This weekend in Detroit, we have 4 new judges to Welcome to the fold!
Steven Edelson
- Name: Steven Edelson
- Level: Level 1
- Location: North Canton, Ohio, United States of America
- Region: USA – Great Lakes
Alex Morse
- Name: Alex Morse
- Pronouns He/him/his
- Level: Level 1
- Location: Saginaw, Michigan, United States of America
- Region: USA – Great Lakes
- Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 2003
- L1 Certification Date: October 18, 2014
- Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The Gathering (favorite deck is Amulet Titan though)
- Occupation: LGS Manager
- Random fact about yourself: If you want to listen to me talk for a couple consecutive days, ask me about Starcraft.
- Why did you become a judge?: Mostly for work, but also to become more involved in the Magic community.
- What excites you most about this event?: It’s my first Magic Fest, and I’m scheduled for ODEs. It should provide a unique assortment of challenges.
- What worries you most about this event?: Whether or not I leave a good impression on my team leads.
- What are you hoping to learn at this event?: We’ve held 200+ player events at work, but a Magic Fest is something else entirely, and requires a different workflow. I’m hoping to get more practice judging in that capacity.
- Who are your mentors?: Andrew Thompson, Andy Doyle, Shae Revard. John Vorderbreuggen is also great for a variety of unique judge call scenarios.
- What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I’ve judged a lot of IQs and similar level comp REL events, but a majority of my judging experience is still at Regular. This makes me slow to transition mindsets if I haven’t judged Competitive in a while.
- How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Having more frequent discussions with my mentors and other judges about policy, while also trying to find time to occasionally play in Competitive events as well, giving me a better perspective from the other side of things. This lets me create a better experience for players.
- What is the best part about your local Magic community?: It’s a really healthy scene, with a lot of players considering the population. Just about everyone is very welcoming to new people, and excited about helping the community grow.
- What is your favorite Magic memory?: I’ve taught a LOT of people how to play Magic. Likely thousands of people. There are few things in Magic that bring me as much joy as seeing the light bulb go on in someone’s head, as they begin to actually understand what they’re doing. This is frequently followed by many more questions about the game they are very eager to learn more about.
Madison Newnam
- Name: Madison Newnam
- Level: Level 0
- Location: Spring Hill, Florida, United States of America
- Region: USA – Southeast
Michelle Pickering
- Name: Michelle Pickering
- Pronouns She/her/hers
- Level: Level 0
- Location: London, Canada
- Region: Canada
- Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 1999
- Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: I love the Magic artwork and story.
- Random fact about yourself: I’m afraid of heights but love to fly.
- What excites you most about this event?: Working instead of waiting for Rick.
- What worries you most about this event?: Working at it. Not sure what I’m doing yet.
- What are you hoping to learn at this event?: What the people in Ops do.
- Who are your mentors?: Rick Miles got me into this.
- What is your favorite Magic memory?: Making it to the Top 8 at a pre-release event.