Grand Prix Richmond 2018

| Io Hughto

With a double GP this weekend in Richmond, let’s double Welcome these judges to the Fold!

Timothy Pittenger

  • Name: Timothy Pittenger
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Flemington, New Jersey, United States of America
  • Region: USA – Northeast
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: August 2013
  • L1 Certification Date: December 10, 2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Civic Saber
  • Occupation: Scientist
  • Random fact about yourself: I once flew to Peru to meet a man I meet in the internet
  • Why did you become a judge?: I wanted to start helping the community that gave me so many opportunities.
  • What excites you most about this event?: I love to meet new people in new places.
  • What worries you most about this event?: The scale of this event seems intimidating.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I wish to further my knowledge about what it takes to become a great judge.
  • Who are your mentors?: Charles Featherer and Anthony (Krug) Hullings
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I lack some conviction when it comes to relaying information I know.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: By not allowing myself shy away from those situations.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The people. I have never meet a more supportive and trustworthy group.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: When I first started playing in tournaments I once cast a surgical extraction and removed 3 lighting bolts from my opponent’s hand.

Vona Rustay

  • Name: Vona Rustay
  • Pronouns She/her/hers
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Flemington, New Jersey, United States of America
  • Region: USA – Northeast
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September 2011
  • L1 Certification Date: July 29, 2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Magic is as much a game as it is a tool for people to express themselves and be a part of a community, and has been welcoming and wonderful and seeing people having fun with that is my favorite aspect of that.
  • Occupation: Just finished up as a day camp counselor , currently don’t have much going on.
  • Random fact about yourself: I have survived having my skull split open!
  • Why did you become a judge?: I became a judge for two main reasons. Firstly, I was already the de-facto rules expert at my local game store. People would come to me with questions about things and I would have the answers because I thought the mechanical intricacies of the game were fascinating, and I wanted to know more. Additionally, after playing at a few large events and seeing the work magic judges do, especially Grand Prix judges, to make things fun and welcoming for all, I thought “I wanna do that” and so I went about figuring out how to get here and now here we are.
  • What excites you most about this event?: I’m excited to be working my first GP! It’s kind of generic maybe but I’m psyched to be on the other side of the operation for a change and to bring some of the excitement that I felt at my first gp to players who will be having their first, second, or twenty-fifth gp experience!
  • Who are your mentors?: I wouldn’t be here, judging, if it wasn’t for the incredible work of 1 Charles Featherer. He has been an invaluable teaching resource as well as a connection to other judges and events, and an excellent person to reach out to for anything. Likewise, I wouldn’t be where I am without the work of Anthony Hullings, known better by many as Krug. Krug taught me the lessons that you probably wouldn’t learn in a judging class, the street smarts of working bigger events if you will. He put me through some of the most inane back-corner case scenarios to push me to learn more, then made me explain them to truly show I understood what I was saying. Without these two in my life, I certainly would not be anywhere close to where I am in the program.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Currently my biggest issue in judging is overcoming self-doubt. Oftentimes at events I’ll find myself second-guessing over things that I’m certain I know the answer to, or deferring to other judges on matters I’m learned in out of fear of the possibility of being wrong. It’s irrational and I feel it is holding me back from testing for L2 just because I don’t know if I’m ready, even though signs say that I am.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: The best thing I’ve had going for me in combatting this is to just keep judging! It sounds silly but if I keep doing things and those things are right, then that pesky self doubt has to go away eventually! The feedback I’ve gotten from judges I’ve worked with has also been invaluable in aiding me with this issue.

Brendan Thompson

  • Name: Brendan Thompson
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Elkins, West Virginia, United States of America
  • Region: USA – Midatlantic
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September 2013
  • L1 Certification Date: June 3, 2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Kess, Dissident Mage is easily my favorite card created
  • Occupation: Full-Time Retail Associate Part-Time Larper
  • Random fact about yourself: If your deck is “”Grixis”” anything, I’m already in love.
  • Why did you become a judge?: I became a judge in order to attempt to pave a path for those in my state to follow as it is rather difficult to find other judges here.
  • What excites you most about this event?: This will be my first Grand Prix and as such this is a huge step for me, everything about this is an exciting experience.
  • What worries you most about this event?: As again this is the first Grand Prix I will be judging at I think I will be at a loss for words a few time during the experience.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I am hoping to learn more about the judge program as a whole and what they do to improve any and every experience they can.
  • Who are your mentors?: While I do not have any mentors I would consider CJ Crooks as one, anytime I have a question he is all too happy to answer and walk me through whatever I may need.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: There is a rather disturbing lack of experienced judges to get in contact with in my area.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I have sought out other judges and as a result have furthered my knowledge of this program so that I may take this knowledge back to my local judges and give them something to work towards themselves.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Everyone is always welcoming and a jank strategy tends to prevail over the local meta. I love everything about my local players!
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: The first time I went to a Grand Prix as a player was an exhilarating experience. The judges there were very friendly and the players were genuinely delightful. It is something I hope to be able to emulate myself.