Live Play Data

Vampiric Tutor

· Instant · Dominaria Remastered (DMR)

11%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

762

Decks Running

432

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

72%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

Found in 11% of tracked Commander decks, Vampiric Tutor is cast 72% of the time it's drawn, with a median first-cast turn of 5 across 595 tracked games on Playgroup Live.

Vampiric Tutor sits in 11% of the 3805 Commander decks tracked on Playgroup Live, making it one of the most-played tutors in the dataset. Its one black mana cost gives it access to nearly every deck running black, and the 2-life payment is rarely a meaningful obstacle at Commander's 40-life starting total.

When a copy reaches a player's hand, it converts to a cast 72% of the time. Median first cast lands on turn 5, and the distribution is fairly flat from turns 1 through 7, reflecting how players deploy it whenever the timing is right rather than holding it for a specific moment. Of the 121 casts tracked, the win rate for the casting player comes in at 34%, against 26% for games where the card never left the library. That +8.5 percentage-point gap is an early directional signal, but with the current sample size it should be read as a trend rather than a settled conclusion.

The commander distribution is notably broad. 281 distinct players have brought Vampiric Tutor to a tracked game, and no single player accounts for more than 4% of all instances, giving the dataset good spread. Edgar Markov and Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow lead the top-commander list, consistent with Vampiric Tutor's strength in tempo-focused and combo-adjacent strategies that want a specific card on top of the library now.

At a glance

11% of tracked Commander decks include Vampiric Tutor
72% of drawn copies reach the cast step before the game ends
T5 median first-cast turn across tracked games
22% draw rate, typical for a singleton in a 100-card deck
281 distinct players have brought this card to a tracked game
+8.5pp directional win-rate lift when cast versus staying in library

First-cast turn

n=121

12%

10%

12%

39%

T6-9

T10+

Median 5 P25 3 · P75 7 · max 14

On curve 12% (14 / 121 cast on T1) Cast same turn as drawn 50%

The "good card" funnel

764 brought · 281 players

Brought to game

764

Ever drawn

168

Reached battlefield

121

Still on board at game end

72%

Of 764 copies brought to tracked games, 168 were drawn, 121 of those were cast, and the remainder were drawn but not cast before the game ended, tracing the path from a tutor in the deck to one that resolves and fetches a target.

≥ +0.2pp

Players who cast this card win 34% of the time (n=120) , vs 26% when it never left the library (n=541).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 21% (n=46) — 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 +8.5pp; 95% confidence interval +0.2pp to +16.8pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

196 instances

4.6%

Library

2.0%

Battlefield

65.3%

Graveyard

12.2%

Exile

Most Vampiric Tutors never leave the library across the full participation pool, a structural feature of 100-card singleton rather than a reflection of the card's power. The instances that do resolve land overwhelmingly in the graveyard, exactly as expected for an instant that resolves and goes to the bin.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Edgar Markov 16 decks
2 Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow 12 decks
3 Esika, God of the Tree // The Prismatic Bridge 10 decks
4 Kaalia of the Vast 10 decks
5 Kenrith, the Returned King 9 decks
6 The Ur-Dragon 7 decks
7 K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth 6 decks
8 Oloro, Ageless Ascetic 6 decks
9 Y'shtola, Night's Blessed 6 decks
10 Doctor Doom, King of Latveria 5 decks

Edgar Markov and Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow lead the top-commander list, pointing toward aggressive and tempo-oriented strategies that prize having a specific card on top of the library as early as possible. The spread across ten commanders with meaningfully different color identities suggests broad adoption rather than a single archetype driving the numbers.

Frequently Asked

How often is Vampiric Tutor drawn in a Commander game?

In 595 tracked games where Vampiric Tutor was in the deck, it was drawn 22% of the time. That rate is consistent with what you'd expect for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of 168 instances that reached a player's hand, 72% were cast before the game ended. Copies that were drawn but not cast most often reflect games that ended before the player found a good window, not a deliberate choice to hold the card.

What turn does Vampiric Tutor typically get cast?

Median first-cast turn is 5 across the multiplayer sample. The turn distribution spreads from turn 1 through the mid-game: some copies land in opening hands and resolve on turn 1 or 2, while others are drawn later and cast whenever the tutor's target becomes relevant. The hand-to-cast data shows roughly half of drawn copies are cast the same turn they're drawn, which is consistent with an instant that players hold until the right moment in their turn.

Does casting Vampiric Tutor actually improve your win rate?

There is a +8.5 percentage-point gap between the win rate in games where the card was cast (34%) and games where it stayed in the library (26%). Both sample sizes are meaningful, but the current data on Playgroup Live is best read as a directional signal rather than a definitive finding. Decks that include Vampiric Tutor also tend to be higher-powered lists, so some of the lift reflects deck quality rather than the card alone.

Is Vampiric Tutor banned anywhere?

Vampiric Tutor is banned in Legacy, Premodern, Historic, and Duel Commander (1v1 Commander). It is restricted to one copy in Vintage. It is legal and unrestricted in multiplayer Commander, Timeless, Oathbreaker, and Gladiator. Its absence from Pauper and Standard is a rarity restriction rather than a ban. Always check the current banned-and-restricted list for the format you're playing.

Why is Vampiric Tutor so popular in Commander specifically?

Commander is a singleton format where consistency is inherently low. A one-mana instant that fetches any card in the library and places it on top converts a 1-in-99 topdeck into a guaranteed draw. At 40 life, the 2-life cost is negligible. The instant speed also lets players tutor at end of an opponent's turn, leaving mana up for interaction if needed. These factors combine to make it one of the strongest one-mana investments in the format.

How concentrated is the Vampiric Tutor data on Playgroup Live?

The data is well spread. 281 distinct players have brought Vampiric Tutor to a tracked multiplayer game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for 4% of all instances. That is well below the threshold where one player's preferences could skew the aggregate numbers, so the inclusion rate, draw rate, and cast turn figures reflect a broad cross-section of the tracked player base.