E · Optimization & Practice · §19
Match Checklist Nine groups of questions to run before and during a match, from role assignment through to the sideboard sanity check.
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Am I the combo deck, the stabilizer, or the fair attrition deck this game? Who benefits if the game lasts three more turns? Are they overboarded against my graveyard? Opening sequence
What are my first three land drops? Which colours have to stay available? Is a surveil land worth the tempo this turn? Do I need basics before a Blood Moon turn? Graveyard
How does the target actually get into the graveyard? Can I compress the discard and Goryo into one priority window? What graveyard interaction is being represented right now? Can Consign answer the trigger that matters? Is Spider-Man the better graveyard play here? Goryo
Can I wait until their end step? What is my target, and why that one? Do I have Ephemerate or Consign to follow up? What happens if they remove the target in response? Am I about to cast this in their second main by mistake? Pitch cards
Is Force actually functional, or only technically castable? Is Solitude actually functional? What does my hand look like after the pitch? Am I pitching the one card that makes the combo work? Atraxa or Griselbrand
Do I need stability or maximum cards? Can my life total support an activation? Do they have removal for it? Is Ephemerate part of this line? How many Atraxa card types are still in the library? Clarion
Have I already taken every Frog activation I need? Do I still need Griselbrand’s ability? Does Clarion stop more of their deck than mine? Wrath
What mana value actually has to die? Can I keep Clarion or Riddler above the threshold? Would X=0 or X=1 do the job? Should I bank the rest of the energy? Sideboarding
Did I keep a coherent Goryo plan? Did I add too many reactive cards? Is my fair threat density still enough? Is Force better on the play or on the draw here? Does their exact version justify Clarion, Surgical or Dispute? From the guide . §19 Match Checklist
Nine groups, in the order they come up. The role questions belong before the first land drop. The Goryo group belongs before every cast, not once per game. The sideboard group belongs after you have built the post-board deck and before you shuffle it.
Pilot note If only one group survives time pressure, make it the pitch group. A hand that pitched its own functional card loses games that were never close afterwards.