Suspended Players Page Updated

The Suspended Players list has been updated!  No real news of note here. If you do encounter a player that you know should be on the list, but isn’t showing up in your WER, make sure you’re using the current version of Wizards Event Reporter.

Invite to International Magic Judge Discord

Everyone is invited to join the Magic Judge Discord. Discord is a chat system for easy communication. If you’re familiar with Slack, imagine that, but much better! Check out the forum thread here for the full rundown or if you’re already an internet wizard and want to jump right in, follow this link to join.

Exemplar Wave 10 Open

Well Magic Judge folks, we reached double digits on the Exemplar Waves. The program continues to improve and make adjustments! This wave ends on August 1st. Don’t let it sneak up on your without recommending the awesome Judges that you work with at events.

From the PC Desk

Some great news from the Program Coordinator desk. A couple new spheres, Learning and Coaching, are the result of dividing the Education sphere to spread out the work load. Also, big news for Level 1 Judges who are looking to reach Level 2 and are missing that Competitive REL requirement. Check it out!

Judge Article and Blog Posts May 2017

1. Articles: The Spheres Explained, From the PC Desk, April & May 2017, JOTW Exemplar Edition Wave 8
2. Judge Conferences: The Card Counting Challenge, Updates to Conference Support – May 2017, Updates to Conference Support – May 2017 – Errata! and Aalborg Judge/Player Conference 2017
3. GP Travel Guides: GP Copenhagen 2017, GP Amsterdam 2017 and GP Las Vegas 2017
4. The Feedback Loop: Feedback for New L2s, Accepting Feedback: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Part 1) , Flash Feedback Cards, Feedbag #14: There’s an Apps for That and Accepting Feedback: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Part 2)
5. Knowledge Pool: Respect the Authority, Seeing Red, Scefet’s Special, Straight from the Mouth and It’s an AEther Miracle!
6. Judgecast: # 172 – Amonkhet Policy Updates and #173 – On This Episode, Replace Episode 45
7. Journey of discovery: Test-Taking Tips, Interview With New L2 Duncan McGregor, Five Development Tips for L2 Advancement and Interview with New L2 Jon Munck
8. Other blogs: The Panda Project, Just a Little WordPress Judge Blog, Magic Rules Tips, Judge Games, Ask a Magic Judge. More judge blogs you can find at Blog Portal

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

Happy Anniversary! May 2017

Congratulations to 5 and 10-year-old Judges all around the world! Also, a big round of applause for  our featured judges, Isa Grieb- Flues, Lasse Jensen, Sergio Pérez Marcos, Teun Zijp, Gianluca Bonacchi, Louis Fernandes and David Zimet!

Judge of the Week May 2017

• 207 Julio Sosa L3 from  Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 208 Martha Lufkin L2 from Rockville, MD
• 209 JOTW Exemplar Edition Wave 8
• 210 Meg Rickman L1 from Virginia Beach, VA
• 211 Bruna Chiochetta L2 from Porto Alegre, Brazil

Judging While Not on Duty

What to do if the Head Judge of a Regular REL tournament is not around and players turn to you for their rules calls, even though you are only playing or passing by? This will vary from store to store, generally it’s okay to take the call, however ensure the HJ is aware of what happened. Full discussion on the blog.

Judge Apps Share Review Function

Thoughts and opinions on  a new feature which has been added into Judge Apps- a possibility to share all (not some of)  your reviews with another user. Read all about the pros and cons of this handy option, but bear in mind the private content.

Late Players

An ever popular topic, enrolling late players in Regular or Competitive REL events. As Andy Heckt put it:” Not randomly doing pairings (or repeatedly randomly pairing results until you get a result you like) is tournament fraud and can, has, and will result in penalties upon those in collusion.” So, think twice next time a pair of players arrive late and starts playing against each other, the next late player will feel awkward.

