Mulligan Heuristics by Archetype

The general mulligan guide gives you the universal rules — keep inkable cards, keep an early play, keep a plan. But what counts as a good hand depends heavily on what your deck is trying to do. Here's how the three archetypes should approach the redraw.

Aggro: low and fast

Aggro mulligans hardest of all. You want an explosive start and you want it now.

• Keep: multiple 1- and 2-drops, an inkable card or two, ideally an evasive or Rush threat.
• Ship: anything costing 5+, slow value cards, situational answers.
• Rule of thumb: if the hand doesn't have a turn-1 and turn-2 play, dig for one. A slow aggro hand is a losing aggro hand.

Midrange: a curve and a plan

Midrange wants a smooth sequence more than a fast one.

• Keep: a couple of inkable cards plus plays across turns 2–4. You don't need the nuts, just a clean curve.
• Ship: clumps of all-expensive or all-cheap cards; a hand of four 5-drops needs trimming.
• Rule of thumb: can you picture turns 2, 3, and 4? If yes, keep.

Control: answers over speed

Control can keep slower hands than anyone, because its plan is to survive.

• Keep: removal, card draw, and enough inkable cards to ramp. You can keep a hand with no proactive plays if it has answers and fuel.
• Ship: clunky finishers with no early interaction. A hand of bombs and no way to live to cast them is a trap.
• Rule of thumb: "Can I survive the first few turns?" matters more than "what's my turn-2 play?"

Quick reference

The constant across all three

Whatever you're playing, inkable cards are non-negotiable. Every archetype needs to ink each turn, so a hand that can't ink is almost always a mulligan — no matter how strong the cards look. Practice these reads in the goldfish simulator until they're automatic.