Shuffling
Tournament Rules section 421 — 8 rules. From Riot's Tournament Rules for sanctioned events, last updated October 9, 2026.
- 421.1.
- Decks must be made random at the start of each game, and whenever an instruction from cards or tournament officials require it.
- 421.2.
- Random is defined as a state where no player could have any information about the order or position of cards in any part of the deck.
- 421.3.
- Shuffling by methodically placing cards into distinct piles (informally known as “pile shuffling”) may be used as a method to count the deck, but can’t solely be used to make a deck random.
- 421.4.
- When a deck is made random, it is presented to the player’s opponent. This signals that the player believes their deck is legal and random.
- 421.5.
- Players must notify a judge if they believe their opponents’ deck has not been made sufficiently random. See 703.7 for more information on insufficient randomization.
- 421.6.
- Players may shuffle their opponents’ decks additionally.
- 421.7.
- Players must take care not to damage cards or sleeves through this process of shuffling, nor cause cards or sleeves to become marked.
- 421.8.
- When two or more cards are recycled to the player’s Main Deck as part of a single action, the above procedures 1-7 should be followed for that group of cards to properly randomize them before recycling them.