Shuffling

[Frothandslosh]

I'm currently using a deck with 21 lands, but no matter how many times I shuffle, my staring hand is packed with 4-6 lands. This has been going on for the past hour.

Any tips on what I can do to stop this?

[Bozo_Law]

These are the mysterious ways of variance. If you do it enough the lands you draw will eventually level out to approximately a third of your draws.

[Rass]

I tend to shuffle two ways when I riffle shuffle. Ill take the middle of the deck. About 30 cards the shuffle them into the remaining. Or I'll take a card from the bottom and top with my thumb and index finger fifteen times then shuffle the two piles together. I do either of these about five times. It seems to work about 90+% of the time

[The1337Magician]

How about making six separate stacks of ten cards putting them on pile one then two and so on? It shuffles pretty well.

[Juggalonoke]

Take your mana in one pile and your other cards in another.  Shuffle both piles liberally.  Then take 1 land and put in in a new pile then take 2 other cards and put it on top of the pile.  Repeat until both piles are now in one pile. (That pile should now be (l=land c=other card) lcclcclcclcclcclcclcclcclcc etc.). Now rifle shuffle 3 times.  It is now sufficiently randomized and you know that your mana is equally spread throughout your dek.

Couldnt this be considerd "stacking" your deck though by some people.....

[Coffee Vampire]

Yes. Never do it at FNM.

[Agarrita80]

How is it stacking If you riffle it 3 times afterwards?

[Coffee Vampire]

You separate the lands and put them back in a specific order (lcclcclcclcc). That is considered stacking by most people, whether or not you mix it up a little afterwards to show that it is "sufficiently randomized".It would piss people off at FNM, which is why I recommend you don't do any stacking shenanigans at FNM. Just pile shuffle once to make sure you have 60 cards (especially after game 1), then riffle at least 7 times. I am not saying you are a cheater if you do your method, but I am saying that it would be frowned upon by more than one person for sure.

[Juggalonoke]

You separate the lands and put them back in a specific order (lcclcclcclcc). That is considered stacking by most people, whether or not you mix it up a little afterwards to show that it is "sufficiently randomized".It would piss people off at FNM, which is why I recommend you don't do any stacking shenanigans at FNM. Just pile shuffle once to make sure you have 60 cards (especially after game 1), then riffle at least 7 times. I am not saying you are a cheater if you do your method, but I am saying that it would be frowned upon by more than one person for sure.

I agree with this.

[Agarrita80]

I don't do it that way I was just wondering why you thought it was cheating. I do 5 piles just random order then mix those up then mix them all together. Then riffle a while.

[Agarrita80]

Plus I've seen opponents actually grab the other persons deck and shuffle it themselves instead if cutting.

[Coffee Vampire]

Some people frown upon their opponent shuffling their deck for them after they presented it, but in reality it is the best thing to do. Don't be afraid to shuffle your opponent's deck, and take your time. Obviously don't stall or be obnoxious, but for sure make sure that if your opponent stacked his or her deck, it sure as hell isn't stacked now!

Note that most people don't mind it, and there isn't anything wrong with it at all. In fact, in some higher level magic events, players are made to shuffle each other's deck. It is wise to do this, and if anyone comments on it when you do it, calmly reply that it is required by wizards that you, as the opponent, make sure that his or her deck is randomized, and that it is fully within your rights to shuffle your opponent's deck.

[MisterJH]

What i do is 1 land 2 cards, then riffle BEFORE I GO

then i riffle a bunch more before the game. At the end i riffle my remaining library, then individually stick the lands in randomly through the library, and stick 2-3 cards from my GY in randomly. Then i riffle a lot and usually have solid results. Sometimes i go through and break up huge land clumps between matches too.

[Juggalonoke]

What i do is 1 land 2 cards, then riffle BEFORE I GO

then i riffle a bunch more before the game. At the end i riffle my remaining library, then individually stick the lands in randomly through the library, and stick 2-3 cards from my GY in randomly. Then i riffle a lot and usually have solid results. Sometimes i go through and break up huge land clumps between matches too.

This process is still considerd stacking because even after riffle shuffleing theres still a way to get all the cardz back in the same order. I cant remember where I found it but I had once found a website with demos and such to teach you how to stack any deck of cards shuffle and they still be a stacked deck. Its better to not even do it at all and just riffle shuffle or blind pile shuffle.

[Imdowd80]

Ido my type of shuffling at fnm all the time.  People start to get upset, until the realize I plan on doing riffle shuffling too, then all is good.  All I do is get rid of mana clumps.  I have no idea what I will be drawing.  I just know that 98% of the mime, there will be no mana clumps of twenty on the bottom.

This is actually a form of stacking. By making "sure" there are no mana clumps, you have stacked your deck and have not sufficiently randomized it.