How To Get Better At Mulligans | The Definitive Guide | Magic: The Gathering

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Thanks to Factor75 for sponsoring today's video. Go to strms.net/factor75_tolariancommunity and use code POGTCCOCT50 for 50% off your first box!

[@Haiden-p2k]

Hey so a couple months ago I signed up for your signed card teir patreon and still haven't got it

[@Haiden-p2k]

Follow up just got it in the mail today

[@joshvon8495]

Hmm, yes, very interesting. But THIS time I feel really confident I’ll top deck the lands I need!

[@matteorossi1172]

Infact the top 10 cards of your library will be lands, ENJOY THE GAME!

[@saintkupo7164]

You said that six turns ago!

[@anikiikardia8279]

Two land hands are just cursed

[@amarauk9687]

I keep the greediest 1 lander of all mtg players lol

[@pytawidmo]

Just gotta believe in the heart of cards

[@firefliesowlcity12]

I'm loving all these videos on fundamental game mechanics.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Thanks! We have put a lot of effort into them. Shares are appreciated.

[@willlozinak5182]

i am too personally

[@erlockruuziik7237]

Mulligan's aren't a game mechanic.

[@michaelsinnreich6626]

​@@erlockruuziik7237yes they are, rule 103.5

[@RanOutOfSpac]

He puts the “fun” in “da mental”

[@marlonabelsilvarios2566]

Sol ring with no lands is an insta-keep. Got it.

[@Luckie_7]

I love an opening hand sol ring, I had a great game a few days ago, turn one basic sol ring arcane signet. Turn two basic, than dynamo and cast my commander. My commander is 4 cmc so usually I can get it out a turn early at most so two turns is real excellent

[@Luckie_7]

Was able to throw out a snakeskin stock the pantry and a snakeskin veil to get card draw started too. It was definitely my fastest game with that deck

[@darkdjinniumbrage7798]

Simply top deck the land Kappa

[@willjackson5885]

My brother is playing paper Magic for the first time. The first thing he noticed was the lack of Arena’s hand smoother. He basically never had to mulligan before then lol

[@novos356]

Arena only has a hand smoother for best of 1, best of 3 is completely random

[@willjackson5885]

@@novos356 And guess what he exclusively plays? I doubt he even knows what a sideboard is lmao

[@MagickP00dle]

Sideboards are for cowards!!!!

[@hyperjank5129]

@@MagickP00dlespoken like an aggro player

[@Bedni87]

what is hand smoother? I play arena but I dont know that term

[@minispiel19]

Your guide for aggro is 💯. As long as I have two lands, a couple spells, and a couple creatures, I don’t mulligan.

[@Awes0m3n3s5]

Monastery Swiftspear go brrr!!

[@fredrikhenriksson1508]

The majority of times when I chose to keep a two land hand I won't see a third land until the late game

[@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX-fk7ux]

It's important to note that keeping a hand of removal is sometimes good. For example, rakdos vs mono green in pioneer. Creature quality is high enough in rakdos scam that top decking one is worth the risk if it means fatal pushing your op's dorks every turn

[@veggiedragon1000]

This. My pet deck is Servo Aristocrats with Yahenni and Syndicste Trafficker (I play very casual Modern). One time against RG Elves and a 7 card hand, I mulled to 4 but my opening hand contained a Swamp, two Divest, and Fatal Push, and I was on the play. Turn 1: Land, Divest, my opponent has two Llanowar Elves, Rishkar, lands, and a higher cost bomb. I take a Llanowar Elves, opponent looks at me strangely for not taking the bomb or Rishkar. He plays forest and the other Elves. Turn 2: Draw second land, Push the elf, Divest Rishkar. After that, I did basically nothing for 3 turns or so while I waited to draw servos and sac outlets; but my opponent did absolutely nothing either, so I won that game.

