Statistics for my 2021 EDH decks [Article]

Oversoul

The Tentacled One
Hey, it's the third year in a row that I get to do this. Due to circumstances, each of these has been pretty different.

In 2019, the West Coast Commander League officially started in March, and I brought a new deck to almost every meetup. My statistics writeup focuses on those decks with the minor inclusion of some decks used in "South Sound Magic" events at the same venue. The point structure of the league gave me some inspiration to build decks around, and the main point of a statistical analysis was to get at the cards I was using for purposes outside of the weekly and monthly point goals. In total, I drew data from 41 separate EDH decklists and 1 Brawl decklist.

In 2020, the West Coast Commander League met ten times before the pandemic induced a store closure. One of those ended up being aborted due to low attendance (schedule conflict with a prerelease) and on the occasion of another I participated in the South Sound Magic event instead. Taken together with three decks updated for kitchen table gameplay, one deck used here at the CPA, and one deck built for the West Coast Commander League in December without getting to see any play, My data for last year consisted of 14 EDH decklist and 1 Brawl decklist.

I had hoped that the West Coast Commander League would reopen in 2021. It did not. In late August, I was able to start playing on Wednesday nights at another LGS, one about the same distance from my house as the other one, just in the opposite direction. Games at this store have been pickup games with no structure. I didn't commit to building a new deck each week, so my total pool of data is just slightly larger than it was last year. That's fine and I'll do my statistics writeup using the same rubric I've already used twice. But it does give me pause.

Hey CPA, I could use some advice here. I know that these statistics pieces are primarily of interest just to me, and I'm the primary reader of them. That's not as useless as it might sound: I can go back and use them as convenient references, and have already done so. My trouble is that I devised the rubric due to the nature of my deckbuilding for the West Coast Commander League (one new deck per week). That kind of worked for 2020. But both in 2020 and in 2021, I refined some existing decklists. In particular, all three years will have my Phelddagriff deck and my God Eternal Oketra deck, though the list had some editorial changes each time. With 2022 approaching, I'm considering keeping the same decks around for a while, playing them a lot, and refining them. You know, like a normal person? But how do I convey that? Which version of a 2022 deck should get recorded for statistical analysis? The first version? The final version? There are different ways to approach this, and none of them strike me as satisfactory.

That's all next year's problem, though. It's still 2021. On with the fun part...

While I don't have exact dates for these decks, I have arranged them in chronological order of actual construction.

-Torsten Von Ursus "Unsavory Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" (Constructed in December of 2020 and left in a box for nine months, but I did play it in multiple games in August and September.)
-Phelddagriff "Epic" (Updated version of my ongoing group-hug deck. Played extensively in 2021, but scrapped for parts in November and not currently being used.)
-God-Eternal Oketra "The End of Eternity" (Updated version of an ongoing deck. Still in use.)
-Ramses Overdark "Is It Dark In Here Or Is It Just Me?" (Third version of a deck also used in 2019 and 2020, but each version has been pretty distinct.)
-Hazezon Tamar "Sandfall" (September of this year.)
-Bartel Runeaxe "Bad Giant Tribal Deck" (Used in September and October.)
-Sythis, Harvest's Hand "The Hand of Sythis" (Still have this one together, but it needs work.)
-Kasimir the Lone Wolf "Lone Wolf Adventures" (Used in October and November.)
-The Gitrog Monster "Gitrog County on a Budget" ($150-budget deck built in October, although the price is likely outdated by now.)
-Liesa, Forgotten Archangel "Halloween Spooktacular 2021" (My Halloween deck for this year.)
-Omnath, Locus of Rage "LLCLFOLD" (Updated version of a deck I designed last year, piloted extensively this year with mixed results.)
-Barrin, Master Wizard "BMW Shops" (Built in November and still being played.)
-Angus Mackenzie "Angus Mackenzie's Family-Friendly Thanksgiving" (My Thanksgiving deck for this year.)
-Vaevictis Asmadi "Eureka Dragon Highlander" (Used in December.)
-Azusa, Lost but Seeking "O Tannenbaum" (My Christmas deck for this year.)

That's 15 decks, for a total of 1500 card slots. I used 700 unique cards this year. My pool of cards is almost exactly as diverse as it was last year. Keeping a tally of color identities, I have the following.

