Grand Prix Minneapolis 2017

| Io Hughto

This weekend, we have nine (!) new judges to Welcome to the Fold. It’s our biggest event yet!

Michael Bryant

  • Name: Michael Bryant
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Fargo, North Dakota
  • Region: USA – North

Caleb Cornelius

  • Name: Caleb Cornelius
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Montevideo, Minnesota
  • Region: USA – North
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 2006
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Group Politics
  • Occupation: Production
  • Random fact about yourself: I love control
  • Why did you become a judge?: To help my community
  • What excites you most about this event?: Biggest event I’ve been part of yet
  • What worries you most about this event?: Technology failures
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: Anything I can
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Expanding knowledge and confidence
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Practice
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Extremely enthusiastic of Magic

Peter Kacmarynski

  • Name: Peter Kacmarynski
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Lakeville, Minnesota
  • Region: USA – North
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: June 1994
  • L1 Certification Date: 7/23/2015
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: It can be casual or competitive and still be fun
  • Occupation: Technology Manager
  • Random fact about yourself: I’m a huge Cubs fan
  • Why did you become a judge?: I’d played magic on and off for a long time prior to becoming a judge. I had a good grasp for the rules and enjoyed helping players work through card interactions via the rules. I felt that becoming a judge was a good way to help others learn and enjoy the game.
  • What excites you most about this event?: It’s a Grand Prix close to home and it’s my first time working a Grand Prix.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I want to learn more about what it takes to run an event of this size from a judge perspective. I’ve played in Grand Prix and understand it from a player perspective, but this will be very different.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The best part of my local Magic Community is that we have a mix of longtime and new players. I enjoy playing against the longtime players and enjoy helping the new players become better players.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: In the mid-90s I played in a larger local event going with mono-red burn. I won the tournament (my first tournament win) even though I had to get past a white deck that had Circle of Protection: Red in play. For those that didn’t play back then, that was a nightmare matchup.

Odessa Knight

  • Name: Odessa Knight
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Winona, Minnesota
  • Region: USA – North
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Spring 1995
  • L1 Certification Date: 1/31/2017
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: It’s always been a consistent way to connect with people no matter where I went. That and I love setting everything on fire. Every. Thing. (mono red player here)
  • Occupation: Artist
  • Random fact about yourself: I went to 15 schools K-12.
  • Why did you become a judge?: I became a judge to help improve my local magic community by helping teach players a better understanding of the game. I also love mechanics.
  • What excites you most about this event?: It’ll be my first big event and just experiencing something of such a large scale is enthralling.
  • What worries you most about this event?: I worry I’ll get in my own way of being able to put forth my best efforts. I’m going to be so excited to put my left foot forward I’ll forgot the right needs to go first.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I hope to gain as much information regarding judging at a competitive event. Fast and efficient decisions making is a must and most of it will be obtained through experience until it becomes rote.
  • Who is your mentor?: Many people have helped me through the years, but Stacy Winchell is my current guiding light. He is best senpai.
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I struggle being confident when sharing what I know with others. I’ll know the answer, but it sometimes feels like a burden with the ever looming “what if I get it wrong?” doubts.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I’m learning to trust myself and holding tighter onto the fact “yes, I know what I’m doing”. That and repetition.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Many of the people around me that started as fellow players for a pick up game became true friends. Almost everyone here is very open and welcoming, bringing a sort of family dynamic. Sibling rivalries included.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: The first time I hard cast a force of will; it stopped a doubling season bajillion saproling combo and my opponent nodded to me with a smile saying “very classy”. I was 17 at the time and my heart was about to explode out of my chest.

Andy Peterson

  • Name: Andy Peterson
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Granite Falls, Minnesota
  • Region: USA – North
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 9/15/2001
  • L1 Certification Date: 2/20/2016
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Sealed/draft
  • Occupation: Compliance testing analyst
  • Random fact about yourself: I studied abroad in Japan in college.
  • Why did you become a judge?: To help people learn and have fun with a game I love to play.
  • What excites you most about this event?: Working with judges from other areas.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: To be a better judge
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The friendliness to all players.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Playing magic with my high school friends and learning my own play style and deck types.

Theodore Scamp

  • Name: Theodore Scamp
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Bloomington, Minnesota
  • Region: USA – North

Kriz Schultz

  • Name: Kriz Schultz
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Kenosha, Wisconsin
  • Region: USA – North

Chase Shank

  • Name: Chase Shank
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Creve Coeur, IL
  • Region: USA – Central
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Aug 1996
  • L1 Certification Date: 11/19/2016
  • Occupation: Electrician
  • Random fact about yourself: Former active duty Marine
  • Why did you become a judge?: I have always loved the game. I just wanted to help make it more consistently fun for every player.
  • What excites you most about this event?: The fact that it will be my first 200+ person event where I’m on the other side of things.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: Better time management.
  • Who is your mentor?: L2 Andy Moore , L1 Blake Smith
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Honestly, not many. Our region has a plethora of resources, as well as an amazing Slack channel to boot. It allows us up to date feedback on questions as well as a group sounding board for larger topics.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The fact that they are extremely inviting to new players. Multiple store owners in my area sit down with new interested players and help teach them the game.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Pulling a Mana drain in the Zendikar hidden treasures era

Matthew Westfox

  • Name: Matthew Westfox
  • Level: Level 1
  • Location: Madison, Wisconsin
  • Region: USA – North
  • Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 1993
  • L1 Certification Date: 7/11/2016
  • Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: EDH Night with Friends
  • Occupation: Writer
  • Random fact about yourself: I was once a guest on the Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC
  • Why did you become a judge?: Because I wanted to more involved in the MTG community, and to welcome and teach others about the game I love.
  • What excites you most about this event?: Getting to be part of a larger team, and work a larger event than any I’ve worked before. Getting to go ‘behind the scenes’ and see how everything works.
  • What worries you most about this event?: Judging an event where the stakes are higher than any I’ve judged before.
  • What are you hoping to learn at this event?: Every time I work with new judges, I learn something new. We all have our own styles and ways of doing things, and I’m looking forward to learning from the other judges I get to work with.
  • Who is your mentor?: Jack Hesse and Jacob Milicic
  • What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Getting past my nervousness when I do something for the first time. Getting better at memorizing things rather than having to rely on looking them up.
  • How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Practice. Better preparation. Talking to other judges, to hear how they overcame similar problems.
  • What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Education and community trumps competitiveness. I got better as a magic player by getting my butt kicked by people who then helped me figure out where I went wrong, so I could do better against them next time.
  • What is your favorite Magic memory?: Winning the first Channel I ever owned as an ante.