Michael Arrowsmith, L2 USA
Tournament Organizer- GMI Games
Format- Modern
Start time- 10 am
172 players- 8 rounds
Greetings!
This past weekend I had the pleasure of Head Judging my third PTQ of my judging career, and going into this one I knew there were going to be some challenges. A majority of the Southwest judge pool was on staff for GP Portland, so my staff was quite green, with this being their first PTQ for half of my judge staff, and first major CompREL event for 2 of my judges.
Luckily for me, I had L2 Jennifer Wong running my deckchecks team (for half the day) and L2 Kyle Donovan
running my “everything not deckchecks” team. Both of these judges were key to this event going as smooth as it did, along with L2 Colleen Nelson
handling my score-keeping.
Staff:
Myself- HJ
Colleen Nelson– SK
L2 Kyle Donovan– Not D.C. T.L.
L1 Kenneth Bailey
L1 Graeme Crawford
L1 Matthew Nunoz
L1 Darion Wells
L2 Jennifer Wong– D.C.
L1 Marco Herrera
We arrive at the event site, Rubidoux High School, at 8 am. Judge call time was 8:30am. There were a number of issues, mostly T.O. headaches, but it didn’t affect our event too much. The room is set up prior, and I made contact with the T.O. Catherine Walker. She was quite nervous, having not worked with me, or most of this staff for that matter, and doesn’t know any of us. I reassure her that the event will be fine, and not to worry. This T.O. has a setup for her PTQs that the players receive lunch catered included in their tournament entry. That morning, the caterer had cancelled, and the school staff was new to this event as well, so the T.O. was scrambling to fix the situation. I made sure to get all pertinent information (bathrooms, smoking areas, scorekeeper setup, backup printers/cutters, paper, etc) from her and her husband in our initial meeting, knowing that both of them would most likely be unavailable due to problem solving on their end.
Judge meeting- 8:30 am
We do introductions, we go over the basics (what the teams are, the documents that I requested they read prior to the event, distribution of judge shirts, any questions, etc), then I distribute the goodie bags I had prepared for the staff. These bags included a notebook, 2 red pens, granola bars, beef sticks, fruit snacks, crackers, etc. I stole this idea from L3 Steven Briggs, and love putting this into place. The judges have this little bundle in the judge area through the day for an energy pick-me-up, and I also know that everyone has a notebook for notes and review material, and everyone has a red pen.
I encouraged the writing of reviews to the judges, then distributed the floor judges on various tasks (table numbers, signage, registration) while I chatted with the L2 judges. We went over the strengths and weaknesses of each judge on staff, break schedule, and develop our plan of attack with our army of new judges.
9:15- Issues arose with the credit card machine having reader errors, which led to the registration line getting backed up. I requested a judge to do line control while the situation was being resolved by the T.O. It got fixed, and we continue.
9:45- A player presented his altered cards for approval. The paint is quite thick, and I can repeatedly distinguish the alters from other cards, especially from a stacked position on the table. I informed the player that he will not be able to play with his alters, and he must replace them. I walked him to the vendor area.
9:50- A player asked to speak to me, and stated that he does not want any of his opponents to shuffle his deck. I asked him why, and informed him that at CompRel players are required to shuffle their opponents decks. He said that every time someone shuffles his deck they look through it and gains an unfair advantage. I instructed the player to present his deck for shuffling, and if at any point he felt his opponent had looked at his deck, to call for a judge. (this issue never arise throughout the tournament with this player)
10:00- I am ready to start, but there are a number of players still registering for the event, so we delayed for roughly 20 minutes as per the T.O.’s instruction.
10:20- Player meeting begun, T.O. did their instructions, I did mine, and we get going!
10:33- Start of round 1
Slips were delayed due to reprint- judge did not know how to cut slips, and butchered them.
*at 40 min- GAME LOSS- Player mistakenly drew an additional card on his turn. Drew for turn, flipped for Courser of Kruphix, played a land, tanked, then drew “for turn”.
*at 22 min- APPEAL- AP entered combat step, then activated Mutavault. NAP appealed, thinking that players had moved to declare attackers. When talking to the players I asked AP how he moves through steps and phases, and he said “enter combat, declare attacks”. NAP confirmed this. Floor judge had ruled that the activation was legal. UPHELD
*at 18 min- APPEAL- AP cast Lightning Bolt, targeting opponent. NAP says “you got me” and started to scoop cards, realized he had a Spellskite in play and blue mana available, then attempted to redirect the damage to Spellskite. Judge ruled that the life totals on the scorepad had not been changed, so the player could still do so. After speaking to the players, the NAP admitted that he had started scooping up his cards, and realized this mid-scoop, and attempted to recreate the board state. OVERTURNED.
Last slip in- 11:24
Round 2 pairings- 11:31
11:33- start of Round 2
*Deck/Decklist Problems are handled, I do believe there were 2 Game Losses, will have to confirm with Jennifer Wong*
*at 38 minutes- Appeal- While in restroom, I gave L2 Kyle Donovan the helm. Blood Moon and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in play. Judge ruled that the lands were Swamps. Kyle OVERTURNS.
