Decklist Issue

Penalty: Game Loss

Definitions and Philosophy: A player provides an illegal decklist for tournament format, their submitted decklist does not match the deck they are playing or intend to play, or the list needs modification due to missing or necessarily replaced cards.

Decklists for certain tournaments ensure that players do not modify their decks throughout the tournament. This allows for verification and validation that the deck and all cards within it are legal for the tournament format.

Typographical mistakes and form of handwriting can vary from decklist to decklist; it is at the discretion of the Judges to discern if what is written on the submitted decklist is clear and unambiguous. If there is any concern for lack of clarity, Judges can bring up the concerns with the player who submitted the decklist and ask them to validate or correct any potential errors. Penalties should not be applied under these circumstances.

If a decklist must be modified or is altered after the start of a tournament, a Game Loss should be issued. If a performed deck check leads to the discovery of an invalid decklist (after any consideration is given to minor mistakes), the penalty issued should be given at the start of the next match.

Corrective Procedure: Judges should remove illegal cards from a decklist and deck. If a player has cards within their sideboard to make their decks (main and material) legal, they may exchange cards to restore legality. If there is a mismatch between the deck being played and the decklist, the player should modify the deck to match the submitted decklist. If a deck contains insufficient cards after any removal such that the decklist violates the minimum requirement, players may add any number of Refurbish cards to meet minimum deck size requirements.

Examples:

• A player lists “Rai Level 3” in their material deck without specifying the title. The player should be requested to clarify the name and modify the list.

• A player lists Rai, Storm Seer when their material deck includes a Rai, Mana Weaver. The player should be instructed to obtain a Rai, Storm Seer to replace the Rai, Mana Weaver. If they are unable to do so within the amount of time given, they are to be given a Match Loss as part of Tardiness.

• A player lists 5 copies of a main deck card in their decklist (they can only play 4). The player should remove any extra copies (if applicable) and edit the decklist so that the decklist remains legal.

• A player is playing Stalwart Shieldmate at four copies while their submitted decklist has four copies of Veteran Soldier listed, which are absent. They would be instructed to remove all copies of Stalwart Shieldmate and replace them with copies of Veteran Soldier. As with the second example, failure to obtain the correct cards in a timely fashion should result in a match loss.