Live Play Data

Talisman of Dominance

· Artifact · Marvel Super Heroes Commander (MSC)

35%

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

1232

Decks Running

696

Median Cast Turn

4.0

Drawn → Played

76%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

35% of tracked Commander decks in Dimir's color identity run Talisman of Dominance, and 76% of drawn copies reach the battlefield, with a median first-cast turn of 4.0.

Talisman of Dominance earns its slot. Across 1106 tracked multiplayer Commander games on Playgroup Live, it sits in 35% of decks in the dataset, making it one of the most reliably included 2-mana rocks for Dimir and any color identity that contains blue and black.

The cast data tells a consistent story: 76% of drawn copies were cast before the game ended. Median first cast lands on turn 4.0, meaning a sizable share of players are deploying it early enough to power out their third-turn plays. Of 1240 instances brought to games, 316 were drawn and 240 of those were cast. Once it resolves, 85% of cast copies are still on the battlefield at end of game, a strong stickiness figure for a mana rock in an interactive format.

The win-rate signal is directional and worth watching. Participations where Talisman of Dominance was cast show a +5.5 percentage-point lift over participations where it sat uninteracted in the library. With 234 observations in the cast bucket and 808 in the library bucket, this is the most robustly sampled delta in the Playgroup Live dataset for this card. The data is spread across 517 distinct players, with no single contributor accounting for more than 2% of instances, which strengthens the signal's representativeness.

At a glance

35% of tracked Commander decks include Talisman of Dominance
76% of drawn copies were cast before the game ended
T4.0 median first-cast turn
85% battlefield stickiness once it resolves
+5.5pp win-rate lift when cast vs. sitting unplayed in the library
517 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game

First-cast turn

n=240

15%

21%

12%

11%

30%

T6-9

T10+

Median 4.0 P25 2 · P75 7 · max 16

On curve 36% (50 / 240 cast on T2) Cast same turn as drawn 50%

The "good card" funnel

1240 brought · 517 players

Brought to game

1240

Ever drawn

316

Reached battlefield

240

Still on board at game end

204

76%

Of 1240 Talismans brought to games, 316 were drawn, 240 of those were cast, and 85% of cast copies remained on the battlefield through end of game.

≥ -0.3pp

Players who cast this card win 27% of the time (n=234) , vs 21% when it never left the library (n=808).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 31% (n=69) — 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 +5.5pp; 95% confidence interval -0.3pp to +11.3pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

366 instances

1.6%

Library

55.7%

Battlefield

21.0%

Graveyard

9.0%

Exile

Most copies of Talisman of Dominance never leave the library, a structural certainty for any singleton in a 100-card deck rather than a reflection on the card's power level. Among observed instances, the battlefield is the dominant final zone by a wide margin.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Y'shtola, Night's Blessed 76 decks
2 Doctor Doom, King of Latveria 49 decks
3 Sauron, the Dark Lord 20 decks
4 The Wise Mothman 20 decks
5 Captain N'ghathrod 15 decks
6 Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima 14 decks
7 Marneus Calgar 14 decks
8 Ulalek, Fused Atrocity 14 decks
9 Abaddon the Despoiler 13 decks
10 Alela, Cunning Conqueror 13 decks

The commander spread is broad: Y'shtola and Doctor Doom lead by raw deck count, but the list covers Esper, Grixis, Sultai, and five-color commanders, showing that Talisman of Dominance slots comfortably into any shell touching blue and black.

Frequently Asked

How often is Talisman of Dominance drawn in a Commander game?

In 1106 tracked games where Talisman of Dominance was in the deck, it was drawn 25% of the time. That figure is typical for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 316 instances that reached a player's hand, 76% were cast before the game concluded.

What turn does Talisman of Dominance usually get cast?

Median first cast is turn 4.0 across multiplayer games on Playgroup Live. The distribution has a meaningful cluster on turns 1 and 2 (players who drew it in their opening hand or first few draws) and a long tail stretching into the late game. The interquartile range runs from turn 2 to turn 7, so expect high variance depending on whether it shows up early.

Does casting Talisman of Dominance actually correlate with winning?

Participations where it was cast show a +5.5 percentage-point win-rate lift over participations where it stayed in the library untouched. The cast bucket has 234 observations and the library bucket has 808, giving this delta a meaningful sample base. The lower bound of the confidence interval is barely positive, so treat this as an early directional signal rather than a proven edge. That said, it is consistent with the general Commander wisdom that 2-mana rocks accelerate your game plan.

Is Talisman of Dominance legal in Commander?

Yes. Talisman of Dominance is legal and unrestricted in Commander. It is also legal in Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, or Penny Dreadful. Its color identity is blue and black, so it can only be included in decks whose commander's color identity contains both U and B.

Which commanders most commonly run Talisman of Dominance?

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed leads the tracked dataset with the most decks including this card, followed by Doctor Doom, King of Latveria. The list spans Esper (U/B/W), Grixis (U/B/R), Sultai (U/B/G), and five-color commanders, reflecting how broadly the Dimir color pair appears in the current meta. The commander spread is healthy: data comes from 517 distinct players, and no single player accounts for more than 2% of instances.

How quickly do players cast Talisman of Dominance after drawing it?

Of the instances where the card was both drawn and cast, 50% were cast on the same turn they were drawn. The average delay was under one turn. That said, a drawn copy going uncast does not always mean a player chose to hold it. Games that end before a player can act are the more common culprit. The high 76% draw-to-play rate suggests most copies that reach a hand do eventually resolve.