Live Play Data

Mana Drain

· Instant · Double Masters 2022 (2X2)

13%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

999

Decks Running

521

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

58%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

13% of tracked Commander decks run Mana Drain. When drawn, 58% of copies are cast, with a median first-cast turn of 6.

Mana Drain sits in 13% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live. That reflects the card's steep price and mono-blue color restriction, not any lack of power: it is widely considered one of the strongest counterspells ever printed.

The draw-to-play rate of 58% is lower than most staples. For an instant, that is largely a game-timing effect. Players hold up Mana Drain every turn hoping to counter an opponent's spell, and some games end before the right target appears. Median first cast lands on turn 6, well into the mid-game, reflecting how deliberate players are about when they pull the trigger. The 329 distinct players who have brought it to tracked games give the dataset solid breadth, with the top contributor accounting for just 4% of all instances.

Mana Drain is legal in Commander and Vintage, but banned in Legacy, Duel Commander, Brawl, Historic, and Gladiator. Its restriction to blue-identity decks caps how widely it can spread, yet it still appears across a wide range of commander archetypes.

At a glance

13% of tracked Commander decks include Mana Drain
29% draw rate across games where it was in the deck
58% of drawn copies were cast before the game ended
T6 median turn of first cast
35% win rate in participations where Mana Drain was cast
329 distinct players have brought it to a tracked game

First-cast turn

n=169

15%

56%

T6-9

14%

T10+

Median 6 P25 5 · P75 8 · max 17

On curve 3% (5 / 169 cast on T2) Cast same turn as drawn 24%

The "good card" funnel

1001 brought · 329 players

Brought to game

1001

Ever drawn

293

Reached battlefield

169

Still on board at game end

58%

Of 1001 Mana Drains brought to games, 293 were drawn, and 169 of those were cast, a draw-to-play rate of 58% that reflects both deliberate timing and games ending before a target appeared.

≥ +1.1pp

Players who cast this card win 35% of the time (n=163) , vs 27% when it never left the library (n=636).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 42% (n=119) — 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 +8.3pp; 95% confidence interval +1.1pp to +15.5pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

323 instances

4.6%

Library

4.0%

Battlefield

47.4%

Graveyard

11.5%

Exile

The vast majority of Mana Drain copies end the game in the graveyard after resolving or in hand after being held, with very few finishing on the battlefield. That is expected for an instant that resolves and moves to the graveyard.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 The Ur-Dragon 14 decks
2 Oloro, Ageless Ascetic 9 decks
3 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV 8 decks
4 Tony Stark // The Invincible Iron Man 8 decks
5 Y'shtola, Night's Blessed 8 decks
6 Captain N'ghathrod 7 decks
7 Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep 7 decks
8 Kotis, the Fangkeeper 7 decks
9 Namor the Sub-Mariner 7 decks
10 Vivi Ornitier 7 decks

The top commander claims only a handful of decks, and the list spans mono-blue, Dimir, Azorius, Bant, and five-color builds, showing Mana Drain is spread broadly across the blue portion of the meta rather than clustered in one archetype.

Frequently Asked

How often is Mana Drain drawn in a Commander game?

Across 846 tracked multiplayer games where Mana Drain was in the deck, it was drawn 29% of the time. That is on the higher end for a singleton in a 100-card deck, consistent with blue decks running plenty of card draw. Of 293 instances that reached a player's hand, 58% were cast before the game concluded.

What turn does Mana Drain typically get cast?

Median first-cast turn is 6, with the middle half of casts landing between turns 5 and 8. Only 3% of casts happened on turn 2, which is the card's mana value. The distribution reflects the nature of the card: players hold it open reactively rather than tapping out on curve, and worthwhile targets often don't appear until the mid-game.

Does casting Mana Drain actually improve your win rate?

In participations where Mana Drain was cast, the normalized win rate is 35% (n=163). In participations where it stayed in the library, the rate is 27% (n=636). The delta is +8.3 percentage points. Both sample sizes clear the 15-observation threshold, but the standard error is wide enough that this should be read as a directional early signal rather than a firm conclusion.

Is Mana Drain banned in Commander?

No. Mana Drain is legal and unrestricted in Commander. It is banned in Legacy, Duel Commander, Brawl, Historic, and Gladiator. It is legal in Vintage and Timeless. Its Commander legality, combined with its power level, makes it a sought-after inclusion in any competitive blue build.

How concentrated is the Mana Drain data across players?

The 846 tracked games featuring Mana Drain span 329 distinct players. The single heaviest contributor accounts for just 4% of all instances, which is well below the 30% threshold that would flag concentration risk. The data is spread broadly enough that no individual player is distorting the aggregate numbers.

Which commanders most often pair with Mana Drain?

Among tracked decks on Playgroup Live, The Ur-Dragon leads with the most Mana Drain builds, followed by control and tempo commanders like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic. The spread across five-color, blue-white, blue-black, and mono-blue commanders reflects Mana Drain's role as a generic counterspell that fits any blue strategy rather than a build-around piece.