AyameHikaru
Active Member
I suppose it depends on how good you are at calculating percentages, and what the situation is in your hand.
Say I'm playing Donphan/Machamp. My opening hand is Machop, Machamp, Phanpy, Phanpy, and three trainers (We'll say Palmers and 2 Ebelt).
Obviously, if I can get a T1 Machamp, it'll be smooth sailing. However, for that start to work, I need 2 cards, a F energy and a rare candy. Assuming my opponent doesn't mulligan and I don't topdeck something draw-related, that's impossible. The smart thing would be to play Phanpy active and keep Machop on the bench until it's a Machamp.
However, if my opponent does mulligan BEFORE I set my Active down, it's a whole new ball game. Now, I'll be drawing 2 cards, making a T1 Machamp possible. So now I've got to decide if I want to risk not getting the cards I want or play it safe and start with Phanpy until I get Machop set up. A previously impossible play is now very possible, and my strategy might change because of it.
As to Ditto's points, I'd have to agree that your opponent mulliganing is 99% an advantageous circumstance. Unless you run a deck you burn through super fast and that one card causes you to deck out, drawing a card usually helps.
The cases it doesn't help:
1. You deck out often (Solution: Don't draw or hope you run enough recovery cards)
2. Your opponent plays Gengar and you're worried about Poltergiest (Solution: You'd possibly/probably see some related cards like Looker's, Alph Lithograph, Noctowl Promo, or even Gengars in the mulligan hand, so you can evaluate how easily you'll be able to get rid of Trainers)
3. You've got an Uxie in your hand (Solution: You'd draw the cards anyway. Getting it a bit earlier doesn't make much difference, unless it's a basic you can lay down, in which case it helps because you get deeper into your deck with Uxie.)
4. You've got something out with a search-your-deck-evolve attack, and you don't want to risk drawing the card (This one MIGHT be a slight problem. However, if it's something that drawing one would be disaster, there's obviously only 1/2 in your deck, so the chances of drawing it out of a full deck are minimal.)
5. ????? Any other cases?
So, outside of those circumstances, that extra card can help get your ultimate god hand. How is it not advantageous???
Say I'm playing Donphan/Machamp. My opening hand is Machop, Machamp, Phanpy, Phanpy, and three trainers (We'll say Palmers and 2 Ebelt).
Obviously, if I can get a T1 Machamp, it'll be smooth sailing. However, for that start to work, I need 2 cards, a F energy and a rare candy. Assuming my opponent doesn't mulligan and I don't topdeck something draw-related, that's impossible. The smart thing would be to play Phanpy active and keep Machop on the bench until it's a Machamp.
However, if my opponent does mulligan BEFORE I set my Active down, it's a whole new ball game. Now, I'll be drawing 2 cards, making a T1 Machamp possible. So now I've got to decide if I want to risk not getting the cards I want or play it safe and start with Phanpy until I get Machop set up. A previously impossible play is now very possible, and my strategy might change because of it.
As to Ditto's points, I'd have to agree that your opponent mulliganing is 99% an advantageous circumstance. Unless you run a deck you burn through super fast and that one card causes you to deck out, drawing a card usually helps.
The cases it doesn't help:
1. You deck out often (Solution: Don't draw or hope you run enough recovery cards)
2. Your opponent plays Gengar and you're worried about Poltergiest (Solution: You'd possibly/probably see some related cards like Looker's, Alph Lithograph, Noctowl Promo, or even Gengars in the mulligan hand, so you can evaluate how easily you'll be able to get rid of Trainers)
3. You've got an Uxie in your hand (Solution: You'd draw the cards anyway. Getting it a bit earlier doesn't make much difference, unless it's a basic you can lay down, in which case it helps because you get deeper into your deck with Uxie.)
4. You've got something out with a search-your-deck-evolve attack, and you don't want to risk drawing the card (This one MIGHT be a slight problem. However, if it's something that drawing one would be disaster, there's obviously only 1/2 in your deck, so the chances of drawing it out of a full deck are minimal.)
5. ????? Any other cases?
So, outside of those circumstances, that extra card can help get your ultimate god hand. How is it not advantageous???