{"id":1002,"date":"2013-09-17T12:24:40","date_gmt":"2013-09-17T12:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2014-09-15T23:31:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T23:31:46","slug":"l3-qualities-rules-and-policy-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/2013\/09\/17\/l3-qualities-rules-and-policy-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"L3 Qualities – Rules & Policy Knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Written<\/a>

Written by\u00a0Brian Schenck<\/p><\/div><\/em><\/p>\n

“Rules and Policy Knowledge: Regional Judges are the leading experts in the rules of Magic and tournament policies. They have studied the Comprehensive Rules, the MIPG, the JAR and the MTR. They can make rulings on complex situations correctly and without significant delay to the tournament.”<\/i>
\n\u2013 Taken from \u201cQualities of Regional Judges\u201d on the Magic Judges Wiki<\/p>\n

It is very easy to understand why a judge needs to have a good understanding of game rules or policy; it tells us how we run events or help players. \u00a0These go to our principle responsibilities as judges, since we need to make sure that events are run well and that players are well served.\u00a0 It goes to providing the best customer service, and something that we reiterate time and again with the various ways that we train ourselves and other judges.<\/p>\n

But, for Regional Judges, what exactly constitutes a \u201cleading expert\u201d?\u00a0 How do we measure this, especially since we have both the Level 3 exam and the interview?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is an \u201cExpert\u201d?<\/b><\/h1>\n

<\/p>Merriam-Webster defines an expert as \u201cone with the special skill or knowledge representing mastery of a particular subject.\u201d\u00a0 So, for a Level 3 judge, that is a special skill or knowledge in the rules for Magic and the policies associated with sanctioned Magic events.\u00a0 More than either Level 1 or Level 2 judges, Level 3 judges must have a very broad range of knowledge at a very detailed level.\u00a0 Whether that\u2019s to understand how certain mechanics work together, or the purpose behind a certain remedy.\u00a0 Level 3 judges should have an excellent understanding of how cards are templated, to recognize abilities and how they impact the game.\u00a0 Level 3 judges should be able to discuss policy, and explain both the rationale for a penalty, or even why something is an infraction.\u00a0 More importantly, Level 3 judges should have very reliable rules and policy knowledge, as they are recognized by both the judge and player communities as experts.<\/p>\n

It is a tall order to meet, which is why Level 3 candidates are assessed via an exam and an interview to ensure they are experts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Purpose of the Level 3 Exam<\/b><\/h1>\n

The purpose of the Level 3 exam is a general assessment of expert rules knowledge and procedures regarding events run at any REL. Since Level 3 judges need to operate in a broad spectrum, ensuring that Level 3 judges have the ability to make a complicated ruling very quickly is important.\u00a0 To that end, the Level 3 exam features an array of questions on different subjects.\u00a0 In some respects, the exam looks very similar to either the Level 1 or Level 2 exam.\u00a0 However, questions are often more detail-oriented and have a higher level of complexity, as well as have more exacting answers.\u00a0 Furthermore, the number of subjects is expanded in scope, beyond both the Level 2 exam and the Level 1 exam.<\/p>\n

So, a Level 3 candidate really has to know both rules and policy very well, demonstrating that both in depth knowledge and a broad understanding.\u00a0 The candidate must score an 80% or better, or else their rules and policy knowledge is too deficient to meet the expectation for an expert.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Purpose of the Level 3 Interview<\/b><\/h1>\n

<\/p>The Level 3 interview generally includes a much more detailed assessment of the philosophy behind policy and penalties.\u00a0 This overlaps with the Penalty and Policy Philosophy quality that will be discussed in another article, but I wanted to at least mention that a candidate\u2019s knowledge of rules and policy will play a role in the interview itself.\u00a0 Especially since the interviewers will examine the candidate\u2019s actual understanding in a variety of ways.\u00a0 So, while the written exam actually ensures that a candidate has the necessary knowledge to be considered an expert, he or she will still have to have the necessary understanding that comes with being an expert.\u00a0 But more will be discussed in the article that will cover Penalty and Policy Philosophy.\u00a0 Just note that both knowledge and understanding are important aspects to being an expert.<\/p>\n

So, a Level 3 candidate is going to have to demonstrate their rules and policy knowledge in different ways.\u00a0 And demonstrating both knowledge and understanding is a difficult process that many people do overlook when preparing as a candidate.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t enough to just be able to pass the exam by knowing the rules and policy, you have to be able to understand the policies well enough to pass the interview.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Materials to Study<\/b><\/h1>\n

