Everything We Know About The MTG Arena BO1 Hand Smoothing Algorithm

Last updated on May 23, 2025

Arena Bo1 Hand Smoothing Screenshot

When MTG Arena first released, one of the more controversial aspects of this MTG video game was the use of hand smoothing. While we’ve all gotten a lot more used to it as the years have gone by, it’s still something of a curiosity, as well as a target of the occasional conspiracy theory!

What is it, though? And how does it work? Do we even know that it does work? Let’s dig in.

What Is Hand Smoothing?

Helping Hand | Illustration by Aldo Dominguez

Hand smoothing is something that MTG Arena does to influence your starting hand in most best-of-one formats. This process reduces the likelihood of having an unplayable hand. It’s important to mention that it’s not the same as the shuffler, which works by a different mechanism.

When hand smoothing is active, Arena looks at two possible starting hands (one redditor claims Arena switched to three samples at some point), then chooses the one that has the most similar land to spell ratio as your deck has overall. This means that hands that have no lands or are all lands are incredibly rare in best-of-one formats.

How Does Hand Smoothing Work in Best of One?

Hand smoothing on Arena influences the number of lands you have in your starting hand. It does this by looking at two potential hands, then taking the one with the land distribution that most closely matches that of your overall deck. However, the number of lands in your starting hand is influenced by the number of lands in your deck, so if you run a lot of lands you end up with more in your starting hand, on average.

If you want a deeper dive into how this affects your starting hand, I highly recommend this tweet thread by Magic statistics aficionado Sierkovitz enough. It focuses on 40-card decks, but the lessons can easily be applied to 60- or 100-card decks, too!

Why We Need an Algorithm

Reduces the Number of Non-Games

The main reason that the hand smoother exists is to reduce the number of non-games you get on Arena due to mana screw or mana flood. Especially in Bo1, if you have to mulligan down to five cards due to opening hand issues, you won't have much of a game, which isn’t enjoyable for anyone. In Bo3, at least you have more games to compensate for bad luck.

Remember that the hand smoother only affects your initial hand, not the cards you draw afterwards.

Appeals to Newer Players

New players that come to Arena, particularly those from other TCGs, may find the idea of 1/3 of your deck as “unplayable” cards unappealing, particularly if this then leads to some non-games. The land system is iconic to Magic, and it influenced its popularity today, but there’s a reason why other, more modern games have avoided similar systems in their design. The hand smoother limits these non-games that might otherwise turn these players off.

Is the Hand Smoother an Improvement?

There’s an argument that the hand smoother is simply an improvement on how Magic works. When you sit down to play against someone, of course you want to win, but you also want to play Magic! It's simply not fun if you don’t really get a game because your opponent had to mull to oblivion, despite the free win. Not everyone agrees, but there are some players who prefer Magic with a hand smoother.

Strategic Implications

Reckless Handling | Illustration by Miguel Mercado

Limited

Limited decks generally run 17 lands in a 40-card deck, and many Limited tools and podcasts make reference to this well-known rule of thumb. Sometimes you’ll deviate from this number, but it’s a great place to start when you think about how to build your Limited deck on Arena. The hand smoother makes it much more likely that you’ll want to run 16 cards in your deck, as the main reason for that 17^th land is often to ensure you get a keepable starting hand in a format with a small deck. The hand smoother compensates for this somewhat, although there are plenty of times you’ll still want to keep 17 or sometimes 18 lands.

Constructed

Generally, the hand smoother is less important for Constructed formats like Standard or Historic, unless you run a very low to the ground aggro deck. In these cases, there’s some justification to run an incredibly low number of lands, sometimes as low as 15, and relying on the hand smoother to give you an opening hand with two lands in it. That said, if you push it too far, you’re more likely to end up with one or zero lands in your hand!

Competitive Integrity

Sleight of Hand | Illustration by Scott Murphy

What Is Controversial About Hand Smoothing?

The most controversial part about hand smoothing is that it’s something that doesn’t, and can’t exist in the paper game. This is always going to rub some people the wrong way, as paper Magic is seen by many to be the epitome of competitive play. This also needs to be weighed against cheating which is equally if not more possible in paper Magic. There are theories that combo decks do better because of hand smoothing, and give them an unfair advantage on Arena.

Thus, you get controversy, and a question without a simple answer: Is hand smoothing good for Magic?

Is Hand Smoothing the Same for All MTGA Formats?

Hand smoothing only exists in the Bo1 formats on Arena. It’s been kept out of Bo3 formats, as it’s thought that in those formats you have extra opportunities to come back from bad luck across a number of games. Some further discussion on this point is in regards to Leyline of Resonance which is a leyline that is only banned in Bo1 events on Arena.

Wrap Up

Promise of Loyalty | Illustration by Sara Winters

The hand smoother is up there with the shuffler as one of the more hated aspects of MTG Arena (and it’s often conflated with it). However, for many it’s a great idea, and one that you generally wouldn't notice until it’s gone. Many players may never become aware of it!

What do you think, though? Fantastic digital-only addition, or the worst thing ever? I can see both sides, but would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Let me know in the comments or over at the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, I hope your hands are keepable!