
Zev Goldhaber-Gordon
PhD student in Applied Physics at Cornell University; Magic: The Gathering researcher and competitive player.
1
APPEARANCES
1
PODCASTS
012
DEC 30
JAN 6
JAN 13
JAN 20
JAN 27
FEB 3
FEB 10
FEB 17
FEB 24
MAR 3
MAR 10
MAR 17
MAR 24
MAR 31
APR 7
APR 14
APR 21
APR 28
MAY 5
MAY 12
MAY 19
MAY 26
JUN 2
JUN 9
JUN 16
JUN 23
JUN 30
JUL 7
JUL 14
JUL 21
JUL 28
AUG 4
AUG 11
AUG 18
AUG 25
SEP 1
SEP 8
SEP 15
SEP 22
SEP 29
OCT 6
OCT 13
OCT 20
OCT 27
NOV 3
NOV 10
NOV 17
NOV 24
DEC 1
DEC 8
DEC 15
DEC 22
DEC 29
JAN 5
JAN 12
JAN 19
JAN 26
FEB 2
FEB 9
FEB 16
FEB 23
MAR 2
MAR 9
MAR 16
MAR 23
MAR 30
APR 6
APR 13
APR 20
APR 27
MAY 4
MAY 11
MAY 18
MAY 25
JUN 1
JUN 8
JUN 15
JUN 22
JUN 29
JUL 6
JUL 13
JUL 20
JUL 27
AUG 3
AUG 10
AUG 17
AUG 24
AUG 31
SEP 7
SEP 14
SEP 21
SEP 28
OCT 5
OCT 12
OCT 19
OCT 26
NOV 2
Jun 15, 2026
#186: Journal Club (Mulligan and opening hand data)
32:57
33:02
33:25
33:34
33:41
S
32:52SierkovitzHOST
Do you think that that might be the interpretation of it?

Zev Goldhaber-GordonGUEST
Uh, when you have a three or a four-land hand, a big thing is that your range of draws expands a lot.

Zev Goldhaber-GordonGUEST
If you, if you're keeping a five-land hand, um, y- you're saying to yourself, "For the rest of the game, unless I have a substantial, uh, looting package or a way to use the extra land, something that I'm ramping towards, uh, any extra lands I draw for the rest of the game are going to be closer to dead draws." When you have a three-land hand, you're sort of happy to draw either a land or a creature or a spell, sort of anything.

Zev Goldhaber-GordonGUEST
Um, and so the primary v- reason that you'd want to mulligan a three-land hand is if either the spells in your hand aren't castable or you're stuck on one color.

Zev Goldhaber-GordonGUEST
And we have some numbers later about what proportion of your mulligans should be three or, um, four-land hands versus two and five.

Zev Goldhaber-GordonGUEST
But also, when I say should, the, the, that's a sort of loaded word because this is very, uh, a- as, as one of the complaints, uh, specified, this is very descriptive and not prescriptive.
S
35:31SierkovitzHOST
So can you walk me through those?