MagicFest Montreal 2019

| Io Hughto

This weekend in Montreal, we have 4 new judges to Welcome to the Fold!

Stefanie Flavell

  • Name: Stefanie Flavell
  • Pronouns She/her/hers
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Pickering, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 1998
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: I love the social aspect! I draft at every FNM with my boyfriend and friends, and we go out for food afterwards and discuss our matches.
  • Occupation: Technical Lead, Survey Programming
  • Random fact about yourself: I can juggle!
  • Why did you become a judge?: I love interacting with players, and I’ve been teaching people how to play Magic for over 10 years. I was previously a TO and Rules Adviser for a college Magic Club that I started and ran for 3 years, and spend a lot of time around rules junkies and L1s. I figured getting certified would be a great way to step up my skills and be a helpful presence at my local store, and quickly learned that I LOVE judging at Comp REL, especially large events like Face to Face and SCG Opens as it has introduced me to a variety of other awesome judges who have been amazing at helping me improve my judge knowledge (I also love meeting like-minded people, and making new friends on these circuits has been instrumental in helping me flourish as a judge).
  • What excites you most about this event?: The people! I’m looking forward to meet new players and judges, and to meet up with others that I’ve been introduced to in the past. I find it fascinating to meet people that come from all over to work and play at GPs. Also, I LOVE Commander, and since most of my time will be spent involved working the Commander events I’m looking forward to all the wacky and interesting rules questions I’ll undoubtedly get to take over the course of the weekend.
  • What worries you most about this event?: I’ve got this permanent case of imposter syndrome, despite the fact that I’ve made pretty positive impressions on my Team Leads and TOs so far. I always get a bit nervous before a big event, but once things start and I get into the thick of it all of that goes away and I wind up having a great time. Even if my response to “how are you doing?” is “I’m tired!” I’m generally still having a good time – I’d rather be exhausted than bored!
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I would love to be stumped by a Commander question that I have to look up for the answer. I love learning new interactions that I’d never thought of before.

    But logistically, I’d like to learn more about how side events in general are run at Magic Fests. I’ve played in numerous ones, and I’ve spoken to judges who have run them, but all of my time at larger events has been involved in judging main events so far.

    I’m also interested in using my experiences at Montreal to write my first Tournament Report, since I’ll be eventually looking to get my L2 certification.

  • Who are your mentors?: Kaitlin McLachlan has been my judge mom, mentor, certifying queen and awesome friend throughout my L1 career, in addition to being my new Community Manager come Oct 1. Mike Hill has also been instrumental in teaching me the basics of tournament operations at the shop level and guiding me towards Head Judge and other leadership roles.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I find that I am very hard on myself when I make mistakes. My goal is 100% perfection for all the calls that I take, and while I feel that I can come close to this, there’s always going to be something that I don’t know, or don’t think to look into. I am constantly looking to improve, and realize that I need to accept that I’m not perfect, but because I expect it of myself it can make minor errors feel like insurmountable issues.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: My TL’s and HJ’s have been great at keeping me level-headed. I am great at relying on my team to sanity check me, which really helps! If I’m unsure of something, I usually try to find someone to help me walk through a call, and I like to discuss each call with my TL or another L2 afterwards to ensure everything was correct, and so that I can return to the players to correct any mistakes I may have made. The last thing I want to do is become the “other judge”.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: They are just amazing people. We have our own little social network of players that loan cards to one another, chat online about new card spoilers, we grab food after events, etc. Everyone’s just really accepting and laid back. At the end of the day, Magic is a fun game, and my local group is really good at ensuring it stays that way.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: The first time my boyfriend and I played against one another in a match (we hadn’t started dating yet). We were playing Pauper and happened to bring identical Atog-Affinity decks to the tournament. He beat me with a topdecked Fling! He never lets me live it down because he knows Affinity is one of my favourite archetypes.

Leah Hanson

  • Name: Leah Hanson
  • Level: Level 2
  • Location: Prince George, Canada
  • Region: Canada

Hugo Leclerc

  • Name: Hugo Leclerc
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Val-d’Or, Canada
  • Region: Canada

Kyle Peterson

  • Name: Kyle Peterson
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Ajax, Canada
  • Region: Canada
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 01/06/1994
  • L1 Certification Date: November 24, 2018
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The FNM Regulars
  • Occupation: Systems Administrator
  • Random fact about yourself: Father of 3, my oldest is my 2HG Partner.
  • Why did you become a judge?: To help the community, we had a severe shortage of certified judges in the area.
  • What excites you most about this event?: The opportunity to work with and learn from the team of highly skilled Judges.
  • What worries you most about this event?: Learning and following Magic Fest best practices.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I am hoping to gain more experience working large events, learning additional procedures and tricks to help the events run smoothly.
  • Who are your mentors?: Kaitlin McLachlan
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I sometimes need to remind myself to slow down and take the time necessary to ensure the task at hand is successfully completed before rushing onto the next task.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Learning best practices and asking other Judges for advice.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Players and Organizers are all friendly and welcoming.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Chatting with Mark Rosewater and making Top 8 in the 568 player Mirage Prerelease Toronto in 1996.