This is how I measured the linearity index for each commander:
- I tally all the non-land cards in decklists for that commander in the decklist database that are less than 1 year old.
- I divide each number by the number of decklists to get a weighted count for each card.
- I sort all the weights in a descending order and take the top 20.
- I add up the top 20 and normalize to a percentage.
For example, the linearity index for Kaalia of the Vast is 75. That means that every card in the top 20 gets played on average in 75% of all Kaalia decks.
Here is the linearity index for the top 100 most played commanders (higher number means more linear, lower number means more flexible):
Naturally, 5-color decks leave more room for innovation while mono-colored decks are more stringent when it comes to card selection. However, 5-color dedicated combo decks such as Sliver Queen still appear much higher on the list while open-ended commmanders with fewer colors such as Athreos, God of Passage can appear lower on the list.
The most played deck is Oloro, Ageless Ascetic with 67 lists and the least played decks have 10 copies in the database.
2
Modern Masters 2017 (MM3)
new commons
- Augur of Bolas
- Burning-Tree Emissary
- Call of the Conclave
- Cower in Fear
- Dinrova Horror
- Falkenrath Noble
- Gift of Orzhova
- Gnawing Zombie
- Graceful Reprieve
- Grasp of Phantoms
- Grixis Slavedriver
- Ground Assault
- Magma Jet
- Mortician Beetle (was rare)
- Pitfall Trap
- Revive
- Scorched Rusalka
- Scourge Devil
- Slime Molding
- Spike Jester
- Tandem Lookout
- Thunderous Wrath
new uncommons- Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
- ?
upshifted to uncommon- Compulsive Research
- Terminate
- Molten Rain
- Vithian Stinger
upshifted to mythic2
4 Sea Gate Oracle
3 Archaeomancer
4 Mulldrifter
4 Peregrine Drake
Spells (23)
2 Dispel
4 Flame Slash
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Preordain
4 Counterspell
3 Compulsive Research
1 Exclude
3 Ghostly Flicker
1 Forgotten Cave
6 Island
4 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Lonely Sandbar
5 Mountain
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
3 Electrickery
3 Gorilla Shaman
4 Hydroblast
4 Pyroblast
1 Aura Flux
5
2
Commons > $3
- Darkness
- Simian Spirit Guide
- Gitaxian Probe
- Manamorphose
- Chromatic Star
- Ancient Stirrings
- Utopia Sprawl
- Lava Spike
Uncommons > $7Rares > $35
- Tarmogoyf
- Liliana of the Veil
- Horizon Canopy
- Crucible of Worlds
- Damnation
- Grove of the Burnwillows
- Cavern of Souls
- Snapcaster Mage
- Engineered Explosives
- Linvala, Keeper of Silence
- Ancestral Vision
- Through the Breach
- Karn Liberated
- Doubling Season
- Dark Confidant
- Sword of Fire and Ice
- Arcbound Ravager
- Blood Moon
- Ensnaring Bridge
- Mox Opal
- Scapeshift
- Chalice of the Void
- Sliver Legion
- Goblin Guide
- Glimpse the Unthinkable
- Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Lands from 'fixing cycles'2
1
T1 Seat of the Synod, Inventor's Goggles
T2 Tree of Tales, Carapace Forger
Enjoy your (5/6) Tarmogoyf.
1
This set seems like it's 10 times better than most with reprints, but even if every set was like it, it would still take YEARS to make enough sets to address most of those cards. It often takes only a few years for cards to double or triple in price, so this kind of thing is a step in the right direction.
2
new commons (unavailable online)
4
7186 DFCs completed in this single-sided format:full album (off-site)
edit: album of 15 Eldritch Moon DFCs
1
As for MBC vs Affinity, perhaps Ostracize would be another option? Works well against other decks too if you need a bit of extra hate.