Hey guys, I have a situation that presented itself with the State Championship I played in over the weekend. It's quite a specific situation, but I'm still curious about how (or even if) it would be handled by the judges. Let me go ahead and emphasize that I did not do what I'm about to explain. I can, however, see where others might. With that said, let me go ahead and explain.
I decided to play Durant for this tournament. Since I haven't playtested much lately and I don't have many cards from the Next Destinies set, I left Prism Energy out of my deck. I realized my mistake only after turning in my decklist. I then went on to play 7 rounds in the swiss, 5 of them against Zekrom/Eels. I still made the top cut, but I realized how important Prism Energy would have been for this matchup (Rotom can use it to KO a damaged Zekrom).
What I could have done before top cut is simple. By tossing out a card like Pokemon Catcher before turning my deck over to the judges, I would have been forced to replace it with a Basic Energy (after the deck check showed me having only 59 cards). The obvious choice is a Lightning Energy to help my Rotom beat up on some Zekroms. Here's the ruling reference below (found in the Penalty Guidelines):
The importance of that Basic Energy as a replacement is the real issue here. I can go from losing terribly to an easy win with a card that should have never been in my deck to begin with. I know this is a very specific scenario, but I can imagine other cases where this might happen.
So the question is: is this legal? How should it be handled? Etc. etc!?
I decided to play Durant for this tournament. Since I haven't playtested much lately and I don't have many cards from the Next Destinies set, I left Prism Energy out of my deck. I realized my mistake only after turning in my decklist. I then went on to play 7 rounds in the swiss, 5 of them against Zekrom/Eels. I still made the top cut, but I realized how important Prism Energy would have been for this matchup (Rotom can use it to KO a damaged Zekrom).
What I could have done before top cut is simple. By tossing out a card like Pokemon Catcher before turning my deck over to the judges, I would have been forced to replace it with a Basic Energy (after the deck check showed me having only 59 cards). The obvious choice is a Lightning Energy to help my Rotom beat up on some Zekroms. Here's the ruling reference below (found in the Penalty Guidelines):
7.3.2. Legal Decklist, Illegal Deck
If a player’s decklist meets the format restrictions and deck construction rules but the deck does not, the illegal cards must be removed from the deck, and the deck must be modified to match the decklist. The Head Judge should carefully consider what advantage, if any, was gained by the illegal deck. If the Head Judge feels that there was a significant advantage, elevating the penalty to a Game Loss may be necessary.
The exception to this is if cards are simply missing from the deck. This usually happens if the player and a previous opponent are using similar sleeves, if cards get stuck in the player’s deck box, or if cards are dropped on the floor. If the card is found, or the player can provide an identical card to replace the missing one, the player should be allowed to continue the event without further modifying the deck or the decklist. If the card cannot be found and the player cannot provide an identical card, the missing card should be replaced with a basic Energy card of the player’s choice, and the decklist should be modified to reflect the new contents of the deck. Either way, the penalty should still be issued.
The importance of that Basic Energy as a replacement is the real issue here. I can go from losing terribly to an easy win with a card that should have never been in my deck to begin with. I know this is a very specific scenario, but I can imagine other cases where this might happen.
So the question is: is this legal? How should it be handled? Etc. etc!?