[@LadyTsunade777]

In EDH, my recommendation is always to keep hands with more lands, and do not keep hands with too few. For example, it's totally fine to keep a hand with 5-7 lands, but a really bad idea to keep a hand with 0-2. _Never_ bank on drawing lands. You won't. The odds are far higher you'll draw nonlands than lands. Most decks have 34-37 lands, thus roughly a 2:1 chance to draw nonlands. Having no nonlands, at least you can participate by playing your commander if nothing else. Having no lands means sitting there doing _nothing._

[@Sutefusama]

I don't really agree. Sometimes due to bad RNG/shuffle you will just draw lands ONLY. And your commander can't do anything being alone on the table, therefore you pretty much end up doing... Well, nothing, just like when you got no lands. Of course once you finally GET to draw a non-land you're happy to play it, and that wouldn't be the case if you had tons of spells and were happy to get only one land. Yet again, having to play ONE spell on one turn because you had 5 lands top won't change much the game. If you're being late, it's over. No really, just play green.

[@wafflehaxxx]

There are no hard rules for EDH. A 5-7 land hand means you will essentially not participate in the game in a high power Pod. A high cost Commander needs more lands than cheap one. You can keep a high land count if your Commander has a form of card advantage too. My preferred hand is 3 lands, 1 piece of interaction, 1 piece of ramp, 1 piece of draw/card advantage. Never keep a hand where you can't play anything. People can have explosive starts in Commander so having something to interact and cause a stumble is crucial. Fortunately there's 3 players so sometimes others can make up for it if you don't have an optimal hand.

[@ahall9839]

@@Sutefusama No. Stop vomiting words. You are more likely to draw nonlands. Therefore everything you said is dumb.

[@gabevilleneuve2468]

I AM SO SAD that this video isn't getting seen as much as it should be. I originally skipped this video thinking "I've been playing magic for a decade, I don't need advice on mulligans. I WAS SO WRONG. This video brings up amazing points I would have never thought about on my own and is a MUST watch for TCC alumni and new enrollees alike!

[@User5770]

Mulligan decisions is easily the decision point that I think gets overlooked the most relative to how important it is. It is absolutely a massive boost to your gameplay to learn how to mulligan well both in general, and in how your deck wants to use mulligans in particular.

[@multievolution]

It’s interesting, I don’t do much competitive beyond sealed stuff, so I tend to approach it in a way that might not be optimal. For me it’s more important that I keep a hand with 2-3 lands and any cards that aren’t (even ones that I can’t do much with at the time) than mulligan down and risk a much worse hand. I can see how the math changes when you talk proper constructed, and with commander it’s basically lands or bust.

[@Kingnothing7x]

That's risk vs reward in action, man, magic is fun

[@SDREHXC]

A good question to ask is “would I keep this if it was 6 cards? Or 5?” If you’d keep the hand at 6 a lot of the time it’s better to keep than to risk having a worse hand at 6.

[@gamingtime1365]

Perfect now I can play manaless dredge

[@forpeanutjelly4323]

I miss Tolarian Tutor. Thank you for bringing back the nostalgia and fresh review for us, Professor!

[@bch9124]

4:00 Prior to becoming an attorney, my bar prep instructor said, "You don't HAVE to sit for the bar, you GET to sit for the bar." It was such an opportunity that I got the privilege to take the exam twice.

[@ebonezra8073]

I really appreciate when KZbin channels revisit old videos. Prof has a wealth of knowledge that, frankly, becomes obsolete with time. Refreshing or remastering old theories or lesson plans is, at worst, never a bad thing.

[@ColorwaveCraftsCo]

Thank you for breaking down mulligan strategy by archetype. This is definitely going to change the way I play going forward

[@failfurby]

Mulligans and sideboarding are my two WEAKEST areas by far in this game, even after playing for well over a decade :/ Thank you for your insights, Prof, and maybe in the future you can cover sideboarding too?

[@jaydub5515]

I've been playing off and on since Invasion block, and I feel the exact same way.😊

[@EE7A]

yeah, i can do mulligans fine, but building a sideboard is definitely a weak point in my overall skills. i dont really play competitively enough for it to matter though.

