Up until now Judge of the week has been focusing on a single judge, however, this installment of JotW focuses on many judges. It is easy to recognise the hard work done by a judge each week, but during our Nationals seasons, it is important to recognise all the hard work done by whole communities of judges. This installment of Judge of the Week will be looking at the staff of Australian Nationals 2011.

Head Judge Nathan Brewer, supported by James Mackay, Fabian Peck, Mark Brown, Ryan Dare, and Lindsay Heming, and Sean Roffey, Gareth Pye, Warren Yung, Jason Doan, Simon Hall, Steven Clarke, Julian Rzechowics, John Tong, Morgan Meehan-Lam, Scott Millington, Ken Suto, Rony Wang, Mackenzie Stratford, and Graham Croucher.

Nathan Brewer
Level 3 Judge from Canberra

I was interested in judging because I was terrible player, and wanted to stay part of the Magic community.

My Most memorable judging experience was judging PT Berlin. I had to run 8 man drafts, and I have never had to run so many events in so little space.

The best thing about judging this year’s Nationals was seeing all my plans come together.

Mark Brown
Level 3 from Melbourne

I loved judging the Top 8 of Pro Tour LA in 2000. I tabled judges the final between Trevor Blackwell and Chris Benafel. It was great to see all the old pros like Mike Long, Darwin Kastle and Kai Budde.

If I was stranded on a desert island I would not want a planeswalker with me, as they would kill me.

The best thing about Nationals this year was meeting all of the judges I have not met before, and catching up with lots of judges I only see at Nationals.

Gareth ‘Love Tha’ Pye
Level 2 from Melbourne

If I could play a game with anyone living or dead, I would choose Quarto as the game against Dylan Moran.

Stranded on an island I would want to have Squee, Goblin Nabob with me. As once we turn to cannibalism, he would just keep coming back.
The best part about this years nationals was the judge conference we had. I presented a seminar on judging 101.

 

Warren Yung
Level 2 from Vancouver, Canada.

I was at PT Hollywood in 2008 and got three game losses over the weekend. When I got home I said “I have to be able to do that!”

Ohhh, playing against someone living or dead. Hmmm, I would play against myself. Why? I’ll let you work that out.

If I was on an island I would have Gideon Jura with me. He is so dreamy.

Graham Croucher
Level 1 from Sydney

I love everything about Magic except the stress and pressure of playing competitively. Thus, judging was the perfect fix for me. My most memorable judging experience is always playing EDH in a bar after a big event. Oh, I also remember the first time I had to give a pro player a warning for slow play, I was so anxious.

I would love to play Magic with Richard Garfield. I hear that he is lots of fun to play with.

John Tong
Level 1 from Brisbane

To begin with I wasn’t interested in judging until I started playing competitively. I was led to believe that the smallest infraction was penalised with a DQ. I decided to education myself on the tournament rules and Infraction Procedure Guidelines. Once I learnt the truth, I had to educate my local community.

As for my most memorable judging experience, it was simply getting certified and joining the ‘family’ of like-minded people.

I would have Venser, the Sojourner on the island with me, so he can teleport me off it.

Nationals 2011 was fantastic. I got to be team leader for the main event, and learnt so much. I cannot wait to do it again!

Simon Hall
Level 2 from Adelaide

I became interested in judging when i played in my first larger event outside of Adelaide. The atmosphere created by the judges there was something I felt Adelaide was missing, and I just had to bring that back home.

My most memorable judging experience was my first DQ I had to issue. One player asked another for a bribe! Oops.

If I could play a game with someone living or dead I would challenge Henery Darcy (the father of Hydrology) to a game of Chess.

BONUS FACT
The favourite format of most of the judges was “RICH MANS DRAFT”. In this draft each player starts with 1 box of Magic. Each player opens a pack chooses one card from it, and throws the rest away. So each person ends up with 36 first picks each.