Live Play Data

Despark

· Instant · Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander (TDC)

11%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

755

Decks Running

386

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

73%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

11% of tracked Commander decks in Orzhov colors run Despark, and when drawn it reaches the stack 73% of the time, with a median first-cast turn of 7.

Despark earns its slot in 11% of tracked Orzhov-accessible Commander decks on Playgroup Live. Two mana to exile any permanent with mana value 4 or greater is efficient enough to answer commanders, planeswalkers, and most haymakers the format throws at you.

The draw-to-play rate of 73% tells a clean story: when players find Despark, they almost always use it. The median first cast lands on turn 7, which reflects the card's role as a reactive tool held until a high-value target appears rather than a turn-two play. Players hold it an average of about 2.6 turns after drawing before firing, consistent with waiting for the right moment rather than slamming it blind.

The commander spread is wide. 357 distinct players have brought Despark to a tracked game, and no single player accounts for more than 4% of instances. That breadth suggests real adoption across archetypes rather than a spike in one player's preferred build.

At a glance

11% of tracked Commander decks with matching color identity include Despark
73% of drawn Desparks reach the stack before the game ends
T7 median first-cast turn, reflecting use as a reactive answer
22% draw rate, normal for a singleton in a 100-card deck
357 distinct players have brought Despark to a tracked game
2 mana to exile any permanent with mana value 4 or greater

First-cast turn

n=119

21%

55%

T6-9

15%

T10+

Median 7 P25 5 · P75 8 · max 20

On curve 0% (0 / 119 cast on T2) Cast same turn as drawn 24%

The "good card" funnel

758 brought · 357 players

Brought to game

758

Ever drawn

163

Reached battlefield

119

Still on board at game end

73%

Of 758 Desparks brought to tracked games, 163 were drawn and 119 of those were cast, a draw-to-play rate of 73% that reflects consistent execution when the card is found.

≥ -6.2pp

Players who cast this card win 26% of the time (n=109) , vs 25% when it never left the library (n=487).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 45% (n=38) — 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 +2.0pp; 95% confidence interval -6.2pp to +10.2pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

185 instances

2.2%

Library

2.2%

Battlefield

67.0%

Graveyard

8.6%

Exile

The vast majority of Despark copies finish in the graveyard after resolving, as expected for an instant. The small number ending in exile or on the battlefield reflects edge cases like copies countered or redirected.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The commander list spans Abzan, Esper, Mardu, and straight Orzhov builds, showing Despark earns its slot across archetypes rather than clustering in a single strategy.

Frequently Asked

How often is Despark drawn in a Commander game?

Across 733 tracked multiplayer games where Despark was in the deck, it was drawn 22% of the time. That is a typical draw rate for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 163 instances that reached a player's hand, 73% were cast before the game ended. The remainder were most often still in hand when the game concluded.

What turn does Despark usually get cast?

Median first cast is turn 7, with the 25th percentile at turn 5 and the 75th at turn 8. The distribution clusters heavily in turns 5 through 8, which matches the card's role: players hold it in hand waiting for a 4-or-greater mana value target worth answering. The hand-to-cast median of 2 turns confirms they tend to hold it briefly rather than slamming it the same turn it's drawn.

Does casting Despark correlate with winning?

In 109 participations where Despark was cast, the normalized win rate was 26%. In participations where it never left the library, the rate was 25%. The delta is a directional early signal, but the confidence interval crosses zero at current sample sizes, so treat it as suggestive rather than conclusive.

Is Despark legal in Commander?

Yes. Despark is legal in Commander, as well as Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. Its two-color identity (White and Black) restricts it to decks whose commander includes both W and B in their color identity.

Why does Despark see play in Commander specifically?

Commander games are dominated by permanents with mana value 4 or greater. Commanders themselves often cost 4 or more, and the format's big-spell culture puts planeswalkers, enchantments, and artifacts in that range routinely. Two mana to exile rather than destroy means indestructible targets are not safe either. That combination of efficiency and exile coverage makes Despark a clean fit in Orzhov and any three-plus-color shell that includes White and Black.

How concentrated is the Despark data across players?

357 distinct players have brought Despark to a tracked game on Playgroup Live. The single heaviest contributor accounts for under 4% of all instances, which is a well-spread dataset. That means the stats are not skewed by one prolific player's preference, and the inclusion and cast figures reflect broad adoption across the community.