collections_bookmark Part of Secrets of Strixhaven
Sundown Pass card art
Live Play Data

Sundown Pass

Land · Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS)
16%
Live Inclusion
Times Brought
628
Decks Running
328
Median Cast Turn
3.0
Drawn → Played
84%
Format

84% of drawn Sundown Pass copies are played before the game ends, and 98% of those that resolve stay on the battlefield through end of game.

Sundown Pass resolves and sticks. Across 592 tracked multiplayer Commander games on Playgroup Live, 84% of drawn copies reached the battlefield, and once played, 98% remained there through end of game. For a land, that stickiness figure is about as high as the format allows.

The card sits in 328 of the 2002 distinct decks tracked on Playgroup Live, an inclusion rate of 16%. That figure is naturally gated by color identity: Sundown Pass is only legal in decks containing red, white, or both. Within that eligible pool, its presence is consistent. The concentration data supports this read. 289 distinct players have brought the card to tracked games, and no single player accounts for more than a small share of all instances.

The enter-tapped clause rarely matters by the turn the card actually lands. Median first-cast turn is 3.0, by which point most players already control two or more lands. Early casts in the opening turns do occur, and the distribution skews toward turns 1 through 4, but the bulk of play happens in the mid-game window where the condition is almost always met.

At a glance
  • 16% of tracked Commander decks include Sundown Pass
  • 84% of drawn copies are played before the game ends
  • 98% battlefield stickiness once it resolves
  • T3.0 median first-cast turn
  • 289 distinct players have brought Sundown Pass to a tracked game
  • 24% draw rate, consistent with a singleton in a 100-card deck

First-cast turn

n=128
13%
T1
15%
T2
23%
T3
14%
T4
8%
T5
20%
T6-9
6%
T10+
Median 3.0 P25 2 · P75 6 · max 12
Cast same turn as drawn 46%

The "good card" funnel

632 brought · 289 players
Brought to game
632
Ever drawn
153
Reached battlefield
128
Still on board at game end
126
84%

Of 632 Sundown Pass copies brought to games, 153 were drawn, 128 of those were played, and nearly all of the played copies remained on the battlefield through end of game.

≥ -6.1pp

Players who cast this card win 25% of the time (n=123) , vs 23% when it never left the library (n=435).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 24% (n=25) — 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 +1.8pp; 95% confidence interval -6.1pp to +9.6pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

163 instances
2.5%
Library
77.3%
Battlefield
7.4%
Graveyard
4.9%
Exile

The overwhelming majority of cast Sundown Pass copies finish on the battlefield: once this land resolves, it almost never leaves play before the game ends.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The commander list spans Boros, Mardu, Naya, and beyond, reflecting that Sundown Pass is a format staple wherever red or white mana appears rather than a card tied to any single strategy.

Frequently Asked

How often is Sundown Pass drawn in a Commander game?
In 592 tracked multiplayer games where Sundown Pass was in the deck, it was drawn 24% of the time. That is normal for a singleton land in a 100-card deck. Of the 153 copies that reached a player's hand, 84% were played before the game ended.
What turn does Sundown Pass typically enter the battlefield?
Median first-cast turn is 3.0, with the distribution running from turn 1 through turn 12 in the dataset. The mode is turn 3, and the interquartile range sits between turns 2 and 6. By the median cast turn, the enter-tapped condition is almost always satisfied, so the land typically comes in untapped.
Does casting Sundown Pass correlate with winning?
25% of participations where Sundown Pass was cast ended in a win for that player, compared to 23% when the card stayed in the library. The delta is directional but the sample sizes involved mean we call this an early signal rather than a firm conclusion. Both buckets have enough observations to be worth watching as the dataset grows.
Is Sundown Pass legal in Commander?
Yes. Sundown Pass is legal in Commander with no restrictions. It is also legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Historic, and most other constructed formats. It is not legal in Pauper (rare) or Pauper Commander.
Which commanders run Sundown Pass most often?
The top commanders by raw deck count on Playgroup Live include Mr. House, President and CEO; Lorehold, the Historian; and Lightning, Army of One. The spread across Boros, Mardu, Naya, and even a handful of other color identities reflects the card's broad utility as a dual land anywhere red or white mana is needed.
Why does Sundown Pass see play over other dual lands?
Sundown Pass is part of the 'Pathway' cycle of rare dual lands from Innistrad and related sets that enter untapped under an easy-to-meet condition. In Commander, where two-or-more-land openers are standard, the enter-tapped clause is almost never triggered beyond the very first turns. That makes Sundown Pass effectively a fast dual for red and white mana at a rare price point, without requiring basic land types or life payment.