Dear Judges,
Welcome to the newest edition of your favorite magazine for the busy Judge! Last month had some very interesting topics (such as sexism) and had celebrated quite a lot of anniversaries. Find out all about it, and much more in this issue.
Happy reading and see you next month,
The MJM team
New RC in German Speaking Countries
Seven years is a long time for any job, especially for a volunteer position as demanding as Regional Coordinator. Michael Wiese has stepped down as RC for the German Speaking Countries. Stefan Ladstätter has shown that he is capable and has taken over the position.
Judge Article and Blog Posts October 2016
- Articles: Do Not Pass Go, Staying L2, Staying Awesome, L2 Candidate FAQ
- Mystical Tutor: New Lessons
- Judge Conferences: Updates to Conference Support – October and New Feedback forms!
- Battlefield Forge: Tournament Report for WMCQ III PH (17 September 2016) – Head Judge Report
- GP Travel Guides: PT Honolulu 2016, GP Kuala Lumpur 2016, GP/WMC Rotterdam 2016, GP Warsaw 2016 and GP Denver 2016
- What’s Up, Docs: Team Sealed GPs specifics (Also a GP Kyoto HJ Report)
- The Feedback Loop: Feedbacklash, Taking Selfies – Part Three, Feedbag #7: Leading a Horse to Water and Scaling Feedback for New L1s
- Other blogs and streams: The Elvish Farmer, Just a Little WordPress Judge Blog, Chatter of Judges, EDBlog
In case you would like to discuss an article, visit our Judge forum. Don’t forget to regularly check our Judge blog.
Judgecast
- JudgeCast #157 – L2 IPG Tester Coordinator
- JudgeCast #158 – Work/Judge/Life/Player Balance with Nik Zitomer
Happy Anniversary! October 2016
A big round of applause for our 5, 10 and 15-year old celebrants!Featuring Inhwan Kim, Chris Richter and Thales Bittencourt.
There is also a separate page for L3 anniversaries that you simply have to visit: presenting Aaron Hamer, Giorgos (George) Trichopoulos, Jeremie Granat and Sebastian Pękala.
Judge of the Week October 2016
- 177 Facundo Barboza Level 1 from Uruguay – South America
- 178 Kir Jarchow Level 1 from Redmond, WA & San Francisco, CA
- 179 Joshua Marin Level 2 from Maplewood, Minnesota
- 180 Chase Culpon Level 2 from New York City
Name Tags
Judge name badges are officially created by Wizards only for L2 and L3 judges; new L2s are added to the list for the next production run automatically, and Regional Coordinators handle special orders (replacements, name changes, corrections, etc). They are not common in L1s, however, there are unofficial ways of getting your customized name tag. More information on the forum.
Hot Topics: “You’re fired!” and Sexism
The phrase “you’re fired” is often used in a joking manner after ending a tournament, but one must bear in mind that it might be misinterpreted. Take a quick look at this discussion which lists the pros and cons of this phrase.
Female Judges are quite often faced with non-obvious sexism at events, such as being called “sweetheart” or even getting their rulings appealed. All the experiences, solutions and suggestions are found on the forum.
Questions asked in the month of October and an [O]fficial answer, just for you!
1. Player A controls Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Plains. Player B controls Blood Moon. I know that Urborg is a basic Mountainwith no abilities, but my question is: What is the text of the Plains controlled by Player A?Answered by Nathan Long.
Answered by Toby Elliott
Eldrazi Mimic Reality Smasher Boros Charm Answered by Scott Marshall
That other thread does take the tangent of “is it Slow Play?”, but I also tried to emphasize, in that thread, this is a new and significant change; educate the players, first and foremost. My concern, from that other thread, is that some seemed to need another reason to issue penalties; this policy change isn’t intended to fuel a “witch hunt”, but instead we want players to stop wasting time with a shuffling method that doesn’t really randomize.
Answered by Scott Marshall
Answered by Scott Marshall
Guide for Beginner GP Floor Judges
Currently, Thomas Wood a Level 2 from Perth, Australia is working on a document to help outline the basics of Floor Judging a Grand Prix for judges who are experienced, but not necessarily at judging as part of a team at a Grand Prix. As this is currently under construction, all are invited to add your comments and suggestions here.
Google Calendar Updated for 2017
The calendar has been updated with all events in 2017, reflecting the following changes:
– GP Lille now in Metz
– GP Vegas (Standard) replaced with GP Vegas (Limited)
– GP Hong Kong added
Apps and Audio Files
The latest Mobile Docs Conversion update is out, now also including Kaladesh.
Some useful apps for scanning the picture of a Magic card to find the names are MTG Familiar and Delver Lens. Read about this and more within the relevant forum thread.
You can listen to recordings of the Two headed giant briefing for players and of the JAR document within the latest update of Audio Files.
Vocabulary for Polyglot Judges
One of the many cool things in the judge community is that it provides a lot of opportunities to travel abroad and the experience is so enjoyable that the desire sparks to learn foreign languages. However since we are judges, why focus on basic vocabulary for tourism and casual conversations, when we have access to this great resource, containing some vocabulary which can be used during a Magic event, along with specific terminology as well as the translations of most common words from the IPG or the CR.
Find out which Judge Conferences, Grand Prix and SCG Opens have available worldwide staffing positions! You still have time to apply for Grand Prix San Jose 2017 and Grand Prix Vancouver 2017.
Check out the Grand Prix Solicitations and Selected Staffs for more details on individual tournaments.
Public projects such as Presenters Training Team, Player Surveys, Mystical Tutor, MJM Translation, Judge Achievements, Flash Cards, Conference Guidelines and Policies and others are looking for help.
If you wish to get more out of your Judging experience and give back to the community, sign up to something that interests you!