[@dexagos7688]

If you’re interested in learning sideboarding, I’ll give a few tips if you’re willing to hear them from a complete stranger on the internet. Best singular advice I can have with sideboarding is make a sideboard plan before you even begin playing games. If you’re starting with a stock list, just sit for an hour and decide what cards you’d want to bring in for however many matchups you’d like to plan for and the cards to take out. I’d also recommend checking out the podcast Constructed Criticism, who has a lot of resources on sideboarding in various episodes.

[@ColorwaveCraftsCo]

Definitely need a video on sideboards. I am so bad at sideboarding

[@ThorB0]

Many Magic The Gathering players love the professor! Thank you 😊

[@zerodono]

I for one never mull. My deck will reward my faith in it, and give me the cards I need when I need them!

[@davecollamore7012]

Great break down. One of the most important steps to becoming a better player is getting better at mulligan decisions. This video does a great job teaching easy ways to evaluate your decision in context!

[@WangerZ3291]

I remember a throne of eldraine limited, where I mulliganed to four cards...3 lands and a scrying knight, if I could share pics in comments, 99% wouldn't believe the end board from a mull to 4

[@OchsSlayer]

Says "many Magic the Gathering Players" the same way every time. That takes real dedication and forethought.

[@FurrySpatula]

A new video from the Prof? My Friday is starting off right! Thanks for all your contributions to the community!

[@Deedotcharles]

I appreciate these videos as someone who hasn’t played magic since 05. These last 10 months have been very informative from you and other channels alike

[@LuisA-ig7tt]

Yes please!!! More Tolarian Tutor content!!! This content made want to improve my games of Magic and I can enjoy the game more as a result. Tolarian Tutor is amazing for beginners and intermediate players and I feel that it makes more technical aspects of the game more understandable and enjoyable for everyone.

[@CanuckMonkey13]

So I haven't been able to play any MtG for over a year now, and I was going to skip this one. Then I saw your appeal in the video about Play Boosters and I thought, "what the heck, I love the Prof and I'll give it a watch." I'm glad I did! Your educational content is always top notch, and this one left me with a strong desire to find a way to get back into MtG! Thanks Prof!

[@wesleyavritt2025]

Something I've definitely thought about before, but it's nice to hear it laid out in a deck by deck basis.

[@joshuaking7470]

These videos have helped me out so much. I've been playing Magic since late 1995 and have found myself having a much better understanding of the game. Often concepts that I thought I had a very high level of knowledge of. And that has translated to a much higher percentage of wins in MTG Arena (specifically BO3 Historic). Whether 5 Color Dragons, Izzet Aggro, Abzan Combofest (Wildgrowth Walker + Amalia Benivides Aguirre/Rosie Cotton of South Lane + Scurry of Oaks), or just some fun decks. So appreciative of the Professor and TCC for all the videos.

[@matthewhitchcock9555]

this is a really great vid. discussing the archetype's relationships with their own cards was awesome

[@bryceduyvewaardt8136]

Great to see fundamental videos like this updated. Keep up the great work!

[@yoshitheonly]

As a new player, I can't tell you how much this type of video helps! Thank you sm once more for the knowledge Prof!

[@Squatch_needs_no_heroes]

Trying to get back into MtG after a decade, these more basic videos are much appreciated!

[@DeaconTaylor]

i've been playing since born of the gods and im finally starting to learn how to mulligan better. thanks for these videos.

[@dragonbretheren]

I've been out of the game for a while, but hearing about the London Mulligan has made my favorite trashy "dirt 'em out with probability" deck significantly more reliable. It was a Quest for Ula's Temple deck that was willing to mulligan down to 2 so long as those 2 were an Island and Ula's Temple (obviously the fewer mulligans means more gas for later, but I could fully operate on just those 2). From there, it was just a further gamble of "how many big blue dorks can I cheese onto the field before my opponent draws their disenchant?" and in follow-up games "is my opponent gutsy enough to follow my mulligan madness in search of their early disenchant?"

