Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Marked cards

T

the real crobat kid!

New Member
What are ways players mark cards? A judge told me today that since 6 of 13 of my energie's were non holo (the rest of my deck is holo'd out] they could be counted as marked. There is no way for me to tell if they are energy prior to actually adding them to my had/ seeing that it is indeed an energy.
 
Put a mixture of energy cards and other cards from your deck face down.
Notice if some of them have a "bend" to them and others do not.
Turn over one of the non-bendy cards.
Is it an energy card?
If so, your deck is marked.
 
I did the test and I got it wrong 4/5 tries. I used a flat table and the cards i used were my ace spec, a FA N, RH kyuem, a rev Hypno toxic laser, a rev plasma energy and the reg energy. None of the cards in my deck are bent.
 
You might want to have an experience judge check them for you, just to be sure.
 
I read your thread in Ask The Rules Team; it's very likely that whoever brought this up to you was being - uh - let's say oversensitive.

I live in a very humid area (not as bad as Florida - it's a bit legendary there) where foil cards left unprotected, and sometimes even in sleeves or binders, will naturally curve over time. This means when you play them, some believe that the curvature makes it easier for them to get "cut into", and will create a gap in your deck that you can see so you can tell where the cards are.

I've personally never had a serious problem with this and can tell you from experience that you can usually straighten these curved cards by leaving them in a heavy book overnight, if you're worried about it. Most likely, you're fine.
 
It's Prizes that make this an issue.

If you can tell what a card is in your Prizes because it is more curved than the rest (maybe by tapping it and feeling how 'springy' it is) you have a marked card situation. It doesn't have to be an important card - the fact that you know where there are two Energy in your Prizes gives you a significant advantage when it comes to choosing which Prizes to take.

Obviously some people are better at spotting this than others, but that's not relevant. The judge can't possibly know how good you are at it. So if they think there is a chance of cards being marked, they will ask you to replace them. I think they are right to be cautious.

Remember that this is up to the head judge at any event, so just because one judge thinks your cards are ok, doesn't mean a different judge at another tournament will allow it.

Personally, I think it's better to try and avoid the issue as much as possible. Don't have just one type of card as non holo.
 
Good tip is dont stare at your prizes like you're looking for a clue or a mark.

Just pick one and play. There isn't strategy to it.
 
Phadrex said:
Good tip is dont stare at your prizes like you're looking for a clue or a mark.

Just pick one and play. There isn't strategy to it.
Click to expand...

Irrelevant really.

If your cards are marked you will get a penalty whether you stare at them or not. If the aren't marked, you can look at them all you want.

Good tip: don't play with marked cards.
 
I sent you a PM about this before seeing you had a thread; if you favor blinging (...I remember when that term was fashionable XD) out your deck, investing in some Holo basic Energy cards would be wise.
 
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