{"id":17,"date":"2012-12-12T15:23:28","date_gmt":"2012-12-12T15:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/?p=17"},"modified":"2014-11-04T00:19:01","modified_gmt":"2014-11-04T00:19:01","slug":"when-judges-are-playing-not-judging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/2012\/12\/12\/when-judges-are-playing-not-judging\/","title":{"rendered":"When Judges are Playing, not Judging"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Written<\/a>

Written by Eric Shukan<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/h2>\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

While we all have our own reasons for judging, there is no question that we all enjoy playing Magic.\u00a0 However, our responsibilities as judges don\u2019t suspend while we play.\u00a0 In fact, once we earn the judge title, we are under the public\u2019s eye at all times during tournaments and even casual play.\u00a0 Players might still ask you questions when you\u2019re a player, but they will certainly observe your play style, and so your behavior will be continually scrutinized.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fact of judging, so get used to it!\u00a0 This article outlines four roles to think about while you are playing and not judging.<\/p>\n

Role 1: \u00a0You\u2019re a Player:\u00a0 Play to have fun, maybe play to win.<\/span><\/h2>\n

The roles to consider are these: \u00a0player, judge, role model, Magic representative.\u00a0 Each of these roles may appear in different amounts at different REL\u2019s and tourneys.\u00a0 I\u2019ll provide examples below.<\/p>\n

We play to have fun, of course, but how each of us derives the fun is a different matter.\u00a0 Some of us have fun by marveling at great plays and engaging in social camaraderie and discussion.\u00a0 We\u2019ll help our opponents out somewhat because we want to win with honor; we call this sporting behavior.\u00a0 Judges playing in Regular REL tourneys should strive for this ideal, because it leads to the most fun for the most people, and helps make the judge part of the player base.\u00a0 Players get to see that judges can be \u201cjust like them\u201d.\u00a0 You can be a player, a judge, and a role model, all at the same time.<\/p>\n

However, some of us judges are very competitive, and this is a good thing.\u00a0 If you are in a Competitive REL tournament, you\u2019re probably there to try to win, and yes, we have had several judges reach the Pro Tour.\u00a0 In this case, you certainly don\u2019t have to help your opponents strategically and no one expects you to, but you still have certain responsibilities as I\u2019ll explain in the next sections.\u00a0 The thing to remember is that you have every right to win that PTQ fairly as does any other player, so go for it!<\/p>\n

Role 2:\u00a0 You\u2019re a Judge:\u00a0 You have responsibility but no authority<\/span><\/h2>\n

While you are playing, you\u2019ll likely see lots of irregularities, both within your own match and within other matches.\u00a0 Like any player, you should summon a judge when you see a rule being broken during a game.\u00a0 It can be very tempting to try to explain to players what\u2019s going on and how to fix it, but in this case you have no authority to do so.\u00a0 You cannot make rulings and you should not perform your own investigations.\u00a0 This is an important idea:\u00a0 don\u2019t interfere with an official judge\u2019s investigation.\u00a0 By trying to gain information on your own, you may actually change what the players say and think and do.\u00a0 Bad.\u00a0 Notify an on-duty judge and give them the info, then let them handle it!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes on-duty judges will ask you for help.\u00a0 When they do, you can help them, but please be careful to speak only to the judge.\u00a0 As a player, you create a conflict of interest when you involve yourself in an active ruling, so your involvement should be limited to giving the judge advice about what information might be useful and what the documents say (IPG, MTR, CR).\u00a0 You should avoid giving your opinions about penalties and players\u2019 intent \u2013 these are for the on-duty judge to decide.\u00a0 Give that judge options, not opinions, and let him choose what option he feels is appropriate.\u00a0 Note that even after you drop from an event, this still applies.\u00a0 MTR 1.4 explicitly prohibits anyone who played in an event from performing judging\/administrative duties in that event (except for specific Regular tournaments).<\/p>\n

Role 3:\u00a0 You\u2019re a Role Model, Always<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sheldon Menery, one of our Judges Emeritus, used to say this in every judge meeting before every big tourney:\u00a0 be nice!\u00a0 It\u2019s a short phrase, but it means a lot.\u00a0 It means that we treat each other with dignity and respect and courtesy.\u00a0 It means that we try to help each other and teach each other.\u00a0 It means that we do our utmost to make sure that the entire community enjoys their experience.<\/p>\n

When you are a player and not judging, the players still identify you as a judge, and they will view your actions accordingly.\u00a0 They will watch your play style and communication, so try to be as sporting as you can, especially at Regular REL.\u00a0 They will watch your discussions between matches, so be pleasant and engaging.\u00a0 They will watch your shuffling technique, so shuffle completely and use various methods, and talk about it if they have questions.\u00a0 They will watch how you deal with play irregularities, so when you call for a judge, do it properly (loudly and keep your hand raised).\u00a0 They\u2019ll then watch how you interact with the judge, so don\u2019t use judgespeak like \u201cHe just did a GRV\u201d, but instead use normal language like \u201cThe bear died, but he didn\u2019t put it into the yard.\u201d<\/p>\n

In short, remember that you are \u201calways on\u201d.\u00a0 That\u2019s a phrase I use as a teacher to describe how I must appear to my students.\u00a0 Whether you are winning or losing, upset or feeling great, talking to a player or explaining a game state to a ruling judge, you will always be under the eye of the other players.\u00a0 So, be \u201calways on\u201d, because you are a role model for some players no matter what shirt you wear.<\/p>\n

Role 4:\u00a0 You\u2019re a Magic Judge Representative<\/span><\/h2>\n

You\u2019re a judge, right?\u00a0 You want to help, right?\u00a0 So, imagine how else you might help.\u00a0 An organizer might ask you a question between rounds.\u00a0 A player might approach you to learn about how to become a judge.\u00a0 Another judge might ask about a ruling you made last week or about a scenario on the judge forum.\u00a0 A dealer might ask about your judge foils and when you\u2019ll get more that he can trade for or buy.\u00a0 At high level events a media staff member might ask you a question or even want to take your picture (I hope you\u2019re in Day 2).<\/p>\n

All of these ideas and more are possible.\u00a0 You can answer, discuss, and help out whether you are wearing a judge shirt or not.\u00a0 But you ARE a player, too, and if you have other things to do than answer, just direct the person to an on-duty judge.\u00a0 Being nice doesn\u2019t mean giving all your time away.<\/p>\n

Without the shirt, you might be less conspicuous, but the community will still find you, either at the tables or between rounds.\u00a0 Get used to it \u2013 you ARE a judge after all!<\/p>\n

Eric Shukan<\/a><\/a><\/span><\/span>
\nMagic Judge L3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Shukan outlines four roles of judges to think about while you are playing and not judging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":2491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[3,41,4],"language":[180],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education_development","tag-eric-shukan","tag-playing","tag-roles","language-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17","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\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2493,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions\/2493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}