Greetings Judges! This week’s Judge of the Week is Ben McDole, L3 from Florida!

Ben was nominated by Raven Fox, L2 from North Carolina. Raven had the following to say about Ben:

“He is constantly trying to advance the knowledge of the community and grow the community with his thought provoking questions and philosophy challenging situations. He is the main moderator of a Facebook group dedicated to delivering multiple daily questions varying in degree of challenge. I know that through this group many judges have been made and have leveled up.”

Ben has been judging for over five years. In his own words, he “durdled about for a bit” and reached L2 in 2009. During Pro Tour Philadelphia in 2011, he was able to obtain his current L3 status. Ben’s reasoning in becoming a judge sparked from there not being a judge within a four hour drive of his then home area of Cape Coral, Florida.

Occupation: Math Professor

Favourite card: Karn Liberated (we call him the trophy case)

Least favourite card: Daze, it has to be Daze.

Favourite format: Legacy!

Commander general: Progenitus

Favourite non-Magic Game: Easily liar’s dice (Thank you David de la Iglesia for teaching me how to play!)

Best tournament result: I’ve won some random small stuff, top 4’ed the Legacy open in Orlando.

Random fact about yourself: I draft at least 2 times a week, and only own a MTGO account because of the MOJO and Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Avatar.

What is your favourite judge story?
My favorite judge story would have to be at the Future Sight pre-release. I was one of the judges who responded to a call where a player had a Glare of Subdual on the stack. Glare of Subdual is such a good card! However, it’s not in Future Sight, and not even in that block. The player, when questioned, admitted that they had cast Glittering Wish and selected the Glare. Now of course that’s not legal! Even better, the player had cast the Glittering Wish, then went to the vendor and purchased the Glare!

What is an embarrassing story that you’re not afraid of everyone knowing?
Fortunately I have a fresh story for this occasion. At GP Charleston, a short time ago I was unfortunate enough to set my bag on a light outside of the venue. Chatting with another judge or two, I only eventually realized that my bag was on fire on the bottom! I burned my hand (but just a little). And my soap popped in the bag, deodorant melted, and my clothes smelled a little bit like a wood fire. Fortunately the laundry in the hotel was open late!

How has being a judge influenced your non-Magic life?
Well, it’s certainly taught me a thing or two about how to politic! A big part of being a judge is helping groups of people to organize, get along better, and come together as a team, and I can say that it’s helped my work life. When I lead projects and committees things have come more naturally from team leading at big events. In addition, the education things I do make me question my own teaching styles, philosophies, and techniques, which is great for classroom evaluation.

You were nominated by Raven Fox because constantly trying to advance the knowledge of the community and grow the community with his thought provoking questions and philosophy challenging situations. What has been the driving factor behind your focus on the educational advancement of the community and how did it start?
Well, to be quite honest in Florida we were in a bit of a slump and I wanted to break us out of that. I solicited some information from people I considered mentors, Evan Blake, Sheldon Menery, and also got some fantastic advice from John Carter. They really showed me how to have an infectious spirit for judging, and I just tried to tailor that to our community. I was also fortunate in that many of the initial judges we worked with were VERY driven to learn and improve. It really made education a natural route for me to take, and I’m so grateful that things have turned out the way they have.

What motivates you to continue being a judge?
At this point, I want to leave the program a better place than when I found it. I also love the relationships with other judges. At every event I make it my personal goal to teach someone something new and to learn something new from everyone I meet. It took me a long time to learn that things don’t just have to be about policy, rules, and philosophy, but communities are just as valuable to learn about. I also love working with the players and hearing how I can improve the events for them.

What’s the best part about your local Magic community?
Easily the camaraderie. It’s great to watch a group of people (who are very good at delivering critical feedback) rally around one another. There’s a genuine feeling of wanting to help one another get better. Sometimes the methods for improvement may seem odd, but the community dynamic is very healthy and something I enjoy being a part of.

What is your favourite non-judging moment that happened with other judges?
I think I have to go with judge dinner in Nashville. The details are a bit hazy, but there was an impromptu haiku contest dedicated to Aaron Stickney and not one but two entire tables full of judges (probably roughly 25 people). Great times were had and the poems were a rousing success.

What’s the biggest rule-breaking play you’ve ever made as a player?
I would have to say… at my first pre-release I played with the promo card. I didn’t know we weren’t allowed to use it, so I figured it would be OK! How was I to know that we couldn’t use that awesome foil? Even worse I managed to convince my opponent it was legal and he added it to his deck as well for game 2. We both played such an illegal match, but had a blast doing it!

If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
I would have to go with whoever wrote the Voynich Manuscript. It’s crazy and frustrating and probably fake all at once!

What would you be doing now if Magic no longer existed?
I like to think I would do something more productive, but we all know that’s not true. I would probably spend my time playing other games instead, though I’m certain I wouldn’t be having quite as much fun.

What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?
I’m going to have to go with Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit. First off, it’s got my name right there in the title. Secondly, he’s got a squid on his head. Maybe it’s an octopus, I’m no marine biologist so you’ll have to forgive me on that one.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Nah, thank you to Raven for the selection, it’s an honor!

Two Truths and a Lie
Two of the following statements is true, and one is false. Figure out which!

1. I own a mini Doberman Pinscher.
2. I have over 500 foil copies of Chosen of Markov.
3. I carry a foil Koren Silver-Inlaid Dagger on me at all times.