Live Play Data

Propaganda

· Enchantment · Marvel Super Heroes Commander (MSC)

16%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

608

Decks Running

375

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

76%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

Propaganda is in 16% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live, and 76% of drawn copies reach the battlefield, with a median first-cast turn of 5.

Propaganda sits in 16% of the 2298 Commander decks tracked on Playgroup Live, appearing in 375 distinct lists. That places it squarely in the niche-but-consistent tier: not an auto-include across the board, but a reliable pillar in blue-based control and group-hug strategies.

When a copy reaches a player's hand, 76% of the time it reaches the battlefield before the game ends. Median first cast lands on turn 5, which is two turns behind the card's mana value of 3. The gap reflects a card that players hold until the threat of being attacked is credible, rather than one they slam the moment mana allows. Only 24% of casts landed exactly on curve. The data is spread across 305 distinct players, with no single contributor exceeding 29% of instances, which is a healthy signal for data quality at this scale.

Propaganda's purpose is taxing aggressive decks out of attacking you, trading mana efficiency for political breathing room. Its presence across commanders from Y'shtola to Zedruu the Greathearted confirms it travels comfortably in any shell that values board protection over raw card advantage.

At a glance

16% of tracked Commander decks include Propaganda
76% of drawn copies reach the battlefield before the game ends
T5 median first-cast turn, two turns behind mana value
75% battlefield stickiness once Propaganda resolves
305 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game

First-cast turn

n=135

15%

17%

11%

35%

T6-9

13%

T10+

Median 5 P25 4 · P75 8 · max 16

On curve 24% (20 / 135 cast on T3) Cast same turn as drawn 44%

The "good card" funnel

614 brought · 305 players

Brought to game

614

Ever drawn

177

Reached battlefield

135

Still on board at game end

101

76%

Of 614 Propaganda copies brought to games, 177 were drawn, 135 of those were cast, and 75% of resolved copies remained on the battlefield at game's end.

≥ +0.8pp

Players who cast this card win 29% of the time (n=135) , vs 20% when it never left the library (n=398).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 31% (n=40) — 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 +8.6pp; 95% confidence interval +0.8pp to +16.5pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

196 instances

2.0%

Library

51.5%

Battlefield

21.9%

Graveyard

6.6%

Exile

Most Propaganda copies never leave the library, a structural reality of 100-card singleton rather than a sign of weakness. Of the copies that did move, a strong majority finished on the battlefield.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Y'shtola, Night's Blessed 42 decks
2 Doctor Doom, King of Latveria 10 decks
3 Jon Irenicus, Shattered One 10 decks
4 Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor 9 decks
5 Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom 7 decks
6 Ms. Bumbleflower 6 decks
7 Vnwxt, Verbose Host 6 decks
8 Zedruu the Greathearted 6 decks
9 Davros, Dalek Creator 5 decks
10 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV 5 decks

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed dominates the commander list by deck count, but the top 10 spans five different color combinations, showing Propaganda is not tied to a single archetype.

Frequently Asked

How often is Propaganda drawn in a Commander game?

Across 541 tracked games where Propaganda was in a deck, it was drawn 29% of the time. That is consistent with what you'd expect from a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 177 drawn copies, 76% were cast before the game ended. The remainder were mostly stranded by game length rather than by player choice.

What turn does Propaganda typically get cast?

Median first-cast turn is 5, with a mean of roughly 5.4. Only 24% of casts landed on turn 3, which matches the card's mana value. The distribution is broad, stretching from turn 1 to turn 13, suggesting players hold Propaganda until combat pressure justifies the 3-mana investment. The same-turn cast rate of 44% confirms players rarely slam it the turn they draw it.

Does casting Propaganda actually improve your win rate?

The data here is directional, not conclusive. Games where Propaganda resolved show a win rate of 29% (n=135), while the library baseline sits at 20% (n=398). The delta is +8.6 percentage points. With these sample sizes the gap is not statistically significant, but it is consistent with Propaganda being a defensive stabilizer rather than a win accelerator.

How sticky is Propaganda once it hits the battlefield?

75% of resolved Propaganda copies were still on the battlefield at game's end in the tracked dataset. That is a strong retention number for a 3-mana enchantment. Enchantments that tax attacks rather than generating value are low-priority removal targets for most pods, which likely explains why opponents tend to let it sit.

Which commanders most often run Propaganda?

Among tracked decks that have played a game on Playgroup Live, Y'shtola, Night's Blessed leads the list by a wide margin, followed by Nekusar, the Mindrazer and Zedruu the Greathearted. The spread is broad: the top 10 commanders span Esper, Grixis, Simic, Azorius, and four-color shells, confirming that Propaganda fits any strategy that includes blue and wants to slow down the combat step.

Is Propaganda legal in the formats I play?

Propaganda is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, and Premodern. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Alchemy, Pauper, Brawl, Timeless, Historic, or Gladiator. Pauper Commander specifically excludes it because the card is uncommon but has never been printed at common rarity.