[@hrdwrkngXsoldier]

Good vid. I loose more games to mana than anything else, and I believe mulligan decisions effect the outcome of the game more than most decisions. Wish this would approach the Yorion list mull issues. Always feel like I draw the wrong half of the deck.

[@josephdurham4950]

Knowing you deck and what it wants to do is KEY. The better I know my deck the better I can mull

[@VVhirl]

You reminded me of something a friend said about combo when the London mull came out. "Mulligan with utter contempt for the idea of playing magic with your friends."

[@erikstone8336]

Thank you professor for these educational videos, I mean that in the strongest sense. I play a Commander deck with Gavi, the Nest Warden. Cycling for dino cats is the part-time but control is the main point of the game. Thank you for time to talk about all the generals! I only thought of my Gavi as control and now I know. And as G.I. Joe said, "Knowing is half the battle!"

[@bluedog4248]

Perfect timing! I've been struggling with mulligans in commander and knowing when to for example keep a two lander

[@fikamonster2564]

I appreciate you having big SPONSORED letters during the sponsored bit Sometimes i wanna check the advertisement and sometimes i really dont wanna, so its nice to have the clarity

[@Turai12]

As someone who quit magic after the amonkhet block and is thinking about getting back to mtg, this is very helpful.

[@davidhylton7528]

Love to learn from the Professor. I feel motivated to play more!

[@astrostl]

Great vid. My only addition would be how well Tron in Modern is as a specific multi-type deck (combo, ramp, control) example that mulligans very well.

[@Xoulrath_]

You should pretty much be willing to mull to four with Tron. That's been my experience anyway. Going to three is even worth it if by the time you've gotten to four, you still don't have the ability to put Tron together by 3.

[@Duall8]

@@Xoulrath_ Right, you either look at it as a combo deck where assembling Tron is the combo or Ramp where "getting your mana/ramp" is assembling Tron. Probably the latter is a little more accurate as the "combo" of Tron doesn't win the game as it usually does with other combos, but the former makes it sound more dire (which it is for Tron even if it doesn't autowin).

[@GunpowderBarrelGames]

Yesterday, I had a game go rather morosely for me because I kept a 6-card hand that ended up dooming me. Thanks for the vid, sir

[@jamescrosby1118]

This was very helpful thank you for creating and sharing it

[@_somerandomguyontheinternet_]

0:13 I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s a snap keep. I mean, 2 Lords of Atlantis, a Master of the Pearl Trident, and a Merrow Reejerey? 2 Aether Vials? Yeah, that hand is nothing but gas. No lands, but who needs them? I’m Gen Z; owning land is a pipe dream anyways.

[@Mike-qc1os]

Excellent video. Lots of great insights and cleanly editted and presented. Cheers for this!

[@ancientpiguardian7462]

I've needed a video like this. Ever since that time i convinced myself to keep a hand with 0 lands, i had a feeling i was doing something wrong.

[@RhodyBob]

Simple but effective. I know it, but never acknowledge it. Thanks for the video and hopefully I'll take this to heart when next I consider a mulligan!

[@dtelad11]

The script, editing, and voice work in these videos in phenomenal. Amazing work from Team TCC.

[@Mtaalas]

Been out of the game long enough that didn't know about the change to the mulligan rule... now it's basically a no-brainer to mulligan at least once if any doubt.

[@cadencenavigator958]

I rarely play competitive, so the house rule is that no land or all land is a free mulligan (and you should shuffle better).

[@chazzybrown54]

Another good guide. Thank you again.

[@ColorfulHelices]

hearing Prof. exclaim "pay attention!" triggered my fight or flight evoking the full power of a true educator.

[@OchsSlayer]

I've been watching these fundamental videos with my 9-year-old who is just getting into MtG. He has immediately gotten it and put it to use. I am proud to say I've been losing to a kid.

[@dementrio2679]

Prof always enlightens me with his lessons. Thank you!

