One of the most frustrating penalties you can get in a tournament is a Game Loss for Deck/Decklist Problem. Today I’m gonna give some tips on how to avoid these penalties, so you can enjoy even more the tournaments you play in.

First, let’s talk about decklists. Here are a few good practices you can adopt in order to avoid getting a Game Loss:

• Try to use full card names instead of nicknames or abbreviations. For example, if you’re playing a deck with 4 Birds of Paradise, that’s what you need to write down in your decklist, not “4 BoP.”
• Count the cards in your deck and decklist more than once before handing the list to the judges. Double checking is the best way to discover any mistake you made when registering the cards.
• Avoid last minute changes to your list! I know that scouting might be very important when determining your sideboard cards, but if you’re going to do this, make sure you don’t make a mistake.

You also need to be really careful with your deck when you’re playing. Here’s a list of what you should be doing:

• Get used to de-sideboarding before game one of each match, so you don’t present an illegal deck to your opponent. It’s super easy and it doesn’t take too much time. You should also count the cards in your deck and sideboard; pile counting before randomizing your deck is more than enough.
• Keep your sideboard clearly separated from the rest of your deck during games.
• Avoid keeping other cards in your deckbox, even if you are not going to use them. The deckcheck team will have a nice talk with you if you have any extra cards there.

And that’s it! These few tips will improve your tournament experience considerably. Happy gaming!

Today’s Tournament Tip written by
Jorge Pinto, Level 1 judge from Santiago, Chile