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Lightning, Army of One

Mythic · Legendary Creature — Human Soldier

Pick rating

7.2Very goodRank 40 of 294

Observed strength

56.3%Rank 139 of 341 by win rate, card in hand · set average: 56.4%

How are these measures computed?

Pick rating. The pick rating estimates what a card is worth when you choose it, before there are results: it combines several signals (expert evaluations, the choices of strong players, characteristics of the card such as its cost and rarity) and was tuned on the results of decks of strong players. It is for comparing cards while you draft.

Observed strength. The observed strength is the win rate of the games in which the card was in hand at some point (opening hand or drawn), from hundreds of thousands of real games of online draft players since the set came out. The rank compares the cards seen in at least 1,000 games. It does not correct for the strength of the deck the card is played in, and a result stays uncertain for a card that is played little (about 1.6 points of margin at 1,000 games).

It wins less than its rating suggests.

Why this gap?

The pick rating is a prior: it is for choosing a card before there are results. The observed strength comes from real games, and the win rate of a card is stable from one week to the next. The gap often comes from a card that is easy to replace at the pick but very efficient once played, from a good archetype that carries it, or from a flaw of our rating: in a set that already has many games, the results are more reliable than the rating.

A very good mythic of the format (7.2/10).

Why. A three-mana 3/2 with first strike, trample and lifelink, so it is very hard to face in combat. When it connects, all damage dealt to that player and their permanents is doubled until your next turn, setting up a lethal swing.

Risks. It only fits a precise red-white deck, and two toughness leaves it open to small damage spells. It also has to connect to trigger its ability.

In the draft. Take it if you are heading toward red-white, or fairly early if both colors appeal. Outside that pair it is unplayable.

Win rate of the card

Percentage of games won by the decks that play this card, depending on when it shows up, from the real games of the set.

Card in hand at some point in the game56.3 %(set average : 56.4 %)

Card in the opening hand55.3 %(set average : 55.2 %)

Card drawn during the game57.1 %(set average : 57.2 %)

Gap when it is drawn, against the games where it is not : +2.9 win-rate points

How often it ends up in the deck once drafted by a strong player (not a win rate)79.0 %(set average : 62.0 %)

Its place in the set

Mythic: rank 14 of 20
Multicolour: rank 11 of 41
Cost 3: rank 10 of 67
Average pick: 2.1 (1 = taken first from a pack; the lower the number, the earlier players choose it)

Win rate by colour pair

Percentage of games won by the decks of each pair that play the card, with the number of games. The pairs are the two main colors of the deck: when the card has a color outside the pair, the deck plays it as a splash (marked “splash”). A pair that has an archetype in this set leads to its guide.