September 2026
The Commander metagame across 40,897 casual games tracked on Playgroup.gg. Win rates, movers, community sentiment, and diversity metrics across 2,765 unique commanders.
40,897 games were tracked on Playgroup in September 2026, a 0.2% increase over August. The typical game ran about 47 minutes, down 1.8% from last month, with average rounds ticking down 1.1%. Games ran slightly shorter and a little tighter, but the change is incremental rather than structural. The format's footprint across Playgroup's apps remains stable heading into fall.
2,765 unique commanders saw play, up 2.0% from August. The Meta Diversity Index reached 86.0, rated "Healthy," its highest reading in the past eight months and matching June's score. The top 10 commanders combined for only 7.2% of all games, and it takes 185 commanders to account for half of all games played. No single commander dominates the table. Y'shtola, Night's Blessed led in raw plays at 1,187 games but posted a 22.5% win rate, below the 25% baseline. Volume and performance continue to diverge at the top of the play counts, which is a good sign for diversity.
On the performance side, Izzet (RU) commanders appear throughout the high-ELO leaderboard: The Locust God, Ghyrson Starn, and Ashling, Rekindled // Ashling, Rimebound all placed well. Sans-Green combinations posted the best aggregate win rate at 29.31% across 914 games, while Dimir (BU) recorded the lowest at 20.64% across 3,986 games. Combat remains the dominant path to victory at 54.5% of wins. Combo crept up to 8.0%, its second consecutive month of incremental growth. At 5.1%, infinite combos account for roughly 1 in 20 games.
The community pulse suggests a relaxed month. Salt dropped 6.1% to 1.23, and fun held at 3.78 out of 5. Both scores point to a format where most tables end pleasantly. The standout data point for October: three Esper and Mardu commanders surged simultaneously on the risers list, and Izzet continues to accumulate ELO mass. Watch whether those win-rate spikes stabilize or fade as sample sizes grow.
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.
Tatyova, Benthic Druid
Skullbriar, the Walking Grave
Ghoulcaller Gisa
Grist, the Hunger Tide
Syr Konrad, the Grim
Tivit, Seller of Secrets is September's most dramatic riser. The Esper (BUW) commander posted a 42.77% win rate across 128 games, up 16.42 percentage points from August. That puts Tivit not only at the top of the movers table but also at the top of the overall win-rate leaderboard. Sefris of the Hidden Ways (also Esper) added 12.44 points to reach 34.91%, and Vihaan, Goldwaker (Mardu, BRW) climbed 13.42 points to 33.73%. Three different commanders, three different archetypes, all clearing 33% in a format where 25% is par. These are large swings on commanders near the minimum games threshold, so treat them as signals worth monitoring rather than settled conclusions. On the other side, Rocco, Street Chef (Naya, GRW) shed 13.68 points to land at 21.47%. Brigid, Clachan's Heart // Brigid, Doun's Mind (Selesnya, GW) fell 10.82 points to 24.27%, slipping from above average to near the baseline. Breena, the Demagogue (Orzhov, BW) dropped 10.56 points to 18.85%, its worst showing in recent months. Among new arrivals meeting the threshold for the first time, Ghoulcaller Gisa debuted with 244 games at 19.16%, while Syr Konrad, the Grim entered at 27.68% across 84 games, worth watching next month.
87.3% of games tracked on Playgroup received ratings this month, up 7.9% from August. The aggregate fun score held at 3.78 out of 5, flat month over month. The aggregate salt score fell 6.1% to 1.23 on the 1-to-3 scale. A score of 1.23 sits close to the low end of that range, indicating that the overwhelming majority of games produced little friction. Cosmic Spider-Man, the Five-Color (BGRUW) commander, drew the saltiest table reactions this month at 1.44 across 80 rated games. That remains a modest reading in absolute terms. The most fun commander title goes to The Lord of Pain (Rakdos, BR), which scored 4.32 out of 5 across 75 rated games. Notably, The Lord of Pain also ranked second on the win-rate leaderboard at 41.6%, suggesting the table enjoys playing against it even when it wins. Both scores reflect losing players' ratings attributed to the winning commander.
How games ended in September 2026 across 40,897 tracked games.
Combat damage still accounts for 54.5% of wins, essentially unchanged from August's 54.8%. Non-Combat Damage holds at 17.8%, and Commander Damage sits at 10.3%. Combo ticked up from 7.7% to 8.0%, a modest but consistent direction. Alternative win conditions moved from 5.9% to 6.3%. The infinite combo rate stands at 5.1% of all games. No single win condition shifted dramatically this month. The format's combat-dominant character continues to hold across Playgroup's tracked game base.
An MDI of 86 reflects a healthy meta where most commanders see balanced play, with 185 commanders needed to cover half of all games.
| Aug 2026 | Jul 2026 | Jun 2026 | May 2026 | Apr 2026 | Mar 2026 | Feb 2026 | Jan 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85.6 | 85.8 | 86.0 | 85.1 | 85.9 | 85.6 | 85.1 | 85.6 |
This report covers all finished multiplayer games tracked through the Playgroup.gg app during September 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.