This weekend in Texas, we have three new judges to Welcome to the Fold!
Kyle Hilliar
- Name: Kyle Hilliar
- Level: Level 1
- Location: San Antonio, Texas, United States of America
- Region: USA – South
- Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September ’94
- L1 Certification Date: June 17, 2017
- Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Kird Ape
- Occupation: Restaurant Manager
- Random fact about yourself: I’ve been a competitive sports official since i was 12
- What excites you most about this event?: It’s my first gp as a judge!
- What worries you most about this event?: It’s my first gp as a judge…
- What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Finding mentors to help guide me through the process of learning and growing.
- How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I’ve traveled all over south Texas just to network and gain experiences
- What is your favorite Magic memory?: Grand Prix Vegas 2015, the convention atmosphere… It reset the hook and drew out my passion for Magic again
Preston May
- Name: Preston May
- Level: Level 2
- Location: Irving, Texas, United States of America
- Region: USA – South
- Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 1998
- L1 Certification Date: January 29, 2015
- Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Suppression Field
- Occupation: Software Developer
- Random fact about yourself: My first programming job was for a speed dating website
- Who are your mentors?: Josh McCurley, Jim Shuman
- What is your favorite Magic memory?: Having Crosis, Darigaaz, and Dromar in play at the same time off Dragon Arch
Carl Richmond
- Name: Carl Richmond
- Level: Level 1
- Location: Sherwood, Arkansas, United States of America
- Region: USA – South
- Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 2013
- Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: My favorite card has been Notion Thief ever since I first saw LSV play it in VSL.
- Occupation: Full time College student, studying Computer Science
- Random fact about yourself: I’m also a basic rank Pokèmon Professor
- Why did you become a judge?: I wanted to be more active in my community, and I’ve always been good with the rules.
- What excites you most about this event?: I’m excited to meet a lot of new people and to see a lot of awesome games of magic.
- What worries you most about this event?: I’m always worried that I won’t be able to do what I’m expected to do.
- What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I’m hoping to learn how to function at such a large scale event.
- Who are your mentors?: Nathaniel Thompson and Travis Perusich, the two L2s in my area.
- What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I still have some troubles with IPG, so I’m focusing on that for now.
- How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Studying and asking questions.
- What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The mixing of our casual players and our more competitive players. Its always nice when a legacy player walks over and gives someone some advice on their casual deck.
- What is your favorite Magic memory?: I have so many, and can’t think of any of them.