Live Play Data

Underworld Breach

· Enchantment · Theros Beyond Death (THB)

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

1103

Decks Running

500

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

52%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

43% of games where Underworld Breach resolved ended in a win for the caster, a +19.4 percentage-point lift over games where it never left the library. That gap, across 125 cast observations, is a strong directional signal.

Underworld Breach converts a full graveyard into an emergency hand. Across 1004 tracked multiplayer games on Playgroup Live, it was cast 137 times and the caster's win rate reached 43%, compared to 23% when the card stayed in the library the entire game.

The +19.4 percentage-point gap is the clearest number on this page. It is directional, not conclusive, but the lower bound of the confidence interval still sits above ten points, which makes the lift consistent with what the card's reputation would lead you to expect. Median first cast lands on turn 6, well past the early-game ramp window, reflecting how Breach functions: it needs a graveyard to unlock, and building one takes time.

Underworld Breach is banned in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, and Duel Commander. In multiplayer Commander it is legal and unrestricted. Its red color identity limits it to mono-red and multicolor shells, yet 5% of tracked live decks still run it. The commander distribution is wide, from spell-slinger Izzet builds to five-color goodstuff, suggesting it earns its slot across very different game plans.

At a glance

5% of tracked Commander decks include Underworld Breach
43% win rate when cast, versus 23% when it never left the library
+19.4pp win-rate lift from casting it, the strongest directional signal in the data
T6 median first-cast turn, reflecting the graveyard-setup requirement
52% of drawn copies reached the battlefield before the game ended
386 distinct players have brought it to a tracked game, keeping the dataset well-spread

First-cast turn

n=137

11%

12%

54%

T6-9

12%

T10+

Median 6 P25 5 · P75 8 · max 16

On curve 7% (5 / 137 cast on T2) Cast same turn as drawn 42%

The "good card" funnel

1103 brought · 386 players

Brought to game

1103

Ever drawn

262

Reached battlefield

137

Still on board at game end

52%

Of 1103 copies brought to games, 262 were drawn, 137 of those were cast. The step from drawn to cast is the biggest drop, which is expected for a card that requires graveyard setup before it provides full value.

≥ +11.1pp

Players who cast this card win 43% of the time (n=125) , vs 23% when it never left the library (n=675).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 31% (n=112) — 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 +19.4pp; 95% confidence interval +11.1pp to +27.7pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

305 instances

5.9%

Library

18.7%

Battlefield

36.1%

Graveyard

9.2%

Exile

Most Underworld Breach copies end in the graveyard, the natural consequence of its self-sacrifice clause. The relatively small library slice means it gets found and used far more often than a typical 100-card singleton.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Vivi Ornitier 26 decks
2 Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness 16 decks
3 Flubs, the Fool 15 decks
4 Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin 13 decks
5 Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh 12 decks
6 Fire Lord Azula 11 decks
7 Nekusar, the Mindrazer 11 decks
8 Doctor Doom, King of Latveria 10 decks
9 Sauron, the Dark Lord 10 decks
10 Kenrith, the Returned King 9 decks

The top commander claims only 15 decks of the 500 that run Underworld Breach, reflecting how broadly the card is distributed across red-inclusive strategies rather than being owned by a single archetype.

Card text

Underworld Breach

Enchantment

Each nonland card in your graveyard has escape. The escape cost is equal to the card's mana cost plus exile three other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast cards from your graveyard for their escape cost.) At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this enchantment.

Theros Beyond Death (THB) · Rare · Illustrated by Lie Setiawan

Frequently Asked

How often is Underworld Breach drawn in a Commander game?

In 1004 tracked multiplayer games where Underworld Breach was in the deck, it was drawn 24% of the time. That is consistent with a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 262 copies that reached a player's hand, 52% were cast before the game ended. The remainder mostly reflects games that concluded before the card could be deployed, not players choosing to hold it.

What turn does Underworld Breach usually get cast?

Median first cast is turn 6, with the interquartile range running from turn 5 to turn 8. Only a handful of copies landed on turns 1 or 2. The distribution makes sense for a card that needs a stocked graveyard before it does meaningful work. On-curve casting (turn 2 for a 2-mana card) accounts for just 7% of casts; almost every copy arrives behind the mana curve, drawn after the early game is over.

Is Underworld Breach banned anywhere?

Yes, in several high-powered formats. It is banned in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, and Duel Commander. It is legal in Vintage (with no restriction), Historic, Timeless, Oathbreaker, Gladiator, and multiplayer Commander. The bans reflect the card's ability to generate near-infinite value in combo-dense environments where graveyard setup is trivial.

Does casting Underworld Breach actually improve your odds of winning?

The data is directional but consistent. Win rate when cast is 43% across 125 observations, versus 23% across 675 games where it never left the library. The +19.4 percentage-point gap is the honest controlled estimate. Both sample sizes exceed 15, so the delta clears the threshold for meaningful signal, though the dataset as a whole is still small enough to call it directional rather than definitive.

How sticky is Underworld Breach on the battlefield?

Underworld Breach sacrifices itself at the beginning of each end step, so it is not designed to stay in play indefinitely. The stickiness figure of 42% captures how often it is still present at the time the final-zone snapshot is taken. A large share of observed copies end in the graveyard, which is expected given the card's self-sacrifice clause. Its value is generated the turn it resolves, not by accumulating over several turns.

Which commanders most often run Underworld Breach?

In the multiplayer dataset, Etali, Primal Conqueror leads the raw deck-count list, followed by Flubs, the Fool and Vivi Ornitier. The spread is broad: the top commander accounts for only 15 decks out of 500 total, and the list spans mono-red, Izzet, Sultai, and five-color shells. That breadth is consistent with a generically powerful card rather than one that enables a single specific combo line.