Live Play Data

Ruby Medallion

· Artifact · Modern Horizons 3 (MH3)

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

537

Decks Running

303

Median Cast Turn

3.0

Drawn → Played

78%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

78% of drawn Ruby Medallions are cast before the game ends, and decks that resolve it win 35% of the time versus 23% when it stays buried in the library.

Ruby Medallion appears in 303 of the 8227 distinct decks tracked on Playgroup Live, a focused 4% inclusion rate that reflects its narrow color requirement: only red decks want it. Among the red commanders that do run it, it resolves early and sticks.

When a copy reaches a player's hand, 78% of those copies are cast before the game ends. Median first cast lands on turn 3.0, with a cluster of early casts in turns 1 and 2 representing opening-hand keeps. Battlefield stickiness sits at 84%, meaning copies that resolve almost always survive to provide ongoing cost reduction throughout the game.

The win-rate picture is directional and worth noting: games where Ruby Medallion resolved show a 35% win rate, compared to 23% for games where it never left the library. That gap of +11.7 percentage points is a consistent early signal across 111 cast observations and 359 library observations. The data is spread across 258 unique players, with no single contributor dominating the sample.

At a glance

4% of tracked Commander decks include Ruby Medallion
78% of drawn copies are cast before the game ends
T3.0 median first-cast turn
84% battlefield stickiness once Ruby Medallion resolves
+11.7pp win-rate lift when cast versus staying in the library
258 unique players in the dataset, a well-spread sample

First-cast turn

n=112

14%

22%

17%

13%

21%

T6-9

T10+

Median 3.0 P25 2 · P75 6 · max 11

On curve 37% (25 / 112 cast on T2) Cast same turn as drawn 55%

The "good card" funnel

540 brought · 258 players

Brought to game

540

Ever drawn

143

Reached battlefield

112

Still on board at game end

78%

Of 540 Ruby Medallions brought to games, 143 were drawn, 112 of those were cast, and 84% of resolved copies remained on the battlefield through the end of the game.

≥ +2.8pp

Players who cast this card win 35% of the time (n=111) , vs 23% when it never left the library (n=359).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 38% (n=29) — 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 +11.6pp; 95% confidence interval +2.8pp to +20.5pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

154 instances

3.9%

Library

61.0%

Battlefield

13.6%

Graveyard

6.5%

Exile

Most Ruby Medallions never leave the library, a structural reality of 100-card singleton decks. Among observed copies, the vast majority that resolved landed on the battlefield and stayed there through the end of the game.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Krenko, Mob Boss 23 decks
2 Zada, Hedron Grinder 15 decks
3 Clive, Ifrit's Dominant // Ifrit, Warden of Inferno 10 decks
4 Kratos, God of War 10 decks
5 Kuja, Genome Sorcerer // Trance Kuja, Fate Defied 10 decks
6 Jaws, Relentless Predator 8 decks
7 Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might // Temple of Power 8 decks
8 Tannuk, Steadfast Second 8 decks
9 Thor, God of Thunder 7 decks
10 Norin the Wary 5 decks

Nearly every entry on the top-commanders list is mono-red or red-primary, confirming that Ruby Medallion's inclusion is tightly gated by color identity. Krenko, Mob Boss and Zada, Hedron Grinder lead by deck count, both rewarding high volumes of red spell casts.

Frequently Asked

How often is Ruby Medallion drawn in a Commander game?

Across 502 tracked games where Ruby Medallion was in the deck, it was drawn 26% of the time. That is a normal draw rate for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of the 143 copies that reached a player's hand, 78% were cast before the game ended. The remainder reflects games that concluded before a window opened to cast it, not a deliberate choice to hold it.

What turn does Ruby Medallion typically hit the battlefield?

The median first-cast turn is 3.0, but the distribution skews early. A meaningful number of casts land on turns 1 and 2 from opening-hand copies, and the interquartile range runs from turn 2 to turn 6. Players cast it quickly when they have it: 55% of drawn-and-cast instances were played on the same turn they were drawn.

Does casting Ruby Medallion actually help you win?

The data shows a directional positive signal. Games where Ruby Medallion resolved carry a 35% normalized win rate across 111 observations, versus 23% for the 359 games where it stayed in the library. That is a +11.7 percentage-point gap. Playgroup Live's dataset is not large enough to call this conclusive, but the signal has been consistent across tracked games.

Which commanders run Ruby Medallion most often?

Krenko, Mob Boss leads the list, followed by Zada, Hedron Grinder and Clive, Ifrit's Dominant. The pattern is almost entirely mono-red or red-heavy commanders: Ruby Medallion's cost reduction only applies to red spells, so it earns a slot most naturally in decks that cast a high volume of red spells each turn. Spell-slinger and go-wide token strategies benefit the most from shaving a generic mana off every card in the hand.

Is Ruby Medallion legal in Commander?

Yes. Ruby Medallion is legal in Commander, Duel Commander, Brawl, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Historic, and Timeless. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. Its colorless color identity means it can slot into any red-including Commander deck without restriction.

How concentrated is the Ruby Medallion data among specific players?

The data is well spread. 258 distinct players have brought Ruby Medallion to a tracked game on Playgroup Live, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for only 26% of all instances. That breadth means the draw rate, cast-turn distribution, and win-rate figures are not inflated by one prolific player's results.