One easily avoidable problem that we run into all too frequently is the Deck/Decklist Problem that occurs when a player puts extra cards in his or her deckbox. People do this for a variety of reasons, such as:

• I was having trouble deciding which cards to use in my sideboard, and these are the ones I cut at the last minute.
• I use this basic land as a divider.
• My friend had borrowed some cards, and just gave them back to me at the event today.
• I bought some cards at the vendor earlier and didn’t have anywhere else to put them.

The one you never hear players admit is: “I was storing some extra cards in here so I could improve my chances of winning by functionally having a 16 or 20-card sideboard.”

Judges generally don’t enjoy giving out the Game Loss penalty associated with this infraction (at Competitive REL), because we know that for the vast majority of people who earn it, there was no ulterior motive or sinister intent. However, just imagine what would happen if we didn’t penalize this the way we do! There would be nothing to discourage the bad seeds from taking advantage of it. The infraction has to be applied consistently for it to mean anything.

So please, please, please, don’t store ANY cards in your deckbox aside from your registered deck and registered sideboard. We treat any other cards that could “conceivably be played in the deck” as part of the sideboard, which is bad news bears for you, because that won’t match your decklist. And the threshold for “conceivably” is pretty low… “Legal in the format” is often enough to qualify, although “of a color(s) that the deck could ever possibly produce” is something that can also be considered. Something we definitely DON’T take into account: “This is a strategically sound choice for a sideboard card for this deck,” because we aren’t responsible for making that analysis. This also means a basic land, even one outside your deck’s colors, could conceivably be played, and shouldn’t be used as a divider.

What to do when you have extra cards to carry but didn’t bring a bag or other safe place to store them?

• Ask a friend to hold onto them.
• Ask a judge about a safe place to store them.
• Put them in your car.
• Present your sideboard along with your deck every game of every match, and leave them outside your deckbox for the entirety of the match.

The shortlist of exceptions for this policy:

• Promotional cards given out during registration (usually GP promo cards)
• Double-faced cards that are represented by checklist cards in the deck (but they should be in different sleeves than the deck)

Today’s Tournament Tip written by Josh Stansfield