Polluted Delta
51.7% of games where Polluted Delta was cast ended in a win for its controller. That's a +19.9 percentage point lift over the 31.9% win rate in games where it sat undrawn in the library.
Polluted Delta sits in 8.7% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live. That modest share reflects its color-identity constraint: it only fetches Islands and Swamps, so it earns a slot only in black, blue, or black-blue-adjacent builds. Among the decks that do run it, the early data is consistent: casting it correlates with a meaningful win-rate lift.
The headline number is the cast-vs-library delta. In 29 participations where the fetch was cracked, the controller won 51.7% of the time. In 204 participations where it never left the library, the win rate was 31.9%. That +19.9-point gap is directional. Both buckets have enough observations to take seriously, though Playgroup Live's dataset is still growing. The likeliest explanation is selection: players who crack a fetch early are on firmer mana footing and tend to snowball from there.
The cast profile reinforces that story. Median first-crack turn is 1, and 76% of casts happen on turn 1 or 2. When Polluted Delta reaches a player's hand, 75.9% of the time they play it the same turn they drew it. It doesn't sit around.
- 8.7% inclusion rate, reflecting its Island/Swamp color restriction
- T1 median first-crack turn, earlier than almost any other card tracked
- +19.9 percentage point win-rate lift when cast vs. never drawn
- 75.9% of drawn Polluted Deltas are cracked the same turn they're drawn
- 51.7% win rate in games where the fetch was actually sacrificed
- 62% of observed instances ended in the graveyard, the expected destination for a sacrificed fetch
First-cast turn
n=32The "good card" funnel
310 brought268 Polluted Deltas were brought to games, 56 were drawn, 29 of those were sacrificed, and only 5 were still on the battlefield at game end, a clean picture of a card that does its job and exits.
Players who cast this card win 47% of the time (n=32) , vs 32% when it never left the library (n=241).
Final zone distribution
310 instances200 of 264 tracked instances never left the library, the expected result for an 8.7%-inclusion singleton. Of those that did move, 41 landed in the graveyard, confirming the fetch was cracked as intended.
Top commanders running this card
by deck count-
1
Galazeth Prismari
22 decks
-
2
Galadriel, Light of Valinor
17 decks
-
3
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar
13 decks
-
4
Lonis, Cryptozoologist
11 decks
-
5
Ashling, the Limitless
9 decks
-
6
Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
9 decks
-
7
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
9 decks
-
8
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
8 decks
-
9
Sauron, the Dark Lord
8 decks
-
10
Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima
7 decks
The top-10 list spans Dimir, Esper, Sultai, Grixis, and Simic commanders, showing Polluted Delta earns its slot across every shell touching blue or black rather than clustering in one archetype.
How often is Polluted Delta drawn in a Commander game? ▾
Across 268 deck participations tracked on Playgroup Live, Polluted Delta was drawn in 21% of them. That's roughly in line with baseline singleton draw rates in a 100-card deck, where any given card appears in roughly 20-25% of games. Of the 56 times it reached a hand, it was cast 29 times, giving a draw-to-play rate of about 52%. The other half largely reflects games that ended before the player had a reason to crack it.
What does the +19.9-point win-rate delta actually mean? ▾
When Polluted Delta was sacrificed to find a land, the controller won 51.7% of games (29 observations). When it stayed in the library the whole game, the win rate was 31.9% (204 observations). The 19.9-point gap is the early signal that cracking the fetch correlates with stronger game outcomes. This is directional data from a live-play sample, not a controlled experiment. Deck quality and early-game tempo are the most plausible drivers.
Why does Polluted Delta have such a low battlefield stickiness? ▾
Battlefield stickiness measures how often a card remains on the battlefield at game end. For Polluted Delta, that number is just 17%, and it is expected to be low. The card is designed to be sacrificed the moment you use it. The graveyard is the correct final destination. Of 65 observed instances, 41 ended in the graveyard and only 5 were still on the battlefield when the game ended, likely kept in hand or left uncracked late.
Is Polluted Delta legal in Commander? ▾
Yes. Polluted Delta is legal and unrestricted in Commander. It is also legal in Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Duel Commander, and several other formats. It is banned in Pioneer and Historic. It is not legal in Standard, Pauper, or Pauper Commander, which explains why its Commander inclusion rate is gated primarily by color identity rather than legality.
Which commanders most commonly run Polluted Delta? ▾
On Playgroup Live, Galazeth Prismari leads with 22 decks, followed by Galadriel, Light of Valinor at 17 and Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar at 13. The spread across multiple color identities confirms the card earns its slot in any shell touching blue or black. Esper, Dimir, Sultai, and Grixis commanders all have reason to include it.
Why would a player not crack Polluted Delta immediately? ▾
In 29 draw-and-cast instances, the average time between drawing and cracking was 0.28 turns, with a median of 0. Most players sacrifice it the same turn. The handful of delayed casts likely reflect games where the player already had sufficient mana or was holding the fetch to ensure a specific land type for a future play, such as a dual land that counts as both an Island and a Swamp.