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Animate Dead card art
Live Play Data

Animate Dead

{1} {B} · Enchantment — Aura · Secrets of Strixhaven Commander (SOC)
8%
Live Inclusion
Buy on TCGplayer
Times Brought
840
Decks Running
466
Median Cast Turn
7
Drawn → Played
58%
Format
Multiplayer 1v1

Animate Dead is in 8% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live, cast at a median turn 7, and games where it resolved show a +10.5 percentage-point win-rate lift over games where it stayed in the library.

Animate Dead sits in 8% of the 5812 Commander decks tracked on Playgroup Live, a focused niche for a card legal in the format since its earliest days. Across 779 multiplayer games, it has been brought to the table 847 times, drawn 217 times, and cast 125 times.

When a copy reaches a player's hand, it converts to a cast spell 58% of the time. The median first cast lands on turn 7, noticeably later than the card's 2-mana cost would suggest. That gap is structural: Animate Dead needs a relevant creature in a graveyard before it does anything, so players wait for the right target rather than deploying it on curve. The 2% on-curve rate confirms this. Of drawn copies, 35% are cast the same turn they are drawn, which is consistent with a card that players hold until the graveyard is stocked.

The cast win rate sits at 36%, against 25% when the card never left the library. That +10.5 percentage-point gap is a directional positive signal across a well-sampled base of 123 cast observations and 530 library observations. The data spread is healthy: 372 distinct players have brought the card to tracked games, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for just 2% of instances.

At a glance
  • 8% of tracked Commander decks include Animate Dead
  • T7 median first-cast turn, well behind the 2-mana cost
  • 58% of drawn copies reach the battlefield as a cast spell
  • 2% on-curve cast rate, reflecting deliberate target-waiting
  • 45% battlefield stickiness once the Aura resolves
  • +10.5pp win-rate lift when cast vs. staying in the library

First-cast turn

n=125
1%
T1
2%
T2
2%
T3
11%
T4
14%
T5
53%
T6-9
18%
T10+
Median 7 P25 5 · P75 8 · max 18
On curve 2% (2 / 125 cast on T2) Cast same turn as drawn 35%

The "good card" funnel

847 brought · 372 players
Brought to game
847
Ever drawn
217
Reached battlefield
125
Still on board at game end
56
58%

Of 847 Animate Dead copies brought to games, 217 were drawn, 125 of those were cast, and roughly 45% of resolved copies survived to game end on the battlefield.

≥ +2.4pp

Players who cast this card win 36% of the time (n=123) , vs 25% when it never left the library (n=530).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 29% (n=87) — 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 +10.5pp; 95% confidence interval +2.4pp to +18.7pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

261 instances
1.9%
Library
21.5%
Battlefield
40.2%
Graveyard
10.0%
Exile

Most copies of Animate Dead finish in the graveyard or on the battlefield, with very few stranded in the library, reflecting that the card is typically cast whenever it is drawn into a game with a live target.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

Killian, Decisive Mentor heads the list with a substantial lead, but Animate Dead spreads across graveyard-matters, reanimator, and creature-heavy archetypes spanning several color combinations.

Frequently Asked

How often is Animate Dead drawn in a Commander game?
In 779 tracked multiplayer games where Animate Dead was in the deck, it was drawn 26% of the time. That is consistent with singleton 100-card variance. Of the 217 copies that reached a player's hand, 58% were cast before the game ended. The remainder is largely a game-length or timing effect rather than a deliberate hold.
Why is the median cast turn so late for a 2-mana card?
Animate Dead requires a worthwhile creature in a graveyard to function. Players routinely hold it until they have the right target, so the median first cast lands on turn 7 despite the card costing only 2 mana. The 2% on-curve rate confirms that almost no one slams it on turn 2. The 35% same-turn cast rate suggests that once the target appears, players move quickly.
Does casting Animate Dead actually improve your win odds?
Early data says yes, directionally. Games where Animate Dead resolved show a win rate of 36% across 123 observations. Games where it stayed in the library show 25% across 530 observations. The +10.5 percentage-point delta is a consistent positive signal at this sample size. Call it directional rather than definitive, but the trend is clear.
Is Animate Dead banned anywhere?
Animate Dead is legal in Commander, Duel Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Oathbreaker, and Premodern. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Pauper, Brawl, Alchemy, or Timeless. Its power level has never triggered a Commander ban, because while the card is strong, dedicated combo lines using it require setup that multiplayer pods can interact with.
Which commanders run Animate Dead most often?
Killian, Decisive Mentor leads the tracked list by a wide margin, followed by Kaalia of the Vast and Henzie 'Toolbox' Torre. The spread across 372 distinct players and multiple commander archetypes indicates broad appeal rather than a single spike deck distorting the numbers.
How sticky is Animate Dead once it resolves?
45% of resolved Animate Dead copies remain on the battlefield at game end. That figure is lower than many permanents, which makes sense: the Aura is a removal target, and losing it forces the controller to sacrifice the reanimated creature. Graveyard is the most common non-library final zone, reflecting both targeted removal of the Aura and its use as a deliberate sacrifice outlet in some builds.