Ghostly Prison
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Enchantment
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Secrets of Strixhaven Commander (SOC)
Ghostly Prison lands in 6.4% of tracked Commander decks, but when it hits a player's hand, 67% of the time it ends up cast — and decks that cast it win 37% of their games, a 5-point lift over the 32% baseline.
Ghostly Prison sits in 6.4% of the 1,822 distinct decks tracked on Playgroup Live, a niche but deliberate include concentrated in White-heavy control and life-gain shells. Across 161 tracked games, it was brought to 167 game-participations and drawn in 23% of those.
The draw-to-play rate of 67% tells the real story: players who see this card overwhelmingly choose to cast it, but they don't rush. The median first-cast turn is 6, and the hand-to-cast data shows a median one-turn delay between drawing and casting — players tend to wait for the right moment rather than slamming it immediately. Only 42% of drawn copies are cast the same turn they're drawn, compared to much higher rates on pure acceleration spells.
Battlefield stickiness is 59%, lower than format staples, which is consistent with Ghostly Prison being an enchantment in a format where removal and artifact/enchantment hate are common. The +5-point win-rate delta when cast versus when it sits in the library is a directional early signal given the sample sizes involved.
- 6.4% inclusion rate across 1,822 tracked Commander decks
- 67% of drawn copies are cast before the game ends
- T6 median first-cast turn, well behind its 3-mana curve
- 42% same-turn cast rate — players usually wait one turn after drawing it
- 59% battlefield stickiness once cast, below the format average for enchantments
- +5pt win-rate lift in games where it's cast vs. games where it stays in the library
First-cast turn
n=28The "good card" funnel
188 brought167 Ghostly Prisons were brought to games, 39 were drawn, 27 of those were cast, and 16 were still on the battlefield when the game ended — meaning roughly 1 in 10 copies brought ever reached a stable board state.
Players who cast this card win 36% of the time (n=28) , vs 34% when it never left the library (n=144).
Final zone distribution
188 instances125 of 167 Ghostly Prisons never leave the library — a structural feature of 100-card singleton, not a verdict on the card's power. Of the copies that did move, 16 ended on the battlefield, 12 went to the graveyard, and 6 were exiled.
Top commanders running this card
by deck count-
1
Killian, Decisive Mentor
38 decks
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2
Y'shtola, Night's Blessed
14 decks
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3
Shorikai, Genesis Engine
12 decks
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4
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
10 decks
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5
Dragonlord Ojutai
8 decks
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6
Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser
8 decks
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7
Zedruu the Greathearted
7 decks
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8
Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima
5 decks
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9
Zethi, Arcane Blademaster
4 decks
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10
Bre of Clan Stoutarm
3 decks
Killian, Decisive Mentor alone accounts for 38 of the top-10 commanders' decks, a heavy concentration that signals Ghostly Prison fits a specific enchantment-matters archetype more than it floats freely across the White meta.
How often is Ghostly Prison drawn in a Commander game? ▾
Across 167 deck-participations tracked on Playgroup Live, Ghostly Prison was drawn in 23% of instances. That's consistent with what you'd expect from a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 39 drawn copies, 27 were cast before the game ended — a 67% draw-to-play rate.
What turn does Ghostly Prison usually get cast? ▾
The median first-cast turn is 6, with the middle 50% of casts falling between turns 4 and 8. That's three full turns behind the card's 3-mana cost, which mainly reflects when players draw it rather than deliberate holding. The hand-to-cast data confirms a median one-turn delay between drawing and playing, with a maximum observed delay of 6 turns.
Does casting Ghostly Prison actually improve your win rate? ▾
Early data shows a directional lift. Decks that cast Ghostly Prison won 37% of those game-participations (10 of 27), compared to 32% (40 of 125) when it stayed in the library the whole game. That's a +5 percentage-point delta. Both sample sizes are modest, so treat this as a consistent early signal rather than a conclusive finding. Baseline win rate in a 4-player pod is roughly 25%.
Why does Ghostly Prison have such low battlefield stickiness? ▾
At 59%, Ghostly Prison's stickiness is noticeably lower than format staples. That reflects two realities: enchantment removal is common in tuned Commander metas, and the card is a high-priority target because of the gamestate pressure it creates. A prison piece that successfully locks down attackers draws an immediate answer in most competitive pods.
Is Ghostly Prison legal in Commander? ▾
Yes. Ghostly Prison is legal in Commander, Duel Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, Oathbreaker, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. There is no ban or restriction on the card in Commander.
Which commanders most often run Ghostly Prison? ▾
On Playgroup Live, Killian, Decisive Mentor leads by a wide margin with 38 decks, followed by Shorikai, Genesis Engine (12 decks) and Y'shtola, Night's Blessed (11 decks). The spread across Esper, Azorius, and Orzhov commanders reflects the card's White-only color identity. The drop-off from Killian to the rest of the field is steep, suggesting a strong affinity with Killian's enchantment-centric gameplan.