Grand Prix Indianapolis 2018

| Io Hughto

We keep rolling into the new year with six new judges to Welcome to the Fold!

Renee Buhr

  • Name: Renee Buhr
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Bloomington, Minnesota
  • Region: USA – North
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September 25, 2010
  • L1 Certification Date: March 5, 2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The people. The judge community is like a second family I found myself. It’s great. Favorite card is anything with Jace on it.
  • Occupation: Relationship Banker
  • Random fact about yourself: I rode horses for 11 years and I have a tattoo of one on my back.
  • Why did you become a judge?: After playing for a while I got really interested in how the rules work. After looking into it, I found the judge program and the people in it are what motivated me to keep going.
  • What excites you most about this event?: The staff. The list of awesome judges on this event really excited me. There’s a great mixed of people I know and people I’d like to know better.
  • What worries you most about this event?: The recent events in the community make me worry that a bunch of people will back out and we will end up short staffed for the GP. I hope that I am wrong, but it is definitely a concern of mine.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Being female in the world of Magic is a challenge that has become much less hard recently. When I first came into contact with the judge program it was almost unheard of to be female and in a leadership role. Recently, I have felt challenged by the fact that I am always in a customer service roles and being taken seriously as a judge in that role is hard sometimes.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I recently joined the Collected Company project which has been great for overcoming the challenges associated with being a female judge. I am also working on a presentation for an upcoming mini conference to touch on how a judge is a judge no matter what capacity they are working in.

Shane Congrove

  • Name: Shane Congrove
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Chillicothe, Ohio
  • Region: USA – Great Lakes
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 11/2000 Invasion Block
  • L1 Certification Date: July 14, 2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: GW Hexproof
  • Occupation: Teacher
  • Random fact about yourself: I collect POPS
  • Why did you become a judge?: To explore Magic from another aspect
  • What excites you most about this event?: To experience Magic on a grand scale
  • What worries you most about this event?: My self confidence
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: What would be the next step in my judging life
  • Who are your mentors?: Brian Rapp, Ethan Greenberger
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Gaining the most out over every situation and experience
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Reflected upon my current situations and how they could have went different
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: How we can still enjoy ourselves outside of the game of Magic
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Completing my first Legacy deck

Dalton Grimes

  • Name: Dalton Grimes
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
  • Region: USA – Great Lakes
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September, 2013
  • L1 Certification Date: September 15, 2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: That each game you play is an entirely unique experience.
  • Occupation: After-School Care Director
  • Random fact about yourself: I am an amateur alter artist.
  • Why did you become a judge?: I saw my friend almost get lawyer-ed out of a win at an FNM, and I wanted to be able to make a ruling for the call with confidence.
  • What excites you most about this event?: Being able to work an event that I know my friends are participating in is pretty great.
  • What worries you most about this event?: Unfortunately, I am not judging this event, and I am just working Support. I am worried that CFB might keep me in this role in future GPs, as opposed to being out on the floor.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I want to learn what it takes to work registration for a large-scale event, as this will help me when I become an L2 for PPTQs.
  • Who are your mentors?: Patrick Cobley, Marcos Sanchez, and David Elden
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I find that I do not always have the time to dedicate to the program, as I am currently trying to find a full time position since graduating from college.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I am prioritizing the Pre-Release event for Rivals and signing up for as many tournaments as I can, making sure I can fit them into my schedule.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: My community focuses on having fun and learning. I can’t think of a single “Spike” that plays at my store, so I am always able to have fun and try new things.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: In 2014, my best friend Nick (who also taught me how to play) gave me a card, Marchesa, the Black Rose. He told me he would help me build an EDH deck around it, and I have worked to improve that deck ever since. Everytime I play it, there is a part of him playing with me.

