Should you play 4 copies of a card in the Azuki TCG?
Play 4 of the cards your deck needs early or every game: with 4 copies in 50 cards you open with one 46% of the time, and 74% if you redraw every hand that misses it. Play 1 or 2 of cards you only want once, or late.
If you love a card, play 4. If you only need it once, 1 is fine. That’s just math, and math is never wrong. I’m wrong sometimes though.
How to tell
- Your key early card shows up in fewer than half your opening hands.
- You draw a second copy of a card you only ever need once, like a finisher.
Example: Odds of seeing a card
Odds of at least one copy, from a 50-card deck. The mulligan puts your whole hand on the bottom and draws seven new cards, so a redraw cannot bring back the hand you threw away:
| Copies | Opening 7 | With redraw | Turn 3, 1st | Turn 3, 2nd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 46% | 74% | 56% | 60% |
| 3 | 37% | 64% | 46% | 50% |
| 2 | 26% | 49% | 33% | 36% |
| 1 | 14% | 28% | 18% | 20% |
Four copies of Tenshin means you hold one by your turn 3 well over half the time. One copy of a finisher means you see it in about one game in five by turn 3, which is fine for a card you want on turn 7.
How to fix it
- Play 4 of the cards your deck is built around and of your best early plays.
- Play 2 or 3 of strong cards that are bad in multiples or bad early.
- Play 1 only for a card you are glad to see once a game. If you would cut it the moment it was missing, it wants more copies.
