Grand Prix Hong Kong 2018

| Io Hughto

This weekend in Hong Kong, we have five new judges to Welcome to the Fold!

Youjin Choi

  • Name: Youjin Choi
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: seoul, South Korea
  • Region: Greater China
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: first met MTG in 1997, re-started at RTR, in 2012
  • L1 Certification Date: July 2, 2016
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: DIY deck-building
  • Occupation: Industrial analyst
  • Random fact about yourself: heavy gamer of all kind
  • Why did you become a judge?: Spectating a play is way exciting than playing. Also wanted to be supportive to make a joyful MTG event.
  • What excites you most about this event?: It’s my first trip to China, will be a oppotunity to make friends from overseas. Also hopes to have some durian!
  • What worries you most about this event?: I somewhat have difficulty in communicating with strangers, that I sometimes quote things which would be rude, but never intended. I really hope that I don’t make such a mistake in the event.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: Having good relationship with everyone who would encounter at the event. Want to learn from other players/judges who has such a talent in dealing with people.
  • Who are your mentors?: (Name in secret) He’s my local store’s Lv1 judge and also one of my best friend. Not only in judging job, he’s also my life’s advisor, especially in social community.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: At past I was a bit troll being a rude and arrogant, and that affects me badly since. Still many people doesn’t trust what I do, it needs much harder work to recover.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Being humble and thoughtful in most time, and trying to listen from people to fix my behaviors.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: We are having a close relationships between players and judges. Judges are friendly and players are respectful.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: My first judging at big event, Korean National 2017. One of my close colleague won the event, that was a unique feeling that I supported him from behind. (it’s not about outside assistants or anything lol)

Jiahe Jiang

  • Name: Jiahe Jiang
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Suzhou, China
  • Region: Greater China

Patrick LAU

  • Name: Patrick LAU
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: HONG KONG, Hong Kong
  • Region: Greater China
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Aug/Sep-2013, just before GP HK 2013
  • L1 Certification Date: March 14, 2016
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: I love playing non-competitive EDH
  • Occupation: Customer Service Representitive
  • Why did you become a judge?: I always want to learn more about rules and also help my local Magic community
  • What excites you most about this event?: GP is a great chance for me to learn from other judges and make new friends.
  • What worries you most about this event?: My lack of experience in such a big event.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: Learning how to become a better judge.
  • Who are your mentors?: Alex Yeung
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: I made Day 2 in GP Guangzhou 2016, which was my first Modern event.

Boonyakiat Sripongam

  • Name: Boonyakiat Sripongam
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 2
  • Location: Bangkok, Thailand
  • Region: Southeast Asia
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 16 years
  • L1 Certification Date: September 14, 2013
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Storyline, artwork
  • Occupation: Engineer
  • Random fact about yourself: Introvert
  • Why did you become a judge?: wanna know more about rules
  • What excites you most about this event?: this is the first time judging at GP.
  • What worries you most about this event?: making announcements
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: to judging as GP judge.floor, work as a team, work with sk.
  • Who are your mentors?: Jutamanee Chaiyakum
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: cards, rules, policies update every 3 months.we need to make ourself better every week.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: read, discuss, do, repeat
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: friendship between everyone in community
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Being a finalist in GPT

Kuok Wai U

  • Name: Kuok Wai U
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Macao, Macao
  • Region: Greater China