Live Play Data

Wayward Swordtooth

· Creature — Dinosaur · The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)

Live Inclusion

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Times Brought

600

Decks Running

322

Median Cast Turn

Drawn → Played

72%

Format

Multiplayer 1v1

72% of drawn Wayward Swordtooth copies are cast before the game ends, and decks that resolve it win 32% of the time versus 22% when it stays buried in the library.

Wayward Swordtooth is a 3-mana green Dinosaur that grants an additional land drop each turn, gated behind the Ascend mechanic for its combat ability. Across 585 tracked multiplayer Commander games on Playgroup Live, it sits in 322 of 8985 distinct decks that have logged a game, a 4% inclusion rate that reflects its niche as a ramp piece rather than a universal staple.

The clearest signal in the data is a +10.5 percentage-point win-rate lift for decks that resolve Swordtooth versus decks where it never leaves the library. Both sample sizes are healthy: 117 cast observations and 364 library observations. That lower confidence bound is above zero, so the direction is consistent even accounting for variance on this dataset. Median first cast lands on turn 5, well past the card's mana value of 3, which tells you most copies arrive as mid-game acceleration rather than early ramp.

The commander distribution is broad. 291 distinct players have brought Swordtooth to a tracked game, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for just 3% of all instances. Pantlaza, Sun-Favored and Gishath, Sun's Avatar lead the deck list, confirming Swordtooth's natural home in Dinosaur tribal shells, though land-matters commanders like Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait also appear in the top ten.

At a glance

4% of tracked Commander decks include Wayward Swordtooth
72% of drawn copies reach the battlefield before the game ends
T5 median first-cast turn, well after its 3-mana cost
57% battlefield stickiness once the card resolves
+10.5pp win-rate lift for games where Swordtooth is cast vs. never played
291 distinct players have brought it to a tracked game, showing broad adoption

First-cast turn

n=127

16%

12%

14%

39%

T6-9

T10+

Median 5 P25 3 · P75 7 · max 19

On curve 27% (20 / 127 cast on T3) Cast same turn as drawn 42%

The "good card" funnel

600 brought · 291 players

Brought to game

600

Ever drawn

176

Reached battlefield

127

Still on board at game end

72%

Of 600 Swordtooths brought to games, 176 were drawn and 127 of those were cast, with the remainder going uncast before the game ended.

≥ +2.1pp

Players who cast this card win 32% of the time (n=117) , vs 22% when it never left the library (n=364).

When players drew this card but left it in hand, they won 34% (n=44) — 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 +10.5pp; 95% confidence interval +2.1pp to +18.9pp. Correlational, not causal: powerful payoffs also get cast more often in games you are already winning.

Final zone distribution

192 instances

1.0%

Library

37.5%

Battlefield

30.7%

Graveyard

8.9%

Exile

Most copies end the game in the graveyard or on the battlefield rather than remaining in the library, reflecting Swordtooth's role as a card players actively seek to resolve when they draw it.

Commanders that played this card

in tracked games

Pantlaza, Sun-Favored and Gishath, Sun's Avatar dominate the commander list, anchoring Swordtooth firmly in Dinosaur tribal while a smattering of land-matters commanders shows the card has reach beyond that tribe.

Card text

Wayward Swordtooth

Creature — Dinosaur

Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.) You may play an additional land on each of your turns. This creature can't attack or block unless you have the city's blessing.

5 / 5

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC) · Rare · Illustrated by Chris Rahn

Frequently Asked

How often is Wayward Swordtooth drawn in a Commander game?

In 585 tracked games where Swordtooth was in the deck, it was drawn 29% of the time. That is a normal draw rate for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of the 176 copies that reached a player's hand, 72% were cast before the game concluded.

What turn does Wayward Swordtooth typically get cast?

Median first-cast turn is 5, with the interquartile range spanning turns 3 through 7. Only a small fraction of casts land on curve at turn 3. The distribution shows a long tail into turns 8 and beyond, meaning Swordtooth often arrives as mid-to-late ramp rather than early acceleration. The same-turn cast rate is 42%, so players hold it for a turn on average before committing.

Does casting Wayward Swordtooth actually improve your win rate?

Games where Swordtooth resolved show a 32% win rate across 117 observations. Games where it stayed in the library show 22% across 364 observations. The +10.5 percentage-point gap is a consistent early signal, and on this dataset the lower confidence bound is above zero. That said, Playgroup Live's sample is still growing, so treat this as directional rather than definitive.

Which commanders run Wayward Swordtooth most often?

Pantlaza, Sun-Favored leads the tracked dataset by a wide margin, followed by Gishath, Sun's Avatar. Both are Dinosaur tribal commanders in Naya colors where Swordtooth does double duty as a tribal body and a ramp piece. Land-matters commanders like Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait also appear in the top ten, confirming that the additional land-drop ability draws interest outside pure Dinosaur shells.

Is Wayward Swordtooth legal in Commander?

Yes. Wayward Swordtooth is legal and unrestricted in Commander. It is also legal in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Historic, and several other formats. It is not legal in Standard, Pauper, or Pauper Commander. The card's green color identity means it fits in any Commander deck that runs green.

How concentrated is the Wayward Swordtooth data across players?

The data is well spread. 291 distinct players have brought Swordtooth to a tracked game on Playgroup Live, and the single heaviest contributor accounts for just 3% of all instances. That low concentration means the stats are not being skewed by one or two dedicated pilots, which adds credibility to the directional patterns we observe.