May start with excellent cards in clubs (5)
I believe the answer is:
maces
'clubs' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'may start with excellent cards' is the wordplay.
'start with' suggests taking the first letters.
'excellent cards' becomes 'aces' (ace is a kind of card. I am not sure about the 'excellent' bit.).
The initial letter of 'may' is 'm'.
'm'+'aces'='MACES'
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for maces that I've seen before include "old-fashioned weapons" , "clubs" , "Uses defensive spray" .)