[@miki49]

Excellent video, very true and well thought out. Thanks Professor

[@metalgamer21]

Handy vid. Glad to hear a lot of what I've learned confirmed as good practice but I should be willing to mulligan more frequently even if my land to spell ratio looks nice.

[@inscrutablewut]

Watching because Prof said they worked really hard on it. 🧡

[@Kiwi_originel]

amazing, lots of very valuable information presented in high quality video, thanks Prof

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

So nice of you

[@RoflsaurusRexx]

I needed this one, thanks once again, Prof!

[@JKestner3]

Great video. I'm new and learning.........learned A LOT from this one. Thanks !

[@NinjaRodent]

"Do not be afraid to keep a one land hand with six cards with your aggro deck" I cannot begin to tell you how many times trying this has screwed me over.

[@SxTheBo]

Always love a good lesson from the professor

[@MrSoiree]

That Star Wars Hoth reference, nailed it.

[@Beckola44]

This is good advice. Thank you for the video Professor.

[@Aedi]

And remember, if you find something fun thats not optimal. A) go for it, having fun is more important than playing perfectly, and B) you can build your deck to compensate for playing suboptimally. I love risky keeps, so i make my decks consistent and cards always serve multiple purposes so i can piece together something out of basically anything that can get some mana into play

[@MissionGeekNick]

Honestly, my playgroup completely changed mulligans via houserule. Too many games were dragged down by poor hands and people not wanting to lose the juice in their hands. So we just made it so you can keep drawing 7 until you get a hand you like or have 3 lands, whichever comes first.

[@lorddiablo7659]

Gotta keep

[@thatoneguy2886]

in my experience most commanders each view mulliganing uniquely, there is one grenzo deck a buddy of mine talked about where he would purposefully mull down a few so he knew what he would get, a few decks with a commander that was, win con, card advantage, or interaction. heck i even have a deck with the new doctor who card that is just steal crap, hit people in the face and then sac it for profit, half the deck is 3 mana mind control cards, a fourth is sac outlets and a fourth is ramp, and honestly the deck doesn't want to do anything for the first few turns because it treads a delicate line between letting opponents run out threats and removing them

[@miguelmartos6092]

Yes i'm still obsessed with bg3 prof, you are not alone 😂

[@BrianCheshire-tq1eu]

Really do appreciate a good tolorian tutorial video once in a while

[@AusSkiller]

My playgroup has started using a draw 12 then shuffle 5 back into the library for opening hands in our commander games, no mulligans. It usually makes our opening hands more playable and it is pretty rare to get a bad hand.

[@thrillhouse4151]

Lol which combo player made up that house rule, Rick? Or Joe?

[@AusSkiller]

@@thrillhouse4151 Wasn't a combo player, it is actually worse for combos since you only ever see 12 cards, combo players can see 21 and have a great 5 card hand with the normal mulligans.

[@Genesis-ne9tr]

At my lgs a lot of people do draw 10 put 3 back

[@marcelolima70]

The part that wasnt said on video: This apllies only to 1v1 modes. On commander (especially casual pods) there is nothing wrong to play the fisrt spell on turn 3, you can totally keep a only lands hand if your commander have a low cmc and advance your strategy on his own (Prosper Tome Bound by example) and keep a hand with some mana and a powerfull spell that can win you the game is a good ideia depending of your deck (like keeping a hand with 5 lands, an In Garruks Wake and a Notorious Thong on a new Alela deck).

[@albinoblk3sheep726]

I dont play magic but i love watching these videos ❤

[@jaredwonnacott9732]

Sometimes you mulligan exactly right, but you still get screwed over. I had a draw with two lands, one in each of my deck's colors, a couple two drops that were good in the early game, and a three drop that ramped me into my bigger threats. I was on the draw (something you didn't mention in your video, for some reason), so I had three chances to draw into a third land before missing a land drop, and a couple turns after that before I'd really be hurting in the late game, since my ramp should catch me up immediately even if I missed a drop. Six turns later, I'd had both my two drops removed, id drawn a couple equipment I couldn't doing anything with, and the third land was still just a draw away. When I did finally draw a land, I stabalized a surprising amount, but I was at too low a lofe total to ever go off the defensive, and eventually just got overwhelmed.

