Live Play Data

Rishkar's Expertise

· Sorcery · The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)

10%

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

1776

Decks Running

922

Median Cast Turn

7.0

Drawn → Played

49%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

42% of multiplayer games where Rishkar's Expertise resolved ended in a win for the caster, a +17.6 percentage-point lift over the 24% baseline when it stays in the library.

Rishkar's Expertise resolves into one of the strongest win-rate signals on Playgroup Live. Decks that cast it win 42% of tracked multiplayer games, compared to 24% when the card never leaves the library. That +17.6 percentage-point gap is the widest early signal we have for any green sorcery at this mana value.

The card costs 6 mana, and the data reflects that weight: median first cast lands on turn 7.0, and only 39% of casts land exactly on-curve. Most copies are drawn into a mid-game board where they can immediately cash in on power. 49% of drawn copies reach the stack before the game ends, a reasonable conversion rate for a six-drop that demands a meaningful board presence.

Rishkar's Expertise appears in 922 of 9443 tracked decks, a focused 10% inclusion rate that marks it as a deliberate slot rather than an auto-include. Its home is creature-heavy green strategies: Pantlaza, Ghalta, and Tifa Lockhart headline the commander list, all commanders that routinely threaten enough power to turn this into a five-plus-card draw spell with a free spell attached.

At a glance

10% of tracked multiplayer Commander decks include Rishkar's Expertise
42% win rate when cast, vs. 24% when it stays in the library
T7.0 median first-cast turn, typical for a 6-mana sorcery
49% of drawn copies reach the stack before the game ends
727 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game, a well-spread sample
39% of casts land exactly on curve at turn 6, with most copies arriving in a developed mid-game

First-cast turn

n=192

11%

68%

T6-9

13%

T10+

Median 7.0 P25 6 · P75 8 · max 13

On curve 39% (38 / 192 cast on T6) Cast same turn as drawn 31%

The "good card" funnel

1779 brought · 727 players

Brought to game

1779

Ever drawn

388

Reached battlefield

192

Still on board at game end

49%

Of 1779 copies brought to multiplayer games, 388 were drawn, and 192 of those resolved, a conversion chain shaped by the card's 6-mana cost and the need for a board presence to cast it into.

≥ +10.5pp

Players who cast this card win 42% of the time (n=178) , vs 24% when it never left the library (n=1142).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 28% (n=174) — 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 +17.6pp; 95% confidence interval +10.5pp to +24.7pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

445 instances

4.5%

Library

3.4%

Battlefield

52.8%

Graveyard

6.3%

Exile

Rishkar's Expertise is a sorcery and resolves to the graveyard, so the bulk of finished instances land there. The small library count reflects copies that were in decks where the card was never drawn during the game.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Pantlaza, Sun-Favored 75 decks
2 Ulalek, Fused Atrocity 29 decks
3 Ghalta, Primal Hunger 24 decks
4 Witherbloom, the Balancer 17 decks
5 Quandrix, the Proof 14 decks
6 Aloy, Savior of Meridian 13 decks
7 Beorn the Fierce 13 decks
8 Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid 12 decks
9 Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm 12 decks
10 Gishath, Sun's Avatar 11 decks

Pantlaza, Sun-Favored leads the commander list with a commanding margin over the rest of the field, suggesting a strong archetype fit with Dinosaur tribal and its naturally high-power creatures.

Card text

Rishkar's Expertise

Sorcery

Draw cards equal to the greatest power among creatures you control. You may cast a spell with mana value 5 or less from your hand without paying its mana cost.

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC) · Rare · Illustrated by Magali Villeneuve

Frequently Asked

How often is Rishkar's Expertise drawn in a Commander game?

Across 1666 tracked multiplayer games where Rishkar's Expertise was in the deck, it was drawn 22% of the time. That is on the higher end for a singleton in a 100-card deck, reflecting that many of its host decks run significant card draw. Of 388 drawn copies, 49% were cast before the game ended.

What turn does Rishkar's Expertise typically get cast?

Median first cast is turn 7.0 in multiplayer games. The distribution clusters between turns 6 and 8, consistent with a spell that needs both the mana and a board to make it worthwhile. 39% of casts land on the on-curve turn 6, while the majority arrive later, when boards are fuller and the draw effect is larger.

Does casting Rishkar's Expertise actually improve your chances of winning?

The directional signal is strong. Games where it resolves show a 42% win rate, against a 24% baseline for games where it never left the library. The +17.6 percentage-point gap exceeds one standard error, making this one of the more consistent positive signals in our green sorcery dataset. Both sample sizes are meaningful: 178 cast observations and 1142 library observations.

Which commanders pair best with Rishkar's Expertise?

Pantlaza, Sun-Favored leads the tracked commander list by a wide margin, followed by Ulalek, Fused Atrocity and Ghalta, Primal Hunger. The common thread is raw power on the board. A single large creature is enough to make this spell draw four or more cards. Tifa Lockhart and Azusa, Lost but Seeking also appear, reflecting its reach into mono-green and stompy strategies.

Is Rishkar's Expertise legal in Commander?

Yes. Rishkar's Expertise is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, Duel Commander, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. There are no bans or restrictions in Commander.

How quickly do players cast it after drawing it?

Of 192 cast copies with hand-tracking data, players held it a median of 1.5 turns before casting. 31% of drawn-and-cast copies were played on the same turn they were drawn. The rest were held briefly, likely waiting for a sufficiently large creature on the battlefield to maximize the draw effect.