Live Play Data

Beast Within

· Instant · Marvel Super Heroes Commander (MSC)

30%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

1936

Decks Running

1032

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

64%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

30% of tracked Commander decks run Beast Within, and 64% of drawn copies reach the stack, with a median first-cast turn of 7.

Beast Within sits in 30% of Commander decks tracked on Playgroup Live, making it one of the most-played interaction pieces in green. Across 1601 tracked multiplayer games, it has been brought to the table 1944 times and cast 313 times.

The draw-to-play rate of 64% reflects how frequently players resolve it when it reaches their hand. At 3 mana, the card is rarely cast the moment it's drawn: median hand-to-cast delay sits at 2 turns, and only about one in four copies is cast on the same turn it's drawn. That's consistent with holding open mana reactively, which is exactly what a catch-all instant removal spell rewards. Median first-cast turn is 7, landing in the mid-game window where meaningful permanents are most abundant.

Beast Within's text is deceptively simple: destroy any permanent, hand the opponent a 3/3 token. In Commander, where enchantments, planeswalkers, and problematic lands often go unanswered, unconditional permanent removal at instant speed for 3 mana is a format staple. The 3/3 rider is a real cost in a format with 40 starting life, but it rarely outweighs the value of removing a threat with no targeting restrictions. The data is well-spread: 713 distinct players have brought Beast Within to a tracked game, with no single contributor accounting for more than a small share of the sample.

At a glance

30% of tracked Commander decks include Beast Within
25% draw rate per game, standard for a singleton in a 100-card deck
64% of drawn copies reach the stack before the game ends
T7 median first-cast turn, landing in the mid-game removal window
713 distinct players have brought Beast Within to a tracked game, indicating broad adoption
313 total casts recorded across all tracked games

First-cast turn

n=313

15%

57%

T6-9

16%

T10+

Median 7 P25 5 · P75 9 · max 17

On curve 5% (11 / 313 cast on T3) Cast same turn as drawn 25%

The "good card" funnel

1944 brought · 713 players

Brought to game

1944

Ever drawn

488

Reached battlefield

313

Still on board at game end

64%

Of 1944 copies brought to games, 488 were drawn, 313 of those were cast, and the vast majority resolved to the graveyard as expected for an instant-speed spell.

≥ -3.7pp

Players who cast this card win 25% of the time (n=312) , vs 24% when it never left the library (n=1323).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 26% (n=170) — 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 +1.1pp; 95% confidence interval -3.7pp to +5.9pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

541 instances

3.0%

Library

2.2%

Battlefield

59.1%

Graveyard

6.7%

Exile

The graveyard is the dominant final zone for Beast Within, as expected for an instant that resolves and moves immediately to the yard. The small number ending in hand or exile reflects games that ended before the card could be cast.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The commander distribution is notably spread, with no single commander dominating. Zimone, Hearthhull, T'Challa, and Bello each appear across dozens of decks, reflecting Beast Within's role as a format-agnostic green staple rather than a build-around.

Frequently Asked

How often is Beast Within drawn and cast in a Commander game?

Across 1601 tracked multiplayer games, Beast Within was drawn 25% of the time when in the deck. Of those drawn copies, 64% were cast before the game ended. That's a reasonable cast rate for a reactive instant: players often hold it in hand waiting for the right threat to appear, which the 2-turn median hand-to-cast delay confirms.

What turn does Beast Within typically get cast?

Median first-cast turn is 7. The cast distribution peaks around turns 5 through 7, which lines up with when opponents are deploying their most impactful permanents. A small number of early casts appear in the turn 3-4 range, likely targeting fast mana, problem lands, or early engines. The card is rarely cast on the same turn it's drawn: 25% same-turn cast rate reflects its role as a held-in-hand answer rather than a proactive play.

Does casting Beast Within actually correlate with winning?

The win rate when cast is 25%, compared to 24% when the card was never interacted with. The gap is small and the confidence interval crosses zero, so this is a directional signal rather than a proven effect. In a 4-player game, 25% is the baseline win rate, and both buckets sit near that baseline. Beast Within's value is in enabling the rest of your game plan by answering problem permanents, not in generating direct win-rate lift on its own.

Is Beast Within legal in Commander?

Yes. Beast Within is legal in Commander, Duel Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, Brawl, Gladiator, Oathbreaker, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. It has never been banned in Commander.

Why is Beast Within so popular in Commander specifically?

Green has historically lacked unconditional removal for non-creature permanents. Beast Within fills that gap completely: it destroys any permanent regardless of type, at instant speed, for just 3 mana. The 3/3 Beast token handed to the opponent is a real drawback, but Commander's 40 life starting total and multiplayer dynamics reduce the sting considerably. No other green card at this mana cost offers comparable breadth of targeting.

How concentrated is this card among players in the dataset?

The data is well-spread. 713 distinct players have brought Beast Within to at least one tracked game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for just 25% of all instances. This breadth means the stats are not skewed by one prolific player's results, which strengthens confidence in the directional signals we observe. It is a genuine cross-meta staple, not a single-player artifact.