Live Play Data

Temple of Deceit

Land · Foundations (FDN)

12%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

606

Decks Running

358

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

73%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

Temple of Deceit appears in 12% of tracked multiplayer Commander decks. When drawn, 73% of copies reach the battlefield, and the median first-cast turn is T3.

Temple of Deceit is a Dimir staple land that trades a tapped entry for a scry 1 on arrival. It sits in 12% of the 2972 distinct Commander decks that have played a tracked game on Playgroup Live, appearing across 358 recorded decklists.

As a land, Temple of Deceit is almost always played the turn it is drawn. 72% of drawn copies hit the battlefield on the same turn they were seen, consistent with what you would expect from a free-to-play land. The median first-cast turn is 3, reflecting the mix of opening-hand copies played on turn 1 and later draws dropped into an already-developing mana base.

The commander spread is broad. 314 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game, and no single player accounts for more than 3% of all instances. That breadth is a signal of genuine format-wide adoption across the Dimir and three-color-blue-black identity space rather than concentration in one player's favored deck.

At a glance

12% of tracked Commander decks include Temple of Deceit
73% of drawn copies reach the battlefield
T3 median first-cast turn
93% battlefield stickiness once the land enters play
72% of drawn copies played the same turn they were drawn
314 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game

First-cast turn

n=111

37%

10%

25%

T6-9

T10+

Median 3 P25 1 · P75 7 · max 13

Cast same turn as drawn 72%

The "good card" funnel

609 brought · 314 players

Brought to game

609

Ever drawn

152

Reached battlefield

111

Still on board at game end

103

73%

Of 609 copies brought to tracked games, 152 were drawn, 111 of those were cast, and the vast majority remained on the battlefield through end of game.

≥ -5.4pp

Players who cast this card win 23% of the time (n=105) , vs 20% when it never left the library (n=372).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 35% (n=37) — 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 +2.8pp; 95% confidence interval -5.4pp to +10.9pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

185 instances

2.2%

Library

55.7%

Battlefield

23.2%

Graveyard

5.4%

Exile

Most Temple of Deceit copies finish the game on the battlefield, consistent with a land that enters once and stays in play until a board wipe or game end removes it.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

The commander list spans a wide spread of Dimir and three-color blue-black strategies, with no single archetype dominating, which reflects the card's broad adoption across any deck that can run it.

Frequently Asked

How often is Temple of Deceit drawn in a Commander game?

Across 577 tracked multiplayer games where Temple of Deceit was in the deck, it was drawn 25% of the time. That is in the normal range for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 152 drawn copies, 73% were cast before the game ended.

What turn does Temple of Deceit typically enter the battlefield?

The median first-cast turn is 3. The distribution is front-loaded: a large cluster lands on turn 1 from opening hands, with the rest spread across the mid-game as players draw into it. The mode is turn 1, which reflects how frequently it shows up in opening hands and gets played immediately.

Does Temple of Deceit improve your win rate?

In these 105 tracked game participations where Temple of Deceit reached the battlefield, the normalized win rate is 23%, compared to 20% for games where it stayed in the library. The delta is +2.8 percentage points. Both sample sizes provide an early directional signal, but with this dataset size the difference should not be read as a conclusive causal claim.

Is Temple of Deceit legal in Commander?

Yes. Temple of Deceit is legal in Commander, as well as in Legacy, Vintage, Modern, Pioneer, Standard, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, and several other formats. It is not legal in Pauper or Pauper Commander due to its rare printing.

Which commanders most often pair with Temple of Deceit?

The top commanders by raw deck count in the tracked dataset are The Wise Mothman, Captain N'ghathrod, Aminatou Veil Piercer, and Wilhelt the Rotcleaver. The distribution skews heavily toward Dimir (blue-black) and three-color commanders that include both blue and black, which matches the card's own color identity restriction.

Why run Temple of Deceit over a basic Island or Swamp?

The scry 1 trigger on entry is the entire argument. Entering tapped is a real cost in the early turns, but the ability to look at your top card and optionally move it to the bottom gives a small but consistent smoothing effect over the course of a game. In decks that care about the top of the library or want to set up specific draws, that extra filtering adds up across a full game.