Live Play Data

Orzhov Basilica

Land · Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander (DSC)

12%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

856

Decks Running

437

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

72%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

12% of tracked Commander decks in Orzhov's color identity run Orzhov Basilica. When drawn, 72% of copies reach the battlefield, with a median first-cast turn of 4.

Orzhov Basilica is a consistent fixture in White-Black Commander decks on Playgroup Live. Across 826 tracked multiplayer games, 12% of decks in the dataset include it, with 437 of 3790 distinct tracked decks sleeving it up.

The bounce-land mechanic means the Basilica arrives tapped and costs you a land drop on entry, but players keep casting it. 72% of drawn copies reach the battlefield before the game ends, and once it resolves, it sticks: 93% stickiness reflects how rarely it gets answered once on the table. Median first cast lands on turn 4, consistent with a land players are happy to play in the early game despite the tempo cost.

The spread of commanders running the Basilica tells the real story. It appears across White-Black shells and Esper (Blue-White-Black) lists alike, turning up under aggressive vampire builds, aristocrat engines, and value-focused control decks. The data is well-distributed: 398 distinct players have brought it to tracked games, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for only 2% of all instances, a sign of genuine format spread rather than one player skewing the numbers.

At a glance

12% of tracked Commander decks run Orzhov Basilica
72% of drawn copies reach the battlefield before the game ends
T4 median first-cast turn
93% battlefield stickiness once the land resolves
398 distinct players have brought it to a tracked game, signal of broad adoption

First-cast turn

n=149

14%

16%

15%

11%

31%

T6-9

T10+

Median 4 P25 2 · P75 7 · max 24

Cast same turn as drawn 43%

The "good card" funnel

859 brought · 398 players

Brought to game

859

Ever drawn

208

Reached battlefield

149

Still on board at game end

139

72%

Of 859 Orzhov Basilicas brought to tracked games, 208 were drawn, 149 of those were cast, and 93% of cast copies ended the game on the battlefield.

≥ -2.3pp

Players who cast this card win 30% of the time (n=138) , vs 25% when it never left the library (n=536).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 25% (n=52) — 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 +5.6pp; 95% confidence interval -2.3pp to +13.5pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

231 instances

0.4%

Library

60.2%

Battlefield

20.3%

Graveyard

3.5%

Exile

The vast majority of Orzhov Basilicas never leave the library, the structural reality of a singleton in a 100-card deck. Among the copies that were seen, most ended on the battlefield, reflecting the card's low interaction footprint once it resolves.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Edgar Markov 24 decks
2 Kaalia of the Vast 21 decks
3 Aminatou, Veil Piercer 19 decks
4 Teysa Karlov 18 decks
5 Oloro, Ageless Ascetic 17 decks
6 Temmet, Naktamun's Will 15 decks
7 Liesa, Shroud of Dusk 13 decks
8 Clavileño, First of the Blessed 11 decks
9 Silverquill, the Disputant 10 decks
10 Athreos, God of Passage 9 decks

The commander list spans White-Black aggro, aristocrat, and Esper control builds, with no single archetype dominating, consistent with a utility land that earns its slot across many strategies.

Card text

Orzhov Basilica

Land

This land enters tapped. When this land enters, return a land you control to its owner's hand. {T}

: Add

Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander (DSC) · Uncommon · Illustrated by John Avon

Frequently Asked

How often is Orzhov Basilica drawn in a Commander game?

In 826 tracked multiplayer games where Orzhov Basilica was in the deck, it was drawn 24% of the time. That figure is in line with what you'd expect from a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of the 208 copies that reached a player's hand, 72% were played before the game ended.

What turn does Orzhov Basilica typically hit play?

Median first-cast turn is 4 across 826 tracked games. The distribution is relatively flat from turns 1 through 7, reflecting that this is a land players play as soon as they have it rather than hold strategically. The hand-to-cast data shows a median of 1 turn sitting in hand before being played, and roughly 43% of instances were played on the same turn they were drawn.

Is Orzhov Basilica banned anywhere?

No. Orzhov Basilica is legal in Commander, Pauper Commander, Duel Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Pauper, Oathbreaker, and PreDH. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Historic, Alchemy, Brawl, Gladiator, or their variants. Its availability across Pauper Commander and Pauper reflects its uncommon rarity and straightforward effect.

Does casting Orzhov Basilica actually help you win?

Games where the Basilica was cast show a normalized win rate of 30% across 138 observations. Games where it stayed in the library show 25% across 536 observations. The raw delta is +5.6 percentage points, but the confidence interval on this dataset crosses zero, so treat it as a directional early signal rather than a proven edge. Decks that include and cast the Basilica are at minimum not being harmed by the tempo cost.

Which commanders most commonly run Orzhov Basilica?

Edgar Markov and Teysa Karlov each lead the multiplayer list, followed by Temmet, Naktamun's Will, Aminatou, Veil Piercer, Kaalia of the Vast, and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic. The spread across aggressive, aristocrat, and control commanders reflects how broadly useful a dual-producing bounce-land is in any White-Black shell, regardless of strategy.

Why do players accept the tempo loss of a bounce-land in Commander?

Orzhov Basilica enters tapped and requires returning another land to hand, a real cost early. Commander's 40-life format and slower average game pace reduce the punishment for one tapped land, and the Basilica's ability to produce both White and Black mana from a single slot is worth the bounce in decks that want consistent access to both colors. The 72% cast rate when drawn is consistent with players treating it as something they're happy to land at most stages of the game.