Trading Card Deck Ratio Calculator
Check your land or resource ratio for a trading card deck: expected lands per opening hand and the odds of a keepable hand.
How it works
expected lands = hand size × lands ÷ deck · P(≥k) via hypergeometric distribution over deck, lands and hand size
A deck’s resource ratio decides how consistently you can cast your cards, and the opening hand is where it matters most. The expected number of lands in your first hand is just the hand size times the fraction of the deck that is lands, but the useful question is the probability of at least a keepable number — computed exactly with the hypergeometric distribution, which counts draws without replacement. A common starting point for 60-card decks is around 40% lands (about 24), tuned up for greedy curves and down for cheap, land-light strategies.
Worked example
A 60-card deck with 24 lands and a 7-card hand: expected lands = 7 × 24 ÷ 60 = 2.8. The hypergeometric chance of at least 2 lands is about 86%, a comfortable keep rate.
Frequently asked questions
How many lands should a 60-card deck run?
Roughly 40% — about 24 lands — is the classic baseline. Aggressive, low-curve decks can drop toward 20–22, while control decks with expensive spells often run 26+ plus card draw to keep hitting land drops.
What is the hypergeometric distribution?
It gives the probability of drawing a certain number of "successes" (lands) when you draw without replacement from a finite deck. Because you never shuffle a drawn card back in, it is the correct model for opening hands, not a coin-flip binomial.
Does this account for mulligans?
No — it is the chance for a single fresh hand. Mulligans let you redraw poor hands, so your effective odds of a keepable hand across mulligans are higher than the single-hand figure shown.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.