MagicFest Seattle 2019

| Io Hughto

This weekend in Seattle, we have 4 new judges to Welcome to the fold!

Chris Livermore

  • Name: Chris Livermore
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America
  • Region: USA – Northwest
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 07/2012
  • L1 Certification Date: August 27, 2015
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The Community
  • Occupation: LGS Employee
  • Random fact about yourself: I once created 223 unique commander decks in a week.
  • Why did you become a judge?: I had stumbled upon the cute interaction between “Battlefield Thaumaturge” and “Gridlock” back in Theros-block standard, and modified the tier U/W heroic deck to exploit it. A lot of players at my LGS thought I was cheating when I cast Gridlock after attackers before blockers for U, triggering my heroic creatures. After delving into the rules to cite my sources, I realized that I love the depth this game had to offer, and continued to delve into the rules. When I heard that there was a judge class an hour away, I carpooled once a week to attend, and loved learning more and more.
  • What excites you most about this event?: It’s my first MagicFest! I’ve always wanted to be in the GP/MF circuit, and have been focusing my studies to reflect that (Thanks to Brandon Welch for handling all of my “How is this done at a GP?” questions). It’s really a huge milestone for me to be judging this week, and I’m excited to start integrating with more judges outside my hometown as well.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: My first goal is to learn how MF’s function and the logistics of the different teams. I’ve been scheduled for ODE’s, so my second goal is to soak up as much as I can about them. My third goal is to integrate with judges from different areas, and learn what I can from just conversing with them and seeing differing viewpoints.
  • Who are your mentors?: Brandon Welch (L2), Ryan Wood (L2), and Christopher Wohlwend (L2).
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Growing up in a small town (Roseburg, OR) without the means to travel much, my ability to become a judge basically came down to being lucky enough to have a judge class near me, and have friends that were also going (that had their own cars). And that was just L1. I couldn’t even hope to be able to continue to L2 from Roseburg, and it just so happens that when I moved to Corvallis for school, I had so many other judges here to mentor me.

    As for current challenges, with the recent changes to the competitive circuit (and removing PTPQ’s), access to Comp REL events to continue my learning and utilize the feedback my mentors give me is dwindling. This won’t be as much of a challenge once I hit L2, though I worry greatly for the next generation of L1’s that don’t have access to PPTQ’s/PTPQ’s.

  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I took every opportunity I had access to. Given how scarce they have been throughout my career for differing reasons, I try to utilize every chance I get to improve, and strive to seek as much feedback from every event as possible. With fewer events, I’ve tried very hard to make each event count.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The friendliness that we all share. The community we have cultivated here as judges, employees, and players is bar none. I’ve experienced a lot of communities in my time and the playgroup here in Corvallis is one of the best I’ve ever seen. The support for people of all skill levels is really beneficial to the community.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Attending GP Las Vegas 2015 with my brother and two closest friends. It was the best trip I’ve had, filled with wonderful memories and surprisingly zero travel setbacks. Even though we all went 1-3-drop from the main event, we crushed some draft and standard, I got to play a Legacy tournament for the first time (RIP Manaless Dredge, you’ll be missed), and got a *boatload* of commander in. It was also great to be a part of the largest Magic event of all time (at that point).

Andy Sugiyama

  • Name: Andy Sugiyama
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Vancouver, Washington, United States of America
  • Region: USA – Northwest
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: January 2011, just before Mirrodin Besieged release
  • L1 Certification Date: March 28, 2018
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Getting to speculate on how good spoilers are and being completely wrong most of the time.
  • Occupation: Clerk at CCGHouse
  • Random fact about yourself: I have 29 (and only 29) digits of Pi memorized at any given time and i can’t seem to forget them not matter what.
  • Why did you become a judge?: I like to tell people I just wanted the judge shirt before my friend got his. But in actuality I have had very positive experiences with the judge community in the past and that made me want to be a part of it and help other players feel welcome as well (i didn’t NOT want that shirt before my friend got his though).
  • What excites you most about this event?: The variety and quantity of different events to play in is one of my favorite parts of any MagicFest. It’s a great place to both practice competitively and play casually.
  • What worries you most about this event?: That my morning will somehow turn into a cheesy sitcom as my alarm goes off late and as I try to get ready to show up everything goes wrong at the same time and i end up being late to the event.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I’d like to get more experience at large competitive level events, i’m looking to try to become a level 2 judge and want to make sure i’m prepared as I can be for it.
  • Who are your mentors?: My friend and co-worker Chris Botelho has helped me become a much better player/judge over the last few years. His advice is informative and well explained, and I am grateful that mentioning him here will make him slightly uncomfortable which just gives me immense joy.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: My biggest challenge I would say has been learning to explain rulings in a clear and concise manner. Knowing the correct ruling is important and being able to follow up on that by explaining why and how that ruling works in an easy to understand way is also important to help the players and avoid confusion.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: The short answer is practice. Watching my friend give rulings to players is also a good hands on example when he is much more articulate and clear than me in the midst of a judge call.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: I love how welcoming and large my local community is, especially considering how small the area itself is relative to the playerbase. I count myself lucky that I live near so many MTG stores since many other players I meet from other parts of the country are not as fortunate to live within driving distance of a shop that runs weekly FNM’s.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: The exact moment I realized I liked playing control decks. For my first several years playing the game I spent most of it on Green stompy and other midrange type decks, I also had a great disdain for control decks and counterspells for most of that time. But then in Eldritch Moon standard my friend Chris Botelho convinced me to practice a control deck since i wanted to learn to play competitively and playing a deck i wasn’t used to would help me learn more about the game and handed me a deck he called “Fevered Tesla Turbo Fog 4000” and I began practicing it. A couple weeks later at FNM my opponent cast Emrakul, looked at my hand after taking control of my turn, and then conceded after realizing anything they did on my turn would still cause me to control the board. After that moment I came to the conclusion I was a control player.

