Grand Prix Melbourne 2018 - Welcome to the Fold

This weekend in Melbourne, we have 12 new judges to Welcome to the fold!

Joshua Andresen

Name: Joshua Andresen
Pronouns He/him/his
Level: Level 1
Location: adelaide, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: just after core 15
L1 Certification Date: September 6, 2018
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: the different format playable
Occupation: Retail Motor Mechanic
Random fact about yourself: I love cooking
Why did you become a judge?: was originally to help out of of my LGS, as the judge they had organised had to pull out at the last second
What excites you most about this event?: Meeting the judges from around Australia and the World
What worries you most about this event?: Not really worried about anything, any problems that arise just keep a level head and work through them
Who are your mentors?: Warren Hawkins
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: trying to let people know that they have a wrong understanding of how something works, and is adamant that they are correct, despite showing the rulings
How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: just explained further and gave an example of how it worked step by step
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: the community in general they are all good people and are all willing to help and have a good time
What is your favorite Magic memory?: i was playing infect at a LGS FNM, turn one played a glistener elf, my opponent thoughtseized me and saw that no matter what they took i had the win next turn and scooped

Damien Berry

Name: Damien Berry
Pronouns He/him/his
Level: Level 1
Location: Penrith, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: June 2013
L1 Certification Date: April 11, 2018
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The sheer capacity for creativity within the community in terms of deckbuilding. There are some WILD strategies out there!
Occupation: Semi-Trailer driver
Random fact about yourself: I think Numberphile is probably the best YouTube channel out there
Why did you become a judge?: I wanted to set myself a new challenge, something outside of my comfort zone but still realistically achievable – and because I wanted more ways to contribute to growing and improving the MTG community
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: As much as I possibly can!
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I’m sure there are other people who can relate, but I consider my biggest obstacle to be myself. As much as it can be a drag, once you get past it it seems like nothing else can possibly stand in your way.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: I’d have to say GP Birmingham back in May this year. I got the opportunity to meet several players I’d known overseas, and to compete against some of the best Legacy players from all around Europe – even managing a top 32 finish in what was my first solo GP Main Event

Niall Bole

Name: Niall Bole
Pronouns He/him/his
Level: Level 1
Location: Ballarat, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: July 2014
L1 Certification Date: November 14, 2016
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Janky combos and durdly decks
Occupation: Engineer
Random fact about yourself: I have a passport from three different countries
Why did you become a judge?: The more I played Magic the more I enjoyed weird rules interactions, and I wanted to learn more about how it all worked. Combine that with a history of event management and it seemed like a logical step.
What excites you most about this event?: I have worked at Nationals for the past two years but this is likely to be the biggest single event yet and I’m excited to be part of it.
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I’m on the Operations team so am keen to see further behind the curtain of how the event runs outside the tournament itself.
Who are your mentors?: Local L2 Daniel Blackbourne has been invaluable to me in learning more of the people-centric part of judging. The rules are easy, but players are complicated!
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Any number of Commander games spring to mind – the most fun comes from spending hours hanging out with friends, and cheering when someone’s deck does “the thing” whether it’s yours or theirs. Making Day 2 of my first ever GP as a player was also pretty satisfying (during Eldrazi Winter, and I wasn’t playing Eldrazi!)

James Caesar

Name: James Caesar
Pronouns He/him/his
Level: Level 1
Location: Canberra, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 2012
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: CBR MTG – check us out on YouTube or on Twitch!
Occupation: Public Servant
Why did you become a judge?: I wanted to give something back to the MTG community
What excites you most about this event?: The 7pt Highlander tournaments!
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I am hoping to learn more about how a GP is run and to learn more about some of the Aus/NZ judges.
Who are your mentors?: Lachlan Saunders (L2) from Canberra is my mentor.
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: I love the 7pt Highlander community here in Canberra, we have some of the best players in the format who are always ready to jam a game.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Misdirecting my opponents mindtwist for 7 back at them.

