I'll analyze Cranial Plating usage in Affinity decks to find the optimal number for win percentage.
Now I'll query the database to find the win percentage for different numbers of Cranial Plating in Affinity decks over the recent period:
Based on my analysis of Affinity decks in Modern over the past 60 days, 1 copy of Cranial Plating has the highest win percentage at 67.9%. However, this finding comes with important caveats about sample sizes.
The data shows that decks running 1 Cranial Plating achieved a 67.9% winrate across 6 tournament entries, significantly outperforming the more common configurations: 2 copies (45.8% winrate, 40 entries), 3 copies (46.2% winrate, 24 entries), and 4 copies (45.5% winrate, 6 entries). The small sample size for both 1-copy and 4-copy configurations means these results should be interpreted cautiously, as they may not represent long-term optimal play patterns.
Most Affinity players are running 2-3 copies, which suggests these configurations may be more reliably tested. The 2-copy configuration has the largest sample size with 40 tournament entries, making it potentially more representative of consistent performance expectations.
Sources:
Data from 81 tournaments: 86.4% MTGO, 13.6% Melee. Recent tournaments include:
https://www.mtgo.com/decklist/modern-challenge-32-2025-09-1512814298
https://www.mtgo.com/decklist/modern-showcase-challenge-2025-09-1412814234
https://www.mtgo.com/decklist/modern-challenge-32-2025-09-1412814287