How to fill out an MTG deck registration sheet

A deck registration sheet is the one piece of paperwork a Constructed tournament asks of you. The Magic Tournament Rules require one at every Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level event (RCQs, Store Championships run at Competitive REL, MagicCon events); at Regular REL, such as most Friday Night Magic, the head judge decides, and many stores ask for one when prizes are on the line. Once collected, it is checked more carefully than most players expect: the scorekeeper counts it, a judge compares it to your deck during a deck check, and any difference between the two is your problem, not the organizer's. The sheet itself is simple. This guide walks through the official one-page form from top to bottom, then covers the rules judges apply and the specifics for 100-card decks.

1. Player fields

Write your first name and last name the way they appear in your Wizards account or the event's registration system, so the scorekeeper can match the sheet to your pairing. The small box labelled first letter of last name is for filing: staff sort hundreds of sheets alphabetically, and that letter is what they sort by. Print it large and clear.

The current official sheet has no DCI number field. If your organizer hands out player numbers, write yours next to your name.

2. Event fields

Event is the tournament name as the organizer announces it ("Store Championship", "RCQ Modern", "Friday Night Magic"). Date and Location are there so a sheet that gets separated from its stack can be put back. Deck name is optional; most players write the archetype ("Boros Energy", "Dimir Midrange"), which helps a judge sanity-check the list. Deck designer is for crediting whoever built the list and can be left blank.

3. Main deck

The main deck section has 42 numbered lines, each with a quantity column on the left and a card name column on the right. Use one line per distinct card, never one line per copy: "4 Lightning Bolt" is one line. Three things matter here:

• Full English card names. The Magic Tournament Rules call for the English name, even at events held in other languages, and the complete name is the only entry that is never questioned. A head judge may accept an abbreviation that is obviously unambiguous (the Infraction Procedure Guide allows a truncated character name when only one such card is legal in the format), but "Jace" in a format with several is a Decklist Problem waiting to happen; "Teferi, Hero of Dominaria" is safe. Split cards are written with both halves ("Fire // Ice"); double-faced cards are listed by their front face ("Delver of Secrets").
• Legible quantities. A 1 that looks like a 7, or a 4 that could be a 9, becomes a judge's guess during a deck check. If you write by hand, keep numerals plain.
• Order helps. Nothing requires an order, but grouping by type with lands last makes the count easy to verify, for you and for the judge. Decklist.gg can sort by type, mana value or color before it fills the sheet.

A deck with more than 42 distinct cards does not fit on one page. Either continue on a second copy of the sheet marked "page 2" with your name on it, or let Decklist.gg generate the pages, which labels page 1 "Continued on page 2" and keeps the running total correct.

4. Sideboard

The 15 sideboard lines work the same way. In most Constructed formats the sideboard holds up to 15 cards; it can also be empty, in which case leave the section blank and write 0 in the total. Formats without a sideboard (Commander and its variants, Gladiator) leave the whole section empty. In formats that have a sideboard, a companion is registered in the sideboard like any other card. In the commander-style formats (Commander, Brawl, Standard Brawl and the rest) the sheet's sideboard section is blanked, so if your event allows a companion, write it into that empty section by hand after downloading, with the word "Companion" next to it.

Write exactly what is in your sideboard box at the start of round one. Sideboard mistakes are the most common decklist problem because the box changes most during testing.

5. Totals

The main deck total and sideboard total boxes are what the scorekeeper checks first. Add the quantity column, not the number of lines. Then count the physical deck against the sheet one more time, ideally after shuffling it into type groups so a missing land is obvious. Constructed decks need at least 60 cards in the main deck; there is no maximum, but every card above 60 must appear on the sheet.

What judges check

• The count: at least 60 main deck and at most 15 sideboard, and the totals match the lines.
• Copy limits: no more than four of any card other than basic lands across main deck and sideboard combined, one copy of restricted cards in Vintage, and whatever a card's own text allows ("A deck can have any number of cards named...").
• Legality: every card is legal in the event's format, nothing banned, nothing from a set that is not yet legal.
• Identifiability: every name resolves to exactly one card.
• The deck matches: during a deck check, the cards in your deck box are counted against the sheet, including the sideboard.

Decklist.gg runs part of this as you type, against the Spellbinder card database: the count per section, copy limits, each card's legality status in the format, and whether the name resolves to a card. It does not check Commander color identity or whether a card is allowed to be your commander, and the deck check itself is still yours.

Common mistakes

• Registering 59 cards, or a total that does not match the deck in the box, after a last-minute swap. Count the quantity column again after any change.
• Writing the sideboard you tested last week rather than the one in the box.
• Nicknames and abbreviations: "Bolt", "Goyf", "Jace".
• Four copies in the main deck plus one in the sideboard: five total is illegal.
• A card from a set that releases the following week, or a card that was banned in the last announcement.
• Forgetting the companion, or listing it in the main deck instead of the sideboard.
• Leaving the totals blank, or writing the number of lines.
• Handing in a second page without your name on it, so it cannot be matched to page 1.

Commander and other 100-card decks

Commander events use the same sheet, with three differences. The commander (or both partners, or the background pairing) is listed first, at the top of the main deck, so the judge sees the identity of the deck immediately. There is no sideboard, so that section stays empty. And the list almost always runs to two pages, because a 100-card singleton deck has close to 100 distinct names and page 1 holds 42. Number the pages, put your name on each, and make the main deck total 100 including the command zone. Oathbreaker lists the oathbreaker and signature spell first the same way, with 60 cards total.

Decklist.gg handles the layout when the format is set to Commander or one of its variants: commanders print on the first lines, the sideboard section is left blank, and extra pages are added and labelled automatically. A Commander companion is the one thing it does not print, because the sheet's sideboard section is blanked for these formats: write it in by hand in the PDF after downloading, labelled "Companion".

Handing it in

Bring the sheet to player registration or the scorekeeper before the posted deadline, usually the start of round one. If you notice an error afterwards, tell a judge anyway. An accepted list cannot be changed and a Decklist Problem carries the same penalty whether you or a deck check finds it, but reporting it means the corrected list is settled before round one rather than mid-tournament. Keep a photo or the Decklist.gg share link of what you registered, so you can prove the list if a question comes up during the day.

Make your sheet

• Standard deck registration sheetMake a Standard sheet with legality checked.
• Modern deck registration sheetMake a Modern sheet with legality checked.
• Commander deck registration sheetTwo pages, commander first, no sideboard.
• From a Moxfield deckBring a Moxfield list over without retyping it.
• All formatsWhat the sheet is and every format page.
• Blank registration sheet (PDF)The official one-page form, unfilled.