Live Play Data

Ghost Quarter

Land · Commander Anthology Volume II (CM2)

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

603

Decks Running

329

Median Cast Turn

5.0

Drawn → Played

75%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

Ghost Quarter is in 2% of tracked multiplayer Commander decks, yet 75% of drawn copies reach the battlefield, with a median first-cast turn of 5.0.

Ghost Quarter is a niche land-destruction utility slot, appearing in 2% of the 18757 Commander decks tracked on Playgroup Live. That low headline rate reflects its role as a targeted answer rather than a universal staple: players who do run it are making a deliberate meta call against problematic nonbasic lands.

The play pattern is deliberate rather than automatic. Of 170 drawn copies, 75% were cast before the game ended. Median first cast lands on turn 5.0, well into the midgame, suggesting players wait for a meaningful target rather than sacrificing the land early for a colorless mana pip. Players who drew it held it for a median of one turn before casting, consistent with timing the activation around a specific threat.

Concentration is low: 289 distinct players have brought Ghost Quarter to a tracked game, and no single contributor accounts for more than a small share of the data. The commander spread is also wide, ranging from land-synergy shells like The Gitrog Monster and Lumra to token and creature-focused strategies, which says the card earns its slot across very different game plans.

At a glance

2% of tracked multiplayer Commander decks include Ghost Quarter
75% of drawn copies were cast before the game ended
T5.0 median first-cast turn, typically waiting for a meaningful target
67% battlefield stickiness once played, though sacrifice is part of the ability
289 distinct players have piloted Ghost Quarter in a tracked game
28% normalized win rate in games where Ghost Quarter was cast

First-cast turn

n=128

16%

10%

23%

37%

T6-9

T10+

Median 5.0 P25 4 · P75 7 · max 22

Cast same turn as drawn 39%

The "good card" funnel

603 brought · 289 players

Brought to game

603

Ever drawn

170

Reached battlefield

128

Still on board at game end

75%

Of 603 Ghost Quarters brought to games, 170 were drawn, 128 of those were cast, and the majority ended in the graveyard as expected after the sacrifice ability resolved.

≥ -0.1pp

Players who cast this card win 28% of the time (n=120) , vs 20% when it never left the library (n=384).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 22% (n=40) — 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 +8.2pp; 95% confidence interval -0.1pp to +16.4pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

185 instances

5.4%

Library

46.5%

Battlefield

33.5%

Graveyard

3.2%

Exile

Most Ghost Quarters end the game in the graveyard after being sacrificed, which is expected for a land whose primary mode requires self-destruction. The library bucket is small, reflecting that lands get played early and actively.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The top-commander list spans mono-green, Golgari, Orzhov, and colorless strategies, a sign that Ghost Quarter earns its slot on raw utility rather than synergy with any single archetype.

Card text

Ghost Quarter

Land

: Add

, Sacrifice this land: Destroy target land. Its controller may search their library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.

Commander Anthology Volume II (CM2) · Uncommon · Illustrated by Peter Mohrbacher

Frequently Asked

How often is Ghost Quarter drawn in a Commander game?

Across 585 tracked multiplayer games where Ghost Quarter was in the deck, it was drawn 28% of the time. That is consistent with normal singleton variance in a 100-card deck. Of 170 instances that reached a player's hand, 75% were cast before the game concluded.

What turn does Ghost Quarter usually get played?

Median first-cast turn is 5.0 in multiplayer games. The distribution runs from turn 2 through the late game, with a notable cluster around turns 3 through 5. The mean of 5.44 is pulled upward by occasional very late activations. Players hold it a median of one turn after drawing, which is an early signal that timing the target matters more than casting speed.

Does casting Ghost Quarter correlate with winning?

In 120 tracked participations where Ghost Quarter was cast, the normalized win rate is 28%, compared to 20% in games where it stayed in the library. The gap is directional but both sample sizes sit below the threshold for a confident conclusion. Treat it as an early signal, not a proven edge.

Why does Ghost Quarter appear in colorless and mono-green commanders?

Ghost Quarter has no color identity, so it slots into any Commander deck regardless of colors. Land-synergy commanders like The Gitrog Monster and Lumra, Bellow of the Woods make active use of the sacrifice trigger. Colorless commanders like Zhulodok, Void Gorger also run it because they have fewer mana-fixing options and benefit from disrupting opponents' nonbasic mana bases.

Is Ghost Quarter legal in Commander?

Yes. Ghost Quarter is legal and unrestricted in Commander, as well as in Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Historic, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, or Pauper Commander.

How concentrated is the Ghost Quarter data on Playgroup Live?

The data is well-spread. 289 distinct players have brought Ghost Quarter to a tracked game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for only 2% of all instances. That breadth adds confidence that the observed play patterns are not the artifact of one or two prolific users skewing the numbers.