CommanderTestLabor DE
Price
€498.01of €500.00
Overall win rate
4%6 wins in 165 scored games
Games
260 (95)played in 26 tournaments, 95 not scored (time limit)
Rank
63in the rankings up to €500 · Elo 1168 (start 1500)
Cards
100incl. commander · 35 lands, 9 of them basic
Game Changer
3of at most 3 allowed
Combos
4complete in the deck
Rules check
Passed100 cards, colors, banlist

Time limit note: 37% of this deck's games hit the time limit without a winner even on the third try (all decks in this price class: 17%). Usually the Forge AI is stuck in a loop then, e.g. with lots of tokens. These games don't count – so the win rate is somewhat less meaningful.

AI note: the Forge AI can't play 6 cards of this deck (replaced with similar cards in the Forge games) and plays 7 more only partially well. This result is therefore somewhat less meaningful. Affected cards

At most €500 including the commander. If prices rise above that, the shopping list is rebuilt automatically.

The shopping list was rebuilt with current prices on Oct 25, 2026: the tested version had risen to €500.31, above €500.00. Win rate and placement come from the tested version.

grey: role in the deckGame Changer counts for the bracketCombo part of a comboAI can't play replaced in tournamentsAI limited played weakly by the AI

Commander (1)

Creatures (23)

Instants (17)

Sorceries (8)

Artifacts (8)

Enchantments (8)

Lands (35)

Kenrith, the Returned King
Card image: © Wizards of the Coast, via Scryfall

Combos in the deck (4)

Detected from the decklist (Commander Spellbook): theoretically possible, see Spellbook for requirements. Whether a combo actually came together in games is shown above under “What the games show”.

  • Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + Freed from the Real → Infinite non-blue mana of colors among permanents you control, Infinite mana of colors among permanents you control, Infinite colorless mana
    Example – 10 versions with these cards: Freed from the Real · Pemmin's Aura · Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy · Basalt Monolith · Bloom Tender · Incubation Druid · Faeburrow Elder · Zirda, the Dawnwaker
  • Emiel the Blessed + Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + … → Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite untap of permanents you control
    5 versions, each with one of: Faeburrow Elder · Bloom Tender · Basalt Monolith · Lightning Greaves · Incubation Druid
  • Faerie Mastermind + Smothering Tithe + … → Infinite card draw for all players, Infinite draw triggers for all players, Near-infinite colored mana
    4 versions, each with one of: Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy · Training Grounds · Biomancer's Familiar · Zirda, the Dawnwaker
  • Cloud of Faeries + Emiel the Blessed + … → Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite mana lands you control can produce
    4 versions, each with one of: Training Grounds · Biomancer's Familiar · Zirda, the Dawnwaker · Agatha of the Vile Cauldron

Commander Spellbook lists 23 entries because every version counts separately (for example with a different sacrifice outlet). Here each combo counts once.

Show all 23 entries
  • Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + Basalt Monolith → Infinite colorless mana
  • Bloom Tender + Freed from the Real → Infinite non-blue mana of colors among permanents you control, Infinite mana of colors among permanents you control
  • Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + Freed from the Real → Infinite blue mana, Infinite mana a specific creature can produce, Put most creature cards from your library onto the battlefield
  • Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel the Blessed + Bloom Tender → Infinite untap of permanents you control, Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB
  • Bloom Tender + Pemmin's Aura → Infinite non-blue mana of colors among permanents you control, Infinite mana of colors among permanents you control
  • Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel the Blessed + Faeburrow Elder → Infinite untap of permanents you control, Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB
  • Incubation Druid + Freed from the Real → Infinite mana lands you control can produce
  • Faerie Mastermind + Smothering Tithe + Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy → Infinite card draw for all players, Infinite draw triggers for all players, Near-infinite Treasure tokens
  • Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + Pemmin's Aura → Infinite blue mana, Infinite mana a specific creature can produce, Put most creature cards from your library onto the battlefield
  • Zirda, the Dawnwaker + Basalt Monolith → Infinite colorless mana
  • Faeburrow Elder + Freed from the Real → Infinite non-blue mana of colors among permanents you control, Infinite mana of colors among permanents you control
  • Incubation Druid + Pemmin's Aura → Infinite mana lands you control can produce
  • Faerie Mastermind + Smothering Tithe + Training Grounds → Infinite card draw for all players, Infinite draw triggers for all players, Near-infinite colored mana
  • Faerie Mastermind + Smothering Tithe + Biomancer's Familiar → Infinite card draw for all players, Infinite draw triggers for all players, Near-infinite colored mana
  • Faeburrow Elder + Pemmin's Aura → Infinite non-blue mana of colors among permanents you control, Infinite mana of colors among permanents you control
  • Cloud of Faeries + Emiel the Blessed + Training Grounds → Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite mana lands you control can produce
  • Cloud of Faeries + Emiel the Blessed + Biomancer's Familiar → Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite mana lands you control can produce
  • Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel the Blessed + Basalt Monolith → Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB
  • Emiel the Blessed + Faeburrow Elder + Lightning Greaves → Infinite blinking, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature LTB
  • Faerie Mastermind + Smothering Tithe + Zirda, the Dawnwaker → Infinite card draw for all players, Infinite draw triggers for all players, Near-infinite colored mana
  • Cloud of Faeries + Emiel the Blessed + Zirda, the Dawnwaker → Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite mana lands you control can produce
  • Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel the Blessed + Incubation Druid → Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB
  • Cloud of Faeries + Emiel the Blessed + Agatha of the Vile Cauldron → Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite mana lands you control can produce

What the games show

From 165 analysed games in 26 tournaments (tournament lists as played by Forge). Games that hit the time limit don't count, just like in the rankings. Values in brackets: average of all decks in the same price class. “logged”: recorded in the game log. “indication”: recurring pattern, but no proof of cause and effect.

