{"id":540,"date":"2013-05-14T14:04:09","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T14:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/?p=540"},"modified":"2016-09-29T15:38:54","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T15:38:54","slug":"murphys-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/2013\/05\/14\/murphys-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Murphy&#8217;s Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><div class=\"wp-caption alignnone judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/88995985\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=88995985&size=200 alt=\"Written by\u00a0Niko Skartvedt\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Written by\u00a0Niko Skartvedt<\/p><\/div><\/em><\/p>\n<h1>A guide to what could go wrong when it&#8217;s up to you to hold it together<\/h1>\n<p><p><img  style='float:right'  class='lems-mtg-cardimg' src='http:\/\/gatherer.wizards.com\/Handlers\/Image.ashx?size=small&type=card&name=Impending Disaster'><\/p>This article was inspired by my experiences at PAX where I got to be Head Judge all weekend.\u00a0 It will cover many of the little things most judges don&#8217;t think about, or sometimes forget. Some of these things are the TO&#8217;s responsibility, but occasionally they are busy or need to rely on our professionalism.\u00a0 This can be used for a small event, a PTQ, or a weekend convention with 25 scheduled events.\u00a0 All of these are things that will go wrong.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Way Before the event<\/span>:<\/h2>\n<p>Make sure the event is advertised, and advertised correctly.\u00a0 Players should know when and where it is, how much it will cost, what format it is, and approximate prizes.\u00a0 It is hard to run an event when half your players show up an hour late because the facebook event was typed wrong.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Before the event<\/span>:<\/h2>\n<p>On the morning of the event, the Head Judge can show up one-and-a-half to two hours before the event and go through a quick checklist to prepare for the day.\u00a0 Hopefully the store will open for you.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Table Numbers<\/b>:\u00a0 Setting up is easier when no one is there yet.\u00a0 Make sure the order is intuitive, and if you have some in another room, make signs to direct the players.\u00a0 Snaking is good.\u00a0 Also, people will steal these (especially if you are expecting 840 players or more) and put garbage inside the numbers.<\/li>\n<li><b>Chairs<\/b>:\u00a0 Make sure there are chairs for every table.\u00a0 Set up seats for 25% more than you expect, and be prepared to set out more.\u00a0 Make sure there is a 24 hour restaurant nearby for the top-8.<\/li>\n<li><b>Judge Station<\/b>:\u00a0 Have an area for judges to perform deck-checks, and make sure it has chairs at the beginning of the tournament.\u00a0 They will disappear in round 3.<\/li>\n<li><b>Registration<\/b>:\u00a0 There should be a system for registration.\u00a0 Sometimes the players pay, then go to the tournament area and enter their DCI number.\u00a0 If your system is not working well, make it better.\u00a0 See appendix one.<\/li>\n<li><b>DCI Look-up<\/b>:\u00a0 Have a separate DCI look-up computer.\u00a0 When the Tournament area does not have internet, *download the database before the event*.<\/li>\n<li>Have new <b>DCI cards<\/b> available.<\/li>\n<li><b>Paper<\/b>:\u00a0 Have a printer, paper for it, and a paper cutter (scissors are slightly better than a pocket knife).\u00a0 Your printer will also run out of ink.<\/li>\n<li><b>Pens<\/b>:\u00a0 Players will steal these, and judges will need them.\u00a0 Make sure you are well stocked.<\/li>\n<li><b>Product<\/b>:\u00a0 If it is a limited event, have the product out and arranged into sets of the correct number (be it Sealed, 2HG, Team Sealed, Draft, or Giddyup Turnstyle Flying Octopi).\u00a0 Have Promo cards and other special prizes ready to be distributed.\u00a0 When you run out, know where to get more.\u00a0 Also know where the next closest store is.<\/li>\n<li><b>Lands<\/b>:\u00a0 Have a basic land station, and make sure it is well stocked.\u00a0 It will run out during the day, except the islands.<\/li>\n<li><b>Garbage<\/b>: Having a garbage can at the end of every table is a really good idea.<\/li>\n<li><b>Clock<\/b>:\u00a0 Have a round clock that is visible for the players, and in the case of multiple tournaments at the venue, judges with watches.\u00a0 You will forget to start this every other round.<\/li>\n<li><b>PA System<\/b>:\u00a0 It&#8217;s nice when the players can hear you.\u00a0 Make every announcement twice.\u00a0 Be warned, though: they still won&#8217;t listen.