Dear Judges,
Read all about the events from our Judge community which transpired last month. A nice, light read, just perfect for summer preparations (if you’re on our hemisphere).
As always, the newest recognition wave is open and we’ll even be talking about animals on tournaments.
Enjoy and see you soon!
News in USA Northeast
Shawn Doherty has stepped down as Regional Coordinator in the USA Northeast Region. As he focuses his attention elsewhere, the region needs a worthy replacement. The job was offered to John Alderfer and he has accepted. If you see him, and if you’re attending a Grand Prix you probably will, congratulate him on his new position.Exemplar Wave 6 Open
A new wave of Exemplar recommendations is available for you to recognize your peers! There are a few changes to this wave that Bryan Prillaman discusses including the faster delivery times for foils and the reason for reducing the recommendation slots.
Judge Article and Blog Posts May 2016
- Articles: Judging in Japan (and Other Foreign GPs): A Non-English Grand Prix Guide for Judges, About recommendations, Tournament structure, The Double-Faced Article (face one), The Double-Faced Article (face two)
- Review experts: Actionable Reviews
- Bearz Repeating: Empathy and Exemplar-y, GP New York: Thursday and Friday, GP New York: Saturday and GP New York: Sunday
- Mystical Tutor: New Lessons
- Judge Conferences: Hoboken Judge Conference Report
- Battlefield Forge: SCG Philly – Sunday Sides – Team Lead, Prague Eternal (2016 #1), Some Tips on the Side – Leading Sides at the SCG Columbus Invitational and The Shadows Over Innistrad Experience – A PPTQ Report from 2016-04-17
- GP Travel Guides; GP Columbus 2016
- Judge Games: Wits & Wagers
- MTGScorekeeper: GP Charlotte 2016: Saturday (The GP)
- What’s Up, Docs: GP Tokyo Floor Judge Report and [O]fficial: Attacking, blocking and shortcuts
- The Feedback Loop: You Never Forget Your First Review, Building a Review Dashboard, Feedbag #2: Tips for New Judges, The Changeup and Leveling Up Your Verbal Feedback
In case you would like to discuss an article, visit our Judge forum. Don’t forget to regularly check our Judge blog.
Judgecast
- JudgeCast #146 – E-mails Featuring Daniels
- JudgeCast #147 – State Based Action Sanitation Workers
Happy Anniversary! May 2016
Big congratulations to the judges celebrating their anniversaries in May 2016! Featuring David de la Iglesia in Qatar, Adrian Teodorescu from Romania, Dalibor Trnka from Mexico, Ryan Dare from Australia and Richard Drijvers from Netherlands.
Judge of the Week May 2016
#159 Carlos Vega, a L2 from Venezuela
New L1 Judges and Candidates
Quite often one will hear “how can I become a Judge”? There are so many way answering this pretty simple question, as our Mark Brown explains in this highly informative summary. However, as to what qualifies one as a potential Judge candidate, it is an entirely different story (or discussion).
Emotional Support Animal on Tournaments
While service animals (such as guide dogs) are legally allowed to accompany their owner almost wherever he or she goes, it is not necessarily the case with Emotional Support Animals (ESA). Before bringing your ESA to a tournament (either as a Judge or player), make sure you speak with the TO.
Controversial Art
A common topic with no clearly defined answer, what is considered “too much” in artwork during tournaments. While there is no universal guideline, assessing the issue from multiple points of view will help. Consult the TO and keep in mind your community’s standards.
Questions asked in the month of May and an [O]fficial answer, just for you!
1. Opponent has a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. What color can my Fellwar Stone produce?Approved by: Callum Milne.
Approved by: Callum Milne.
I don’t think we have a situation where the opponent thinks they have cast Declaration in Stone – Sorcery Vs Instant definitely makes this apparent, and the fact the effects of both spells are completely different.
Just put the Secure the Wastes in the graveyard, and the Declaration in Stone back in Natasha’s hand.
Approved by: Scott Marshall.
Approved by: Scott Marshall.
HCE or GRV? How do you fix this?
a) Player tutors, and adds the card to his hand (legal)
b) Player takes a card (any card!) from his hand, and shuffles it into his library (not legal)
Point b) is a lot like “I shuffled my hand into my library”. I would rule HCE, since card went from a private zone to another private zone (we are used to seeing cards going the other way around, but technically it’s the same). Player reveals his library, opponents chooses a card that goes to player hand.
Dark petition Approved by: Scott Marshall.
Build Your Own Judge Booklet!
Judge Booklet is back in a new, configurable format with twice the useful information. The latest version is now available alongside a very useful pocket mod video in order for you to be able to tailor it to your needs!
Outside Assistance and Planeswalker Points
When there is Outside Assistance by a spectator, we need to add the player to the tournament, issue them a Match Loss, and then remove them from the tournament. In cases like these, the spectator actually receives participation points for the tournament, which might lead to awkward situations. We need to remind players that if they are deliberately committing infractions in a tournament to gain an unfair advantage, they are treading on DQ territory and a resulting investigation might ensue.
Issuing Promo cards
In case you were wondering how WMCQ promos can be distributed, we have the answer for you!
GPT Limited Formats and Number of Players
Here you can read up on what limited formats can be run during a GPT, and how this is affected by the number of players attending. For instance, If a GPT only has 8 players, it should be run as a single elimination Sealed tournament. If there are more than 8 players, the Top 8 can be a draft, or they can continue to use the sealed pools from the Swiss. The question of changing product between Swiss and Top 8 is still under discussion by Wizards’ Organized Play.
Find out which Judge Conferences, Grand Prix and SCG Opens have available worldwide staffing positions! You still have time to apply for Grand Prix Louisville and Grand Prix Santiago 2016!
Check out the Grand Prix Solicitations and Selected Staffs for more details on individual tournaments.
Public projects such as: the Articles Blog, Battlefield Forge, Card of the Week, Customer Service, Czech MTR translation, French Projects : Blog and translations and others are looking writers, editors and translators.
If you wish to get more out of your Judging experience and give back to the community, sign up to something that interests you!