Marked cards are a curious thing. It’s an incredibly common penalty at any event, but it’s one of the least understood. There’s a widespread belief that marked cards automatically mean a player is cheating and that anyone with marked cards in their deck is going to be disqualified from the event, both of which are miles from the truth.
As someone who’s been involved in finding marked cards, penalising marked cards and investigating cases of marked cards, it’s something I’ve spent a lot of time trying to educate people in. I’ve written this to help players understand marked card examples and penalties, as well as helping them to avoid some of the most common culprits.
What is a marked card?
A marked card is a card that can be differentiated from the rest of the desk, whether it’s from looking at the deck as a whole from any side or from it’s position on top of the library. If they’re not noticed by players themselves, they’re picked up by judges when deck checks are carried out at tournaments.
First of all it’s important to note that judges do not simply look at the backs of the cards when deck checking. We look at the whole main deck and sideboard, from all angles, as when done deliberately marking cards can be used as a way to manipulate the order of cards in the deck while shuffling.
The most common examples of marked cards include (but are absolutely not limited to):
- Differences in sleeve quality between sideboard and main deck sleeves (main deck cards are shuffled more frequently and this is often obvious when looking at the sleeves.)
- Foil cards, which tend to bend and be easy to pick out of a deck.
- Dirt or general wear or tear on sleeve backs
- Bent or split corners of sleeves.
- Cards not being pushed down fully in the sleeves and the edges therefore being noticeable from the top.
okay, my cards are marked. will i be disqualified?
Depends.
When judges encounter marked cards, the first thing we do is look at which ones are marked. We do this to try and establish if there’s a pattern to them – for example, all sideboard cards or all lands. If some of your sleeves are a split at the corners and it’s a basic land and two different creatures, the judge will likely accept that there isn’t a pattern present, issue you a Warning for marked cards, and ask you to resolve the issue by resleeving your deck. (Or replacing the offending cards, whichever applies.)
If the judge is able to easily pick out all four copies of Wrenn and Six and all four copies of Thoughtseize in your Modern deck, this will be picked up as a pattern – a playset of each card, all of which are very relevant. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be disqualified, however. Perhaps you borrowed them from a friend at the event and bought a pack of the same sleeves from the store to put them in, without realising that the batch was a slightly different shade. The head judge will investigate accordingly, asking a bunch of questions. If it’s determined to be an innocent mistake, you’ll be issued a Game Loss due to the presence of a pattern and asked to rectify through the measures mentioned above.
If, after investigating, the judge determines that the cards have been made identifiable deliberately, you will be disqualified for Unsporting Conduct – Cheating.
how can i avoid having marked cards in a tournament?
The biggest culprit for marked cards are sleeves. Unfortunately the safest way to avoid this is buying an entirely new set of sleeves for each competitive event, which isn’t always viable.
Wherever possible buy sleeves in packs of 75+ to ensure they’re throughout your whole deck, and take spares with you in your deckbox in case you damage any during the tournament. If you’re using the same sleeves across multiple tournaments, switch the sleeves in your sideboard with main deck ones regularly to ensure there’s not a disparity in quality. Check regularly to make sure the sides and corners of your sleeves aren’t noticeably worn or damaged. The most effective way to do this is the same way the judges do, by looking at your whole deck from all angles to ensure you can’t pick any cards out. Frequent offenders include “wobbling” of the plastic at the sleeve opening, white edges, and bent corners.
If you’re playing a format with double-faced cards, the safest option is to use a checklist card as these have the same backs as regular Magic cards. However, there are inner sleeves that specifically obscure DFCs so the back isn’t visible once they’re in a sleeve. If this is your preferred method, always sleeve your entire deck in the same inners – the white circle on a regular card back is visible if the sleeves aren’t fully opaque, and if all your DFC card backs are completely obscured they’ll be considered “marked” as a result.
Double sleeving cards is a common way of making sure valuable cards are protected, but make sure every card in your deck is double sleeved if you choose to do this – it changes the thickness of cards and as a result using two sleeves on some cards and not others makes them stand out during deck checks.
The unfortunate habit of foil cards to “warp” and noticeably bend can make them easy to pick out of a deck. If this is an issue with cards you own it’s recommended you use the non-foil equivalents. If there’s a card that’s only been printed in foil, such as the infamous Nexus of Fate, the head judge can issue a “proxy” to use in your deck – usually a basic land with the card mana cost and name written on it. (Note that the only person who can authorise and issue “proxies” in this manner is the head judge, and the cards must be brought to their attention before the start of the event.)
With any issue, that comes up with regards to judging, I have two mantras. The first is “always ask the head judge”. If you’re unsure if your cards or sleeves are tournament legal, the head judge will be able to advise you before the event starts.
The other golden rule is “err on the side of caution”. If you have to ask if your cards are marked, it’s probably a good idea to take action (if you can) to make sure they’re not.
The most important message, though, is that while a player with marked cards can be cheating and can be disqualified, the vast majority are not – so it’s usually unfair to decry anyone who gets a marked card penalty in an event as a cheater, particularly if the judge hasn’t disqualified them. We’re very good at determining who’s doing it deliberately and who’s made a genuine oversight.
Keep an eye on your cards, make sure your sleeves are sound and be excellent to each other. ❤
Unglued 