Grand Prix Montreal 2018

| Io Hughto

This weekend in Montreal, we have ten new judges to Welcome to the Fold!

Maxime Emond

  • Name: Maxime Emond
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 2
  • Location: Laval, QC, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: April 2010 in organized play, elementary school otherwise.
  • L1 Certification Date: August 12, 2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: the community around it.
  • Occupation: Accounting
  • Random fact about yourself: I actually played Starcraft 2 to a semi-pro level back during hear of the swarm! I had a few matches on ladder versus Idra and Marine King Prime among others!
  • Why did you become a judge?: I always wanted to become a judge, but i just recently got the free time to actually invest into it! But the main reason is to help the community grow!
  • What excites you most about this event?: First GP of course. Very curious to see many a things. This is quite different than most event I have staffed so far, and i’m very curious about how it all rolls out.
  • What worries you most about this event?: Technoligical failure and sound quality mostly!
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: So many things, it be rough to list them all! How the whole judge teams work! better technique for handling judge calls! Anything that improve my performance that I can apply to all events I will judge!
  • Who are your mentors?: Eric Pare and Robert Hinrichsen
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Working on the delivery and my overall presence at an event. I used to be very stiff and very rules oriented. I have made progress in this regard, but no one is perfect!
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Lots lots lots of (mental) self review. Taking the time to go through each and every single judge call I have answered and trying to put myself in the player’s shoes.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: How close knit it is! It’s not a small community per say, but everyone knows everyone! it really feels like a small town (sort of)!
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: All the nights spent with friend playtesting or thoerycrafting/deck building at home. We actually have a binder with all of the jankiest brews we have thought of. But the one that tops them all is when I went 4-0 in an FNM playing Esper creativity in modern. Yes, it is a deck that relies on Indomitable creativity to cheat a Iona and a Painter’s servant into play. And the best thing is once they announced the resolution of the creativity, they dont have priority before both the replacement effect from Painter’s and Iona are already choosen for! I had lots and lots of fun that night!

John Farquhar

  • Name: John Farquhar
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Georgetown, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 15/01/2009
  • L1 Certification Date: August 7, 2016
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The community and interactions
  • Occupation: Sales and Entertainer
  • Random fact about yourself: Balloon Artist and novice Facepainter, also looking to become a Makup Artist.
  • Why did you become a judge?: To help grow more as a person and to give back to the community as a whole that had helped me get friends and my own community.
  • What excites you most about this event?: This is the first time I’ll be on staff for a Grand Prix and I’m looking forward to the experience.
  • What worries you most about this event?: That maybe I’m not ready to go and judge at a Grand Prix. I know that this is not the case or I wouldn’t have applied in the first place, but it was a concern of mine leading up to me sending my application.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: The starting steps to becoming a L2 and how to become a better judge and player. Get a glance of the new standard format.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: While I have a lot, one of my most recent ones is winning both Hour of Devastation Game Days at my locals with Bolas Control, and igniting my compedative Spark with Jeskai Ascendancy Combo in Khans if Tarkir Standard.

Steve Giannopoulos

  • Name: Steve Giannopoulos
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: montreal, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: June 2000
  • L1 Certification Date: October 5, 2012
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Ensnaring bridge
  • Occupation: Selling CCG s online
  • Random fact about yourself: Huge Street Fighter fan
  • Why did you become a judge?: My lgs needed one and there were not many in Montreal at the time. As I would also play at many stores in the course of the week, I found myself always being called over for rules questions. I also did some GPT judging a bit later on.
  • What excites you most about this event?: It’s my first GP in staff. I’m usually on the player’s side of things. I’m curious to see how the experience will end up
  • What worries you most about this event?: My lack of go experience, obviously. Other than that I’m quite confident it will run smoothly.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: How a team works cohesively at this kind of event. Also, will I like it enough to do it again.
  • Who are your mentors?: Originally Michael Mccliment, until he moved. Now, Robert Hinrichsen is who is like to think of as my mentor.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: L2 advancement. Like going all in to do the exams and learn all the more dicey rulings and penalties.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Learning more and more from judge seminars, specific card rulings and playing more competitively as a player.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The number of stores in Montreal make it that you can go to almost any one of them during the week and find events.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: This one is a little special, but…

    Going to my friend’s local store to play casually back in the day and looking through a random box of ‘bulk’ commons to notice a specific card: Wild Growth.

    I remember reading the text on the card and wondering ” why would anyone play this?” The clerk at the store uttered the words : ‘ to accelerate your mana, because you can only play one land per turn’.

    My world just imploded, as we had clearly not been doing something by the rules as new magic players. Long gone were the days of dropping our hand down on turn 1 to play a Rhox.

