Riftbound Mulligan: How to Keep or Swap Your Opening Hand

by Riftbound Zone23 June 20264 views

The mulligan is the first strategic decision of every Riftbound game, and too many players rush through it. Knowing how to recognize a hand worth keeping or improving changes the outcome far more than many later plays: a good opening hand puts you on your plan from turn 1.

In this guide we look at how the mulligan works, which three elements make a hand keepable, and how your seat at the table (going first or second) should drive your choices. If you need the basics, start with how to play Riftbound.

How the mulligan works

Your opening hand is 4 cards. During the mulligan you may recycle 0, 1, or at most 2 cards and draw the same number back: your hand always stays at 4 cards. The key point is that you do not redraw the whole hand; you swap specific cards you do not need for fresh draws. It is a targeted correction, not a reset.

The three elements of a keepable hand

✓Example of a keepable hand

Turn 1 playBlazing Scorcher

Turn 2 objectiveCleave (removal)

Line to victoryKai'Sa (Legend)

It has all three elements: a turn-1 play, a turn-2 objective and a line to your win condition. If even one were missing, the hand should be swapped.

A hand is keepable when it contains all three of these elements. If even one is missing, it becomes a candidate for a swap.

• A credible turn-1 play: usually a unit or an equipment you can drop with no wasted resources.
• A clear turn-2 objective: a second unit, a piece of removal, a battletrick, or a ready counter.
• A line toward your win condition: something that connects these early turns to how you intend to close the game.

What to recycle

When a hand is missing one of the three elements, choose carefully what to put back into the deck.

• Expensive cards: they risk showing up long before you can pay for them.
• Low-value situational cards: useful only in rare cases, rarely in the early turns.
• Misaligned long-game cards: late-game pieces that do not fit your tempo plans (see tempo versus value).
• Duplicates of narrow tools: a second copy of a very specific tool is often redundant early on.

Your seat changes everything

Available resources depend on who plays first, and this is a crucial factor in your mulligan decision.

Going first

You have 2 runes on turn 1 and 4 runes on turn 2. You start slower, so you favor hands with cheap plays and good early development. To understand how runes and energy produce power, see the rune, energy, and power system.

Going second

You start with 3 runes and have 5 on turn 2. This resource ramp lets you keep slightly more expensive or reactive hands, because the tempo jump on turn 2 is larger.

This timing difference must drive every choice: a hand that is perfect on the draw can be too slow on the play.

Summary

• 4-card hand; recycle at most 2 and draw that many back: targeted swaps, not a reset.
• Keep only if you have: a turn-1 play, a turn-2 objective, and a line toward victory.
• Recycle expensive, situational, misaligned long-game cards, and narrow duplicates.
• Adapt the decision to your seat: 2/4 runes on the play, 3/5 runes on the draw.

Continue with deck identity to learn which hands your archetype really wants, or test yourself with match preparation. And review the basics in how to play Riftbound.

Next stepRiftbound Rune Floating: Generate and Spend Energy in One Turn→