Live Play Data

Descent into Avernus

· Enchantment · Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate (CLB)

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

768

Decks Running

355

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

68%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

68% of drawn Descent into Avernus copies are cast before the game ends, with a median first-cast turn of 4 across 750 tracked multiplayer Commander games on Playgroup Live.

Descent into Avernus sits in 3% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live. It has been cast 133 times across 750 games, making it a genuine niche card rather than a staple, but one with a committed player base spread across 316 distinct players.

The card's design creates a group-slug dynamic: every player gains Treasures and takes damage each upkeep, with the stakes doubling by two counters per round. That escalating pressure shapes when players choose to cast it. Median first cast lands on turn 4, and players who draw it typically hold it for a turn before deploying it. 36% of drawn-and-cast copies were cast on the same turn they were drawn, meaning most players take a beat to assess the board before committing.

The commander distribution is notably spread. Treasure-generating commanders like Jaws, Relentless Predator, Kibo, Uktabi Prince, and Smaug the Magnificent top the list, which makes sense: those decks convert the Treasure flood into a decisive advantage while weathering the symmetrical damage more comfortably than their opponents.

At a glance

3% of tracked Commander decks include Descent into Avernus
T4 median first-cast turn, landing squarely on curve
68% of drawn copies reach the battlefield before the game ends
72% battlefield stickiness once the enchantment resolves
316 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game
29% win rate in games where Descent into Avernus was cast

First-cast turn

n=133

15%

23%

17%

13%

27%

T6-9

T10+

Median 4 P25 3 · P75 6 · max 15

On curve 40% (30 / 133 cast on T3) Cast same turn as drawn 36%

The "good card" funnel

768 brought · 316 players

Brought to game

768

Ever drawn

195

Reached battlefield

133

Still on board at game end

68%

Of 768 copies brought to tracked games, 195 were drawn, 133 of those were cast, and 72% of cast copies remained on the battlefield through the end of the game.

≥ -2.8pp

Players who cast this card win 29% of the time (n=123) , vs 24% when it never left the library (n=496).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 29% (n=56) — 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 +5.5pp; 95% confidence interval -2.8pp to +13.8pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

214 instances

3.7%

Library

44.9%

Battlefield

25.7%

Graveyard

5.6%

Exile

Most tracked instances of Descent into Avernus finish on the battlefield or in the graveyard, with very few trapped in the library, reflecting how often it is drawn and played when it shows up.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Jaws, Relentless Predator 23 decks
2 Kibo, Uktabi Prince 18 decks
3 Smaug the Impenetrable 16 decks
4 Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid 14 decks
5 Ragost, Deft Gastronaut 13 decks
6 Smaug the Magnificent 11 decks
7 Obeka, Splitter of Seconds 10 decks
8 Abaddon the Despoiler 9 decks
9 Daredevil, Fearless Fighter 9 decks
10 Rakdos, Lord of Riots 8 decks

Treasure-generating red commanders dominate the top slots, a consistent signal that players use the Treasure flood to offset the symmetrical damage the enchantment deals to everyone.

Card text

Descent into Avernus

Enchantment

At the beginning of your upkeep, put two descent counters on this enchantment. Then each player creates X Treasure tokens and this enchantment deals X damage to each player, where X is the number of descent counters on this enchantment.

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate (CLB) · Rare · Illustrated by Bruce Brenneise

Frequently Asked

How often is Descent into Avernus drawn in a Commander game?

Across 750 tracked multiplayer games where the card was in a deck, it was drawn 25% of the time. That is consistent with what you would expect for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 195 instances that reached a player's hand, 68% were cast before the game ended. The remainder is largely a game-length effect: copies drawn late have less time to resolve.

What turn does Descent into Avernus typically get cast?

Median first cast is turn 4, which places it right on its mana-value curve for a 3-mana card. The on-curve rate is 40%, meaning most casts happen after the earliest possible turn. That reflects draw timing rather than deliberate hold: 36% of drawn-and-cast instances were played on the same turn they were drawn, so players do not appear to be sandbagging it.

Does casting Descent into Avernus improve your chances of winning?

In 123 observed participations where the card was cast, the win rate was 29%. In participations where it stayed in the library, the win rate was 24%. The gap between those two figures is +5.5 percentage points. Both buckets exceed 15 observations, but the dataset is still early-stage, so treat this as a directional signal rather than a firm conclusion.

How sticky is Descent into Avernus once it hits the battlefield?

72% of cast copies remained on the battlefield at the end of the game. Enchantments in Commander are harder to remove than artifacts or creatures, and the group-slug symmetry of Descent into Avernus can deter opponents from spending removal on it. The enchantment does deal damage to all players, which sometimes makes opponents hesitant to draw attention to themselves by destroying it.

Which commanders most often run Descent into Avernus?

Among Playgroup Live's tracked decks, the top commanders paired with Descent into Avernus include Jaws, Relentless Predator, Kibo, Uktabi Prince, Indoraptor, and Smaug the Magnificent. These are predominantly red or red-adjacent commanders with a Treasure or group-slug game plan. The spread across 316 unique players suggests the card is not dominated by a single pilot's data.

Is Descent into Avernus legal in Commander?

Yes. Descent into Avernus from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate is legal in Commander. It is also legal in Legacy and Vintage. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Pauper, Brawl, or Historic. Its red color identity restricts it to Commander decks that include red.