Magic Judge Monthly August 2019

| Stephan Classen

Welcome to August’s issue of MJM.  We’re still all waiting to hear more news from Judge Academy, so be watchful for what news comes as we approach the launch!  There’s been a lot of Q and A from various organizations, so please take a look at those!

have a great month!

 

CFBE Ask me Anything (AmA)

Channel Fireball has processed another Ask Me Anything.  If you asked a question or want to see what your fellow Judges queried, head on over to this forum.

 

Program Coordinators AmA

If you’re in the mood to ask some questions, this month has to be in your all-time top 10!  The Program Coordinators invited Judge questions, despite the risks. If you’d like to see the results of that, the link is here.

Judge Article and Blog Posts – June 2019

  1. Judge cast: Judgecast #232 Judge Academy Interview with Tim Shields and Nicolette Apraez,  JudgeCast #233 Changes to Organized Play
  2. Translated Rules:  Magic Comprehensive Rules – August 23rd, 2019,  Magic Tournament Rules – August 30th, 2019
  3. Knowledge pool –  Going Overboard
    German:  Soll ich gehen oder bleiben?, Schrödingers Satyr, verräterische Schildkröte
  4. Travel Guides: MF Birmingham 2019
  5. Regional Blogs: New articles in:
    The Northwest Passage
    Magic Judge Iberia – Español
    The Judges of Southeast Asia
    Europe – East regional blog
    Jueces Hispanoamericanos
    German Speaking Countries
    USA-North
    Northeast USA Judge Family
    Ελλανοδίκες

 

More judge blogs can be found at the Judge Blog Portal.

In case you would like to discuss an article, visit our Judge forum. Don’t forget to regularly check our Judge blog.
Do you need a quick rules or policy answer? Ask a Magic Judge!


Judge of the Week

Judge of the week is still on hiatus!

Judge Anniversaries!

A big HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to those judges celebrating in June and July 2019, featuring Markus Dietrich and Stefan Ladstätter! Also, we celebrate the L3 anniversaries of Ivan Petkovic, CJ Crooks, Dustin de Leeuw, Anastacia Tomson, Rafael Dei Svaldi, Carlos Rangon, and Joe Lau!

Welcome to the Fold

A big welcome to the following judges who worked their first MagicFest

MF Chiba

MF Minneapolis

MF Birmingham

MF Las Vegas

Legacy Program Coordinator

Even though Judge Academy is starting on October 1, not all regions are going to be included at launch. The judge program opened up applications for a Legacy Program Coordinator, who will oversee all of the regions not served by the Judge Academy.

Results: Congratulations to Adrian Estoup, who has been selected as the Legacy Program Coordinator!

Questions asked in the Month of August and an [O]fficial answer, just for you!

1. AP takes a mulligan. NAP also takes a mulligan. While resolving their mulligan, AP draws seven and quickly bottoms a card. NAP assumes that AP has kept and decides to take a second mulligan. At this point AP vocalizes that they are still thinking about their decision. Is there any infraction?

A: Based on what is described, AP didn’t do anything wrong. They mulliganed correctly and pointed out NAP’s mistake when they saw it. NAP made a poor assumption about AP keeping their hand. NAP has made an error based on misunderstanding how mulliganing works.

If NAP’s hand is still separate from their hand, then they would be able to wait until AP makes a decision to decide whether they would mulligan or not. If NAP has already mixed their hand with their library, then they are locked into mulliganing again.

Educate NAP with how the mulligan rules work and encourage them to confirm that AP is keeping before making decisions in the future.

There’s no advantage gained by NAP mulliganing too early, so no penalties are needed here. Just educate, clarify, and move on.

Approved by the Forum Moderators


2. AP controls Urza, Lord High Artificer and has a million blue mana in their mana pool. If they want to activate Urza’s third ability a lot of times to search for a specific card, can the player propose a shortcut in which the deck will not be shuffled, but the top card will be exiled each time they wish to activate the ability?

Cards: Urza, Lord High Artificer

A: As long as there are no effects that let the players know the position of cards in library, there’s no need to consume time so go ahead and save time!

Approved by Scott Marshall


 

3. In the Release Notes for C19, it says 'If there are no creature cards in your library as Atla Palani's last ability resolves, you reveal your library then put it back in a random order'. For cards like Cosi's Trickster, does this count as 'shuffling'?

Cards: Atla Palani, Nest Tender, Cosi’s Trickster

 

A: No, it does not count as shuffling. It’s only a shuffle if it says it’s a shuffle – even if you’re putting cards in a random order on the bottom of your (empty) library, it’s still not a shuffle as far as the game is concerned, so the Trickster’s ability will not trigger.

Approved by Nathan Long


 

What’s up, Docs?

A new article is out focusing on Reversing decisions and missed triggers.

The Road to Level 3

Studying to become a Level 3 Judge? We absolutely recommend that you read through the article on Understanding the Level 3 Exams

Find out which Judge Conferences, Grand Prix and SCG Opens have available worldwide staffing positions! You still have some time to apply for:

And many, many more!

Featured Project – Collected Company

This month we’re featuring a somewhat recent project that you may have heard of. The Collected Company Mentorship Project aims to empower women to take on new challenges and realize their full potential within the judge program, encouraging them to certify and increase diversity in the program. They are looking for mentors, social media moderators and study group coordinators. If you have what it takes, reach out to the project admins!

You can also check other Public Projects that need the help of an awesome judge like you! If you wish to get more out of your Judging experience and give back to the community, sign up for something that interests you!

Sugar on Top!

Judge staff found Fblthp at MF Birmingham!!