We also have the printed count of the sideboard as 17, which is clearly
another error. And aside from the extra Rakdos Shred-Freak, I don't see how
writing the list in that format fits any known penalty. It sounds like one
of Uncle Scott's “Please don't do this again” talks is in order, along with
a suggestion to place a rule in the MTR clarifying how a decklist should be
written and maybe an IPG entry for TE-Failure to Follow MTR Instructions
(assuming a clear enough penalty entry could be written).

Not every incorrect thing that a player will do requires a specific rule in the MTR or a corresponding example in the IPG because we don't want those documents to become too long.

Without reading the other replies and being biased by them, I would give them a Game Loss for Deck Decklist Error for having a 58 card deck, as is clearly stated in the Total column in addition to the number of cards adding up to that number.

In addition I would educate the player about the purpose of decklists and show them how to fill one out properly so that we can quickly understand a decklist when we come across it. I would fix the decklist by amending the 2 missing cards or by allowing the player to add two swamps, depending on what exactly the error that caused a 58 card decklist was.

Edit - after reading everything over and recounting it several time I finally counted 60 after counting 58 three times, I hadn't actually noticed the 5/3 error initially, but even if I had got 60 I would find the player when I had some downtime and explain to them not to fill them out like this.

Edited Matthew Turnbull (Feb. 27, 2014 04:59:57 PM)

It's important to verify the total yourself. The total column is not guaranteed to be correct, and we don't take the total column as the definitive answer. After all, then we'd just have to believe everyone who wrote 60/15 :)

Originally posted by Jeffrey Higgins:

The following decklist was submitted at an event and created some healthy discussion.

http://imgur.com/x7FlUYP

Would you take any actions (penalty/talk to player) and if so, why?

I'll post the outcome I came to at some point; I'm very curious about other points of view.

So, Jeffrey, what was the outcome you came to? I'd love to hear what the player said when you asked him or her about it.

So I actually never spotted the fifth Rakdos Shred-Freak when I looked at the list first.

I verified 60 cards counting the list.

I issued a USC-Minor to the player. I explained that a decklist written like that is disruptive to tournament operations and that behavior like that isn't acceptable. After I spoke with them I did a deck check and verified their deck was legal (I did assume the written list was legal).

In hindsight I should have made the player re-write their decklist. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

Did you figure out why he registered like this?