WG: 2
WUG: 2
UBG: 0
WUBRG: 0
BRG: 2
BG: 1
BR: 0
UB: 1
B: 0
U: 1
W: 1
WU: 1
RG: 1
WUB: 0
WRG: 1
R: 0
UR: 0
UBR: 0
UG: 0
WBR: 0
UBRG: 0
G: 1
WB: 1
WR: 0
WUR: 0
WBG: 0
URG: 0
WUBR: 0
WUBG: 0
WURG: 0
WBRG: 0
Colorless: 0
Total: 15

Add that to previous years, and here's my coverage of color identities.

WUG: 8
WG: 7
UBG: 6
WRG: 4
UB: 4
BR: 4
WU: 4
RG: 4
W: 4
BG: 3
WUB: 3
BRG: 3
U: 3
R: 2
UR: 2
UBR: 2
WUBRG: 2
WB: 1
UG: 1
WBR: 1
UBRG: 1
B: 1
G: 1
WR: 0
WUR: 0
WBG: 0
URG: 0
WUBR: 0
WUBG: 0
WURG: 0
WBRG: 0
Colorless: 0
Total: 71

Basic lands are somewhat dramatically skewed, and I think I understand why.

Basic lands
Forest: 71
Plains: 69
Swamp: 55
Snow-Covered Forest: 47
Island: 36
Mountain: 23
Snow-Covered Plains: 23
Snow-Covered Island: 22

That's not as bad as 2020, so I count it as a win. Green and white are overrepresented.

Non-basic lands (that appeared three or more times)
Maze of Ith: 11
Strip Mine: 11
Wasteland: 9
Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth: 7
Windswept Heath: 6
Gaea's Cradle: 5
Savannah: 5
Wooded Foothills: 5
Flagstones of Trokair: 4
Flooded Strand: 4
Misty Rainforest: 4
Taiga: 4
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: 4
Verdant Catacombs: 4
Arcane Lighthouse: 3
Arid Mesa: 3
Bloodstained Mire: 3
Cabal Coffers: 3
Fabled Passage: 3
Glacial Chasm: 3
Lake of the Dead: 3
Prismatic Vista: 3
Scrying Sheets: 3
Throne of the High City: 3
Tranquil Thicket: 3
Tundra: 3

These numbers are effectively down across the board, with the notable exceptions of Maze of Ith, Strip Mine, and Wasteland. We also have a new card in this mix, with Yavimaya instantly gaining staple status. As with previous years, for non-land categories, I'll do top 10 lists that are inclusive for all ties, so the actual counts may be a bit larger than 10 cards. Here are my top 13 artifacts of 2021.

Artifacts
Sol Ring: 12
Mana Vault: 7
Mox Diamond: 6
Crucible of Worlds: 5
Ashnod's Altar: 4
Zuran Orb: 4
Lightning Greaves: 3
Solemn Simulacrum: 3
Elixir of Immortality: 2
Expedition Map: 2
Horn of Greed: 2
Phyrexian Altar: 2
Skullclamp: 2

We had a total of 11 white cards used in 3 or more decks. Kami of False Hope has taken over this year.

White
Kami of False Hope: 6
Swords to Plowshares: 6
Enlightened Tutor: 5
Wrath of God: 5
Serra Ascendant: 4
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite: 3
Generous Gift: 3
Karmic Guide: 3
Mother of Runes: 3
Smothering Tithe: 3
Winds of Abandon: 3

I didn't play a lot of overlapping blue decks this year, so I've got to go all the way down to 2-counts. My top 19, I guess.
I later went back and realized that I totally messed this one up because I skipped over Force of Will, which gets me a clean top 10 with just the 4's and 3's. Oops.

Blue
Cyclonic Rift: 4
Force of Will: 4
Mana Drain: 4
Arcane Denial: 3
Brainstorm: 3
Counterspell: 3
Evacuation: 3
Mystical Tutor: 3
Rhystic Study: 3
Swan Song: 3
Echo of Eons: 2
Expropriate: 2
Force of Negation: 2
Mystic Remora: 2
Narset, Parter of Veils: 2
Narset's Reversal: 2
Pemmin's Aura: 2
Ponder: 2
Time Spiral: 2
Timetwister: 2


Here are my top 10 black cards for 2021.

