Live Play Data

Battlefield Forge

Land · Secrets of Strixhaven Commander (SOC)

33%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

1888

Decks Running

981

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

78%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

Battlefield Forge sits in 33% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live, and 78% of drawn copies reach the battlefield, with a median first-cast turn of 4.

Battlefield Forge is a Boros staple that earns its slot in roughly one in three tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live. At 33% inclusion across 2948 distinct tracked decks, it is one of the most-played pain lands in the red-white slice of the format.

The play pattern is straightforward: when a copy reaches a player's hand, 78% of those copies are played before the game ends. Median first play lands on turn 4, though the mode is turn 1, which reflects how often it sits in the opening hand as an immediate source of colored mana. The 1-damage rider is a real cost in Commander's 40-life context, but the data shows players accept that trade consistently.

The commander distribution is broad. 757 distinct players have brought Battlefield Forge to a tracked game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for just 1% of all instances. That spread reinforces the card's role as a generic fixing option rather than a tech piece concentrated in any one archetype. It appears across Boros, Naya, Jeskai, Mardu, and five-color shells alike.

At a glance

33% of tracked Commander decks include Battlefield Forge
78% of drawn copies reach the battlefield before the game ends
T4 median first-play turn, with mode at turn 1
89% battlefield stickiness once played
757 distinct players have brought it to a tracked game, signaling wide adoption
24% draw rate, consistent with a singleton land in a 100-card deck

First-cast turn

n=357

16%

11%

13%

11%

31%

T6-9

T10+

Median 4 P25 2 · P75 7 · max 15

Cast same turn as drawn 54%

The "good card" funnel

1891 brought · 757 players

Brought to game

1891

Ever drawn

458

Reached battlefield

357

Still on board at game end

316

78%

Of 1891 Battlefield Forges brought to tracked games, 458 were drawn, 357 of those were played, and the large majority stayed on the battlefield through the end of the game.

≥ -0.6pp

Players who cast this card win 27% of the time (n=346) , vs 23% when it never left the library (n=1272).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 32% (n=95) — 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 +4.2pp; 95% confidence interval -0.6pp to +9.0pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

500 instances

4.2%

Library

63.2%

Battlefield

15.2%

Graveyard

5.2%

Exile

Most copies end the game on the battlefield or in the graveyard from tapping for colored mana, with only a small fraction stranded in the library. That graveyard count reflects the pain-land damage trigger rather than destruction removal.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The top-commander list spans Boros, Naya, Jeskai, Mardu, and five-color shells, showing Battlefield Forge is adopted wherever red-white fixing is needed rather than clustering in one archetype.

Frequently Asked

How often is Battlefield Forge drawn in a Commander game?

Across 1670 tracked multiplayer Commander games where Battlefield Forge was in the deck, it was drawn 24% of the time. That figure is typical for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 458 instances that reached a player's hand, 78% were played before the game concluded.

What turn does Battlefield Forge usually hit the battlefield?

The median first-play turn is 4, but the mode is turn 1. That bimodal shape is common for lands: copies in the opening hand come down immediately, while late-drawn copies land whenever the player needs the mana. The interquartile range runs from turn 2 to turn 7, so the spread is wide.

Does casting Battlefield Forge correlate with winning?

In 346 tracked participations where Battlefield Forge reached the battlefield, the normalized win rate was 27%. In participations where it stayed in the library, the rate was 23%. The delta is small and the confidence interval crosses zero on this sample size, so treat it as a directional early signal rather than a confirmed edge. The card is mana fixing, not a threat, so a large win-rate lift is not expected.

Is Battlefield Forge legal in Commander?

Yes. Battlefield Forge is legal and unrestricted in Commander, as well as in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pauper, or Pauper Commander.

Which commanders most often run Battlefield Forge?

The top commanders by raw deck count on Playgroup Live are Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER and Quintorius, History Chaser, followed by Zinnia, Valley's Voice, Terra, Herald of Hope, and Éowyn, Shieldmaiden. The spread covers Boros, Naya, Jeskai, and Mardu color identities, confirming Battlefield Forge is valued across multiple red-white archetypes rather than being a single-deck staple.

How concentrated is the Battlefield Forge data among a small group of players?

The data is well-spread. 757 distinct players have brought Battlefield Forge to a tracked game on Playgroup Live. The single heaviest contributor accounts for just 1% of all instances, which is far below the threshold where one player's preferences could skew the aggregate numbers. That breadth adds weight to the inclusion and play-pattern figures.