<\/li>\n<li><b>Note Cards<\/b>:\u00a0 Be skilled at running an event by hand.\u00a0 Keep your round slips organized.\u00a0 Your computer will crash in round 5.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Right before the event<\/span>:<\/h2>\n<p>Your staff should have arrived by now, and that guy that&#8217;s late is bringing coffee.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Teams<\/b>:\u00a0 Some events work well with teams, some without.\u00a0 The usual teams are Logistics, Paper, and Deck Checks.\u00a0 If you have lots of judges and Logisting to do, then you can have a Floor team as well.\u00a0 Even if you don&#8217;t have teams, you should have one person in charge of each of these areas to make sure the tasks are done.\u00a0 Remind your crew of the basic responsibilities, and know the strengths and weaknesses of each judge. (See appendix 2)<\/li>\n<li><b>Testing<\/b>: If anyone is testing today, they will take one round to write, and one round for the interview.\u00a0 You will not be able to find them at the start of the round they are testing.\u00a0 Count on being short one judge for that round and two judges for the interview.\u00a0 Judges do better on tests after they have eaten lunch.<\/li>\n<li><b>Lunches<\/b>: No one will want to go for lunch in round 2, but everyone will be starving in round 3.\u00a0 Make sure the lunches are staggered and no one dies (or kills).\u00a0 Don&#8217;t forget your scorekeeper, or the person running the drafts in the other room.\u00a0 You will <i>want<\/i> to take your lunch last.\u00a0 You don&#8217;t have to do that.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">During the event<\/span>:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b><p><img  style='float:right'  class='lems-mtg-cardimg' src='http:\/\/gatherer.wizards.com\/Handlers\/Image.ashx?size=small&type=card&name=Lost Hours'><\/p>Speech<\/b>:\u00a0 In writing your speech, keep it short. \u00a0You only have their attention for 45 seconds, beginning 15 seconds after you start talking.\u00a0 If you pause for more that 3 seconds, you lose them.\u00a0 There are only three things you have to say:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li>Your name<\/li>\n<li>REL<\/li>\n<li>Number of players and rounds<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Everything else is either gravy or in the TO&#8217;s speech, but you can also include: house rules, prizes, cut, appeals, pass if sealed, or \u201cCount your list\u201d if constructed.<\/p>\n<p>Practice your speech.\u00a0 More importantly, practice the transitions from one bullet to the next.\u00a0 This is where most pauses take place.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Limited reg<\/b>: If limited and there is a pass, think about how you will do this before you start talking.\u00a0 Especially in team sealed.\u00a0 Again, think about everything before you start talking.<\/li>\n<li>Do not have the HJ <b>call the draft<\/b>.\u00a0 There will be an investigation in pack two.<\/li>\n<li>Before, <b>WER<\/b> had some problems with:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8211;Starting a tournament at a table number other than one<br \/>\n&#8211;Seating 2HG teams<br \/>\n&#8211;Seating the child with polio in the same seat every round<br \/>\n&#8211;Setting the margins on the pairings so as not to cut off two people per page<br \/>\n&#8211;Something new you will discover every tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Keep these in mind.\u00a0 Writing \u201cAdd 50 to your table number\u201d can help.\u00a0 Writing \u201cAdd 47 to your table number\u201d will not.\u00a0 Remember the margins! Oh good, you got that.\u00a0 But you forgot the child with polio.<\/p>\n<p>Players do not need to be reminded about 2HG rules.\u00a0 They will play and have fun.\u00a0 If they have a question, they will ask.\u00a0 And you will probably get it wrong.\u00a0 No worries, it&#8217;s regular REL.<\/p>\n<p>Remember to make sweeps to check <b>lands<\/b>, <b>chairs<\/b>, and <b>garbage<\/b> every other round.<\/p>\n<p><b><p><img  style='float:right'  class='lems-mtg-cardimg' src='http:\/\/gatherer.wizards.com\/Handlers\/Image.ashx?size=small&type=card&name=Exhaustion'><\/p>Go Home!<\/b>\u00a0 Your judges will not tell you when they are exhausted.\u00a0 They would rather pass out on the floor than admit &#8216;weakness&#8217;.\u00a0 It is your job to get them to stop judging when they are hurting or hurting the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Well, your tournament is over, and the players are thankful.\u00a0 Things did not go perfectly, but you learned a lot.\u00a0 There are no bad experiences, just more material.