Last slip in- 12:23
Round 3 pairings- 12:29
12:32- start of Round 3
Kyle Donovan started sending judges on lunch break, we decided to do half-hour breaks, and numerous 15 minute breaks throughout the day.
Multiple pre-ruling confirmations by floor judges for Drawing extra cards, used as an opportunity for my team leads to go over with them the differences between Improper Draw at Start of Game and Drawing Extra Cards.
I instructed the floor judge to go to the NAP, between rounds, and give him a USC Minor for appealing before he was able to give his ruling.
I spoke to the judge staff in between rounds, and informed them that in my announcements, I specifically stated that while players have the right to appeal, let the floor judge make their ruling, then politely ask for an appeal. I tell them that they are all certified judges, and they will be respected by the players. If a player does this, they will get the penalty.
Last slip in- 1:25
Round 4 pairings- 1:29
1:34- Start of Round 4
Second wave of breaks.
*at 25 minutes- APPEAL- Spellskite and Signal Pest targeted with Electrolyze. NAP attempted to redirect the damage on Signal Pest to the Spellskite. Floor judge ruled this ok. OVERTURNED
*at 12 minutes- APPEAL -AP Flipped Huntmaster of the Fells, and dealt 2 damage to NAP, redirected to Liliana of the Veil. NAP appealed, saying he cannot do that. Floor judge ruled he can. UPHELD.
*at 9 minutes- APPEAL- AP had a Voice of Resurgence, NAP had a Rest in Peace. Voice is dealt lethal damage, and AP attempted to put a token into play. Judge ruleed that the replacement effect created by Rest in Peace makes the Voice never went to the graveyard, so it never actually died in Magic rules. UPHELD.
Last slip in- 2:24
Round 5 pairings 2:30
2:37- Start of Round 5.
Jennifer Wong left (only on half a day per request), Marco is now leading DC, and Graeme moved over to help him. Between Marco and Kyle, they give Graeme a crash-course on DC, reason being that the T.O. has requested that Marco HJ the GPT within the hour.
Printer mishap, then a second printer went down, then a third printer doesn’t work. Colleen gets the issue resolved and slips go out at 40 minutes.
Nothing of interest happens in round 5.
Last slip in- 3:27
Round 6 pairings- 3:34
3:40- Start of round 6
*at 45 Minutes- APPEAL- Simic Growth Chamber is enchanted with Spreading Seas. AP played Vesuva, copying Simic Growth Chamber. Judge ruled that Vesuva is an Island. OVERTURNED.
*at 20 Minutes- APPEAL- AP cast Lingering Souls, using flashback. NAP cast Remand. Judge ruled Lingering Souls goes to exile. UPHELD
*at 2 minutes- APPEAL- NAP wished to respond to Sakura-Tribe Elder, but acknowledged the Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle trigger is on the stack. Floor judge ruled that it is too late to do so. UPHELD
Last slip in- 4:31
Round 7 standings- 4:38
Round 7 pairings- 4: 44
4:48- Start of Round 7
Nothing of interest happened in Round 7.
Last slip in- 5:45
Round 8 standings- 5:50
Round 8 pairings- 5:52
5:55- Start of Round 8
Nothing of interest happened in Round 8.
Last slip in- 7:02
Final standings- 7:05
Top 8 deckchecks were performed. There was one bubble, so the last deck was delayed in being checked, player did not know he had made it in.
Top 8 begins at 7:42
Top 4 begins at 8:35
Final begins at 9:20
Tournament completed at 9:40
During Top 8, L2 Kyle Donovan and I went over our notes, and had individual meetings with each judge, going over strong points, and areas for improvement.
During Top 8, a player came up and wanted to thank a certain judge. L1 Darion Wells was recognized by this player for his professionalism, as he made a mistake on a ruling, was informed of this mistake by Kyle Donovan
, and informed the player of the mistake and apologized. Player said that his approach to this made for a pleasant tournament experience. I informed Darion of this in our de-brief.
Round 1- 10:33 +33
Round 2- 11:33 +10
Round 3- 12:32 +9
Round 4- 1:34 +12
Round 5- 2:37 +13
Round 6- 3:40 +13
Round 7- 4:48 +18
Round 8- 5:55 +17
Total lost time: 125 minutes
While I was a little disappointed in this number, I understood the reasons for the lost time and can account for most of it. With large time extensions due to appeals in round 6, and standings mishaps in round 7 and 8, and starting late, I guess it is to be expected.
All in all, I felt that this tournament was a great success. I did not hear any serious complaints, the T.O. was quite happy on how the event turned out (especially since they expected 100-120 players), and a number of judges gained a great deal of experience, including myself. I have personally thanked each judge on staff, and look forward to seeing their individual growth as judges.
Thanks for reading!