Propaganda
Propaganda lands in 17% of tracked Commander decks and, once drawn, reaches the battlefield 75% of the time, with a median first-cast turn of 6.0.
Propaganda sits in 17% of the 7993 distinct Commander decks that have played a tracked game on Playgroup Live, appearing in 1347 lists across 2306 tracked games. That puts it squarely in the "blue staple" tier for decks that need to survive long enough to execute a control or combo plan.
The cast numbers are consistent with a card players value highly when they see it. 75% of drawn copies were cast before the game ended. Median first cast is turn 6.0, slightly later than its 3-mana cost would predict, which is common for a defensive enchantment: players often sequence mana development first and drop Propaganda once they feel pressure building. The 71% stickiness figure shows that, once it resolves, it usually stays.
Decks running blue-based control or pillowfort strategies across Esper, Dimir, and mono-blue commanders account for the heaviest share of inclusions. The concentration data is healthy: 996 distinct players have brought Propaganda to a tracked game, and no single player accounts for more than a small fraction of instances, so the stats reflect a broad cross-section of the player base.
- 17% of tracked Commander decks include Propaganda
- 75% of drawn copies are cast before the game ends
- T6.0 median first-cast turn, slightly behind its 3-mana cost
- 71% battlefield stickiness once Propaganda resolves
- 996 distinct players have brought Propaganda to a tracked game
- 29% normalized win rate in games where Propaganda was cast
First-cast turn
n=546The "good card" funnel
2569 brought · 996 playersOf 2569 Propaganda copies brought to games, 729 were drawn, 546 of those were cast, and the majority remained on the battlefield through end of game.
Players who cast this card win 29% of the time (n=482) , vs 20% when it never left the library (n=1514).
When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 33% (n=158) — 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 +9.2pp; 95% confidence interval +5.1pp to +13.4pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.
Final zone distribution
797 instancesMost Propaganda copies that finish outside the library end up on the battlefield or in the graveyard, a sign that it resolves frequently and eventually gets answered rather than sitting uncast.
Commanders that played this card
in tracked games-
1
Y'shtola, Night's Blessed
161 decks
-
2
Doctor Doom, King of Latveria
106 decks
-
3
Ms. Bumbleflower
29 decks
-
4
Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis
25 decks
-
5
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
24 decks
-
6
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
23 decks
-
7
Nekusar, the Mindrazer
23 decks
-
8
Jon Irenicus, Shattered One
21 decks
-
9
The Mindskinner
18 decks
-
10
Aminatou, Veil Piercer
17 decks
The commander list spreads across Esper, Dimir, Grixis, and mono-blue strategies, with Y'shtola and Doctor Doom leading by deck count, showing Propaganda's reach well beyond classic pillowfort commanders.