<\/p>To reiterate what Level 3 candidates should study, it is the following documents:<\/p>\n

(1) The Comprehensive Rules<\/p>\n

(2) The Magic Tournament Rules<\/p>\n

(3) The Magic Infraction Procedure Guide<\/p>\n

(4) The Judging at Regular REL Guide<\/p>\n

\u2026and not just the wording of an infraction or the remedy, but really understanding the \u201cPhilosophy\u201d section of the infractions, as well as knowing the precise wording of the Comprehensive Rules, and really understanding the \u201chow\u201d and \u201cwhy\u201d of certain processes.\u00a0 Even understanding some of the less utilized procedures for certain sanctioned events is important, such as how single elimination events are run.\u00a0 Really understanding the rules and policies is a very intensive process, which goes beyond what you had to do to learn the rules and policies as either a Level 1 or Level 2 judge.\u00a0 Becoming an expert is something you will have to practice, learning from your mistakes and honing your skills as you judge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to Study<\/b><\/h1>\n

This may seem an odd way to start this section, but it is important to acknowledge that you may never have a complete understanding of every single rule or policy.\u00a0 There are several difficult sections of the rules, which seldom come up, and are very impractical to learn.\u00a0 Figure out what is practical to know and understand, and work very hard to understand that.\u00a0 Establish that as your foundation for your rules and policy knowledge, then continue to build from there.\u00a0 If a Level 1 judge is expected to have basic rules knowledge and understanding of Regular REL procedures, whereas a Level 2 judge is expected to have intermediate rules knowledge and understanding of Competitive REL procedures, then a Level 3 judge is simply an extension of this.\u00a0 And the exam itself will look at just how far you\u2019ve developed your knowledge.<\/p>\n

<\/p>But, keep in mind that you will overlook rules or concepts, perhaps even forget policy changes, and make simple mistakes by not reading cards and assuming what they do.\u00a0 All these things will happen to you, even as an expert.\u00a0 The sooner you accept that they can happen to you, the more you can focus your attention on ensuring that your rules and policy knowledge is sufficient to move past simple mistakes.\u00a0 Practice and practice to cut down on the number of mistakes you may make, at the same time improving the quality of your rulings and the ability to explain difficult concepts to other judges or players in an efficient manner.<\/p>\n

Another important aspect to becoming an expert is to understand the difference between technical knowledge and functional knowledge.\u00a0 That is, the difference between what judges need to know to provide a ruling and what players need to know to play the game.\u00a0 An expert needs to balance that technical knowledge with the ability to apply it in a very practical and functional manner.\u00a0 That means ensuring that you can communicate clearly with a non-technical audience and explain something in brief.\u00a0 You will want to be both accurate and succinct.\u00a0 Certainly from the perspective of applying policy correctly, you want to make sure that you aren\u2019t caught up on details that you forget that policy will apply to the organic manner in which players actually play the game.\u00a0 And it will help you get a better picture of where things fall in the large grey area between these two concepts.<\/p>\n

One thing all judges need to be able to do is to understanding the difference between \u201cthe rules\u201d and \u201crulings\u201d.\u00a0 As experts, Level 3 judges always need to make sure to understand the \u201chow\u201d and \u201cwhy\u201d of various rules or policies.\u00a0 If you do not understand a \u201cruling\u201d that you read about, make sure to review the rules or policies and see how such a ruling was possible.\u00a0 In some cases, it could mean there is a critical fact that hasn\u2019t been communicated.\u00a0 In other cases, it\u2019s because the story about the \u201cruling\u201d is just plain wrong.\u00a0 Being able to spot the reasons \u201cwhy\u201d is a big part of being an expert, especially whether something is a correct ruling or not.<\/p>\n

Another thing that you can do to become an expert is to discuss the \u201chows\u201d and \u201cwhys\u201d of rules or policies.\u00a0 Rather than focus on specific interactions and scenarios, work through why the rule or policy is the way it is.\u00a0 Why do we have a timestamp order?\u00a0 Why are the steps to casting a spell set up the way they are? \u00a0Why do we need to identify the \u201caffected object or player\u201d when determining how multiple prevention\/replacement effects work?\u00a0 Being able to understand how the layout of these documents work, and even the order to some of these processes, can help provide real insight into why the documents are set up the way they are–even something as simple as why we have different categories of Game Play Error infractions.<\/p>\n

