How to Mulligan Correctly in Trading Card Games

A mulligan can feel like the first major decision of the match because it often is. Knowing how to mulligan correctly is not about chasing the perfect opening hand. It is about recognising whether your hand can play a real game, then accepting the trade-off when it cannot.

At a casual night, players sometimes keep a weak hand to avoid the awkwardness of shuffling it back. At an event, that same choice can leave you watching your opponent build a board while your cards sit uncast. A disciplined mulligan gives you more games where your deck actually gets to do what you built it to do.

Start with the rules of your game

“Mulligan” does not mean the same thing across every trading card game. Before deciding whether a hand is good, know the cost of sending it back.

In Magic: The Gathering, the London Mulligan lets you draw seven cards again each time you mulligan, then put a number of cards equal to your mulligans on the bottom of your library after you choose to keep. This means a six-card hand can be carefully sculpted, but going lower still costs real resources.

In Pokémon TCG, you must have at least one Basic Pokémon in your opening hand. If you do not, reveal the hand, shuffle it back, and draw again. Your opponent receives an extra draw for each mulligan, so a hand with a Basic is usually worth considering seriously even if it is not spectacular.

Disney Lorcana allows you to set aside any number of cards from your opening seven, draw replacements, then shuffle the set-aside cards into your deck. There is no card-count penalty, but there is still a cost: you only get one chance, and you can accidentally send away cards that would have been valuable later.

In One Piece Card Game, you may mulligan once by returning any number of cards from your opening hand to the deck and drawing the same number. Digimon Card Game has its own opening procedure, including a once-per-game full-hand mulligan. Meanwhile, games such as Yu-Gi-Oh! generally do not use a standard mulligan in regular play. Always check the current tournament rules and format before round one.

Ask whether the hand functions, not whether it looks exciting

The most common mulligan mistake is treating every hand without a powerful card as unkeepable. A functional hand wins more matches than a flashy hand that cannot get started.

For a resource-based game such as Magic, begin with mana. Can you make your early land drops? Do those lands produce the colours you need, early enough to cast your spells? A two-land hand with cheap plays, card selection, or extra mana sources may be excellent. A four-land hand full of expensive cards may technically function, but it can be too slow depending on your deck and matchup.

For Pokémon, check for a Basic Pokémon, a believable way to find or evolve your key pieces, and enough early momentum to avoid falling behind on prizes. In Lorcana, ask whether you have inkable cards, a sensible early curve, and characters that help establish your game plan. In One Piece, look for an opener that uses DON!! efficiently and gives you a clear first few turns.

A useful test is to play out the hand in your head. What is your first turn? What are you likely doing on turn two? If the answer is “pass and hope”, the hand may be a mulligan. If you can make reasonable plays while retaining options, it is often a keep.

The opening hand checklist

Before you decide, assess four things: resources, early plays, colour or card requirements, and a route to your deck’s main plan. Your hand does not need all four in abundance. It does need enough of them to avoid relying on a single topdeck.

A hand with the right resources and modest early plays is usually safer than a hand containing your best threat but no way to cast it. Likewise, a hand packed with search cards can be strong if it has enough time and resources to use them. Search without a playable start is not automatically a rescue plan.

Mulligan differently for your deck’s role

Your deck should influence what “good enough” means. An aggressive deck needs to apply pressure early, while a control deck may be happier with interaction and reliable resources.

Aggro decks generally want a low-cost threat, a smooth resource base, and enough follow-up to keep pressure on. Keeping a hand that begins playing only on turn three can turn an aggressive strategy into a slow, underpowered version of itself.

Midrange decks value flexibility. They often keep hands that develop their board, answer an opposing threat, and lead into a strong turn three or four. Because midrange lists are built to adapt, avoid throwing back a stable hand just because it lacks one particular card.

Control decks need resources first, then the right type of interaction. A hand full of reactive cards may look excellent, but it can be poor if it cannot cast them on time or if none of them matter against the opponent’s likely plan. Combo decks have the narrowest decisions: keep hands that assemble their pieces quickly enough, but do not chase a dream combination if your mulligan rules punish you heavily.

Let the matchup change your standards

A keep is never judged in a vacuum. If you know what your opponent is playing, your priorities should change.

Against a fast deck, an expensive but powerful hand may be far too slow. You may need early blockers, cheap removal, disruption, or a reliable defensive setup. Against a slower deck, a hand with card advantage or a difficult-to-answer engine can be worth more than a hand filled with small early plays.

This is especially relevant in best-of-three rounds after sideboarding. If you brought in cards specifically to improve a matchup, consider whether your hand can find and use them. Do not mulligan solely because you have not drawn a sideboard card, but do not keep a hand that fails to execute the post-board plan either.

When you do not know the matchup, lean on consistency. Keep hands that advance your own plan without needing your opponent to cooperate. At a local event, you may know the regulars and their favourite decks, but avoid making assumptions so strong that they turn a sensible hand into an unnecessary mulligan.

Know when a “safe” hand is actually a trap

Some hands look safe because they contain plenty of resources, but they do not produce meaningful plays. Others contain several good cards that all require the same missing colour, level, evolution stage, or setup piece.

Watch for hands with too much redundancy. In Magic, five lands and two costly spells may technically cast cards, but it can leave you drawing desperately for action. In Pokémon, multiple evolution cards without a Basic can be unusable. In Lorcana, a hand full of uninkable cards may strand you even when every card is individually strong.

The opposite trap is being too greedy. Keeping a one-resource hand because it has your best card can be right only when the deck has a high number of ways to find the missing resource and the game plan can tolerate the risk. If your tournament day relies on drawing exactly one type of card by turn two, you are usually better off taking the mulligan.

Practise decisions before they matter

The quickest way to improve is to goldfish opening hands. Shuffle your deck, draw an opener, and decide keep or mulligan before looking at the next hand. Then play the first three turns. Repeat this ten or twenty times and write down the patterns you notice.

You may find that your deck keeps too many hands with insufficient resources, or that a card you considered essential is rarely needed early. That information can improve both your mulligan decisions and your deck list. If a deck routinely produces awkward openers, the problem may be its ratios rather than your judgement.

At CardTastic events, experienced players are often happy to talk through a hand after a round, particularly during a casual game or league night. Ask specific questions: would they keep it on the play, on the draw, or only into a certain matchup? Those conversations teach far more than hearing that a hand was simply “good” or “bad”.

Make the decision, then play it well

Once you keep, stop regretting the cards you did not redraw. Plan around the hand in front of you, sequence your turns carefully, and preserve options where possible. Mulliganing correctly improves your odds, but it does not guarantee a perfect start.

The best players are not the ones who always open seven ideal cards. They are the ones who recognise a playable six, send back the genuine non-games, and give themselves the best chance to make every round competitive.