So, under the recent change to the IPG, if a player has left cards outside of their main deck and presented their library, we can just shuffle those discovered cards into the library, issue a Warning and move on, as opposed to the original Game Loss.

So, my question is, if this player's opponent had looked at the player's library (with a Surgical Extraction for example) at some point during the game, before this penalty/fix occurred, would they be able to see the cards being shuffled in? My instinct says that they SHOULD be allowed to, but the policy wouldn't currently support this?

Policy doesn't specifically address this (rather odd) case, but I'm happy to share my ‘O’pinion, in lieu of an ‘O’fficial answer.

I would not show those cards to the opponent, because they had the opportunity to discover the error when the deck was presented for shuffling. (In fact, if they counted at that time, it would be a Game Loss!) Since the opponent allowed the error to persist, even through the resolution of their search-the-library spell, I wouldn't show them the cards once they're discovered.

That's just my take on it, though…

d:^D

May I add an additional wrinkle to this question? I am curious how it would be resolved.

So after sideboarding, player AA has a 59 card deck. During the game player BB casts Surgical Extraction, targeting Griselbrand. There are only 3 Griselbrand in AA's deck, the 4th being exiled in game 1 and separated from the deck. BB finishes resolving Surgical (He moves it from center of the table to graveyard), then comments that AA must have sided out the 4th Griselbrand, at which point AA calls a judge.

Assuming no DQ shenanigans, Does BB get the option to remove the 4th Griselbrand from the game, do we leave it exiled, or does it get shuffled in?

Edited Michael Bauman (April 11, 2017 12:00:00 AM)

It's possible to add wrinkles to hypothetical scenarios to make them more more and more difficult to find a satisfying solution. But at some point, it's necessary to realise that these scenarios become so specific that discussing them doesn't provide guidance to the program.
If you encounter something significant and exceptional where applying the policies would lead to an abnormal result, your HJ (which can be yourself!) has been tested and empowered to deviate.

Please only provide hypothetical scenarios on this group if:
1) They are likely to happen and need global education, or
2) They are a perfect example of a policy that will then be applied to a a lot of similar scenarios.

And keep the other scenarios for discussion with your local rules enthusiast judges.

- Emilien