Vandalblast
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Sorcery
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Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander (OTC)
Vandalblast sits in 7% of tracked Commander decks, but when it reaches a player's hand, 60% of those copies get cast. Median first-cast turn is 7, reflecting its overload mode more than its base cost.
Vandalblast appears in 117 of the 1,698 distinct Commander decks tracked on Playgroup Live, a 6.9% inclusion rate that reflects its hard restriction to red color identity. Within that slice, it earns its slot: 60% of drawn copies are cast before the game ends.
The median first-cast turn of 7 is the key signal. Vandalblast costs only one mana at base, but players are holding it for the five-mana overload mode that destroys every artifact they don't control. That patience shows up directly in the first-cast-turn distribution and in the hand-to-cast median of 1 turn, meaning most players wait one turn after drawing it before pulling the trigger. Only 48% slam it the same turn it's drawn, the clearest sign that sequencing around overload cost matters.
Battlefield stickiness is effectively zero, which is expected: sorceries resolve and go to the graveyard. With 27 of 28 cast copies landing in the graveyard and only 5 exiled, the card is resolving cleanly in the vast majority of games. The commander spread is wide, spanning mono-red, Izzet, Rakdos, and Naya builds, confirming that any red deck with artifact opponents will reach for it.
- 6.9% inclusion rate across all tracked Commander decks
- 60% of drawn Vandalblasts are cast before the game ends
- T7 median first-cast turn, consistent with saving it for overload
- 48% cast the same turn they were drawn — most players wait
- 117 distinct decks running it across 162 tracked games
- 1 turn median turns held in hand before casting
First-cast turn
n=34The "good card" funnel
249 broughtOf 174 Vandalblasts brought to games, 42 were drawn, 28 of those were cast, and just 1 remained on the battlefield at game's end — expected behavior for a sorcery that resolves and goes straight to the graveyard.
Players who cast this card win 26% of the time (n=34) , vs 32% when it never left the library (n=182).
Final zone distribution
249 instances126 of 174 Vandalblasts never left the library — the structural reality of a singleton in a 100-card deck — while 27 of the 28 cast copies resolved cleanly into the graveyard.
Top commanders running this card
by deck count-
1
Strefan, Maurer Progenitor
8 decks
-
2
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph
7 decks
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3
Kratos, God of War
7 decks
-
4
Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser
7 decks
-
5
Sauron, the Dark Lord
6 decks
-
6
Captain Howler, Sea Scourge
5 decks
-
7
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh // Chandra, Roaring Flame
5 decks
-
8
Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER
5 decks
-
9
Galazeth Prismari
5 decks
-
10
Krenko, Mob Boss
5 decks
The distribution is spread across at least ten commanders with no single archetype dominating, confirming Vandalblast as a general red-deck include rather than a build-around piece.
How often is Vandalblast drawn in a Commander game? ▾
In participations where Vandalblast was in the deck, it was drawn 24% of the time — normal for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of the 42 instances we observed reaching a hand, 25 were drawn and cast (60% draw-to-play rate), while the rest sat uncast when the game ended.
Why is Vandalblast cast so late — median turn 7? ▾
The base cost is one mana, but the overload cost is five mana. The data strongly suggests players are deliberately holding the card for the board-wipe mode rather than using it as a single-target removal spell. The turn-7 median and the fact that only 48% of copies are cast the same turn they're drawn both point to the same behavior: players are waiting until they can devastate an entire table's artifact base at once.
Does casting Vandalblast actually improve your win rate? ▾
In the current dataset, participations where Vandalblast was cast won at a 28.6% rate (8 of 28), while participations where it sat in the library won at 34.1% (43 of 126). The delta is -5.6 percentage points. Both sample sizes are modest and the pattern should be treated as directional rather than conclusive. One plausible explanation: players reach for the overload when the board is already threatening — using it as a reactive tool rather than a proactive one — meaning it gets cast more often in games where the player is already behind.
Is Vandalblast legal in Commander? ▾
Yes. Vandalblast is legal and unrestricted in Commander. It is also legal in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker. It is not legal in Standard, Brawl, Pauper, or Historic. Its red color identity means it can only slot into Commander decks whose commander has red in its color identity.
Why does Vandalblast have such low battlefield stickiness? ▾
Battlefield stickiness measures how often a card remains on the battlefield at the game's end. For sorceries, near-zero stickiness is expected and correct: the spell resolves, destroys its targets, and moves to the graveyard. The 3.6% figure here just reflects one copy that ended up on the battlefield via some unusual effect. In 27 of 28 cast instances, Vandalblast went to the graveyard as intended.
Which commanders run Vandalblast most in this dataset? ▾
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph and Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser lead with 7 decks each, followed by Strefan, Maurer Progenitor at 6. The broader top-10 spans Izzet, Rakdos, mono-red, and even Naya builds, showing that Vandalblast fits any red deck that faces meaningful artifact threats. No single commander dominates the count, so the card's home is red artifact-hate broadly rather than one specific archetype.