March 2026
The Commander metagame across 25,623 casual games tracked on Playgroup.gg. Win rates, movers, community sentiment, and diversity metrics across 2,305 unique commanders.
25,623 games were tracked on Playgroup in March 2026, a 9.8% increase over February. That is the most meaningful headline: the player base logging games is growing, and the data this month reflects a broader, more diverse sample than any prior month this year. 2,305 distinct commanders appeared, up 1.1%. The Meta Diversity Index held at 85.6, rated "Healthy," and the top 10 commanders accounted for just 10.3% of total games. It takes 154 commanders to account for half the field. By every diversity measure, no single strategy is choking out the format.
Ashling, the Limitless led all commanders in play volume with 1,472 games, nearly 300 more than second-place Auntie Ool, Cursewretch at 1,145. Both are newer Five-Color and Jund (BGR) entries respectively, and their presence at the top reflects continued interest in recent releases. On the win-rate leaderboard, Minn, Wily Illusionist leads at 44.55% across 78 games. Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Winota, Joiner of Forces both clear 39%, each with 94 and 105 games respectively. Kuja, Genome Sorcerer holds the top ELO at 1793 over 247 games, the strongest combination of volume and sustained performance in the format this month.
The typical game ran about 52 minutes (median 3,100 seconds), down just 0.2% from last month. Average rounds held flat at 8.8. Combo closes games fastest at an average of 6.9 rounds; combat is the slowest path at 9.2. Turn-order advantage remains measurable: seat one wins 29.6% of four-player games, while seat four wins 23.2%. The community sentiment numbers are steady. Fun ticked up slightly to 3.73 out of 5, and salt held at 1.44 out of 3. Players are not reporting distress with the current field.
Three commanders to track in April: Zhulodok, Void Gorger continues to build both volume and win rate in the Colorless space. Ellivere of the Wild Court posted a dramatic single-month jump in Selesnya, and the new arrivals Ayara, First of Locthwain and Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer both debuted with win rates above 35%. If those numbers hold as their sample sizes grow, they will be legitimate contenders for the win-rate leaderboard next month.
Top 100 most-played commanders sized by play count.
Win rate change vs the previous month. Commanders need 100+ games in both months to qualify.
Adrix and Nev, Twincasters
Ayara, First of Locthwain
Ramos, Dragon Engine
Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer
Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis
Ellivere of the Wild Court posted the largest win-rate gain this month, climbing 10.7 percentage points to 31.41% across 117 games. That kind of jump in Selesnya (GW) is worth noting, though the sample sits near the minimum threshold, so treat it as a signal to watch rather than a settled verdict. More convincing is Zhulodok, Void Gorger, up 8.9 points to 35.33% across a solid 242 games. Colorless strategies have quietly built volume, and Zhulodok's numbers are now hard to dismiss. Prosper, Tome-Bound rounds out the risers with a 7.73-point gain to 35.65% across 169 games, confirming a strong Rakdos (BR) resurgence this month. On the other side, Go-Shintai of Life's Origin fell 13.54 points to 23.96%, the steepest drop among qualifiers. Animar, Soul of Elements shed 10.61 points to land at 23.8% across 208 games. Sonic the Hedgehog fell 9.92 points to a rough 14.08% across 119 games. Among new arrivals crossing the games threshold for the first time, Ayara, First of Locthwain and Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer both debuted above 35%, and Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis came in at nearly 33%, making all three worth monitoring as their sample sizes grow.
67.6% of tracked games received ratings this month, down 0.4% from last month but still a strong response rate. The average fun score held at 3.73 out of 5, up 0.5% from the prior month. Average salt came in at 1.44 on the 1-to-3 scale, unchanged from February. At that level, most losing players report little to no frustration with the winning commander. Atraxa, Praetors' Voice earned the saltiest rating at 1.71 across 80 rated games. That score is elevated relative to the field average but still sits in the lower half of the scale. Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer claimed the most fun rating at 4.21 out of 5 across 135 games. A Mono-White commander topping the fun chart is an unusual result and suggests its game plan generates positive table interaction regardless of outcome.
How games ended in March 2026 across 25,623 tracked games.
Combat damage remains the dominant path to victory at 54.3%, down slightly from 55.4% last month. Non-combat damage follows at 20.6%, also marginally down. Commander damage ticked up to 9.2% from 8.6%. Combo held nearly flat at 6.4%. The most notable shift is Alternative win conditions, which climbed from 5.7% to 6.3%. The infinite combo rate sits at 4.9% of all games, meaning roughly one in twenty games ends on an infinite loop. Mill (1.8%) and Poison (1.4%) remain at the margins.
An MDI of 86 reflects a healthy meta where most commanders see balanced play, with 154 commanders needed to cover half of all games.
| May 2026 | Apr 2026 | Mar 2026 | Feb 2026 | Jan 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85.1 | 85.9 | 85.6 | 85.1 | 85.6 |
This report covers all finished multiplayer games tracked through the Playgroup.gg app during March 2026. Win rates are normalized to a 4-player baseline (25% expected) so pod size differences are weighted fairly. A commander needs at least 75 games to appear in ranked lists.
Salt ratings are measured from losing players and attributed to the winning commander. The scale runs 1 (no salt) to 3 (very salty). A Playgroup.gg editor reviews all content before publication.