diff --git a/src/anonymize/anonymizer.rs b/src/anonymize/anonymizer.rs
index 500d206..50873ed 100644
--- a/src/anonymize/anonymizer.rs
+++ b/src/anonymize/anonymizer.rs
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ impl Anonymizer {
                             );
                         }
 
-                        return Some(
+                        Some(
                             p2regex
                                 .replace_all(
                                     p1regex
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ impl Anonymizer {
                                     &p2_anon as &str,
                                 )
                                 .to_string(),
-                        );
+                        )
                     })
                     .collect::<Vec<_>>(),
             );
diff --git a/src/directory.rs b/src/directory.rs
index 8488e51..7ecd102 100644
--- a/src/directory.rs
+++ b/src/directory.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ use crate::BattleToolsError;
 
 /// Anything that wants to parse logs should implement this
 pub trait LogParser<R> {
+    /// Optional fast path for log handling. Passes the path instead of the JSON because some
+    /// usecases don't need the entire file.
+    /// Returns None if no decision could be made (need to run LogParser::handle_log_file),
+    ///   Some(R) if a result was produced early.
+    /// Errors are funneled into None so that error handling code isn't duplicated (it will be
+    /// handled by the later handle_log_file call).
+    fn fast_handle_log_file(&self, _file_path: &Path) -> Option<R> {
+        None
+    }
     /// Parses an individual log file's JSON
     fn handle_log_file(&self, raw_json: String, file_path: &Path) -> Result<R, BattleToolsError>;
     /// Parses the results from an entire directory.
@@ -82,6 +91,9 @@ where
                         }
 
                         let path = entry.path();
+                        if let Some(res) = self.fast_handle_log_file(&path) {
+                            return Some(res);
+                        };
                         let raw_json = match fs::read_to_string(entry.path()) {
                             Ok(s) => s,
                             Err(e) => {
diff --git a/src/search/mod.rs b/src/search/mod.rs
index cf526ab..b963cab 100644
--- a/src/search/mod.rs
+++ b/src/search/mod.rs
@@ -23,6 +23,33 @@ impl BattleSearcher {
 }
 
 impl LogParser<()> for BattleSearcher {
+    fn fast_handle_log_file(&self, path: &Path) -> Option<()> {
+        use std::io::Read;
+        // We expect the p1, p2 fields to be very early in the file and to almost never match
+        // self.user_id. So, we can do a very cheap pass to reject most cases.
+        // We turn errors into None to avoid duplicating error handling, and it's fine perf-wise
+        // because these errors won't be common.
+        let mut buf = [0u8; 256];
+        let mut f = std::fs::File::open(path).ok()?;
+        f.read_exact(&mut buf).ok()?;
+        // bump ptr back until ascii
+        let end_idx = buf.iter().rposition(|b| b.is_ascii())?;
+        let file_snippet = std::str::from_utf8(&buf[..end_idx]).ok()?;
+        // Assumes minified JSON, and p1team appearing after p1, p2
+        let last_field_sep = file_snippet.rfind(",\"p1team\"")?;
+        buf[last_field_sep] = b'}';
+        let raw_json = std::str::from_utf8(&buf[..last_field_sep + 1]).ok()?;
+        // now we have valid JSON that probably contains p1, p2.
+        // Let's check 'em!
+        let p1id = to_id(gjson::get(raw_json, "p1").str());
+        let p2id = to_id(gjson::get(raw_json, "p2").str());
+        if p1id != self.user_id && p2id != self.user_id {
+            // Searched user is not a player in the battle.
+            return Some(());
+        }
+        None
+    }
+
     fn handle_log_file(&self, raw_json: String, path: &Path) -> Result<(), BattleToolsError> {
         let date = match path.parent() {
             Some(p) => p
@@ -165,4 +192,16 @@ mod unit_tests {
                 .unwrap()
         });
     }
+
+    #[bench]
+    fn bench_handle_directory_1k_absent(b: &mut Bencher) {
+        build_test_dir(1_000).unwrap();
+
+        let mut searcher = BattleSearcher::new("Nobody", false, false);
+        b.iter(|| {
+            searcher
+                .handle_directories(vec![TEST_ROOT_DIR.clone()], None)
+                .unwrap()
+        });
+    }
 }