Official match FAQ?
 

Just trying to find out if there are any restrictions or requirements for decks in official settings. e.g., does the place hosting a match get to tune the deck to their liking? Can/do official matches impose house rules?

Or basically I guess I need a FAQ for hosting official matches.

Re: Official match FAQ?
 

Um, there's not really any "deck tuning" in Munchkin. Everyone plays off of the same deck anyway, so there's not much point in it.

Re: Official match FAQ?
 

There is an official set of tournament rules that you can download for free from e23.

Re: Official match FAQ?
 

What RevBob said is correct, however it is also true whoever is hosting the game (or at least providing the deck for the game) might have (some) different cards in the deck depending not only on what sets they're using but also what promo cards they have mixed into the deck. This could also potentially change the official rules that the game is played with.

For example, if you ever play in a demo or tournament hosted by myself and we're playing with the classic Munchkin deck, you'll hear me warn all the players that we use a rare (but official) rule that does not get used in any other game of Munchkin. That is "If you kick open a door and get an Item card -Meaning it has a gold piece value- you have actually found it in front of the door, pick it up, put it in you hand or into play, and then kick open the door again." This is because my deck has the 3.5 misprint mixed in which has treasure cards with door backs. Because this rule is in effect for all Items with door backs, it means that things like Steeds are included in that, even though they would not normally get played that way if we were using a different deck.

There's also the possibility that a game is using the original printings of Munchkin including the Kneepads Of Allure, or the recent printings which has dropped that card. Or what promo cards have been mixed in like Rocks Fall or many others that can (if they're played) have an impact on the game. But as RevBob said, because everyone plays with the same deck, the odds are equal for all players.

Also, there are some official events that do use 'house rules' for various reasons. For example several MIBs run Charity Munchkin Tournaments using some variant rules. See this thread, first post, last paragraph, for one set of rules.

Re: Official match FAQ?
 

And many people using an older deck of Munchkin take out the Kneepads of Allure because . . . well, because they suck. :)

But in general, there aren't any huge changes to tournaments and the only "deck tweaking" (barring something odd, like adding the Clerical Errata, as mentioned) will consist of deciding which set and expansions (if any) to play with, and then which promo cards (if any) to throw into the mix.

For example, the last SE Regional tourney final was played with a set of all classic Munchkin, no Kneepads, all expansions (including Dice) and either one or two of almost every promotional card.

Re: Official match FAQ?
 

That's more or less what I was wondering, since I figured it improbable that all tournaments used the exact same deck what with all of the promos and expansions available, but I thought maybe there was an official tournament deck. So I started to wonder if you could actually run an official (local) tournament with a tuned deck (re: tuned to remove unpopular/confusing cards, to handpick all the cards in the deck, speed up, or slow down play, for examples). I'll look at the rules later, but I can't DL the PDF right now.

Thanks for the answers.

Re: Official match FAQ?
 

Well, the term "official tournament" is a little...mushy...at the local level.

One thing I have done along the lines you mention is divide a set of Munchkin 1-5 plus 7 in half, taking out a few of the confusing cards in the bargain. That left me with two balanced decks that simultaneously are of manageable size and give all the flavor of all five sets. Each deck also winds up about the size of a regular "base plus expansion" set, which is the targeted deck size for Munchkin 6, WFS, and FD.

Thus, I can take whichever half has Santa in it, shuffle in the portals, Dice cards, and WFS/FD cards, and I have an easy-to-manage deck with the flavor of all the expansions. Given a duplicate set of M6 and Dice, and a blank Door card to proxy the SGF card from FD, both decks could even be kept mixed permanently.

I keep thinking about writing up the division lists, but I never seem to have the time. :) There is a trick to it, as you want to make sure you don't split up certain sets of cards. For instance, you want the Jabberwock and the Vorpal Sword in the same deck, and Sword of Slaying Everything Except Squid and Squidzilla would go in the other deck.

Re: Official match FAQ?
 

I really like this deck split idea. Do you still do this? Have you encountered any other issues? I began to sort out my 1-6 deck last night to give it a shot and any more tips would be appreciated!

Re: Official match FAQ?
 

I absolutely still do this. In addition to my ten Regular Sets, I have nine cut-down decks. One of those is a fantasy Munchkin base set plus Dungeons and the boosters, two are a full fantasy Munchkin set split in half, and the other six are half-and-half blended decks:

Star/Fu, Booty/Fu, Star/Booty
Super/Bites, Super/Cthulhu, Cthulhu/Bites

In each case, as you can tell, I'm taking a second copy of each set (usually my old cards updated with GUAL), splitting it in half as closely as possible, combining those halves, and using the remaining cards that don't split easily to plug holes and compensate. For instance, when adding CWBH to my split fantasy decks, one set got Chimera and the other got Super Duper Munchkin: separate but balanced. Suppose (without my lists handy; roll with me here) the Star, Booty, and Fu sets each had an odd number of Super Munchkin cards - I'd have three leftover Super Munchkin cards (one from each), and I'd add one to each of the three decks. Little tricks like that go a long way, and at the other end of the scale, "simple" GUAL cards take no thought at all. Separate 'em, deal into two stacks, and they're divided. Finally, where there are boosters, I usually add a full booster to each half rather than splitting the boosters.

One of these days, if the Czar gives me clearance, I'd like to write this up as a full-fledged article and link to actual deck lists. However, a necessary part of such an article would be a delicate balance between explaining certain splits in detail, assuming the reader can intuitively follow the easier splits without needing to have them explained in detail, and minimizing the level of copyright-protected detail given about specific cards. Considering how much of a niche market deck-splitting serves, though, obviously salable products must come first.