An easy method for midround checks, that eliminates the risk of changing how the player sideboarded.

Feedback, ideas, and questions are welcome!

Many thanks to Kevin Desprez and the AU/NZ judge community for edits and proofreading.

Hello
Thanks for your sharing of the new DC methods.
Actually, I am not very familiar with midround DC because I only do that once in WMCQ (I am just a rookie judge). And a senior judge told me don't spend too much time on midround DC which is different from pre-round DC, we just check the sleeves, randomization of decks but not sorting all of the deck then check with the decklist. Because we don't want to extend the match time too much.
I agree “Lanes” method is an innovative method for midround DC but it seems still take little time. Could you give me more advise about midround DC?
Thank you very much.

What are the benefits of this method over something like the Polish method?

I've been using a variation of this method for deck checking post-sideboard games for as long as I can remember, and I highly recommend it. As a more inexperienced judge, before I had an established method for deck checks, I made a mistake and messed up how a player sideboarded. I changed to this method on my own, and teach it to judges that I mentor on deck checks.

I have tried other methods, such as the Polish method, and I find myself having faster speed and more accuracy with a method similar to the “lanes” method. Of course, to each their own.

The recommendation to start with the sideboard is an excellent one and I'd
highly recommend that as the starting point for deckchecks regardless of
whether one uses the traditional methods, the Lane method, or some other
system (personally, I've had a lot of success with the Polish method).
Somehow, it had never occurred to me to start there, but in retrospect it
would solve or shorten a lot of issues that commonly come up. If nothing
else, that recommendation should be widely adopted. Thanks for pointing it
out!

Originally posted by Che Wei Sung:

Hello
Could you give me more advise about midround DC?

What kind of advice would you like?
I've found with a little practice this method is just as fast as a start of round check.

Gareth Tanner
What are the benefits of this method over something like the Polish method?

Vs the Polish method:
- You don't have to mark the decklist
- It's easy to quickly check the sideboard at the start, which is where you'll find the most errors
- You're searching for cards in the order they're listed on the decklist, going through your already sorted piles, which is faster than flipping over random cards and having to find them on the decklist. We're trying to match two sorted things, instead of match a sorted thing to a random pile of cards, which I personally find more methodical.
- I think I'm more likely to make an error matching up marks I've made on the decklist at the end than to make an error with this method

But hey, as with many judge procedures, do the one that you find works fastest and most accurately for you, whichever it is :D


@Justin Miyashiro - I'm glad you found the tip useful, a few people have mentioned that specifically so I'm glad I shared it.
To me it was another example of why it's so important for us to talk about judging across continents, and outside our own regions, as this was something that I assumed was much more widespread.