diff --git a/koboldsim/cardtypes.go b/koboldsim/cardtypes.go
index e8485b9..fedc5e9 100644
--- a/koboldsim/cardtypes.go
+++ b/koboldsim/cardtypes.go
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ func (v *VerbosePolicy) fillDefaults() {
 	for len(v.Variants) <= v.lastIdx {
 		v.Variants = append(v.Variants, v.Default)
 	}
-	if v.Variants[v.lastIdx] == nil {
+	if v.lastIdx > 0 && v.Variants[v.lastIdx] == nil {
 		v.Variants[v.lastIdx] = v.Default
 	}
 }