Hand size

Hand Size (Wisdom)
Mechanic
Introduced	Mirage
Last used	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Scryfall Statistics
265 cards 14.3% 6.8% 21.9% 20.4% 14.7% 8.7% 13.2%

Hand size (starting and maximum) is usually seven cards. Hand modifiers and certain cards can modify the starting and maximum size of the hand.

Multiple cards (e.g. Castle Locthwain) and mechanics (e.g. Hellbent) care for the hand size in some form.

Wisdom

Wisdom is a non-keyworded mechanic and theme, featured in Saviors of Kamigawa. It's called wisdom, because, creatively speaking, your library and hand symbolize your mind. Similar cards have appeared before and after the set.

The theme is the more cards you have in your hand, the "wiser" you are. Wisdom-cards may work in three different ways:

1. Get extra abilities if you have seven or more cards in your hand. Examples: Akki Underling, Deathmask Nezumi
2. Scale effects based on the number of cards in your hand. Saviors cycle of legendary creature with Maro ability. Examples: Masumaro, First to Live
3. Improve when you have more cards in your hand than your opponent. Most soratami help enhance this ability by returning land cards to your hand, as did the Sweep mechanic. Examples: Akuta, Born of Ash, Descendant of Kiyomaro

The mechanic played out as encouraging players to use as few spells as possible, stagnating games.

See also

• Soratami's Wisdom

Rules

Starting Hand Size

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (November 14, 2025—Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Starting Hand Size

The number of cards a player draws as a game begins. In most games, each player’s starting hand size is seven. See rule 103.5.

From the Comprehensive Rules (November 14, 2025—Avatar: The Last Airbender)

• 103.5. Each player draws a number of cards equal to their starting hand size, which is normally seven. (Some effects can modify a player’s starting hand size.) A player who is dissatisfied with their initial hand may take a mulligan. First, the starting player declares whether they will take a mulligan. Then each other player in turn order does the same. Once each player has made a declaration, all players who decided to take mulligans do so at the same time. To take a mulligan, a player shuffles the cards in their hand back into their library, draws a new hand of cards equal to their starting hand size, then puts a number of those cards equal to the number of times that player has taken a mulligan on the bottom of their library in any order. Once a player chooses not to take a mulligan, the remaining cards become that player’s opening hand, and that player may not take any further mulligans. This process is then repeated until no player takes a mulligan. A player can take mulligans until their opening hand would be zero cards, after which they may not take further mulligans.
  • 103.5a In a Vanguard game, each player’s starting hand size is seven plus or minus the hand modifier of their vanguard card.
  • 103.5b If an effect allows a player to perform an action “any time [that player] could mulligan,” the player may perform that action at a time they would declare whether they will take a mulligan. This need not be in the first round of mulligans. Other players may have already made their mulligan declarations by the time the player has the option to perform this action. If the player performs the action, they then declare whether they will take a mulligan.
  • 103.5c In a multiplayer game and in any Brawl game, the first mulligan a player takes doesn’t count toward the number of cards that player will put on the bottom of their library or the number of mulligans that player may take. Subsequent mulligans are counted toward these numbers as normal.
  • 103.5d In a multiplayer game using the shared team turns option, first each player on the starting team declares whether that player will take a mulligan, then the players on each other team in turn order do the same. Teammates may consult while making their decisions. Then all mulligans are taken at the same time. A player may take a mulligan even after a teammate has decided to keep their opening hand.

Maximum Hand Size

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (November 14, 2025—Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Maximum Hand Size

The number of cards in hand a player must discard down to during their cleanup step. See rule 402.2 and 514.1.

From the Comprehensive Rules (November 14, 2025—Avatar: The Last Airbender)

• 402.2. Each player has a maximum hand size, which is normally seven cards. A player may have any number of cards in their hand, but as part of their cleanup step, the player must discard excess cards down to the maximum hand size.

From the Comprehensive Rules (November 14, 2025—Avatar: The Last Airbender)

• 514.1. First, if the active player’s hand contains more cards than their maximum hand size (normally seven), they discard enough cards to reduce their hand size to that number. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack.