Pro Card Tips

On the surface, Jingozi is a fast-paced game with simple mechanics, but strategically, it can become highly complex, especially at professionally competitive levels. The deeper you go, the more tactics reveal themselves for mastery. Here is an introductory primer on pro card tips to consider next time you play.

The Mulligan

The quality of your starting hand often defines the rest of your match. You can mulligan for the best cards, or sometimes you might consider keeping the worst cards to muck on the first hand—since players typically come out strong with seven-attack battle cards—to thin your deck and play stronger cards after the initial flurry. At the same time, with certain decks, you may want to mulligan hard for the champion or other useful spells to establish a strong start. For example, Golem has more spells to retrieve the champion.

The First Hand

Again, typical players will start with their best battle card right out of the gate for the first hand. Unless you have a spell to beat a seven-attack, or a high battle card as a follow-up in case of a tie, it might make sense to play a lower-cost card for a cheaper spell turn such as Soul Portal.

Mucking

Mucking your whole hand and sitting out a hand is incredibly useful at times, especially with poor battle cards and no spells or to thin out your deck. But use caution. Remember if you run out of cards, you instantly lose, regardless of your Zi count.

Jingozi Duels

Speaking of running out of cards, do not disregard the advantage of burning an opponent’s spells during a Jingozi Duel, especially if they have not played many spells. Remember, if your champion is on the battlefield, you keep your spells, but so does your opponent if they also have their champion.