<\/p>More specific ways to study, to just keep practicing the basic elements to build on your rules and policy knowledge, include developing your own flashcards or running your own classes or seminars to teach rules or policy knowledge.\u00a0 Why do I recommend developing your own flashcards or seminars?\u00a0 Because teaching is often a very good way to really learn the rules or policies to an expert level.\u00a0 Certainly you can continue to use the resources developed by others, but developing your own resources can go a long way to cementing your knowledge of those rules and policies, as well as putting out materials that might serve unmet needs in your local community.\u00a0 Having to think through how someone else might learn is a good way to empathize with how a potential judge candidate might need to develop a skill or knowledge of a concept.\u00a0 And it will help you practice different approaches to explain that skill or concept.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Practice Exams to Utilize<\/b><\/h1>\n

As a Level 3 candidate, you will have the full range of practice exams to use.\u00a0 Certainly you should aim for the more challenging exams, such as the Hard Practice, Policy Practice, and even the L2 Practice exams.\u00a0 All three of those still have material that may be relevant to you as you study, especially the material from the Hard Practice exam that you may have previously ignored when it wasn\u2019t a subject that could appear on your Level 2 exam.\u00a0 Rather than aim to just get 7 or more correct, raise your expectation such that a satisfactory score is getting no more than 1 or 2 questions incorrect.\u00a0 Make sure that you\u2019ve reviewed the explanations, to understand precisely why you got a question correct or incorrect.\u00a0 If you guessed and got lucky, don\u2019t consider yourself familiar with the subject; the Level 3 exam questions are challenging enough that blind guesses won\u2019t be enough to help you.\u00a0 And certainly it will not help you with the interview.<\/p>\n

<\/p>You can also review the results of your Level 2 exam, and make sure to go over the explanations to those questions.\u00a0 Really analyze the answers and provided citations.\u00a0 In many cases, there is a fine point to a rule that you will need to make sure you understand, especially for more detailed situations where the focus will be on how one keyword ability works differently than another keyword ability.\u00a0 How is hexproof different than shroud?\u00a0 How are both different from protection?\u00a0 How might an \u201cevent\u201d be treated differently by one triggered ability versus another?\u00a0 Why is a situation considered Drawing Extra Cards versus Improper Drawing at Start of Game?\u00a0 Or even why it should be Looking at Extra Cards?<\/p>\n

Lastly, there is the L3 Assessment exam.\u00a0 While it is important to score an 80% or better on the exam as part of your checklist, recognize that the L3 Assessment exam features content that used to be on the Level 3 exam.\u00a0 As such, it is a very good indication of the kinds of questions you need to prepare for.\u00a0 Use it to guide your studies and ensure that you have a good understanding of the rules or policies on which you were tested.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t enough to just score an 80% on the L3 Assessment exam, as that is a marginal score that is the lowest accepted as passing; you will want to ensure that your score is considerably higher.\u00a0 Remember, making simple mistakes is a very real possibility when you sit the exam, and you will want to ensure that your aim for 90% or better on the actual Level 3 exam.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/h1>\n

Since the focus of both the Level 3 exam and the interview is to ensure that you have expert level rules and policy knowledge, you will want to strive to improve your knowledge as much as possible.\u00a0 Not just with knowing obscure rulings, but really understanding the heart of our policies when it comes to sanctioned events.\u00a0 Being able to reason a particularly difficult ruling is a good skill to master, as is being able to explain your ruling.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t about knowing obscure rulings, but more about being able to understand the reasons behind the rules and policies, because, in many cases, these corners aren\u2019t even strictly \u201cright\u201d or \u201cwrong\u201d.\u00a0 Be sure to strike a balance between your technical understanding of rules or policies with that practical application.\u00a0 Make sure that your knowledge has progressed beyond the point of just being able to get a passing score on the exam, but being able to demonstrate that knowledge in front of your future peers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

L3 Bryan Schenck continues the L3 Qualities series with insight into what Rules & Policy mastery means.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":2244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[37,112],"tags":[98,99,83,84,27,85,26],"language":[180],"class_list":["post-1002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education_development","category-l3_qualities","tag-brian-schenck","tag-knowledge","tag-l3","tag-level-3","tag-policy","tag-qualities","tag-rules","language-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1002"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2243,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions\/2243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1002"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=1002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}