Standards Ban List Update

Standard receives another shake up as Felidar Guardian is dropped and fails to land on its feet. Players may ask why bans occur and Aaron Forsythe provides explanation that may help you help them understand the reasoning behind the late announcement. Felidar Guardian joins Smuggler’s Copter, Emrakul, the Promised End, and Reflector Mage on the standard ban list.

Suspended Players List

The Suspended Player List has been updated. The list is missing a few players that do not have a registered account, but they should still show up as suspended in WER. If you’re still concerned with a certain player and think they’re suspended and Event Reporter is not showing that correctly, contact investigations@wizards.com to verify a player’s status.

Program Coordinator Class of Spring 2017

A new Program coordinator has been selected! Riki Hayashi joins the ranks and his aim is on challenging areas that need improvement.  To see the full announcement and a vision message from Riki, check out this announcement.

Exemplar Changes and Highlights

Exemplar Wave 8 has wrapped up and the highlights from that are posted here. This is a good article if you’re seeking examples of what a good recommendation looks like. Also, some big changes in order for Wave 9, including faster delivery! Check out all the adjustments that are being made right here.

Judge Article and Blog Posts April 2017

1. Articles: How to Think About the New Combat Shortcut, Exemplar Metrics Europe-East
2. Battlefield Forge: Of Game Losses and Unexplained Harnessed Lightnings – GPT Manila at XHC Hobby Cafe and GP Pittsburgh Legacy SE Report
3. GP Travel Guides: GP Bologna 2017, GP Beijing 2017, PT Nashville 2017, GP Richmond Travel Guide, GP Montreal 2017, GP Santiago 2017 and GP Manila 2017
4. Flashcards: Comprehensive Rules updated
5. The Feedback Loop: Feedback Loop’s One-Year Anniversary!, Feedback From Players, Feedbag #13: Feedback on Sensitive Topics and Journey of Discovery: Part One
6. Knowledge Pool: Oath Of Whoops, The Lathnu Time I’ll Forget!, Slippery Serpopard and Making the Cut
7. Judgecast: JudgeCast #170 – New world of Grand Prix,  JudgeCast #171 – AlmondCat Release Notes
8. Journey of discovery: Casting Spells and Activating Abilities Part 3 of 3, Interview With New L2 Aukusti Koivu, Writing For Aspiring L2s and Interview with New L2 David Lachance-Poitras
9. Other blogs and streams: The Elvish Farmer, The Panda Project, The Good Judge, Magic Rules Tips,  A World of Magic. More judge blogs you can find at Blog Portal
10. Amonkhet: Amonkhet Quizlet, Amonkhet Two-Headed Giant Release Notes, Amonkhet 2HG Hidden Gems, Magic in Ten, Detrimental Triggers in Standard, HCE and Missed trigger Amonkhet Release Notes, Policy Changes for Amonkhet and April Magic Tournament Rules Release Notes

In case you would like to discuss an article, visit our Judge forum. Don’t forget to regularly check our Judge blog.

Happy Anniversary! April 2017

So many Judge anniversaries this month!  Go check out and congratulate any of the judges who’ve been with us so long!  This month’s features are:  Florian Horn, Eugene Bazhenov, and Stefan Ladstätter!  

Judge of the Week April 2017

#203 Lyle Dixon L2 from Salisbury, NC
#204 Riccardo Tessitori L3 from Latina, Italy
#205 Kalle Saleva L1 from Vantaa, Finland
#206 Todd Bussey L2 from Vancouver, BC, Canada

Curated Events

How should you act around a group of players that are all friends- more as a Judge or as a buddy?  Also introducing a relatively new concept of “curated” and “non-curated” events. Learn about the considerations for player and judge interactions in this vivid discussion.  

Judges as Parents

Join a discussion on being a parent at Magic events.  Some judges discuss ages and when it’s right to bring your child to FNMs!

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

[expand title=”1. Andy has no cards left in his library (milled into exile by Nancy’s Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger). Andy activates the first ability of his Chandra, Torch of Defiance. What will happen when the ability resolves?”]
A: Chandra’s ability checks to see if you cast the card. If nothing was exiled to Chandra’s ability (because your library was empty), then you did not cast anything, so Chandra’s ability will deal 2 damage to each opponent.

Approved by Nathan Long.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Chandra, Torch of Defiance
[/expand]

[expand title=”2. Player A has cast Collective Defiance, escalating once and choosing the first and third modes. On resolving, they discard two Fiery Tempers. Player B picks up his cards, assuming he’s about to take lethal damage from the tempers being cast through madness. Player B then begins to shuffle his deck to get ready for game 2 and says ‘Wait, you didn’t have enough mana open to cast those Fiery Tempers.’ and turns to me, expecting a solution.
What do you do?”]
A: At this point it would be a case of investigate and see if the player deliberately deceived their opponent.
Failing this though – the player has conceded by their own volition – it’s the players’ responsibility to confirm they are actually dead in this spot.

Approved by Scott Marshall.

Collective Defiance, Fiery Tempers
[/expand]

[expand title=”3. During a Sealed Deck PPTQ, after players have switched pools for pool registration, a player calls for a Judge and says they would like to drop. Which cards do they own?”]
A: Semantics, just a bit, but they do NOT get to keep the cards opened by someone else. They don’t “possess” those cards, they’re just performing a service.

Approved by Scott Marshall
[/expand]

[expand title=”4. A player draws his opening hand in this way : It draws 4 cards, looks at them and put them aside. Then he draws other 4 cards, looks at them and oops! Only then he realizes he took too many cards.
JUDGE!
Can we apply the MPE fix on the second set of 4 cards if both players agree that the two “sets” have been separated the whole time?
Or must the player show all 8 cards instead (which is what is supported by IPG)?”]
A: There is some potential for abuse with only applying it to some cards of the hand, and very little advantage gained from performing it on only 4 cards.

Approved by Scott Marshall.

[/expand]

WER Manual and WER Related Issues

Just in case you have been facing any issues related to WER, we would like to point you to a very comprehensive guide which clarifies many things. Alternatively, stores could always turn for help to their WPN rep, or contact Wizards CS directly.

Apps for iOS and Android

Do you believe there is a need for any new tech within the Judge Program that hasn’t yet been fulfilled and can be explored? If so, what is it?

Judge Center Online

We are sure that there are many judges wondering when the Judge Center will be back up online. There has been an indication that it will be back by end of May, hopefully sooner.

Find out which Judge Conferences, Grand Prix and SCG Opens have available worldwide staffing positions! You still have time to apply for Grand Prix Denver 2017 and the Europe – East Summer Conference 2017.

Check out the Grand Prix Solicitations and Selected Staffs for more details on individual tournaments.

Public projects such as The Panda Project, Presenters Training Team, Player Surveys, Mystical Tutor, MJM Translation, Judge Achievements, Flash Cards, Conference Guidelines and Policies and others are looking for help.
If you wish to get more out of your Judging experience and give back to the community, sign up to something that interests you!