How to Mulligan Animar, Soul of Elements
Try tools with this commander
Start here: Mulligan Simulator (fast) → then Cost to Finish (money) → Budget Swaps (savings)
Mulligan Simulator
Simulate keep rates for your opener
Cost to Finish
Estimate cost to complete your deck
Budget Swaps
Find cheaper alternatives
Browse Decks
Explore public Animar, Soul of Elements decks
No signup required to try tools.
Opening hand priorities
Creature combo deck reducing creature costs with +1/+1 counters to enable explosive chains and combo finishes. The goal is not a pretty seven-card hand. It is a hand that develops mana, lines up colors, and actually points toward the deck's first meaningful turns.
Your opener should support
Hands to be suspicious of
- - noncreature-heavy builds
- - control spell packages
Mulligan decisions with Animar, Soul of Elements start with role clarity: does your opener actually support a real Animar, Soul of Elements game plan around creature combo and cost reduction? Creature combo deck reducing creature costs with +1/+1 counters to enable explosive chains and combo finishes. Ancestral Statue enables infinite counters. Prioritize low-cost creatures and ETB value like Cloud of Faeries. Animar rewards creature density above all else.
What a keepable hand looks like
In Commander, the London mulligan gives you a free first reset and rewards disciplined keeps. For Animar, Soul of Elements, a strong opener usually does three things at once: develops mana, offers an early spell or piece of interaction, and points toward your actual game plan. Creature combo deck reducing creature costs with +1/+1 counters to enable explosive chains and combo finishes. If your seven has lands but no way to advance that plan, treat it as shakier than it first looks.
Mana, colors, and early sequencing
Most Animar, Soul of Elements decks still want the normal Commander baseline of two to four lands or a hand that clearly replaces missing lands with reliable ramp. Your opener should cast its setup on time and not rely on perfect topdecks. Ancestral Statue enables infinite counters. Prioritize low-cost creatures and ETB value like Cloud of Faeries. Animar rewards creature density above all else.
When to keep a borderline seven
If your list is built around creature combo, cost reduction, and etb, a borderline hand should still contain at least one card that matters for that package. Keep more aggressively when the hand has cheap setup plus enough mana to function. Ship more aggressively when it is all payoff, all air, or a pile of unrelated medium cards. Common misses include noncreature-heavy builds and control spell packages.
Play vs draw
On the draw, the extra card gives Animar, Soul of Elements more room to keep a slower hand, especially one with two mana sources and a real early spell. On the play, be tougher on reactive hands that do nothing proactive until turn three. If your build is faster or more controlling than average, compare both modes in the simulator so your mulligan habits match the exact list you are piloting.
Ready to test real opener quality for Animar, Soul of Elements? Run your own list through the ManaTap mulligan simulator, compare play versus draw, and check how often your opener actually lines up with the plan above.
Related commander guides
FAQ
- What is the London mulligan?
- You put any number of cards from your hand on the bottom of your library, then draw back up to seven. In Commander, your first mulligan is free.
- How many lands should I keep?
- Most Commander decks want two to four lands in the opener. Low-curve decks can keep two; higher curves want three or four.
- Should I mulligan a hand with no ramp?
- It depends on your curve. If your deck needs early ramp to function, ship hands without it. If you have enough lands and cheap plays, you might keep.
- Does play vs draw affect mulligan strategy?
- Yes. On the draw you get an extra card, so you can sometimes keep slightly weaker hands.
- How can I test my mulligan strategy?
- Use the ManaTap mulligan simulator. Paste your decklist, set parameters, and run thousands of simulations to see keep rates.