On that particular Wednesday, Toby and I arrived by train in Utrecht about halfway in the afternoon. For some reason the brand of beer we wanted to get on the way was sold out and when we arrived we heard the frustrated voiced of Mark, the owner of “het Lab” who was trying to assemble the majestic-looking constructs for the Kaladesh pre-release. Even with the help of two players it didn’t seem to go according to plan. What an afternoon already…

When more of our fellow judges arrived we started looking for something to do. “You’ve never played Judge Tower?” Toby asked with disbelief and a little while later we were playing some hardcore Magic with warnings hitting us in the face one after the other. When everyone had arrived we got down to the real business. Kenny tried out his seminar about communication, outside assistance and coaching players while answering questions as a judge. A very refreshing and intriguing subject which resulted in a discussion with creative examples. I feel we all learned from this exercise.

After dinner we split up and while some people got together to talk more about giving reviews, we played Magic and other games with old friends and got to know some new faces. We had a lot of fun and new friendships were made.

Unfortunately all great things come to an end and when the hours grew in number our group decreased and after farewells I had to take the train home.

Hope to see you at the next Dutch Judge Dinner!