Play style: wins through combat – 100% of the damage to opponents is combat damage

Strengths

  • Recovers from board wipes: 4% wins when opponents cast a board wipe, 2% without one (all-deck avg: 23% vs 28%) indication (120 / 45 games)

Weaknesses

  • Little pressure: only avg 10 damage to opponents per game (all-deck avg: 29) logged (165 games)
  • Rarely eliminates opponents: 0.16 per game on average (all-deck avg: 0.62) logged (165 games)
  • Slow to win: wins on average only on its 12th own turn (all-deck avg: 11th) logged (6 wins)
  • Often eliminated first: in 33% of games (all-deck avg: 25%) logged (55 of 165 games)

Damage per game all games

Total damage to opponents ÷ all 165 games – what the card contributes over the whole test

  1. Kenrith, the Returned King avg 6.4hit in 88 of 165 games
  2. Emiel the Blessed avg 0.5hit in 14 of 165 games
  3. Faerie Mastermind avg 0.4hit in 12 of 165 games

Damage when used when it hits

Total damage ÷ games in which the card dealt damage – its strength when used

  1. Kenrith, the Returned King avg 12.0hit in 88 of 165 games
  2. Emiel the Blessed avg 6.0hit in 14 of 165 games
  3. Faerie Mastermind avg 5.5hit in 12 of 165 games

Top finishers eliminates opponents

Cards that most often knocked an opposing commander out of the game

  1. Kenrith, the Returned King 17×165 games in deck
  2. Faerie Mastermind 3×165 games in deck
  3. Breena, the Demagogue 1×16 games in deck

Best interaction answers threats

Opposing cards destroyed, exiled, bounced or countered when this card resolved (tokens excluded)

  1. Culling Ritual 36×avg 0.2 per game · 165 games in deck
  2. Path to Exile 30×avg 0.2 per game · 165 games in deck
  3. Swords to Plowshares 24×avg 0.1 per game · 165 games in deck

Biggest walls blocks the most

Opposing cards that blocked this deck's attackers most often – 15% of 481 attackers blocked in total, 11% of those by flyers or reach

  1. Spirit Token 8×blocked in 6 games

Rarely cast candidates to cut

Cards in this list that were cast least often in their games – often too expensive or too slow (lands excluded)

  1. Neoform 0%cast in 0 of 53 games
  2. Borne Upon a Wind 0%cast in 0 of 165 games
  3. Cloud of Faeries 0%cast in 0 of 165 games

Wins by turn speed

On which own turn the 6 wins came

  • by turn 70%
  • turns 8–933%
  • turns 10–1117%
  • turns 12–130%
  • turn 14+50%

Combos in play logged Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + Basalt Monolith: all pieces cast in 1 games, 0 won · Bloom Tender + Freed from the Real: all pieces cast in 0 games, 0 won · Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + Freed from the Real: all pieces cast in 0 games, 0 won · Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel the Blessed + Bloom Tender: all pieces cast in 1 games, 0 won

Mana curve without lands

Average 2.09

1
0
19
1
23
2
16
3
4
4
1
5
6
7+

Roles in the deck

Ramp
23 / 20
Card draw
7 / 6
Removal
11 / 8
Board wipe
2 / 2
Protection
4 / 4
Strategy
17 cards no target

Count / target from the EDHREC average deck (the line), red means clearly below. Strategy: the remaining cards without one of these roles, such as the creatures and effects the deck is built around. 64 non-land cards in total.

Card types

Creatures
23
Instants
17
Sorceries
8
Artifacts
8
Enchantments
8
Lands
35

Most expensive cards

Smothering Tithe
€32.60
Misty Rainforest
€25.10
Verdant Catacombs
€24.21
Polluted Delta
€19.12
Bloodstained Mire
€17.32
Wooded Foothills
€16.74
Flooded Strand
€14.94
Pact of Negation
€13.98

What the program has learned

Each tournament the deck tests one card. A verdict needs at least 40 games with and without the card. Since the deck is rebuilt every tournament with current prices and data, tested cards can drop out again later.

  • no clear difference Assassin's Trophy instead of Arcane Denial · win rate 5% with, 1% without (96 / 69 games)
  • no clear difference Kwain, Itinerant Meddler instead of Humble Defector · win rate 2% with, 5% without (65 / 100 games)
  • no clear difference Thought Vessel instead of Wayfarer's Bauble · win rate 3% with, 4% without (92 / 73 games) · from an earlier version, not in the deck now
  • no clear difference Rampant Growth instead of Thought Vessel · win rate 3% with, 4% without (91 / 74 games)
  • no clear difference Wayfarer's Bauble instead of Rampant Growth · win rate 4% with, 3% without (48 / 117 games)
  • no clear difference Abrupt Decay instead of Arcane Denial · win rate 3% with, 4% without (115 / 50 games)

7 more tested cards are still collecting games.

Shopping list for Cardmarket

Copy the list, create a new list under “Wants” on Cardmarket and paste it.

Total €498.01 Cardmarket average as of Oct 27, 2026

Open Cardmarket Wants

Prices without shipping. Individual cards may have become cheaper or more expensive on Cardmarket.

Placement in every tournament

Oldest on the left. Green: top 3, blue: top 10.

5246605737465557623960493758615160555357593054545058

Best place 30 · average place 52.2 · 0× top 3 · 0× top 10 out of 26 tournaments

Played by the Forge AI, four players per game. An average deck wins 25%. How are decks tested?