\u00a0 Go home and teach others about tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Appendix 1<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>SCG events and GPs have you pay and type in your DCI number at the same spot.\u00a0 In a store, you don&#8217;t always have cash next to the reg computer.\u00a0\u00a0 You can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have the players write their name and DCI on a reg sheet, and have staff initial when they pay, and run the paper between the two locations.<\/li>\n<li>Give the players slips, and when they pay it gets stamped.\u00a0 Then the players take the stamped slip to the reg computer.\u00a0 At least 3 will forget it in their pocket.<\/li>\n<li>Trust that the players paid.<\/li>\n<li>Something better.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whichever method you use, post a player list and have them double check that they are in the event.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Appendix 2<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Logistics<\/b>:\u00a0 This team is responsible for everything outlined above, and checking on those areas throughout the tournament.\u00a0 Also End of Round procedure.<\/li>\n<li><b>Paper<\/b>:\u00a0 Paper team is responsible for posting pairings and standings somewhere that is easily accessible and won&#8217;t get confused with another event.\u00a0 (They should also take them down.)\u00a0 Paper team should hand out result slips, and have decklists for limited events.<\/li>\n<li><b>Deck Checks<\/b>:\u00a0\u00a0 DC Team Lead is in charge of the deck checks: start-of-round and mid-round.\u00a0 During a tournament, we try to check at least 10% of the crowd, and we aim for 20-25%.\u00a0 This breaks down as: 100 players, 8 rounds, 2 checks in each of round 2-7, sneaky check in round 1 (if you have the people; they&#8217;ll never see it coming), ears and eyes open for collusion and bribery in round 8.\u00a0 Have a master player list so you can make sure you have everyone&#8217;s decklist.\u00a0 Sucks to get to the top-8 and be missing an important one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Special thanks to:<\/h2>\n<p><span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/117899' ><a href=\"http:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/MacPhee\/\">Mike Macphee<\/a><\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=117899&size=200'><\/span><\/span>, <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/49545168' ><a href=\"http:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/MaxKnowlan\/\">Max Knowlan<\/a><\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=49545168&size=200'><\/span><\/span>, <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/50581166' ><a href=\"http:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/tshields\/\">Tim Shields<\/a><\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=50581166&size=200'><\/span><\/span>, <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/1202703154' ><a href=\"http:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/William\/\">Will Laycraft<\/a><\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=1202703154&size=200'><\/span><\/span>, <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/99629346' ><a href=\"http:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/WildRyc\/\">Kyle Ryc<\/a><\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=99629346&size=200'><\/span><\/span>, Marc Payment, <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/89987180' ><a href=\"http:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/GrifterMage\/\">Callum Milne<\/a><\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=89987180&size=200'><\/span><\/span>, &amp; <span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/146670' ><a href=\"http:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/Carter\/\">John Carter<\/a><\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=146670&size=200'><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>L3 Niko Skartvedt prepares you for everything that will go wrong at your tournament and provides insight for proactively managing disaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":2277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[37,9],"tags":[190,166,191],"language":[180],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education_development","category-events","tag-niko-skartvedt","tag-planning","tag-preparation","language-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540","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=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3531,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions\/3531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}