Players: 71

Judges: Alan Peng (2, HJ), Ryan Welson (1), Jonathan Downs (1), Michael Trevelyan (2, SK)

The introduction of the PPTQ system are exciting times, as it allows us level 2 judges to have more opportunities to head judge as well as providing more opportunities to expose level 1 judges to working together in competitive REL events. I had the pleasure to head judge the first PPTQ in Auckland which coincided with the grand opening weekend of Hobbymaster’s new store, capable of seating 100+ players.

Of course, running a PPTQ so early in the season carries a set of risks – we had no idea what the attendance would be like except somewhere between a GPT (20-30 players) and a PTQ (80-100 players). The TO decided to take a punt and offer a $1,000 cash prize to the winner of the PPTQ which should send them across the Tasman to the RPTQ in Melbourne. Apparently it worked, as we had 71 people sign up which brought the numbers close to our Typical PTQ!

Fun fact: As New Zealand has a timezone of GMT +12 I can confidently say that I HJ’d the first PPTQ in the world. Exciting!

After the drama at the last 3 PTQ level events I was at, the day felt like a breeze. The event started about 20 minutes later than planned, mainly due to last-minute entrants (one person was paying cash while buying cards and writing down a decklist just as registration was closing…) and trying to familiarizing ourselves with new store’s layout. Turnover was generally under an hour due to few matches going to time and a good grasp of end-of-round procedures, which meant the 7 swiss rounds wrapped up in just under 7 hours, a pretty amazing feat. The level one judges performed better than I had expected despite the fact that it was their first large competitive REL event, for which I was thankful and impressed by. Good job, team!

As with every event, there are plenty of opportunities to reflect and learn from what happened during the day. Here are some of the highlights and takeaways I have from the day.

Logistics

Trying to work out where everything goes was a bit of a challenge with the store’s layout. The registration desk, and the scorekeeper was seated at the entrance of the store. The play area, however, was on the opposite end which meant a 20 or so metre distance between the areas. I was originally planning to do deck checks where the scorekeeper is, but decided the distance will be too great especially if I had to answer appeals while deck checking. Luckily there was a side room much closer to the play area where we converted into the deck checking/judge station. Additionally, the screen with the timer was connected to the main computer at the registration desk, so the scorekeeper had to manually move to the play area with a mouse to ensure that he could restart the timer which caused some slight delays in the tournament. Looking back I would have requested to take the mouse along with the pairings with me at the start of round so I can start the timer myself at the same time when I announced the start of round.

Additionally, I made sure that I encouraged players to hand in their own result slips rather than letting a judge collect them due to the distance between the scorekeeper and the tournament hall. This saved my judges from additional walking and time spent away from the floor, although it did lead to a small hiccup during the day.

We tried running side events and drafts on tablets. Tablets are great if you’re running 8-16 man regular REL side events as players can just find you and give you their results. We also used a network printer so printing can be done from WER on the tablet. Also, they make good note taking machines which is helpful with reviews and tournament reports like I’m doing now. Do note that only window tablets will work as WER is windows only.

HJ announcements

At the beginning of the day, I had a mental note of what to include in my opening announcements. I’ve done quite a few of them so I was confident I could remember them all. What happened was: I didn’t. I had a few extra announcements to make, as well as the TO doing a “thank you for joining us in our grand opening…”. End result – I forgot to announce the tardiness time limits for the day until someone asked later. Lesson learnt: never, never rely on memory. Always have notes, and double check them to make sure you have not missed anything.

It is also useful to have quick announcements at the start of round when players are seated and before you start the timer as you’re most likely to have the attention of everyone. Keep them brief and memorable though – the players will be itching to start their round.

Appeals

Appeals on the day was few and far between – I had 2 that I could remember, both upheld. One was to do with whether you receive priority after declaring blocker order, and the other was “judge, my opponent revealed cards in his hands to me, is that allowed?”. Nothing particularly complicated. There were however some interesting rulings that I will share at the end of the report for discussion.

There was also one situation. In round 4 a player found that there was a mistake with the results – he should have lost the last round. The problem – the result was recorded as him having won the match on the slip, and neither noticed (if I remember correctly the slip was handed in by the players) until the next round. The result stood – and hopefully the players learned to always double check their result slips.

Judge Management

The scorekeeper, who is also an employee at the store had a rough week setting up the store. His fatigue ended up showing later in the day where he ended up making mistakes in scorekeeping. I was not able to check up on him as much as the scorekeeper desk was far away from the floor, but as head judge I should have made sure that every single member is functioning. Had I known he was so tired I would have sent him on break sooner and encouraged him to take more breaks if he needed it. Conversely, he should have also notified me when he felt tired enough that it may have affected his performance. Communication is a two-way street and what I have learnt is to always make sure you catch up at regular intervals to make sure everyone is performing. Also, do not be afraid to ask for breaks – a tired judge will not make a good judge.

Conduct

During round 4 there was a case where player A was in a match. Player B, his opponent was a younger player, and he was making some mistakes such as blocking with a creature that can’t block and not paying the correct mana. However, instead of calling for a judge, player A instead accused his opponent of cheating outright. Player B was physically in tears. This was problematic as it up to us judges to act as unbiased officials to investigate and determine intent, and outright calling your opponent a cheater undermines this process. Luckily the player had to go and dropped, but not before he received an USC – I happy to see him leave, and informed the TO of this. Thankfully we have an outstanding community and the upset player was well looked after and enjoyed the rest of his day. A big thank you to all the supportive players!

Please, if you ever think something is wrong, CALL A JUDGE. No one will be happy if you decide to take matters into your own hands.

Apart from the minor blemish with that incident, the day was overall a lot of fun. People enjoyed the store, the event and the atmosphere. The level 1 judges both felt motivated and confident from the successful day and is determined to test for level 2 at GP Auckland – which is all that I can hope for!

Bonus: How would you rule?

These are rulings that at least one of the judges got wrong during the day, either when taking the call or when we sat down and discussed the rulings.

Adrian activates Liliana Vess’s -2 ability, but puts the card into his hand instead of the top of the library. What is the penalty (if any) and fix?

Anna activates Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver’s +2 ability, and says “exile 5 cards?”. Nadi says “okay” and starts exiling. Upon exiling the 4th card they realize that Ashiok’s ability only exiled 3 cards. What is the penalty (if any) and fix?

Alex has a Jorubai Murk Lurker that is a 2/4. Nick also controls a Lurker and a 2/2 creature. Alex attacks, and Nick blocks with both creatures. Alex casts Bile Blight on Nick’s Lurker. They both forget that bile blight gives -3/-3 to all creatures with the same name. Combat resolves, and both players put their bog lurkers into the graveyard. What is the penalty (if any), and fix?

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