Live Play Data

Victimize

· Sorcery · Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander (TDC)

12%

Live Inclusion

Buy on TCGplayer

Times Brought

1642

Decks Running

884

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

47%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

34% of games where Victimize resolved ended in a win for the caster, a +10.0 percentage-point lift over the 24% baseline when it stayed in the library.

Victimize sits in 12% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live, a card that earns its slot by converting a sacrificed creature into two graveyard threats returned to the battlefield. Across 1512 tracked multiplayer games, it has been cast 179 times and the win-rate signal is among the clearest we see for a sorcery in this dataset.

The key number is the cast-vs-library delta. Participations where Victimize resolved show a 34% win rate, against 24% for games where it never left the library. That is a +10.0 percentage-point gap with a lower confidence bound above zero, making this one of the stronger early signals in the dataset. Both sample buckets clear 15 observations, so the direction is worth noting, though the dataset is still growing.

The card lands squarely in graveyard-value strategies. Teval, the Balanced Scale and Meren of Clan Nel Toth lead the commander distribution, which spans 715 distinct players and is well-spread: no single contributor accounts for more than a small fraction of the instances.

At a glance

12% of tracked Commander decks include Victimize
34% win rate in games where Victimize resolved
+10.0pp win-rate lift over the library baseline, directional signal
T8 median first-cast turn, landing well after the curve
47% of drawn copies reached the cast step before game end
715 distinct players have brought Victimize to a tracked game

First-cast turn

n=179

64%

T6-9

22%

T10+

Median 8 P25 6 · P75 9 · max 16

On curve 2% (2 / 179 cast on T3) Cast same turn as drawn 30%

The "good card" funnel

1647 brought · 715 players

Brought to game

1647

Ever drawn

381

Reached battlefield

179

Still on board at game end

47%

Of 1647 Victimize copies brought to games, 381 were drawn, 179 of those were cast, and the card's impact shows up in a 34% win rate for the games where it resolved.

≥ +3.0pp

Players who cast this card win 34% of the time (n=166) , vs 24% when it never left the library (n=1035).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 21% (n=184) — 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 +10.0pp; 95% confidence interval +3.0pp to +17.1pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

468 instances

3.0%

Library

0.9%

Battlefield

51.5%

Graveyard

10.0%

Exile

Victimize is a sorcery that resolves to the graveyard, so the large graveyard bucket in the final-zone chart is expected. The handful of battlefield finishes represent tokens or creatures created by triggered abilities after Victimize resolved.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

1 Teval, the Balanced Scale 59 decks
2 Meren of Clan Nel Toth 25 decks
3 Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel 23 decks
4 Teysa Karlov 23 decks
5 Sauron, the Dark Lord 19 decks
6 Henzie "Toolbox" Torre 16 decks
7 Terra, Herald of Hope 14 decks
8 The Serpent Society 12 decks
9 Gisa and Geralf 11 decks
10 Sméagol, Helpful Guide 11 decks

The commander list spans graveyard reanimation, sacrifice synergy, and token strategies across a wide range of color identities. Teval leads but the spread across 715 players means no single archetype dominates the signal.

Frequently Asked

How often is Victimize drawn and cast in a Commander game?

Across 1512 tracked multiplayer games, Victimize was drawn 23% of the time it was in a deck. Of those drawn copies, 47% were cast before the game ended. The median delay between drawing it and casting it is 2 turns, and 30% of drawn-and-cast instances were cast on the same turn they were drawn.

What turn does Victimize typically resolve?

Median first-cast turn is 8, with the bulk of casts landing between turns 6 and 9. The mana cost is only 3, but Victimize is a graveyard spell: it needs creatures to already be in the yard, which means players naturally wait until mid-game to get full value. Only 1 of 179 tracked casts landed on curve at turn 3.

Does casting Victimize actually improve your win rate?

The data shows a +10.0 percentage-point lift: 34% win rate when cast versus 24% when it stayed in the library. With 166 observations in the cast bucket and 1035 in the library bucket, the lower bound of the confidence interval is above zero. That is an encouraging directional signal, but Playgroup Live's dataset is still growing, so treat it as early evidence rather than a settled conclusion.

Which commanders most often pair with Victimize?

Teval, the Balanced Scale leads the multiplayer list with 36 decks, followed by Meren of Clan Nel Toth with 20 and Teysa Karlov with 15. The spread across commanders is broad: 715 unique players have brought the card to a tracked game, and no single player accounts for more than a small slice of instances. That breadth suggests Victimize is a genuine cross-archetype include rather than a card propped up by one active player.

Is Victimize legal in Commander?

Yes. Victimize is legal in Commander with no restrictions. It is also legal in Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, or Pauper Commander.

How concentrated is the Victimize data across players?

Very well-spread. 715 distinct players have contributed instances to the dataset, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for only 23% of all tracked instances. When max_player_pct is this low, the aggregate numbers are less likely to reflect one person's play patterns, which strengthens confidence in the directional signals we observe.