Live Play Data

Basilisk Collar

· Artifact — Equipment · Foundations (FDN)

Deck Inclusion

Games Tracked

140

Decks Running

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

76%

Decks that cast Basilisk Collar win 54.6% of the time in Playgroup Live games, versus 32.0% when it sits in the library all game. That +22.6-point delta is one of the largest early signals we track.

Basilisk Collar sits in just 4.2% of tracked Commander decks, but when it resolves, the win-rate gap is striking: 54.6% win rate when cast versus 32.0% when it never leaves the library. That +22.6-point delta is a directional signal, not a proven causal claim, but it is consistent with what the card actually does: turning any pingers or combat creatures into deathtouch-and-lifelink threats that demand an immediate answer.

The draw-to-play rate of 71% tells a clean story. When Basilisk Collar reaches a player's hand, they cast it seven times out of ten before the game ends. The median wait after drawing is zero turns, meaning players most often slam it the same turn they find it. The other 29% is largely a timing and game-length effect rather than a deliberate hold.

At colorless and just one mana to cast, Basilisk Collar slots into any Commander deck regardless of color identity. The top commanders running it lean heavily on redundant small-damage effects: Ghyrson Starn and similar pinger-style commanders turn deathtouch into a board wipe in a collar, making this a narrow but high-impact include in the right shell.

At a glance

4.2% inclusion rate across tracked Commander decks
+22.6 percentage-point win-rate lift when cast vs. sitting in library
71% of drawn Basilisk Collars get cast before the game ends
T5 median first-cast turn
95.5% battlefield stickiness once it resolves
70% of drawn-and-cast instances were played the same turn they were drawn

First-cast turn

n=31

10%

19%

13%

35%

T6-9

T10+

Median 5 P25 3 · P75 7 · max 11

On curve 10% (3 / 31 cast on T1) Cast same turn as drawn 71%

The "good card" funnel

156 brought

Brought to game

156

Ever drawn

Reached battlefield

Still on board at game end

76%

131 Basilisk Collars were brought to tracked games; 28 were drawn, 22 of those were cast, and 21 were still on the battlefield when the game ended, a tight chain that shows the card converts drawing into casting and casting into staying.

+20.9pp

Players who cast this card win 55% of the time (n=31) , vs 34% when it never left the library (n=112).

Final zone distribution

156 instances

71.8%

Library

17.9%

Battlefield

5.1%

Graveyard

1.3%

Exile

97 of 131 Basilisk Collars never left the library, the expected outcome for a 4.2%-inclusion singleton in a 100-card deck. The 21 still on the battlefield at game end reflect its high stickiness once it resolves.

Top commanders running this card

by deck count

The top two commanders account for 12 and 11 decks respectively, a concentration that points to a specific pinger-synergy niche rather than broad adoption across the meta.

Frequently Asked

How often is Basilisk Collar drawn in a Commander game? ▾

Basilisk Collar was drawn in 28 of the 131 instances it was brought to a tracked game, a draw rate of 21.4%. That is typical for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of those 28 drawn instances, 22 were cast before the game ended, giving a draw-to-play rate of 71.4%. The sample is small, so treat both numbers as directional rather than definitive.

Does casting Basilisk Collar actually improve your chances of winning? ▾

What we see so far says yes, meaningfully. The win rate in participations where the Collar was cast is 54.6% (12 wins in 22 casts), compared to 32.0% (31 wins in 97 participations) when it stayed in the library all game. The +22.6-point delta is one of the larger gaps in our dataset. Both buckets have reasonable observation counts, but 22 casts is still a small sample. The signal is consistent with the card's power level: deathtouch plus lifelink on a creature that already pings or attacks changes combat math decisively.

What turn does Basilisk Collar typically hit the battlefield? ▾

The median first-cast turn is 5, with a mean of 5.36. The interquartile range runs from turn 4 to turn 7. Only 2 of 22 observed casts happened on turn 1, which makes sense because a turn-1 line requires drawing the Collar in the opening hand and having a creature ready to equip. The equip cost of 2 mana means the full package usually comes online around turns 4 through 6.

Why is Basilisk Collar so strong in Commander specifically? ▾

Commander games run longer than most formats, giving equipment time to move between creatures and accumulate value. Deathtouch makes any creature a lethal blocker and discourages attacks, while lifelink in a multiplayer format translates into substantial life totals over many combat steps. The combination also has synergy with pingers: any creature that deals 1 damage to any target, combined with deathtouch, can kill any creature without involving combat at all. That is why the top commanders pairing with the Collar are pinger-centric decks like Ghyrson Starn.

Is Basilisk Collar legal in Commander? ▾

Yes. Basilisk Collar is legal in Commander and has no color identity, meaning it is eligible for any deck regardless of commander color. It is also legal in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and most other sanctioned formats. It is not legal in Pauper or Pauper Commander because it is a rare.

How sticky is Basilisk Collar once it resolves? ▾

Very. Of the 22 cast instances, 21 ended in the final-zone snapshot on the battlefield, giving a battlefield stickiness of 95.5%. That is higher than most permanents in the dataset. Equipment is inherently resilient because it stays on the battlefield when the equipped creature dies, so opponents typically need a dedicated artifact-removal spell to answer it rather than just killing the creature.