Mighty

Each player is dealt ten cards. The remaining three cards are placed face down in the middle of the table. After the deal, players bid on a contract score and a trump suit. When bidding, a player declares how many points cards they intend to capture and which suit they choose as the trump suit.

For example, a bid of 13♣ means that the player commits to capturing at least 13 point cards, and clubs become the trump suit. The minimum bid is 13 points.

Each subsequent player must bid a higher contract score than the previous bid. However, a player may bid no-trump with the same contract score. If a player does not wish to make a higher bid, they may pass. Bidding continues until all but one player has passed. The player with the highest bid becomes the declarer, and the declarer's chosen suit becomes the trump suit for the round.

• Misdeal
  Misdeal follows a separate evaluation rule. A player may declare a misdeal if the total score of their initial hand is less than 0.5 points, calculated as follows:

* Mighty: 0 points
* 10: 0.5 points
* Joker: -1 points
* Other point cards (A, K, Q, J): 1 point each

If a misdeal is declared, all cards are reshuffled and redealt. Even if a player's hand qualifies as a misdeal, declaring it is optional. However, once a player has participated in the bidding or has passed, they may no longer declare a misdeal.

• Special card changes
  Normally, the Mighty is the ♠A, and the Jocall is the ♣3. However, if spades are the trump suit, the Mighty changes to the ◆A. Similarly, if clubs are the trump suit, the Jocall changes to the ♠3. These adjustments prevent conflicts between the trump suit and the special cards.

The declarer takes the blind cards from the middle of the table and adds them to their hand. The declarer then selects three cards from their hand and discards them face down.

Before looking at the blind cards, the declarer may change the trump suit, but must increase the contract score by one point. If the declarer chooses to change the trump suit after looking at the blind cards, the contract score must be increased by two points.

• Switching to No-Trump (Optional rule)
  If the declarer changes the contract to no-trump, the contract score must be increased by only one point, even if the declarer has already looked at the blind cards.

After the card exchange, the contract is finalized, and the declarer selects a Friend by naming a card - not a player. The chosen card is held by another player, who will become the Friend once the card is revealed. Friends are typically designated by specific cards; common examples include a Mighty Friend or Joker Friend. Selecting a specific player directly (for example, a "You Friend") is generally not allowed.

• First Help Friend
  The declarer may choose First Help Friend. In this case, the first player who helps the declarer and wins the first trick becomes the Friend. However, if the declarer chooses First Help Friend and personally wins the first trick, the round proceeds without a Friend.

• No Friend
  If the declarer judges their hand to be strong enough, they may choose  No Friend and play the round alone.

The declarer leads by playing exactly one card from their hand. The first card played in the first trick is called the opening lead, and it is subject to the following restrictions:

• The declarer may not lead with a trump suit.

• The declarer may not lead with the Joker.

• Even if the declarer leads with ♣3(or ♠3), the special Jokercall ability cannot be used on the opening lead.

After the declarer's opening lead, the other players play one card each in clockwise order. Players must follow the lead suit if possible. However, a player may always play the Mighty or the Joker regardless of the lead suit. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card.

Other than the restrictions on the opening lead, there are no limitations on the cards played by the other players. As a result, players may perform a Kan on the first trick or discard the Joker strategically, although the Joker has no effect when played in the first trick.

The Mighty and the Joker may be played at any time, regardless of the current lead suit. If a trick is led with the Joker, the player who led declares the suit to be followed (for example, "hearts"). The other players must then follow that suit if possible.

If a trick is led with the Jocall card, the Joker may be called - except in the opening lead. The player holding the Joker must play it, and the called Joker is treated as the lowest-ranked card. As an exception, if a player holds both the Mighty and the Joker and the Joker is called by a Jocall, the player may defend the Joker by playing the Mighty instead.

• Exceptionally, a trump suit may be led as the opening lead only if the declarer's entire hand consists of trump cards.

All players play one card per trick in clockwise order and place it on the table. After all five cards are played, the trick is awarded to the player who played the highest-ranked card.

Point cards captured by the declarer are placed face down in the middle of the table together with the blind cards. Point cards captured by the defenders are placed face up in front of the player who captured them.

If a Friend captures point cards before being revealed, those cards are initially placed face up in front of that player. Until the identifying card is played, the Friend must not reveal their identity. Once the identifying card is played and the Friend is revealed, all point cards captured by the Friend are moved face down to the declarer's piles.

The round ends after all ten tricks have been played in this manner.

Scoring methods in Mighty vary by region. However, for ease of calculation, a base-10 scoring system is commonly used in offline play. This section describes only that system

If the offense meets or exceeds the contract score, the offense scores (captured points - 10).

If the offense fails to meet the contract score, the defense scores (contract score)-(captured points).

For example, if the contract score is 15 and the offense captured 17 point cards, the offense scores 17-10 = 7 points. The declarer receives 7 points from each of two defenders, and the Friend receives 7 points from the remaining defender.

If the contract score is 15 but the offense captures only 13 point cards, the defense scores 15-13 = 2 points. The declarer pays 2 points to each of two defenders, and the Friend plays 2 points to the remaining defender.

If the offense achieves a Run (capturing all 20 point cards), the offense score is doubled: (20-10)x2=20 points. In a no-trump round, the score is also doubled.

• Back-run conditions vary by region. Under the scoring system described above, a back-run occurs when (contract score)-(captured points) ≥ 10.

• Reinforced Back-run Rule: Some rule sets apply a back-run automatically if the offense loses 10-point cards to the defense, regardless of the contract score. This rule also helps discourage excessive overbidding by the declarer.

Next, I will introduce the basic strategies of Mighty.