Live Play Data

Llanowar Wastes

Land · Secrets of Strixhaven Commander (SOC)

30%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

1328

Decks Running

716

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

81%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

30% of tracked Golgari-eligible Commander decks on Playgroup Live run Llanowar Wastes, and 81% of drawn copies are played before the game ends, with a median first-cast turn of 4.

Llanowar Wastes is a steady fixture in black-green Commander mana bases. Across 1238 tracked multiplayer games on Playgroup Live, 30% of decks in the dataset include it, and the card shows up in 716 distinct tracked decklists.

When the Wastes reaches a player's hand, it gets played 81% of the time. That high conversion rate reflects what pain lands do well: they slot into an opening hand and tap immediately, trading 1 life for on-curve colored mana. Median first cast lands on turn 4, with a spread from turn 2 at the 25th percentile to turn 6 at the 75th. The 88% battlefield stickiness tells the same story: once it resolves, it almost never leaves play.

The concentration numbers are healthy. 576 distinct players have brought the card to tracked games, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for just 3% of all instances. That spread lends confidence that the trends here reflect broad Golgari play patterns rather than one pilot's preferences.

At a glance

30% of tracked Commander decks include Llanowar Wastes
81% of drawn copies are played before the game ends
T4 median first-cast turn
88% battlefield stickiness once the land enters play
576 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game

First-cast turn

n=261

15%

16%

13%

11%

30%

T6-9

T10+

Median 4 P25 2 · P75 6 · max 12

Cast same turn as drawn 52%

The "good card" funnel

1328 brought · 576 players

Brought to game

1328

Ever drawn

323

Reached battlefield

261

Still on board at game end

230

81%

Of 1328 Llanowar Wastes brought to multiplayer games, 323 were drawn and 261 of those were played, with the overwhelming majority finishing the game on the battlefield.

≥ -3.3pp

Players who cast this card win 26% of the time (n=252) , vs 24% when it never left the library (n=895).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 23% (n=58) — 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 +2.1pp; 95% confidence interval -3.3pp to +7.5pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

367 instances

1.9%

Library

62.7%

Battlefield

18.3%

Graveyard

4.1%

Exile

Most Llanowar Wastes copies that enter tracked games end the game on the battlefield, reflecting that lands are rarely removed once in play. The small library residual comes from copies that were never drawn.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Dina, Essence Brewer 70 decks
2 Hearthhull, the Worldseed 45 decks
3 Teval, the Balanced Scale 37 decks
4 Ulalek, Fused Atrocity 28 decks
5 Chatterfang, Squirrel General 25 decks
6 Hazel of the Rootbloom 24 decks
7 Lathril, Blade of the Elves 23 decks
8 Witherbloom, the Balancer 23 decks
9 Betor, Ancestor's Voice 22 decks
10 Ygra, Eater of All 21 decks

Dina, Essence Brewer dominates the top slot with more than twice the deck count of any other commander, but ten different commanders each appear in eight or more tracked decks, showing broad spread across the Golgari and multicolor meta.

Frequently Asked

How often is Llanowar Wastes drawn in a Commander game?

In 1238 tracked multiplayer games where the card was in a deck, it was drawn 24% of the time. That is typical for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of the 323 drawn copies, 81% were played before the game concluded. The remainder reflects games that ended before the player found an opportunity to tap it.

What turn does Llanowar Wastes usually enter the battlefield?

Median first-cast turn is 4. The distribution spans turn 1 through turn 12 in the dataset, with the 25th percentile at turn 2 and the 75th at turn 6. The most common single turn is turn 2, consistent with players keeping it in an opening hand and deploying it on the second land drop of the game.

Does casting Llanowar Wastes correlate with winning?

Games where Llanowar Wastes reached the battlefield show a win rate of 26% versus 24% when it stayed in the library. The delta is +2.1 percentage points. Both buckets have sample sizes above 100, but the confidence interval crosses zero, so treat this as a directional signal rather than a firm conclusion. Pain lands smooth mana more than they generate card advantage, so a modest delta is expected.

Is Llanowar Wastes legal in Commander?

Yes. Llanowar Wastes is legal in Commander and the vast majority of sanctioned formats. It is not legal in Standard, Alchemy, Pauper, or Old School. Its black-green color identity means it can only slot into decks whose commander shares those colors, which is reflected in the predominantly Golgari and Sultai-adjacent top-commander list on Playgroup Live.

Which commanders most commonly run Llanowar Wastes?

Dina, Essence Brewer leads the top-commanders chart by a wide margin, followed by Hearthhull, the Worldseed and Teval, the Balanced Scale. Most of the top commanders share black and green in their color identity, exactly as you would expect for a BG pain land. A handful of five-color commanders also appear, treating it as a generic dual.

How reliable is the Playgroup Live data for this card?

The multiplayer dataset spans 1238 games and 716 decks, with 576 distinct players contributing. The single largest contributor accounts for 3% of all instances, well below the 15% threshold that would raise concentration concerns. That spread makes the draw and cast trends here more representative of the broader Golgari Commander population, though the dataset is still growing and all figures should be read as directional.