Foreboding Ruins
Foreboding Ruins lands in 4% of all tracked Commander decks, but sits in 64% of Rakdos-identity decks that run it. When drawn, players cast it 61% of the time, and 95% of casts survive to the game's final state.
Foreboding Ruins is a niche staple: narrow by color identity, but reliable when it shows up. Across 114 tracked games on Playgroup Live, it appears in 79 distinct decks and carries a 4% inclusion rate across all tracked lists. That number climbs sharply inside black-red and black-red-x shells, where fixing dual lands are at a premium.
The play pattern is clean. Of 33 instances drawn, 20 were cast, a draw-to-play rate of 61%. The median first-cast turn is 3, and 60% of the time players slam it the same turn they draw it. Once it resolves, it almost never leaves. Battlefield stickiness sits at 95%, which is exactly what you want from a land. Decks that actually cast Foreboding Ruins won 45% of their games, compared to 34% when it sat in the library the whole time. That 11-point delta is directional. Both sample sizes are on the smaller side, so treat it as an early signal rather than a firm verdict.
The commander distribution skews heavily toward Rakdos-identity lists. Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar and Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls each lead with 13 decks, and the spread across the top ten commanders suggests broad adoption within the color pair rather than a single archetype dependency.
- 4% overall inclusion rate across all tracked Commander decks
- 61% of drawn Foreboding Ruins are cast before the game ends
- T3 median first-cast turn
- 95% battlefield stickiness once the land resolves
- +11pt win-rate delta when cast vs. sitting in the library all game
- 79 distinct tracked decks running this land
First-cast turn
n=26The "good card" funnel
162 broughtOf 126 instances brought to games, 33 were drawn, 20 of those were cast, and 19 were still on the battlefield when the game closed out, a 95% retention rate from cast to final zone.
Players who cast this card win 46% of the time (n=26) , vs 35% when it never left the library (n=119).
Final zone distribution
162 instances91 of 126 brought instances finish in the library, a structural feature of 100-card singleton decks rather than a weakness of the card. The 19 battlefield finishes represent nearly every instance that was actually cast.
Top commanders running this card
by deck count-
1
Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls
17 decks
-
2
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar
16 decks
-
3
Admiral Brass, Unsinkable
12 decks
-
4
Terra, Herald of Hope
12 decks
-
5
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
10 decks
-
6
Abaddon the Despoiler
9 decks
-
7
Shadow the Hedgehog
9 decks
-
8
Strefan, Maurer Progenitor
8 decks
-
9
The Lord of Pain
6 decks
-
10
Sauron, the Dark Lord
5 decks
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar and Valgavoth lead at 13 decks each, but the spread across 10 commanders shows Foreboding Ruins is an archetype-agnostic Rakdos staple rather than a build-around piece.
How often is Foreboding Ruins actually drawn in a game? ▾
In 124 tracked deck-participations, it was drawn 33 times, a draw rate of 26%. That is consistent with what you expect from a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of those 33 drawn instances, 20 were cast, putting the draw-to-play rate at 61%.
What turn does Foreboding Ruins typically enter the battlefield? ▾
Median first-cast turn is 3, with the interquartile range spanning turns 1 through 5. Seven of the 20 casts happened on turn 1, meaning players held it in their opening hand and played it immediately. The same-turn-draw-and-cast rate is 60%, so when players see it mid-game, the majority still drop it without hesitation.
Does casting Foreboding Ruins actually help you win? ▾
There is a directional positive signal. Games where Foreboding Ruins was cast showed a 45% win rate across 20 observations, versus 34% in 91 games where it stayed in the library. The 11-point gap is consistent with the land earning its slot by smoothing mana in the early turns. Given the sample sizes involved, this is an early-signal finding rather than a statistically conclusive one.
Is Foreboding Ruins legal in Commander? ▾
Yes. Foreboding Ruins is legal in Commander, as well as Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Historic, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pauper, or Pauper Commander, which limits its broader cross-format visibility but has no bearing on Commander play.
Which commanders run Foreboding Ruins most often? ▾
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar and Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls both appear in 13 decks that include this land, leading the tracked field. Shadow the Hedgehog follows at 9 decks. The presence of multi-color commanders like Abaddon the Despoiler and both Sauron variants shows that black-red-blue and black-red-white shells also pick up the card when they can run it.
Why does Foreboding Ruins sometimes enter tapped? ▾
The card's enter condition requires revealing a Swamp or Mountain from your hand to come in untapped. Early in a game, players with basic lands in hand will almost always reveal one. Later draws, when the hand is empty or full of spells, result in a tapped entry. The 60% same-turn cast rate suggests players are mostly hitting the untapped condition when they draw it early, but the avg hold time of 0.85 turns across all drawn-and-cast instances shows some mid-game awkwardness.