Aloha Judges! This week’s Judge of the Week is Christopher Vizzone, L1 from Keaau, Hawaii! Christopher was nominated by Stephan Classen an L2 from Hilo, Hawaii who says:
“He’s one of our local L1s, and he certified because of interest in the rules and helping out.  Now he’s becoming a leader of our community and enjoys judging perhaps more than playing, and we need more stories from L1s like this!”

Occupation: Currently a student at the University of Hawaii at Hilo studying Performing Arts – Music. I finish at the end of the year, at which point I’d have to think about what I’m going to do in the “real” world.
Favourite card: Mortify, it’s such a cool card. The textless rewards promo art for it is wonderful.
Least favourite card: Primeval Titan.
Favourite format: Commander
Commander general: I’ve got a ton of different Commander decks, but my favorites include Merieke Ri Berit; Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer; Teysa, Orzhov Scion — the list goes on…
Favourite non-Magic Game: In the virtual world, I bounce between World of Tanks and Dota 2 when not playing Magic. If I’m doing board games, I’m very partial to Ticket to Ride as well as Betrayal at House on the Hill.
Favourite Ravnica guild is?  I’m Orzhov!
Best tournament result: 4-0 at the Dark Ascension release party! Won it!
Random fact about yourself: I’m a college radio DJ on the side. Pretty fun stuff.

What is one tip that you have for judges?
I guess this is one of the most important things I’ve learned in my almost one whole year of judging:
Remember that part of judging is having fun. You are here to give and receive fun in equal amounts. When judging stops being fun, you need to stop, take a breath, and step back to reassess. Keep a casual mindset when judging. This doesn’t mean that you be a laissez faire judge that doesn’t protect tournament integrity. “Fun, but firm.” is the way to judge.

Tell us your favourite judge story.
Honestly, the looks on players as I’m able to help them reason through a particularly sticky game state is one of my favorite things to see as a judge. You know, the one look that’s all, “Oh! THAT’S how it works!” and the players feel accomplished? I love seeing that look on the players I work with. Magic is a game that is learned, and I feel that Judges are educators as well as arbiters.
It’s not a singular “favorite” judge story, but it is one of my favorite things to do while on duty at FNMs or GPTs.

What’s the best part about your local Magic community?
I’m from Hilo, Hawaii, and we’re a high competitive, yet very friendly community. We literally built up our current card shop from the ground up and have supported it for some time now. I always get compliments from visiting players about how nice or how positive my local community is. It’s very humbling.

How did you get involved in Magic to begin with?
I learned to play from my older brother back when I was like 8 or 9 years old. I had been a kitchen-table casual for the longest time — I’d only ever play on the side with some friends in high school or during those summer fun programs I used to do when I was little. It was only when I had entered the University did I start meeting the more “competitive” Magic players and even attended my first Magic tournament! (M11 Prerelease).

If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Machiavelli. I feel like I could learn a lot of things from him in general. His books are pretty good…

What is your favourite non-judging moment that happened with other judges?
This actually happened this past weekend at Friday Night Magic — I participated in a game of Commander with my other Hilo Judge counterparts in which we all brought our “Judgebreaker EDH Decks” — Commander decks designed to give judges a headache when assessing the game state at any point in time.

Favourite hobby (other than Magic):
Warhammer 40,000 — I wish I had more time to work on my armies.

What would you be doing now if Magic no longer existed?
I guess I’d be focusing on my studies a little bit more, work towards being the high school teacher I’ve always wanted to be. In the gaming world, I guess I’d be looking into more online gaming and other things of that nature. Maybe join another online clan instead of freelance like I do now.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Shoutout to all of the awesome Judges I’ve met in my time in the program — Sean Catanese, David de la Iglesia, Aaron Hamer, Nick Rutkowski (I never forgot how to properly cast a spell after you hit me with the Fireball question back at Judge Conference GP San Jose), Sheldon Menery (I still have those Prime Times you signed! My favorite portion of my promo binder.). Shoutout to Stephan Classen, partner in crime out here in Hilo and the judge who got me looking into the program in the first place.

Two Truths and a Lie
Two of the following statements is true, and one is false.  Figure out which!
1. I dislike Green cards.
2. My radio show is named “The Pineapple Pleasure Palace” and can be found on University Radio Hilo.
3. A few years back, I performed in my University’s presentation of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. I was one of the tubists in the low brass section.