How to Mulligan Kenrith, the Returned King

Mulligan decisions with Kenrith, the Returned King depend on your deck's curve, key cards, and mana requirements. This guide covers practical heuristics for Commander.

Commander-agnostic mulligan rules

In Commander, the London mulligan lets you put any number of cards on the bottom of your library and draw back up to seven. Your first mulligan is free — you don't lose a card. Most Kenrith, the Returned King decks benefit from a hand that can cast the commander on curve, hits enough lands (typically two or three in the opener), and has at least one early play. If your hand has zero or one land, ship it. If it has seven lands and no action, ship it. Hands that are all ramp with no payoff, or all payoff with no mana, usually deserve a mulligan.

Lands and mana requirements

A typical Kenrith, the Returned King deck runs 33–37 lands. For your opener, aim for two to four lands depending on your curve. Low-curve Kenrith, the Returned King builds might keep two-land hands if they have a one-drop or two-drop. Higher-curve lists want three or four lands. If your commander costs four or more mana, ensure you have a path to cast it by turn four or five. Color requirements matter: if Kenrith, the Returned King needs specific colors early, keep hands that can produce them.

When to keep marginal hands

Sometimes a hand is borderline — two lands, a ramp spell, and a couple of mid-game cards. With Kenrith, the Returned King, consider whether the hand supports your primary plan. If your deck wants to go fast, keep hands that pressure early. If it's a value engine, keep hands that set up card draw or recursion. After a free mulligan, you might keep a slightly worse seven than you would at six cards. Use the ManaTap mulligan simulator to see keep rates for your specific deck configuration.

Play vs draw

On the draw, you get one extra card before the game starts. That improves your odds of hitting land drops and key spells. When testing mulligans, toggle play vs draw in the simulator to see how it affects your keep rate. On the draw, you can sometimes keep a two-land hand that you'd ship on the play.

Ready to see keep rates for your Kenrith, the Returned King list? Use the ManaTap mulligan simulator — paste your decklist or load a deck, set your parameters, and run thousands of simulations.