y'shtola lead the commander list, reflecting both Treasure synergy and Hobbit-flavored tribal builds. With 430 unique players contributing to the dataset and a single-player concentration well below 10%, the numbers are spread across a genuine player base rather than a handful of repeat contributors.

At a glance

12% of tracked Commander decks include Lotho
38% win rate in games where Lotho resolved
+13.9pp win-rate lift over the library baseline, lower bound above zero
T5.0 median first-cast turn
71% of drawn Lothos reached the battlefield before the game ended
45% battlefield stickiness once cast

First-cast turn

n=180

18%

11%

10%

11%

32%

T6-9

11%

T10+

Median 5.0 P25 2 · P75 7 · max 17

On curve 26% (33 / 180 cast on T2) Cast same turn as drawn 41%

The "good card" funnel

943 brought · 430 players

Brought to game

943

Ever drawn

252

Reached battlefield

180

Still on board at game end

71%

Of 943 Lothos brought to games, 252 were drawn, 180 of those were cast, and 45% of cast copies survived to end of game.

≥ +6.3pp

Players who cast this card win 38% of the time (n=171) , vs 24% when it never left the library (n=575).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 35% (n=65) — about the same as leaving it in the library. Those players survived long enough to draw it, so the gap above is about the card resolving, not just about surviving.

Observed gap +13.9pp; 95% confidence interval +6.3pp to +21.5pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

291 instances

1.4%

Library

28.9%

Battlefield

36.4%

Graveyard

13.1%

Exile

Most Lotho copies end the game somewhere other than the library, an early signal that he gets drawn and interacted with at a higher rate than a typical singleton in a 100-card deck.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The commander list spans Treasure synergy builds and broad Orzhov value engines, with no single commander claiming a dominant share, reflecting how widely Lotho fits across the {W}{B} meta.

Card text

Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff

Legendary Creature — Halfling Rogue

Whenever a player casts their second spell each turn, you lose 1 life and create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with " {T}

, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")

2 / 1

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR) · Rare · Illustrated by Ilker Yildiz

Frequently Asked

How often is Lotho drawn and cast in a Commander game?

Across 895 tracked games, Lotho was drawn 252 times from 943 deck participations, giving a draw rate of 27%. That is consistent with a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of those drawn copies, 71% were cast before the game ended. The median first-cast turn is 5.0, with the mode landing on turn 2, suggesting players who open with him move quickly.

Does casting Lotho actually improve your win rate?

In 171 game participations where Lotho was cast, the normalized win rate was 38%. In 575 participations where he never left the library, it was 24%. The +13.9 percentage-point difference has a lower confidence bound above zero, which is an unusually clean signal for this dataset size. It is directional, not definitive, but it is consistent with what you would expect from a card that generates mana and incremental advantage every time any player casts a second spell.

What commanders run Lotho most often?

Mr. House, President and CEO leads the multiplayer data with the most decks, followed by Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit and Y'shtola, Night's Blessed. The spread reflects two distinct builds: Treasure-synergy shells (Mr. House, Vihaan, Kambal, Profiteering Mayor) and Orzhov or Esper value engines that want a cheap repeatable source of mana and incremental life loss. The commander list is well-distributed, with no single commander dominating the sample.

How sticky is Lotho once he hits the battlefield?

45% of cast Lothos were still on the battlefield at end of game. That is a moderate stickiness figure, which makes sense for a 2-mana legendary creature in a removal-heavy format. The final zone distribution also shows a meaningful exile count, suggesting opponents prioritize answering him cleanly when they can.

Is Lotho legal in Commander?

Yes. Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff is legal in Commander. He is also legal in Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and several other formats. He is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, or Pauper Commander.

How concentrated is the Lotho data across players?

430 distinct players have brought Lotho to a tracked game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for a small fraction of total instances. That spread is a meaningful strength for a card at this inclusion rate. The data reflects genuine play diversity rather than one or two prolific contributors skewing the numbers.