Starting the game

At the start of a Magic game, each player shuffles their deck so that the cards are in a random order. Each player may then shuffle or cut their opponents’ decks. The players’ decks then become their libraries.

After the decks have been shuffled, the players determine which one of them will choose who takes the first turn. In the first game of a match, the players may use any mutually agreeable method (flipping a coin, rolling dice, etc.) to do so. In a match of several games, the loser of the previous game chooses who takes the first turn. The player chosen to take the first turn is the starting player. The game's default turn order begins with the starting player and proceeds clockwise.

Each player sets their starting life total to 20. Some variant game formats have different starting life totals.

Each player draws a number of cards equal to their hand size, which is normally seven. A player who is dissatisfied with their initial hand may take a mulligan. Players decide in turn order whether or not they want to take a mulligan, then all players who decided to do so shuffle their cards at the same time. This process repeats until no player takes any mulligans, and players who have decided not to take a mulligan may not go back and take one in response to the actions of other players.

Rules
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