EDIT: Some people are reporting shorter Memory Card writing sequences than I have experienced (1 second vs 5 seconds). It might have to do with the type of Card (1st/3rd party 59/251/1019-block, how much other data is on it, etc.). This information COULD change your routing, so feel free to experiment.

This Guide will assume that you have a working knowledge of the use of the Memory Card, how it operates in Toadstool Tour, and the ways in which it saves and loses time in various categories. If not, please peruse this Guide first: http://www.speedrun.com/mgtt/guide/h4dq2 But you may be wondering how the routes will change in light of these considerations.

"Any%" is straightforward. The use of an "Empty" Card would save approximately 35 seconds due to being able to Reset-skip 5 Award Ceremonies for about 7 seconds each. "All Tournaments" is the NG+ version of "Any%" and "All Star Tournaments" requires a "Full" Memory Card, since Star Tournaments are only unlocked after beating the six standard Tournaments. "Ring Attack" (and every NG Ring Attack category including "100% Ring Attack") and "All Character Matches" all have Save Points that don't have a cutscene worth skipping via Reset, so those should be run without a Memory Card at all. "Unlock Hidden Characters" and "100%" have combinations of other simpler categories, each with Save Points and potential Reset-skips, so their routes have to be structured to take greatest advantage of the Memory Card.

"Unlock Hidden Characters" Re-Route

0. Start with an "Empty" Memory Card and start the timer after confirming that you're writing a new Save file onto the Card.
1. Complete the Lakitu Cup with as many Birdies as possible (strive for 17 or 18) and Reset-skip during the fade-out. (-7s)
2. Complete the Cheep Cheep Tournament with as many Birdies as possible (strive for 17 or 18) and Reset-skip during the fade-out. (-7s) 3a. Play as many holes as needed, but hopefully not all 18, to obtain 50 Badges and unlock Star Boo. 3b. Take out the Memory Card once you start the following hole and go to Save/Quit. The game will ask if you want to continue without Saving. Confirm this choice, since every part of the run contains time-losing Save Points, and you want to ditch the Memory Card. (+3s?) 4-6. Unlock Bowser Jr., Shadow Mario, and Petey Piranha in any order that you see fit via Birdie Challenge, Ring Attack, and Side Games respectively.

Total Savings over no Memory Card (assuming same route): ~10s Total Savings over no Memory Card (assuming potential use of stronger character for Tournaments): ???

Q: Why not go for Bowser Jr. or Petey Piranha first to take advantage of their massive power boost? A: Bowser Jr. requires 15 extra seconds of Memory Card writing and Petey requires about 45 seconds of extra writing (5s ¤ 3 Practice types ¤ 3 difficulties, all of which have Save Points). Since the goal of the Tournaments is to acquire Badges to unlock Star Boo, you will not be utilizing Give-up strats since it would not be worth the extra time to have to start the difficult Blooper Open. The time offset by skipping two Award Ceremonies is almost identical to the extra time spent waiting for the Memory Card to save during Birdie Challenge, so you may as well just keep things simpler and not use the Memory Card at all. The only argument for unlocking Bowser Jr. early at all is to have easier Eagle opportunities to save strokes and time, since you're playing every Par 5 anyway. Similar goes for Petey, but his time losses with the Memory Card are so severe that you shouldn't bother with the Memory Card at all.

"100%" Re-Route (Version 1)

0. Start game with empty Memory Card (without MGTT save data)
1. Complete Lakitu Cup and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears (during the star-shaped fade-out).
2. Complete Cheep Cheep Tournament and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
3. Complete Sands Classic and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
4. Complete Blooper Open (unlock Star Boo) and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
5. Complete Peach's Invitational and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
6. Complete Bowser Championship and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
7. Complete Star Lakitu Cup and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
8. Complete Star Cheep Cheep Tournament and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
9. Complete Star Sands Classic and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
10. Complete Star Blooper Open and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
11. Complete Star Peach's Invitational and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.

THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET INTERESTING

12. a) Pick either of Side Games (my recommendation), Birdie Challenge (my second recommendation), or Ring Attack. b) Take out the Memory Card at any moment you have downtime (during loading transition would do nicely). At this point, you are no longer saving data to the Memory Card, since there is no Card to save to. Thus, any subsequent splits will be as if there was no Memory Card to begin with, and no time wasted, especially for Ring Attack. WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE THE CARD WHILE THE DIALOGUE BOX IS UP, SINCE THIS IS WHEN DATA IS BEING WRITTEN. c) When you come to the next Save Point (either after beating Front 9 of Birdie Challenge, Tee Shot Practice, or your first Ring Attack hole), the game will ask you if it is OK to continue without Saving. Confirm this choice, and you won't have to wait for data writing for the rest of the run. d) Complete that challenge of your choice, thus unlocking either Star Petey Piranha, Star Bowser Jr., or Star Shadow Mario respectively.

13. Beat every Character Match consecutively (this takes a while). Take a little bit of time to attempt Chip-In Eagles to minimize the number of strokes the CPU opponent takes. It may be wisest to use Star Petey Piranha for this.

14. Complete either of Side Games, Birdie Challenge, or Ring Attack to unlock another Star character.

15. Complete the last remaining of either Side Games, Birdie Challenge, or Ring Attack to unlock your final Star character.

16. Complete Star Bowser Championship (with a Star character of your choice) and end your timer on the final input after the "You unlocked the ability to turn off the Simulation Line" dialogue box.

17. Bask in your glory, for this probably took you over 5 1/2 hours, if not well over 6.

Estimated total time save (just from intelligent Memory Card usage): ~ 4 minutes

"100%" Re-Route (Version 2)

0. Start game with empty Memory Card (without MGTT save data)
1. Complete the Birdie Challenges to unlock Star Bowser Jr. to use for the Tournaments and Star Tournaments.
2. Complete Lakitu Cup and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears (during the star-shaped fade-out).
3. Complete Cheep Cheep Tournament and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
4. Complete Sands Classic and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
5. Complete Blooper Open (unlock Star Boo) and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
6. Complete Peach's Invitational and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
7. Complete Bowser Championship and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
8. Complete Star Lakitu Cup and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
9. Complete Star Cheep Cheep Tournament and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
10. Complete Star Sands Classic and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
11. Complete Star Blooper Open and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.
12. Complete Star Peach's Invitational and Reset after the Memory Card dialogue box disappears.

THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET INTERESTING

13. a) Pick either of Side Games (my recommendation) or Ring Attack. b) Take out the Memory Card at any moment you have downtime (during loading transition would do nicely). At this point, you are no longer saving data to the Memory Card, since there is no Card to save to. Thus, any subsequent splits will be as if there was no Memory Card to begin with, and no time wasted, especially for Ring Attack. WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE THE CARD WHILE THE DIALOGUE BOX IS UP, SINCE THIS IS WHEN DATA IS BEING WRITTEN. c) When you come to the next Save Point (either after beating Tee Shot Practice, or your first Ring Attack hole), the game will ask you if it is OK to continue without Saving. Confirm this choice, and you won't have to wait for data writing for the rest of the run. d) Complete that challenge of your choice, thus unlocking either Star Petey Piranha, or Star Shadow Mario respectively.

14. Beat every Character Match consecutively (this takes a while). Take a little bit of time to attempt Chip-In Eagles to minimize the number of strokes the CPU opponent takes. It may be wisest to use Star Petey Piranha for this.

15. Complete the last remaining of either Side Games or Ring Attack to unlock your final Star character.

16. Complete Star Bowser Championship (with Star character of your choice) and end your timer on the final input after the "You unlocked the ability to turn off the Simulation Line" dialogue box.

17. Bask in your glory, for this probably took you over 5 1/2 hours, if not well over 6.

Estimated total time save (just from intelligent Memory Card usage): ~ 4 minutes