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

[expand title=”1. From the FAQ: If you discard a card with madness but don’t cast it, Shadow of the Grave can find it in your graveyard. If you do cast that card, Shadow of the Grave can’t find it in your graveyard.”]
A: So with madness you discard a card into exile and then a triggered ability allows you to cast it, or if it’s not cast it’s put into its owner’s graveyard. So I’m questioning how Shadow of the Grave can find the card if they choose not to cast it. My reasoning on why I don’t believe it should be found is because when it leaves exile and goes to the graveyard it becomes a new object with no relation to the object that used to be in exile.
Thanks to this shiny new rule, if the madness card isn’t cast via its madness trigger, the Shadow will be able to return it to your hand.
400.7i After resolving a madness triggered ability (see rule 702.34), if the exiled card wasn’t cast and was moved to a public zone, effects referencing the discarded card can find that object.
Approved by Nathan Long.
[/expand]

[expand title=”2.What is the cost of flashback for a split card now, with Snapcaster Mage targeting Fire//Ice?”]
A: That’s actually covered by this shiny new rule (as of the Amonkhet update):

702.1b An effect that grants an object a keyword ability may define a variable in that ability based on characteristics of that object or other information about the game state. For these abilities, the value of that variable is constantly reevaluated.
Example: Volcano Hellion has the ability “Volcano Hellion has echo {X}, where X is your life total.” If your life total is 10 when Volcano Hellion’s echo ability triggers but 5 when it resolves, the echo cost to pay is {5}.
Example: Fire//Ice is a split card whose halves have the associated mana costs {1}{R} and {1}{U}. Past in Flames reads “Each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost.” Fire//Ice has “Flashback {2}{U}{R}” while it is in your graveyard, but if you choose to cast Fire, the resulting spell has “Flashback {1}{R}.”

So it behaves like it behaved before. If you want to flashback Boom, it will cost 1R, not 6RR.
Approved by Nathan Long.

Snapcaster Mage

[/expand]

[expand title=”3.Does Doomwake giant maintain its constellation ability long enough to trigger off of a Humility coming into play?”]
A: It does not. As described in CR603.10, immediately after Humility enters the battlefield, the game checks for any active triggered abilities that need to trigger off of that event occurring. Since Humility is on the battlefield, its ability is active, so Doomwake giant therefore does not have any abilities that could trigger.
Approved by Callum Milne

[/expand]

[expand title=”4.  Andrew attacks with Watchful Naga, and says ‘exert’. Player N moves to blocks, and they trade creatures. Then Andrew remembers that he didn’t draw, does he get to draw the card now? Is exert a missed trigger?”]
A: Andrew didn’t draw the card “before taking any game actions … that can be taken only after the triggered ability should have resolved” – classic case of Missed Trigger.

If Andrew had interrupted Nathan’s block by saying “oh, I get to draw”, he’d be fine. Once he allows or acknowledges the block, he’s moved past the point where the trigger should have resolved.
Approved by Scott Marshall.
Watchful Naga

[/expand]

[expand title=”5. AP has Thalia, Heretic Cathar. AP play Blood Crypt untapped saying “Untap In.” NAP immediately says “I have Thalia, so it should be tapped.” and calls a judge.”]
A: What I would do, is back up the illegal action – putting the land in play untapped – but AP has paid 2 life to do something that isn’t going to turn out how they wanted, and that part is legal.
Approved by Scott Marshall.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Blood Crypt
[/expand]

One Player, Two Byes

It might sometimes happen that the same player gets two byes in a tournament. It is a consequence of the interaction of pairing algorithms with very small tournaments and it is good to know how to deal with such a situation should it come up.

Submitting Failed Advancement Reviews

Currently there is an issue with Judge Apps when submitting a Failed Advancement Review. Read here to see what the best course of action is to deal with this.

Incorrect Level on Judge Apps

And still on the topic of Advancement Reviews, when importing data from Judge Center, a judge level might remain unchanged, despite the review having taken place. This is due to the fact that the new level needs to also be updated on Judge Apps. More info here.

Two PPTQs per Month

Recently, the question has come up whether a store would actually be allowed to hold two PPTQ’s in the same month. The answer is in the relevant forum thread.

Team Booster Draft Running and Sanctioning

If you are in need of documentation for running a Team Booster Draft and would like to find out details regarding the sanctioning of such events, please read up here.

Find out which Judge Conferences, Grand Prix and SCG Opens have available worldwide staffing positions! You still have time to apply for Grand Prix São Paulo 2017 and the SoCal Judge Meeting.

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

Public projects such as 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!