Live Play Data

Desolate Mire

Land · Secrets of Strixhaven Commander (SOC)

11%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

941

Decks Running

493

Median Cast Turn

4.0

Drawn → Played

78%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

11% of tracked Commander decks in White-Black color identities run Desolate Mire, and 78% of drawn copies reach the battlefield, with a median first-cast turn of 4.0.

Desolate Mire is a {1}, {T}: Add {W}{B} dual land with a modest cost. Across 900 tracked multiplayer Commander games on Playgroup Live, it sits in 493 of 4306 distinct decks, for an inclusion rate of 11%. That figure reflects its niche as a color-fixing land for White-Black and Esper shells rather than a cross-format staple.

The clearest signal in the data is how consistently players deploy it once it enters their hand. 78% of drawn copies were cast before the game ended, with a median first-cast turn of 4.0. The hand-to-cast data adds context: players hold it for a median of one turn before playing it, suggesting it is not always the first land dropped but is rarely sat on for long. Once on the battlefield, it sticks 90% of the time. Land removal is uncommon enough in Commander that the card almost never leaves play once resolved.

The concentration data is a genuine strength here. 450 distinct players have brought Desolate Mire to a tracked game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for just 2% of all instances. That spread means the numbers are not being skewed by one active player's preference.

At a glance

11% of tracked Commander decks include Desolate Mire
78% of drawn copies reach the battlefield before the game ends
T4.0 median first-cast turn
90% battlefield stickiness once cast
450 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game
493 tracked decks currently running Desolate Mire

First-cast turn

n=184

13%

22%

14%

10%

23%

T6-9

11%

T10+

Median 4.0 P25 2 · P75 7 · max 18

Cast same turn as drawn 51%

The "good card" funnel

941 brought · 450 players

Brought to game

941

Ever drawn

235

Reached battlefield

184

Still on board at game end

166

78%

Of 941 Desolate Mires brought to tracked games, 235 were drawn, 184 of those were cast, and the large majority remained on the battlefield through the end of the game.

≥ -2.0pp

Players who cast this card win 28% of the time (n=170) , vs 23% when it never left the library (n=593).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 24% (n=45) — 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 +5.0pp; 95% confidence interval -2.0pp to +12.0pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

258 instances

3.5%

Library

64.3%

Battlefield

13.6%

Graveyard

4.3%

Exile

The vast majority of Desolate Mire copies end their game on the battlefield, a pattern typical of lands. Because the card costs {1} to activate, it is rarely targeted for removal, so stickiness is high once deployed.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed leads the distribution, but deck counts drop off steadily down the list, indicating Desolate Mire is spread across many archetypes rather than locked to a single commander strategy.

Card text

Desolate Mire

Land

: Add

Secrets of Strixhaven Commander (SOC) · Rare · Illustrated by Rockey Chen

Frequently Asked

How often is Desolate Mire drawn in a Commander game?

In 900 tracked multiplayer games where Desolate Mire was in the deck, it was drawn 25% of the time. That is consistent with a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of those drawn copies, 78% were cast before the game concluded, making it one of the more reliably deployed utility lands in the dataset.

What turn does Desolate Mire typically hit the battlefield?

The median first-cast turn is 4.0, with the distribution clustering around turns 1 through 5. The mode is turn 2, meaning players who draw it early tend to drop it as their second land. The hand-to-cast data shows a median of 1 turn spent in hand before playing it, so it is not a card players plan around. They play it when it fits their land drop.

Is Desolate Mire banned in Commander?

No. Desolate Mire is legal in Commander, Duel Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Pauper, Brawl, or Historic. Its legal status in Commander makes it a straightforward inclusion choice for any White-Black or three-color deck that touches both colors.

Does casting Desolate Mire correlate with winning?

In 170 participations where Desolate Mire reached the battlefield, the normalized win rate was 28%. When it stayed in the library, the win rate was 23%. The delta is +5.0 percentage points. Both buckets are large enough to be directional, but the confidence interval crosses zero, so treat this as an early signal rather than a firm conclusion.

Which commanders most often run Desolate Mire?

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed leads with the most decks in the dataset, followed by Killian, Decisive Mentor and Terra, Herald of Hope. The spread across both strict Orzhov commanders and three-color Mardu and Esper commanders reflects Desolate Mire's role as a simple White-Black fixer that slots into any deck touching both colors, regardless of the third.

Is the Desolate Mire data concentrated around a few players?

No. 450 distinct players have brought Desolate Mire to a tracked game on Playgroup Live, and the single most active contributor accounts for just 2% of all instances. That is well below the threshold where one player's preferences could meaningfully skew the aggregate numbers, which adds confidence to the directional trends in the dataset.