How to Mulligan Derevi, Empyrial Tactician

Mulligan decisions with Derevi, Empyrial Tactician start with role clarity: does your opener actually support a real Derevi, Empyrial Tactician game plan around tap untap and tempo? Tap-untap tempo deck that leverages combat triggers, stax pressure, and tricky sequencing to stay ahead. Derevi gets paid when small creatures and mana development keep mattering into the midgame. Your best cards either multiply combat triggers, punish opponents for being slowed down, or let you use untap triggers as mana and interaction.

What a keepable hand looks like

In Commander, the London mulligan gives you a free first reset and rewards disciplined keeps. For Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, 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. Tap-untap tempo deck that leverages combat triggers, stax pressure, and tricky sequencing to stay ahead. 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 Derevi, Empyrial Tactician decks still want the normal Commander baseline of two to four lands or a hand that clearly replaces missing lands with reliable ramp. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is white-blue-green, so your opener should cast your setup on time and not strand key colors in hand. Derevi gets paid when small creatures and mana development keep mattering into the midgame. Your best cards either multiply combat triggers, punish opponents for being slowed down, or let you use untap triggers as mana and interaction.

When to keep a borderline seven

If your list is built around tap untap, tempo, and stax, 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 midrange bodies with no tap value, stax pieces your deck cannot break parity on, and slow hands with no early board presence.

Play vs draw

On the draw, the extra card gives Derevi, Empyrial Tactician 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 Derevi, Empyrial Tactician? 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.