Jaime Del Río Figueroa

Name: Jaime Del Río Figueroa
Pronouns He/him/his
Level: Level 1
Location: Santiago, Chile
Region: Hispanic America – South
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 10/02/2016
L1 Certification Date: August 17, 2018
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Knowing different kind of people that plays magic, trying to create new combos and not letting my opponent play.
Occupation: Videogame developer
Random fact about yourself: People in the magic community here call me suricata (meerkat)
Why did you become a judge?: Because I really like the game and love the competitive game, but I’m not up to playing the best decks, I just love playing my own decks, so judging is a way to be near the competitive game. (And the foils, we all love the foils, right?)
What excites you most about this event?: Getting to know new people and having new experiences and ofcourse getting better as a judge
What worries you most about this event?: Making mistakes
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: Everything i can
Who are your mentors?: Mario Alexander De La Carrera
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: We are very close and we help each other everytime we can
What is your favorite Magic memory?: The first time I met extra turns spells haha love them

Jonathan Gilchrist

Name: Jonathan Gilchrist
Level: Level 1
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand

Jason Grinbergs

Name: Jason Grinbergs
Pronouns He/him/his
Level: Level 1
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 2012 (if you don’t include the 5ish years I played from 1997ish)
L1 Certification Date: March 5, 2017
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Seeing interesting card interactions/combos being played
Occupation: IT Professional
Random fact about yourself: Comfort is my weakness
Why did you become a judge?: I like to learn about more than just the rules of games
What excites you most about this event?: My first GP as a judge. I finally get to see what it’s like from the other side
What worries you most about this event?: My first GP as a judge. I have to step up my judge game
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: Anything and everything that I can
Who are your mentors?: Everyone
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Being confident with my knowledge and application of the IPG
How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Refresh myself before events and approach judge calls confidently
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Friendliness
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Making day 2 of my first ever GP (Sydney 2014)

Tyler Kent

Name: Tyler Kent
Level: Level 1
Location: Canberra, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand

Aleksandra Ladygina

Name: Aleksandra Ladygina
Pronouns She/her/hers
Level: Level 1
Location: Khabarovsk, Russia
Region: Russia and Russian-speaking countries
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Jan 2016
L1 Certification Date: November 4, 2016
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Judges
Occupation: Marketing Specialist
Random fact about yourself: I was in a music band playing piano.
Why did you become a judge?: I felt that just playing is not enough to grow Magic in our region. I started to help out TO with tournamets a little after I started playing and he said that it would be nice if I become a judge. We had a PPTQ and I realised that I really enjoy doing it. I have never stopped ever since.
What excites you most about this event?: To work with awesome judges from all over the World. And finally meet some of them in person.
What worries you most about this event?: Possible language barrier.
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: Everything that I possibly can.
Who are your mentors?: Nikita Tarima and Sashi Balakrishnan.
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Lack of competitive events in my home region.
How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I have been travelling to every possible event I could.
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Diversity of people who are playing and our judges who became a family to me over those 2 years.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Being accepted to our Nationals this year and judging it. That is where I realised that just being small judge in the middle of nowhere is not good enough for me. So hopefully GP Melbourne is my first of lots upsoming GP’s I will judge.

Adam Lehmann

Name: Adam Lehmann
Level: Level 0
Location: Stratford, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand

William Lou

Name: William Lou
Pronouns He/him/his
Level: Level 2
Location: Sydney, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 1998
L1 Certification Date: December 20, 2016
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: My squad
Occupation: Grinder/Streamer
Random fact about yourself: Despite being a combo player, I have a soft spot for 1 mana 2/1s
Why did you become a judge?: Because all my friends were judges, and they thought I’d be a good fit. Plus, I love helping people and making things run smoothly!
What excites you most about this event?: The glamour and spectacle. I’ve attended a lot of GPs, but never as a Judge so it’ll be interesting to soak it all in rather than being focused on tournament prep.
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: How a group of people who don’t know each other can be assembled into a force that can do anything.
Who are your mentors?: Simon Freiberg, Ryan Dare and Matt Anderson
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: The divide between wanting to become a better player and a better judge, and how to ensure I don’t sacrifice too much to pursue both until I can decide the right direction.
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The Spikes are very friendly with newer players and more casual players, and players aren’t afraid of judges like I’ve seen in different areas and communities.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Watching my best friends win a GP.

David Robinette

Name: David Robinette
Level: Level 1
Location: Hobart, Australia
Region: Australia and New Zealand