Greetings Judges! This week’s Judge of the Week is Bryan Spellman L2 from Centennial, Colorado, USA!  Bryan achieved Level 1 on May 27th, 2012, after failing to day two GP Anaheim.  He recently reached Level 2 on November 29th, 2012 in Uncle Scott’s basement.

Bryan was nominated by Riki Hayashi, regional coordinator of the USA-Northwest and L3 Judge!  Riki said that Bryan “impressed a lot of people as a new L2!”  Lets see how!

Occupation: Technical Analyst, Sr (I’m still trying to figure out exactly what that means myself). I work with a 3D Cad software called Catia, helping with training, installation, maintenance, automation, etc. I’m currently studying for my PMP certification.
Favourite card: Phyrexian Obliterator. I’m a Johnny/Spike or Spike/Johnny. My first rogue deck that actually showed decent results was a 4 color UB Obliterator Prey Upon deck back in the days of Titans. I called it “Oblituary”
Least favourite card: Open the Vaults. When I was first getting into Magic, I remember glazing over while my FNM opponent did a bunch of *stuff* with Artifacts, Time Sieve, and Open the Vaults. It was the first deck I “hated” to play against.
Favourite format: Limited. Specifically, 8-man drafts.
Commander general: My first was Oona, Queen of the Fae. My current is Scion of the Ur-Dragon. My next is Kaalia of the Vast (thanks to a recently acquired Ravages of War)
Favourite non-Magic Game: There are other games? I am not into video games anymore. I still enjoy a good game of Hearts or Spades. My final answer is Texas Hold’em.
Best tournament result: Winning a GPT. I need to start playing in more PTQs and GPs.
Random fact about yourself: I DJ for a dance venue in Downtown Denver about once every month or so.

Why did you become a judge? I wanted to know the rules better so I could become a better player. I studied the rules, took some practice tests, and then, when I didn’t day two at GP Anaheim, I gave testing a shot, passed, and began my journey along the Judge Path. I currently judge way more than I play, causing my skills at playing to falter.

Tell us your favourite judge story.
There was this small Grand Prix that you may have heard of called “Grand Prix Charlotte”. The tournament was delayed a bit due to the excessive registration and lack of chairs and tables for all the players. My remembrances of the hectic weekend are a bit hazy at this point, but I distinctly recall walking by a garage-type door in the venue that was partially open by a couple inches. I peeked under it, discovered the golden trove of neatly stacked chairs, “sprinted” across the venue to the main stage where I asked the Head Judge to get the venue’s approval for us to Open the Vault. “Go for it!” Thus began the screeching sounds of thousands of chairs grinding across the venue floor.

Tell us an embarrassing story that you’re not afraid of everyone knowing.
This is a trick question, right? There are too many to choose from. I once got a black-eye from an Easter Egg. No, no one threw it at me. It fell out of a tree and smacked my left eye. It was a terrible story to have to relate to the kids at school. My Uncle had been in town visiting us over Easter. He hid Easter Eggs all around our yard, and my cousins and I raced to find them, hoping to find the most and win the $5 prize. I found the last egg that I needed, just out of reach in a tree. Naturally, I shook the tree…

…at least I won the $5.

What’s the best part about your local Magic community?
We are quite fortunate to have a very active and competitive community. We have no fewer than 5 amazing stores, at least one or two SCG IQs (or better) a month, a player base that can get 100 or more players to a Super IQ or PTQ, and a fun and (mostly) welcoming community.

You were nominated by Riki Hayashi because you’ve impressed some people with your work as a new L2. What drove you to get to L2, and what do you do differently in your community now that you’re an L2?

At one point, I thought being an L2 meant getting all sorts of fancy Judge Foils. That was before I became a Judge. The time, travel, airfare, hotel costs, and 14 plus hours a day walking the floor of a GP do not make for the best way acquire the coveted shiny objects. (Anyone reading this who thinks they want to be a Judge just for the foils should heed my words: “You are doing it wrong.”)

At first glance, being a judge is about judging Magic games; it’s about making sure the players follow the rules, answering their questions, and preventing cheating. Yet “judging” is one of the smaller parts of being a judge. In truth, judging is about time management, efficiency, project management, team building, meeting amazing people, hanging out with awesome people, and getting to work with these same people. It’s about learning the crazy rules of the game, getting excited over corner rules cases, having hours of discussions about layers and copy effects. It’s about challenging yourself, building a community, and customer service.

I’m currently involved in helping to organize and build the judge community in Denver and the surrounding areas. This has allowed me to become friends with some fantastic (and noteworthy) people. I created a Colorado Judges Facebook Group, and we recently held “Colorado Magic Judges: The First Gathering” complete with mini seminars and a free-for-all range of influence 2 Chaos draft. I’m also a part of the Knowledge Pool team and am team lead for the new Judge Study Group for Level 3 Candidates.

What motivates you to continue being a judge?
I have an addictive personality. When I get into something, I don’t do it half-heartedly. Besides everything I said above, I’m also looking forward to getting more involved in the “behind-the scenes” aspects of the Judge World. I like helping out with the education of newer judges as well as players. I thoroughly enjoy helping to make sure an event is run well and efficiently, and look forward to growing my own skills and judge level, team leading GPs, and eventually Head Judging a GP.

What is your favourite non-judging moment that happened with other judges?

In an attempt to win the the Judge Photo of the Month contest, I met up with two other judges in front of Coors Field. Scott brought a table, chairs, and two blinged-out EDH decks. Doug and I brought a couple of “judge question” cards, Humility and Opalescence. We set up the table with a ridiculous board state, including “Animate Dead” enchanting an exiled general, stuffed my pockets with an excessive number of red pins, and staged a feature match in front of the stadium.

A couple passers-by knew what Magic was and wanted to take pictures of us. After about 15 minutes, the stadium security came up and asked us to leave…

What would you be doing now if Magic no longer existed?
Getting more sleep.

Two Truths and a Lie
Two of the following statements is true, and one is false.  Figure out which!
1. On multiple occasions during my single days, I was so tired upon pulling into my driveway that I slept in the car instead of getting out of the car and walking into the house.
2. I have won a dance competition at a major national dance event.
3. I can play the didgeridoo.