[@Hellseeker1]

Brian, what should we be looking for when making a deck? How many legendaries do I want vs regulars? How many Enchantment or Instants do I want? How do I build a deck that lets me search for cards? What color is good with what kind of gameplay?

[@D00813]

There are many videos on YT that address deck construction, and they generally acknowledge the format being played, which changes which cards are legal. To answer your questions; it all depends on your specific decks game plan. My advice is to look at deck lists people have performed well with and unashamedly copy one, play it a few times, then start experimenting with making edits based on the experience you've gained

[@thibautsoria1956]

I was missing Strixhaven, feels good to discover a college in this plane. ☺️

[@JosePineda-jn8jk]

I *NEED* there to be some sort of Full House style b-roll for the into to match the music. I can see it every time!!!! 😂

[@dannyfrenzy]

Thanks a lot Professor!

[@CyberBuster93]

Yes!!! More game mechanic videos Prof! You're the best!!!!

[@michaelsinnreich6626]

Prof leading the way for game accessibility.

[@meric2]

If my hand has no lands, than the ratio of lands to spells in my deck will favor the lands, and therefore I will simply draw the lands.

[@silentmagelvx2925]

Hilarious how there’s no flair or special effect for Ramp on that list you showed 🤣

[@clasherking4528]

A friend of mine once had a 1v1 game where we each went and picked out what we thought was "the ideal opening hand" for our decks as a way to get better at mulligans If you know what the ideal hand looks like for your deck you can compare the hand you have now to what's ideal and figure out if it's close enough to keep. I just have a bad habit of taking terrible hands just so we can get the game started then I complain that my deck just hates me when I have 2 lands in hand and don't draw any more for several turns

[@Xoulrath_]

When I'm just playing a deck for fun, I never mulligan unless I literally have an unplayable hand (i.e. no lands, no mana for the cards in hand, or all lands). It's practice, so I do it specifically to see how well the deck can recover from a suboptimal hand.

[@toddrussell3025]

Excellent video. Useful for all players.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Thanks! Shares are appreciated. Greatly.

[@otolley]

Does it drive anybody else crazy too, that the to frames on the right side are not parallel? 😂😂 Thanks for the great content anyway!

[@profplum1301]

Well said Professor!

[@Princess_Weekes]

This is always my hardest decision XD

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

This is true for many Magic The Gathering players...

[@verberus5277]

cEDH has made me better a mulligans. A good hand of 5 is infinitely better than slow or mediocre hand of 7. And as power level increases and turn number decreases opening hands become much more important. If you know Kriik is gonna turbo out into a combo by turn 2 then a 5 card hand with interaction will go further than a 7 card hand that isn't hitting its stride till turn 2 or 3.

[@Aklack15]

Great video professor, thank you for these valuable informations

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

You are very welcome

[@openinghand]

Such an important part of the game!

[@junomiller522]

The music at 12:09 has me wondering if these cards are equipped with ball joints that can SWWWIVEL HERE

[@Rucarlos]

I'm insanely obsessed with my mana curves because I dread that anxiety inducing first decision

[@Rpcouv]

I'd love to see a video about the best ways to shop online and at local game shops for magic the gathering cards. Living in Portland, I'm sure you know there aren't a ton of local game shops around, and the few there are all significantly over price singles and often sealed products. I like tcg players, but it feels like it's become unreliable. I'd love to see pros and cons along with who offers the best buying experience.

[@markverdugo4501]

Thanks for another great video!

[@Chaosmoonshade]

Its fun to have a Grenzo Dungeon warden commander deck, then find out the mulligan rule gets edited to your advantage 😂

[@brittanyrainbow1976]

"Waiting for your wincon is not part of your wincon" is still something I repeat to myself every time I play

[@brendaleon2636]

Thank you , It really helped me!

[@Dubbios]

A must see!