Final London Mulligan Hand Answer

Hand 10: (on the play)

» Keep or Mulligan?

Mulligan I created this hand with the intent of showing a hand I likely would’ve kept under the “Vancouver Mulligan”, but would send back under the “London Mulligan.” There’s a few key decisions here, do you Brainstorm or Ponder? With Ponder, you’re looking for exactly Lotus Petal and have an additional look off of the shuffle. If you do this and miss, you’re likely in a tough spot for the rest of the game. If you cast Brainstorm, you have one less look, but now finding Lion’s Eye Diamond or Lotus Petal can win you the game (you can put Empty the Warrens on top of your library and then Dark Ritual, Lion’s Eye Diamond, and Infernal Tutor). Another point here is that you could in theory hit multiple good cards off of Brainstorm that would put you in a winning position. For these reasons, I’d likely cast Brainstorm. That said, I think both of these are risky lines and would prefer just to look at seven new cards instead.

4C “Snow” Control

Pre-board

Hand 1: (on the play)

» Keep or Mulligan?

Keep You can’t be afraid of keeping hands like this due to the London Mulligan, they’re still only a 40 percent to have Force of Will in their opening hand (if you want to see further mulligan percentages, please click here). I would still jam this hand on turn one 100 percent of the time. With a hand like this, it’s not getting any better as the game progresses. One thing I’ve noticed with some less experienced players is they don’t like playing out Chrome Mox to turn on Mox Opal, whereas I do it all the time. Don’t be concerned with lost value or attrition if it allows you to become faster.







Hand 2: (on the draw)

» Keep or Mulligan?







Hand 3: (on the play)

» Keep or Mulligan?

Keep I know that Plague Engineer is the new boogeyman on the block, but it costs three mana. Our hand can generate a lethal amount of Goblin Tokens before Plague Engineer can ever resolve. Not to mention, this hand also beats Force of Will! This is a snap-keep to me.







Hand 4: (on the draw — mulliganed once)

» Keep or Mulligan?

Mulligan With the London Mulligan, mulliganing in general is much less punishing than it was previously. There’s no reason to keep an unplayable hand like this one even if it has some of your best cards in it. If the hand doesn’t do anything meaningful, there’s a good chance that your next hand does. A realistic expectation from this hand (assuming that everything goes well) is an unprotected second turn Ad Nauseam. While this 4C “Snow” Control only plays four copies of Force of Will and two Thoughtseize, they’re likely to have something within two turns. This is also assuming that things go well, which is sort of a tall ask on a single Ponder.







Hand 5: (on the play)

» Keep or Mulligan?

Mulligan DO NOT KEEP HANDS THAT DON’T DO ANYTHING, ESPECIALLY UNDER THE LONDON MULLIGAN. C’mon, we’re better than that.







Post-board

Recommended sideboarding: IN No Changes OUT No Changes







Hand 6: (on the draw)

» Keep or Mulligan?

Mulligan This might sound crazy, but I’d mulligan this hand. What does it do well? The hand does make Goblin Tokens using Empty the Warrens on turn three, but remember the three copies of Plague Engineer surely lurking in the opponent’s deck? You could try to get Echo of Eons and hard-cast it eventually I suppose. That line is incredibly slow, and asks that our opponent’s hand does absolutely nothing in a post-board game. In general, I think the value of Burning Wish in this match-up is a little low as your main piece of business.







Hand 7: (on the play)

» Keep or Mulligan?







Hand 8: (on the draw)

» Keep or Mulligan?

Keep While this hand doesn’t have lands, it does have a lot of potential. You’re able to sculpt your hand and do not have to be concerned with Wasteland. I’d likely start out by casting Mox Opal (it’s best to make it seem innocent and less important rather than your third artifact that happens to be a permanent mana source), Lotus Petal, Lotus Petal, and then Brainstorm. Ideally here, I’d be looking to put back Chrome Mox and play a Bloodstained Mire or Polluted Delta. If that doesn’t work, we have a pair of Ponder to smooth things out on the following turn.







Hand 9: (on the play — mulliganed twice)

» Keep or Mulligan?

Keep This hand can theoretically win. I’d put Chrome Mox and Volcanic Island on the bottom, and start the game by sitting on your fetch lands as to not expose the Underground Sea to Wasteland. It’s an uphill battle, but it’s certainly possible to win this game.







Hand 10: (on the draw)

» Keep or Mulligan?