The four special cards

The Dragon

The highest card in the game. It is played only as a single — it never joins a pair, a straight or any other combination — and it beats every single, even a Phoenix sitting on an Ace. The only thing that beats it is a bomb.

It is worth +25 points, more than any other card. But it comes with a condition: if you win a trick with the Dragon, you do not keep it. You give the whole trick — Dragon, points and whatever else it holds — to one of the two opponents, whichever you choose. That is why the Dragon is usually played when the trick is poor in points, or when taking the lead is worth more than the 25.

If someone kills the Dragon with a bomb, they take the trick — and the 25 points with it. It is one of the most expensive reversals in the game.

The mistake: playing the Dragon early on a low single, just to take the lead. You give away 25 points and lose your answer to the opponent's Ace.

The Phoenix

The wild card of Tichu, with two faces.

Inside a combination it stands in for any missing card: it turns a pair into a triple, a triple into a full house, fills a straight from the middle or the ends. The one prohibition: never in a bomb. No four of a kind and no straight flush with a Phoenix.

As a single it is worth half a point more than the card it covers: on a 10 it is a 10½, on an Ace it is an Ace-and-a-half — and then only the Dragon or a bomb can beat it. It cannot be played on the Dragon. If you open a trick with the Phoenix alone, it counts as 1½.

In points it is worth −25: whichever team has it in its tricks at the end of the round loses 25. That is the price of its flexibility. Often the smartest way to use it is to drop it into a trick the opponent is going to take anyway.

The mistake: passing the Phoenix to an opponent "to get rid of the −25". You are handing them the most flexible resource in the game. Points can be recovered; the wild card cannot.

The Mah Jong

The "1" of Tichu, the lowest card. It has three roles.

• It opens the round. Whoever holds it after the passing opens the first trick — with any combination they like, not necessarily the Mah Jong itself.
• It plays as a 1. On its own it beats nothing, so it can only be played to open a trick. It does, however, fit at the bottom of a straight: 1-2-3-4-5.
• It demands a card. The moment you play it — alone or inside a straight — you may wish for a value from 2 to Ace. From then on, the first player who can legally play that value (that is, in a combination that beats the table) is obliged to do so, even if it means breaking up a bomb. The wish stays active until it is fulfilled.

In points it is worth 0.

The mistake: wishing for a value your partner holds. You force them to play a card they may have wanted to keep. Before wishing, think about who is most likely to hold it — see Mah Jong strategy.

The Dog

The simplest card and the most misunderstood. The Dog beats nothing and is beaten by nothing: it can be played only when you have the lead and the table is empty, and all it does is hand the lead to your partner. Immediately. Nobody can interfere — not even with a bomb.

If your partner has already gone out, the lead passes to the next player after them. So before you play the Dog, check who is still in the round.

In points it is worth 0.

The Dog is your partner's card: the ideal way to give them the opening when they have called Tichu or are close to going out. It is also one card fewer for you, without having to beat anyone.

The mistake: keeping it for last. If your final card is the Dog and you do not have the lead, you cannot go out — you are waiting to win a trick with… nothing. Get rid of it the first time you open a trick and have nothing better to do with the lead.