Live Play Data

Rootbound Crag

Land · Marvel Super Heroes Commander (MSC)

33%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

1983

Decks Running

1002

Median Cast Turn

4.0

Drawn → Played

81%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

Rootbound Crag appears in 33% of tracked Gruul-accessible Commander decks on Playgroup Live. When drawn, 81% of copies are played before the game ends, with a median first-play turn of 4.0.

Rootbound Crag sits in 33% of decks tracked in Playgroup Live multiplayer games, across 1002 of the 2995 distinct decks that have seen table time. For a dual land limited to Red-Green color identities, that footprint is substantial.

The key behavioral number is draw-to-play rate. When Rootbound Crag reaches a player's hand, 81% of those copies are played before the game concludes. That high rate reflects what experienced pilots already know: a dual land that enters untapped alongside a basic Mountain or Forest is rarely a card you hold. Median first play lands on turn 4.0, consistent with early mana development rather than late topdeck value.

The commander distribution is notably wide. Rootbound Crag shows up across Green-Red pairs, Naya shells, Sultai-adjacent builds, and five-color lists wherever the Gruul base needs support. No single commander dominates the top of the chart, which points to genuine format-wide demand rather than a single archetype driving the numbers.

At a glance

33% of tracked decks with Gruul access include Rootbound Crag
81% of drawn copies are played before the game ends
T4.0 median first-play turn, landing firmly in the early ramp window
91% battlefield stickiness once the land enters play
807 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game

First-cast turn

n=390

14%

17%

13%

11%

28%

T6-9

T10+

Median 4.0 P25 2 · P75 6 · max 14

Cast same turn as drawn 51%

The "good card" funnel

1986 brought · 807 players

Brought to game

1986

Ever drawn

481

Reached battlefield

390

Still on board at game end

356

81%

Of 1986 Rootbound Crags brought to tracked multiplayer games, 481 were drawn, 390 of those were played, and the vast majority remained on the battlefield through the end of the game.

≥ -2.4pp

Players who cast this card win 25% of the time (n=366) , vs 23% when it never left the library (n=1260).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 33% (n=82) — 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 +2.2pp; 95% confidence interval -2.4pp to +6.8pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

535 instances

4.3%

Library

66.5%

Battlefield

14.2%

Graveyard

4.3%

Exile

Most Rootbound Crags that enter games end the game on the battlefield. Because it is a land rather than a spell, graveyard and exile entries represent removal effects, not sacrifice costs.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The top commanders span Gruul, Naya, Jund, Temur, and five-color identities, showing Rootbound Crag has genuine format-wide reach rather than being the pet card of a single archetype.

Frequently Asked

How often is Rootbound Crag drawn in a Commander game?

Across 1785 tracked multiplayer games where Rootbound Crag was in a deck, it was drawn 24% of the time. That is normal for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of the 481 instances that reached a player's hand, 81% were played before the game ended. The remainder is largely a game-length effect: copies drawn in the final turns of a game simply have no opportunity to be played.

What turn does Rootbound Crag typically enter play?

Median first-play turn is 4.0, with the distribution spreading from turn 1 through the mid-game. The 25th percentile is turn 2 and the 75th is turn 6, so the bulk of castings happen during the critical early mana development window. Copies drawn into opening hands tend to hit the table immediately.

Does Rootbound Crag actually help you win?

The cast-vs-library win-rate delta is +2.2 percentage points, a directional signal that playing the land correlates with a modestly better outcome. Both sample buckets are well-populated, but the delta is within one standard error, so treat this as an early indicator rather than a firm conclusion. Lands that fix mana early tend to improve consistency across the whole deck, which is likely the underlying mechanism.

How concentrated is this card among a small group of players?

The data is well spread. 807 distinct players have brought Rootbound Crag to a tracked game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for just 1% of all instances. That low concentration means the behavioral numbers reflect broad community behavior rather than one prolific pilot skewing the sample.

Is Rootbound Crag legal in Commander?

Yes. Rootbound Crag is legal in Commander, as well as in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Historic, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. In Commander it is entirely unrestricted, and its ability to enter untapped alongside basic Mountains or Forests makes it a reliable budget alternative to fetchable dual lands in Gruul and allied color combinations.

Which commanders most commonly pair with Rootbound Crag?

The top of the tracked list includes Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER (Naya), Bello, Bard of the Brambles (pure Gruul), Auntie Ool, Cursewretch (Jund), and a range of four- and five-color commanders like Leonardo, the Balance and Mister Fantastic. The spread across color identities confirms Rootbound Crag earns its slot in any deck that runs both Mountains and Forests, regardless of how many additional colors the commander demands.