Live Play Data

Mindcrank

· Artifact · Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate (CLB)

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

625

Decks Running

312

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

80%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

Mindcrank appears in 2% of tracked multiplayer Commander decks on Playgroup Live, and 80% of drawn copies reach the battlefield, with a median first-cast turn of 5.

Mindcrank is a niche but deliberate include: present in 2% of tracked multiplayer Commander decks across 17176 total decks in the dataset. Players who sleeve it up know exactly what they're doing. Its colorless identity lets it slot into any strategy that pairs life-loss pressure with library attrition.

When Mindcrank reaches a hand it gets cast 80% of the time. Median first cast lands on turn 5, which is later than its 2-mana cost might suggest. That gap reflects a deliberate deployment choice: players tend to wait until they have a damage or life-loss trigger ready to pair with it. The 41% same-turn cast rate confirms roughly half of drawn copies are held at least one turn before resolving.

The commander distribution skews heavily toward mill and life-loss strategies. The Wise Mothman and Captain N'ghathrod lead the field, consistent with Mindcrank's natural home in Dimir and Sultai graveyard-pressure shells. Its colorless color identity means nearly any commander can theoretically run it, but in practice the card earns its slot in decks built around milling opponents out.

At a glance

2% of tracked multiplayer Commander decks include Mindcrank
80% of drawn copies are cast before the game ends
T5 median first-cast turn, later than its 2-mana cost implies
65% battlefield stickiness once cast
268 distinct players have brought Mindcrank to a tracked game
24% draw rate, typical for a singleton in a 100-card deck

First-cast turn

n=119

18%

10%

16%

39%

T6-9

T10+

Median 5 P25 3 · P75 7 · max 14

On curve 20% (21 / 119 cast on T2) Cast same turn as drawn 41%

The "good card" funnel

625 brought · 268 players

Brought to game

625

Ever drawn

148

Reached battlefield

119

Still on board at game end

80%

Of 625 Mindcranks brought to tracked multiplayer games, 148 were drawn, 119 of those were cast, and 65% of resolved copies remained on the battlefield at game's end.

≥ -13.3pp

Players who cast this card win 18% of the time (n=110) , vs 24% when it never left the library (n=375).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 33% (n=25) — 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 -5.3pp; 95% confidence interval -13.3pp to +2.7pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

179 instances

3.9%

Library

43.0%

Battlefield

29.6%

Graveyard

8.9%

Exile

Most Mindcranks that enter a game end it on the battlefield or graveyard. The tiny library share means drawn copies rarely go unacted upon, which sets it apart from lower-impact singletons.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The Wise Mothman and Captain N'ghathrod dominate the top slots, pointing to Dimir and Sultai mill as Mindcrank's primary home. The spread across multiple commanders reflects its colorless identity opening the door to a wide range of strategies.

Card text

Mindcrank

Artifact

Whenever an opponent loses life, that player mills that many cards. (Damage causes loss of life.)

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate (CLB) · Uncommon · Illustrated by Chris Rahn

Frequently Asked

How often is Mindcrank drawn in a Commander game?

Across 612 tracked multiplayer games where Mindcrank was in the deck, it was drawn 24% of the time. That's in line with what you'd expect from a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 148 instances that reached a hand, 80% were cast before the game ended.

What turn does Mindcrank typically hit the battlefield?

Median first-cast turn is 5, despite the card costing only 2 mana. The distribution stretches from turn 1 all the way to turn 14, with a mode at turn 2 and a long tail through the mid-game. The 41% same-turn cast rate suggests players frequently hold it a turn or more, likely waiting to deploy it alongside a damage or life-loss enabler.

Does casting Mindcrank correlate with winning?

Early signal here is directional but not conclusive. In 110 observed participations where Mindcrank was cast, the normalized win rate was 18%. In 375 participations where it stayed in the library, that figure was 24%. The negative delta is more likely a deck-composition artifact than a claim that the card costs you games. Treat this as an early signal worth watching as the sample grows.

Is Mindcrank legal in Commander?

Yes. Mindcrank is legal in Commander, Duel Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Historic, Brawl, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. Its colorless color identity means it can slot into any Commander deck regardless of color.

Which commanders run Mindcrank most often on Playgroup Live?

The Wise Mothman and Captain N'ghathrod lead the tracked dataset, both leaning into Dimir or Sultai mill strategies where Mindcrank's triggered ability fires frequently. Phenax, God of Deception, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, and Bruvac the Grandiloquent also appear, each pairing naturally with repeated mill or life-loss triggers. The spread across 268 distinct players suggests the data isn't dominated by a single play group.

How sticky is Mindcrank once it resolves?

65% of Mindcranks that resolve stay on the battlefield through end of game. That is notably lower than iconic Commander artifacts, which reflects both targeted removal and the fact that opponents recognize the combo threat. Graveyard and exile account for a meaningful share of final zones in the tracked data.