Black
Dark Ritual: 5
Decree of Pain: 4
Demonic Tutor: 4
Toxic Deluge: 4
Damnation: 3
Ever After: 3
Living Death: 3
Reanimate: 3
Vampiric Tutor: 3
Victimize: 3

As with last year, we don't actually have 10 or more red cards I used more than once this year. Here were my top 6.

Red
Anger: 4
Nalathni Dragon: 4
Wheel of Fortune: 4
Squee, Goblin Nabob: 3
Gamble: 2
Taurean Mauler: 2

Green's easy enough. My top 10.

Green
Harrow: 10
Regrowth: 10
Crop Rotation: 9
Roiling Regrowth: 9
Sylvan Library: 8
Abundance: 7
Eternal Witness: 7
Beast Within: 6
Cultivate: 6
Kodama's Reach: 6

As with last year, I'll hit singleton counts on multicolored spells before I get a top ten, but here are the 8 multicolored cards that I used more than once.

Multicolored
Mirari's Wake: 3
Dovin's Veto: 2
Knight of the Reliquary: 2
Mina and Denn, Wildborn: 2
Sterling Grove: 2
Supreme Verdict: 2
Time Wipe: 2
Wrenn and Six: 2

My top 10 creatures are looking remarkably different this year from previous years. Spike Weaver is no longer on top, and there are some newcomers in this category.

Creatures
Eternal Witness: 7
Kami of False Hope: 6
Elvish Reclaimer: 5
Spore Frog: 5
Anger: 4
Genesis: 4
Nalathni Dragon: 4
Serra Ascendant: 4
Spike Weaver: 4
Springbloom Druid: 4

Enchantments have similar numbers to last year. Here are the top 14.

Enchantments
Sylvan Library: 8
Abundance: 7
Earthcraft: 4
Exploration: 4
Khalni Heart Expedition: 4
Burgeoning: 3
Defense of the Heart: 3
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove: 3
Manabond: 3
Mirari's Wake: 3
Rhystic Study: 3
Smothering Tithe: 3
Survival of the Fittest: 3
Zendikar Resurgent: 3

I didn't use as many planeswalker this year.

Planeswalkers
Narset, Parter of Veils: 2
Wrenn and Six: 2
Ajani, Caller of the Pride: 1
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: 1
Gideon Blackblade: 1
Oko, Thief of Crowns: 1
Tezzeret the Seeker: 1
Ugin, the Ineffable: 1

Top 11 sorceries.

Sorceries
Regrowth: 10
Cultivate: 6
Kodama's Reach: 6
Wrath of God: 5
Decree of Pain: 4
Demonic Tutor: 4
Life from the Loam: 4
Seasons Past: 4
Sylvan Scrying: 4
Toxic Deluge: 4
Wheel of Fortune: 4

Top 11 instants.

Instants
Harrow: 10
Crop Rotation: 9
Roiling Regrowth: 9
Beast Within: 6
Swords to Plowshares: 6
Dark Ritual: 5
Enlightened Tutor: 5
Constant Mists: 4
Cyclonic Rift: 4
Force of Will: 4
Mana Drain: 4

Below is the frequency curve. It's basically my lazy numerical representation of the same information a bar chart would show. Forest showed up 71 times, so that is represented by "71:1." Crop Rotation, Roiling Regrowth, and Wasteland showed up 9 times, so that gets represented by "9:3" and so on. I explained this in more detail last year, so just go read that post if you want.

71:1
69:1
55:1
47:1
36:1
23:2
22:1
12:1
11:2
10:2
9:3
8:1
7:4
6:7
5:9
4:28
3:60
2:83
1:492

Last year, there were 31 cards other than lands and mana rocks that I used in at least 5 decks. The year before that, there were 27 cards that I used in at least 10 decks. I switched the threshold from 10 to 5 because the data pool was so much smaller. Hopefully next time, I can bump it back up to 10 again. For now, I'll go with 5. This year, that's 18 cards.

Favorite cards for casual EDH?
Harrow: 10
Regrowth: 10
Crop Rotation: 9
Roiling Regrowth: 9
Sylvan Library: 8
Abundance: 7
Eternal Witness: 7
Beast Within: 6
Cultivate: 6
Kami of False Hope: 6
Kodama's Reach: 6
Swords to Plowshares: 6
Crucible of Worlds: 5
Dark Ritual: 5
Elvish Reclaimer: 5
Enlightened Tutor: 5
Spore Frog: 5
Wrath of God: 5
 
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