Antoine Guay-Molnar

  • Name: Antoine Guay-Molnar
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Montreal, Canada
  • Region: Canada

Amir Hassan

  • Name: Amir Hassan
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Montreal, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 2000 -2001
  • L1 Certification Date: September 24, 2015
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Nicol Bolas
  • Occupation: Work at Face to Face Games
  • Random fact about yourself: I like chicken
  • Why did you become a judge?: Started in the Middle east(Dubai) were we had a lack of judges. And to furthur grow the community.
  • What excites you most about this event?: Its the release week of Guilds of Ravnica !!
  • Who are your mentors?: In chaotic order.Abdulrahman Alhadhrami ,David de la Iglesia,Olivier Gheysen
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?:
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: When i was T.O. and judging back in Dubai there was a small Family of a mom and dad with two kids (8 and 10 ) and they would win most of our events ( all 4 of them played !! ) and on my birthday they gave me a custom Nicol Bolas mug ( if i had a spark it would’ve ignited )

Brett Horrocks

  • Name: Brett Horrocks
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Brossard, Canada
  • Region: Canada

Geordi McGrath

  • Name: Geordi McGrath
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Thunder Bay, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Oct 2014
  • L1 Certification Date: July 19, 2018
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The orderly structure of how events occur. When you first start playing Magic, everything is chaos! But as you continue to play, the beauty of the duel emerges.
  • Occupation: Student
  • Random fact about yourself: I love to sing along to Disney songs. My favourite is “A Whole New World” from Aladdin.
  • Why did you become a judge?: Prior to becoming a judge, I wanted to know the rules to make sure that my friends and I were playing the game properly. My friends started playing the game before I did so this also helped keep them honest. From there my rules knowledge progressed to me being the go-to guy for rules disputes. I enjoyed this aspect of the game so becoming a judge was just the next logical step.
  • What excites you most about this event?: I’m really looking forward to attending my first big event with vendors, artists, and hundreds of players. This is also near where I went to college (Ottawa) and an old college friend who I haven’t seen in years might come so I’m really excited for that!
  • What worries you most about this event?: I’m worried that someone will ask me a question for which I don’t know the answer. I know I’m a fool, but having that knowledge made public would be tragic.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I’m hoping to experience some common problems or questions to get more experience interacting with players as a judge. I’m still very new to being a judge so I think I first need to learn what I don’t know and where my weaknesses are.
  • Who are your mentors?: Adam Cousins
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: There aren’t many competitive events in my local area. I’m putting effort into learning rules, infractions, and corrections but the opportunities to apply what I’ve learned are hard to come by.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I’m trying to travel to larger events but it is cost prohibitive to fly within Canada.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The local community is very knowledgeable, respectful, and welcoming for the most part. I’ve read stories of toxic LGS communities and I definitely feel lucky to have started playing Magic where I did.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: The way I got into Magic:
    I wanted to start playing but I wanted to make sure I was out of school first so I could dedicate the time and/or money without distracting from my studies. This all went out the window when my significant other bought a bunch of dragon cards.

Mackenzie Milton

  • Name: Mackenzie Milton
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Thunder Bay, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 2010
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The gitrog monster, land destruction
  • Random fact about yourself: Sometimes I burst in to song.
  • Why did you become a judge?: Seemed like a good idea at the time
  • What excites you most about this event?: Its my first one, so everything I’ve never done before.
  • What worries you most about this event?: Its my first one, so everything I’ve never done before.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: How to do everything I’ve never done before
  • Who are your mentors?: Adam Cousins
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Travelling to participate in more events
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: It is massive
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: I won a legacy GPT. It was one of the most competitive tournaments in the city at the time.

Aaron O’Connor

  • Name: Aaron O’Connor
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Halifax, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 1994
  • L1 Certification Date: January 20, 2018
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Legacy players are my life
  • Occupation: Logistics Officer, Royal Canadian Navy
  • Random fact about yourself: I’m a huge wrestling mark. #BCFL
  • Why did you become a judge?: I became a judge to take my experience as a logistician to assist my community to run amazing events. Also it was a means to assist in running charity events that get magic players involved in doing more good.
  • What excites you most about this event?: I’m excited to learn about the back end workings of magic on its most complex stage.
  • What worries you most about this event?: I dont worry about much tbh. I guess what food ill have the pleasure of enjoying!
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I would like to learn some more about each role on the GP staff, and to see where I fit with my specific skills in the larger machine.
  • Who are your mentors?: Kenny Dolson, Ryan Carroll, Jerret Boutlier, and Jon Goud
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Traveling to get compREL experience. There isnt alot of high level magic in the east that offers comp to cover travel costs.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I have continued to study and participate with online discussions. Keeping connected through my position on the Canadian Hype team, and Canadian Judge Conference team.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The People. We have great shops, great players and good times.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: In 1995 (when i was 7) I saved my birthday money to buy a booster box of Ice Age on release weekend. I opened a necropotence to go in my Hymn Hippie Lord of the pit deck… Never looked back from that combo life.

John Williams

  • Name: John Williams
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Halifax, NS, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: ??/10/06
  • L1 Certification Date: September 8, 2014
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The people and their passion for the game. Even if you never spoke to someone before and you both play you can talk for hours about the game we all hold dear.
  • Occupation: Tech Support
  • Random fact about yourself: My First deck was a control deck and have been in love with the arch type my entire Magic life.
  • Why did you become a judge?: I loved being technically correct then there was a local event they were short staffed on so I helped them out there, and really enjoyed the experience
  • What excites you most about this event?: My First GP as a Judge, this will be a new experience and should be able to learn a lot.
  • What worries you most about this event?: This is my first GP so there’s always a chance I’m not up to it, try as I might be
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I’m looking forward to learning how the GP are run from the back ground and learning tricks other judges have found over the years
  • Who are your mentors?: There’s a Goud Judge, who’s been there my entire trip as a Judge who’s helped a lot (yes it’s Jon Goud). Ryan Carrol and Kenny Dolson have also been a big help in making me a better judge.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I used to be less sure of myself (and still deal with that from time to time)
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I found magic in general has helped me put myself out there and using the Judge Conference to work on my public speaking has helped as well.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The people. Hands down every day.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: No one memory, but there have been a lot of great times.