What happens if a player draws a card that is not part of their deck?

When a player draws a card that is not part of their deck, it is identified as a game state error. In sanctioned play, the integrity of the game state is crucial, and drawing a card that doesn’t belong to a player’s deck violates the established rules of gameplay. The judge will typically need to assess the situation, determine the course of action, and remedy the error according to the rules and guidelines set forth in the Magic Tournament Rules. This might involve returning the card to wherever it should be and allowing the game to continue from that corrected state.

While there may be flexibility in casual play, in a tournament setting, proper adherence to the rules ensures fair play and consistency. Other options, such as shuffling the card back into the deck, ignoring the incident in a casual environment, or adding the card to the sideboard, do not represent how the rules dictate handling such a situation in a competitive context. The error must be addressed appropriately to maintain the integrity of the match.