Kelly Trinh

  • Name: Kelly Trinh
  • Pronouns She/her/hers
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Kent, Washington, United States of America
  • Region: USA – Northwest
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: July 2014
  • L1 Certification Date: February 8, 2019
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Meeting new people and learning about the game
  • Random fact about yourself: Am a very good baker
  • Why did you become a judge?: At first I learned the rules simply to better understand how to play the game. Then a local judge started offering me opportunities to judge at local small events, and I immediately loved it. It’s fun to be able to help others have a fun event and at the same time learning and improving myself with every experience.
  • What excites you most about this event?: I have never been to a MagicFest, so for me it’s the scale of the event that is the most exciting. I’ll get to meet a lot of new people and learn new things about handling a large event, so that’s what I’m looking forward to.
  • What worries you most about this event?: That’s probably also the scale of the event. MagicFests are huge, from what I have been told, and I haven’t had many experiences at larger events, so it’s a little nerve-wracking to think about.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I feel that as a judge I am lacking the most in confidence. I’m prone to doubting my rulings a lot of the time, and even if I know I’m 99% correct, the 1% chance that I’m wrong nags at me whenever I take a call. I am hoping that I’ll be able to develop more faith in myself and be more confident when I help players with questions.
  • Who are your mentors?: John Carter, Christian Oliveros, and Brian Keaton. Special thanks to my very first mentor, Graham!
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Confidence is my biggest challenge at the moment. I also find myself stumbling to express myself to players and judges at times due to nervousness, often saying things that are not the correct wording or not the most clarifying.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Taking a deep breath and thinking things through logically. If I remind myself to slow down and take in the problem one part at a time, everything becomes a lot clearer.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: I have a wonderful LGS and a great group of friends to hang out with. I’m really thankful to everyone for all of their help and support and I’m really excited to see them at MF Seattle.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Going off in a Commander game with a 5-color Ramos deck that I borrowed from a friend. Nobody was expecting it, me included!

Skip Watts

  • Name: Skip Watts
  • Pronouns He/him/his
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Savannah, Georgia, United States of America
  • Region: USA – Southeast
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: May 2006
  • L1 Certification Date: June 30, 2018
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Every part of a draft from start to finish.
  • Occupation: Student, Assistant Music Director for Wesley Monumental Church
  • Random fact about yourself: I became an uncle in December of 2018!
  • Why did you become a judge?: Magic has been such an important part of my life for so long, both as entertainment and a social pillar of my life, that I want to give back to the game. Serving as a judge is one way I accomplish that. I also look up to many of my judge friends in my life, and I aspire to reach the heights they’ve reached and also hold myself to the standards they hold themselves.
  • What excites you most about this event?: I’m excited to meet and interact with a large amount of judges from outside my region. I also look forward to the quick pace at which Magic Fests are run and am excited to see how I perform in such an environment.
  • What worries you most about this event?: I’m worried I may tire myself out. I’m also worried I may make an incorrect judge call. Also, I’m worried about how good of a first impression I’ll make upon my fellow judges.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I hope to learn how to work better under pressure, along with honing my communication skills with members of my team. I also want to practice policy questions in person with other judges.
  • Who are your mentors?: Apollo Appolito, Cody Cone, Adam Blaylock, and David Homan.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I’m currently challenging myself to improve my soft skills, hopefully leading to more memorable, positive interactions between myself and players. I’m also learning as much as I can regarding tournament policy. The Annotated IPG has been a huge help!
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Yes! I’ve gone out of my way to engage with players more and enrich their tournament experience. I’ve also been studying the Annotated IPG and MTR, along with practicing policy scenarios with other judges.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Our support for one another and our sense of humor.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: The first time I introduced my, at the time, new friend Joey to MTG through Kaladesh midnight prerelease. We both had an awesome time and have since become inseparable.