Greetings Judges! This week’s Judge of the Week is Josh Stansfield, L2 from California!

Josh was nominated by Jacob Faturechi, L2 from Los Angeles, California. He has this to say:

“Josh has been amazing out of the gate. In his first week as an L1, he was Head Judging a GPT and training an L0. He just kept on going from there. Being a great judge on the floor is only part of what makes Josh a local Superstar. He has been instrumental in getting the Southern California judges together on Facebook and keeping everyone updated about local happenings. He is a real asset to the Southern California community and we would not be as strong without him.”

Josh is currently managing the Rules Tip Blog which has been a great resource with daily doses of judge knowledge. Many thanks to Josh for running this site and passing on knowledge to both players and judges.

Occupation: Executive Assistant (accounting firm) and contract musician (singer, bass-baritone).
Favourite card: Apocalypse Chime (because it wants to do something that so many others wish was done before the set was released… Bury all cards from the Homelands expansion)
Also, Floral Spuzzem, because I love when cards become autonomous.
Least favourite card: Shahrazad… Why, wizards, why?

Favourite format: Type 4. I’m the only person I know who has a fully foiled Type 4 stack that is actually tuned for balance purposes!
Commander general: Currently? Glissa, the Traitor; Hazezon Tamar; Dakkon Blackblade (because Sharuum is too intimidating for multi-player); and Rakdos, Lord of Riots.
Favourite non-Magic Game: Cards Against Humanity
Best tournament result: Um, 1st place at FNM?
Random fact about yourself: Hold on, let me pull out the random fact generator I carry around……[buzzclickwhirr]…….I’ve never had a broken bone.

Tell us your favourite judge story.
I think it was when I was judging an SCG Super IQ. I was called over by a judge for a backup when a player had searched for 4 Squadron Hawk off his Phantasmal Image. After my ruling, the opponent asked if he could appeal. I informed him, “I’m the head judge,” to which he replied, “Can I appeal anyway?” Not expecting this follow up question, after a couple seconds of thought, I couldn’t think of anything better to say than, “No.” Apparently my other judges found this quite amusing.

You were nominated because….
Maybe because I’ve always been nice to Jacob, and he was there when I was originally certified and then showed up the next weekend when I head judged my first GPT to make sure I didn’t screw up. I guess I didn’t, because he encouraged me to go for L2 not long after!
Other reasons are probably because of my participation in the Facebook Magic Judge groups and my management of the Rules Tips Blog.

What’s the best part about your local Magic community?
The players all respect the judges, and the judges are all eager to learn and to serve the community. I see many of the same faces at the various events in my area, and they all recognize me, which is a good feeling.

How did you get involved in Magic to begin with?
My older brother got me and my younger brother into it when I was about 13. My younger brother doesn’t really play anymore, but my older brother runs a Magic/gaming store in Sioux City, Iowa. I stopped playing sometime after Alliances (probably Homelands’ fault), and started again at the release of Shards of Alara due to a long-time friend reintroducing me to the game (though it was mostly Vintage at first).

If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
My wife’s dad. He passed away a few years before we met, and she assures me he would have loved me (and vice versa) because we have the same sense of humor. 🙂

What is your favourite non-judging moment that happened with other judges?
Riding California Screamin’ at Disney’s California Adventure with Aaron Hamer. It was an interesting combination of absolute terror and delight on his face… Also forcing him to sit in front on Splash Mountain where he got more drenched than anyone I’ve ever seen on that ride (and I was a close second). I surprised our phones continued to function afterwards!

Favourite hobby (other than Magic)
Well aside from online gaming (League of Legends, Diablo III, Starcraft II), I also enjoy being crafty. I am currently building a custom wooden box for my Type 4 stack, and I’ve also done some sewing/tailoring for my Christmas caroling costume and my Halloween costumes.

What would you be doing now if Magic no longer existed?
Probably spending more time with my wife! I love the game, but it can be hard to balance my limited free time with other commitments.

 Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Nope. I’ve talked enough already. My writing usually requires a TL;DR summary.

Two Truths and a Lie
-I was once crowned as king in a small Fijian village that could only be reached by boat via a narrow river through a steep valley bordered by waterfalls.
-I was never a mechanic, but I’ve replaced virtually every part a car might have, including engine, transmission, subframe, fuel injection/intake system, suspension, seats, door panels, etc.
-I’ve performed at the Hollywood Bowl over 25 times, as well as at least 25 other stadiums/venues for crowds over 10,000 in over 15 other states.

The answer to last week's Two Truths and a Lie...