1. A method comprising: receiving a search query for a search of an index, wherein the index has been partitioned across a plurality of nodes; in response to determining that the search query is not deterministic, performing the search within a local partition to identify a first quantity of matches for the search; in response to determining that the first quantity is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, estimating a second quantity of matches for one or more partitions other than the local partition, and selecting an execution path for optimization.