Uri Hershkovitz

  • Name: Uri Hershkovitz
  • Level: Level 2
  • Location: Akron, Ohio
  • Region: USA – Great Lakes
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Late 2002, Onslaught block.
  • L1 Certification Date: April 20, 2016
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: My favorite deck is legacy elves (so good!), but my real passion about magic is the personal interactions and friendships it has created for me and others. My favorite card is Riku of Two Reflections!
  • Occupation: Israeli emissary to the Jewish communities of Akron and Canton, Ohio.
  • Random fact about yourself: I was once attacked by a koala bear.
  • Why did you become a judge?: I actually served as a judge in many local community events long before becoming a judge, and it was a natural step for me once someone suggested it. The judge community in Israel (my home country) has had a great spike of development around 2016, and that was also when this path opened up for me. It’s also an outlet for me to do cool things in Magic without grinding events online to try and get to premier events, as there is a shortage of competitive outlets in the magic scene there due to the community’s size.
  • What excites you most about this event?: It’s my FIRST EVENT! I’ve never worked with a large team of judges, or had so many players I’m responsible for. There are a ton of teams that I can learn there ins and outs of, and generally immerse myself in Magic for three days wholeheartedly!
  • What worries you most about this event?: Because I’m new, I know that there’s a lot that I don’t know, and I want to make sure that I’m not a burden on my team(s), and that I am in top shape for the players. I hope (and believe) I’m up for it, but it’s definitely on my mind.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: First, I want to learn how to handle myself in such a large event and with other judges working together. I also want to end the event feeling like I got the most out of my time with each team I’m on ( I asked for a different team for each day so I can learn as much as I can ). Lastly, I know that there are differences in norms of communications and social interactions between countries, so I hope to be more knowledgeable buy the end of the event regarding this and not step on anyone’s toes during.
  • Who are your mentors?: My mentor, since I’ve started working towards becoming a judge, and still to this day (even though we can only talk digitally now) is Yuval Tzur, who’s the CC for Israel. He’s a great guy, has a lot to teach, and is a real role-model (if you can handle his humor!).
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: it must be seeing one of my best friends (whom I’ve met via the game) win a WMCQ in Israel, after we worked long and hard on testing and tuning his deck. It was a hard matchup, and he played to his outs and was rewarded, winning with a tech that we added to the deck specifically for the matchup. He then flew to represent Israel in the WMC and they came in the top 32! That’s really cool.

Nate Metz

  • Name: Nate Metz
  • Level: Level 2
  • Location: Kent, Ohio
  • Region: USA – Great Lakes
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September 2013
  • L1 Certification Date: February 21, 2016
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Vintage Cube on MTGO currently.
  • Occupation: Sales and Incentive Analyst
  • Random fact about yourself: I use to play fighting games competitively. Street Fighter 4 and Marvel Vs Capcom 3 were my most played games.
  • Why did you become a judge?: Judging is another way to interact with a game I love. I get satisfaction in helping others have a fun time doing something they enjoy. Making sure there is a fair environment for everyone is definitely part of that.
  • What excites you most about this event?: I am fond of the organized chaos that is large events. GenCon was one of my favorite judging experiences last year mostly because of the coordination and logistical execution of my team.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I have Judged SCG events and GenCon as well as many store level events. I am hoping to get better at peer reviews and get more comfortable at larger events. I am fortunate to not have had a negative judging experience in my almost two years and I hope to continue that trend.
  • Who are your mentors?: David Incorvati

Brandon Miller

  • Name: Brandon Miller
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Dayton, Ohio
  • Region: USA – Great Lakes
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September 26, 2014
  • L1 Certification Date: March 26, 2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Being the bad guy
  • Occupation: Technical Support
  • Random fact about yourself: I have been given a burrito as a tip six different times.
  • Why did you become a judge?: Half greed, half laziness. Was interested in judging for judge foils, and began judging because I didn’t feel like playing Magic.
  • What excites you most about this event?: It’s my first GP!
  • What worries you most about this event?: Fire?
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I don’t know what I’m hoping to learn, as long as I learn something.
  • Who are your mentors?: Eric Searfos-Miller and Blake Smith
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Currently trying to get more comp REL experience
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Working on it one event at a time.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: There’s always Magic to be played any day of the week.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Going to my first GP and going to day 2 with UR Eldrazi (Eldrazi Winter)