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Patchwork Banner card art
Live Play Data

Patchwork Banner

{3} · Artifact · Marvel Super Heroes Commander (MSC)
5%
Live Inclusion
Buy on TCGplayer
Times Brought
1094
Decks Running
607
Median Cast Turn
5
Drawn → Played
74%
Format
Multiplayer 1v1

Patchwork Banner shows up in 5% of tracked Commander decks and, when drawn, reaches the battlefield 74% of the time. Median first cast lands on turn 5, right on its 3-mana curve.

Patchwork Banner fills a specific niche: a colorless-identity tribal anthem that also doubles as a mana rock. Across 1011 tracked multiplayer Commander games on Playgroup Live, it sits in 5% of participating decks. That modest number reflects its conditional design: the pump bonus is only meaningful inside a creature-type strategy.

When a copy does reach a player's hand, 74% of those copies are eventually cast. Players hold it a median of one turn before playing it, and only 34% slam it on the same turn they draw it. That one-turn delay tracks with the 3-mana cost: players are typically waiting for a free land drop before committing. The card stays on the battlefield 81% of the time after it resolves, suggesting opponents rarely prioritize removing it.

The commander distribution is notably broad. 490 distinct players have brought Patchwork Banner to a tracked game, and no single contributor accounts for more than 2% of all instances. That spread gives the data reasonable diversity across tribe archetypes, from Goblins to Vampires to Dinosaurs and beyond.

At a glance
  • 5% of tracked Commander decks include Patchwork Banner
  • 74% of drawn copies are cast before the game ends
  • T5 median first-cast turn, right at its 3-mana curve
  • 81% battlefield stickiness once it resolves
  • 490 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game
  • 34% of casts land exactly on curve (turn 3)

First-cast turn

n=197
3%
T1
7%
T2
24%
T3
13%
T4
15%
T5
30%
T6-9
7%
T10+
Median 5 P25 3 · P75 7 · max 16
On curve 34% (48 / 197 cast on T3) Cast same turn as drawn 34%

The "good card" funnel

1094 brought · 490 players
Brought to game
1094
Ever drawn
268
Reached battlefield
197
Still on board at game end
159
74%

Of 1094 Patchwork Banners brought to games, 268 were drawn, 197 of those were cast, and 81% of resolved copies remained on the battlefield at game's end.

≥ -0.5pp

Players who cast this card win 29% of the time (n=187) , vs 23% when it never left the library (n=729).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 36% (n=65) — 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 +5.9pp; 95% confidence interval -0.5pp to +12.3pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

291 instances
3.4%
Library
54.6%
Battlefield
16.5%
Graveyard
5.5%
Exile

The vast majority of Patchwork Banners never leave the library. In a 100-card singleton deck that is structural math, not a judgment on the card's power. Among observed copies, the battlefield is the most common final destination.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The commander list spans tribal archetypes across multiple colors and strategies, from Goblins and Rats to Angels and Squirrels. That diversity reflects Patchwork Banner's colorless identity making it universally splashable.

Frequently Asked

How often is Patchwork Banner drawn in a Commander game?
Across 1011 tracked games where Patchwork Banner was in a deck, it was drawn 25% of the time. That figure is typical for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of the 268 copies that reached a player's hand, 74% were cast before the game concluded.
What turn does Patchwork Banner usually get cast?
The median first-cast turn is 5, which sits right at its mana value of 3. The distribution stretches from as early as turn 1 to as late as turn 11, but the core of the data clusters between turns 3 and 7. Only 34% of casts land exactly on turn 3, with the majority landing later, most likely because players don't always have it in their opening hand.
Do players cast Patchwork Banner immediately when they draw it?
Not always. The same-turn cast rate is 34%, meaning fewer than a third of drawn copies are played the turn they are drawn. The median delay is one turn. This is consistent with players drawing it mid-game and waiting one draw step before they have the mana free. It does not indicate players are choosing to hold it strategically.
Which commanders most commonly run Patchwork Banner?
In tracked multiplayer games, Quintorius, History Chaser and Doctor Doom, King of Latveria appear at the top of the list, followed by tribal staples like Marrow-Gnawer (Rats), The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Squirrels), Giada (Angels), and Gishath (Dinosaurs). The spread across very different tribe archetypes underlines that Patchwork Banner earns its slot through versatility rather than belonging to a single dominant strategy.
Is Patchwork Banner legal in Commander?
Yes. Patchwork Banner is legal in Commander, as well as in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Historic, Alchemy, Timeless, Brawl, and Oathbreaker. It is not legal in Pauper, Pauper Commander, Premodern, or Old School formats. Its colorless color identity means it can slot into any Commander deck, regardless of the commander's color combination.
Why would a tribal deck choose Patchwork Banner over other anthems?
Patchwork Banner offers two effects on one card: a +1/+1 anthem for your chosen creature type and a tap ability that produces one mana of any color. That mana flexibility is especially valuable in decks with demanding or off-color costs. Most dedicated anthems do nothing else. Patchwork Banner's cost of 3 mana is reasonable for the combined package, particularly in decks that already care about creature types.