Grand Prix Providence 2017 - Welcome to the Fold

This week in Rhode Island we have a record high of eleven judges to Welcome to the Fold.

Oliver Beaumont

Name: Oliver Beaumont
Level: Level 1
Location: Manchester, New Hampshire
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September 1995
L1 Certification Date: 4/21/2003
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Vintage Community
Occupation: Microbiologist
Random fact about yourself: Enjoy playing ridiculously bad cards in Vintage decks (e.g. Gilder Bairn)
Why did you become a judge?: I always enjoyed the intricate nature of the rules, and saw it as a way to both improve my knowledge of the rules and pay it on to help newer players improve their understanding of the rules by helping them.
What excites you most about this event?: Looking forward to finally being able to judge at a GP. Since I am not free for a whole weekendverynoften, having the opportunity to judge just on Saturday was a huge boon to me.
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I am hoping to get more insight into how large tournaments are run.
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Improving my confidence in my ability to answer questions without resorting to checking with other judges.
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Regardless of ability, everyone wants to have fun and become better at magic. And this reflects in the interaction amongst all the players.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Winning a Vintage tournament by milling myself with Grindstone on my opponent’s end step to try to get lucky and dig deeper to a Painter’s Servant to win with my opponent presenting lethal damage, flipping over two Painter’s Servants and thinking I had just blown my chance to win the tournament. Luckily my deck was generous as my next card was also Painter’s Servant.

Matt Bourque

Name: Matt Bourque
Level: Level 1
Location: Salem, New Hampshire
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Around 2003, but the first pack I ever bought was Apocalypse
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: There’s nothing quite like the experience of traveling, meeting new players, and resolving Turn 3 Karn against them
Occupation: Technical Support
Random fact about yourself: I’m a triplet
What excites you most about this event?: The chance to finally work alongside many of the judges I’ve come to know over the years
Who is your mentor?: Ben Coursey
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Earlier this year, while waiting to board my flight from Dublin back to Boston a young player waiting for the same flight approached me, recognizing my Northeast Judge T-shirt. We talked about our favorite cards, decks and formats; and I talked with his family about the game in general and what makes it enjoyable. It felt good to utilize my position as a judge to make a positive impact outside of the game.

Josh Campbell

Name: Josh Campbell
Level: Level 2
Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: September 2014
L1 Certification Date: 7/28/2016
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Smallpox!
Occupation: Student
Random fact about yourself: I’m an EMT for the student EMT group at my college
Why did you become a judge?: I really liked all the rules minutiae of Magic, and I was interested in learning more and why all the rules interact the way they do!
What excites you most about this event?: It’s my first GP! I’m excited to see how an event on this large of a scale functions, and to be part of the team that makes it all happen.
What worries you most about this event?: I hope that I’ll be able to keep up and learn on the go as I figure out what the heck I’m supposed to be doing (during the day, not rules-wise 😛 )
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: How an event the size of a GP runs, and how I am prepared to handle it
Who is your mentor?: Jonah Kellman
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: I’ve been trying to commit time to judging, which is hard as a student with many other commitments, and finding opportunities to judge, especially at Comp. REL, is not always easy
How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I do my best to judge FNM when I’m there, since I’ll be playing anyways, and apply to as many Comp REL events in the area as I can!
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: Super, super friendly. I hear too many horror stories about people who are jerks at FNM, but I’ve only been playing at my LGS for a few months and I already feel like I’m part of the family; everybody is incredibly welcoming to newcomers and it’s just a great group of people.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Wasting time on the drive from New Hampshire to D.C. playing the Magic Card Name Game (where one person says a card, then the next person says a different card whose first letter is the last letter of the previous card, no repeats, etc.); you learn about some craaaaazy cards and it’s way more full of laughs then you expect, especially playing with friends!

Leo Castellblanch

Name: Leo Castellblanch
Level: Level 1
Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: 2009
L1 Certification Date: 1/26/2017
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The way you get to know your opponent
Occupation: Student
Why did you become a judge?: So I could interact more with the community around magic, and so I could build it up back where I’m from.
What excites you most about this event?: The doors it opens. Once I get a chance to see magic at a larger level, that gives me a much better ability to do so again.
What worries you most about this event?: How much bigger it will be than anything magic related I’ve done before. It’s all stuff I know, but the scale is so much bigger.
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: How a GP runs really, the intricacies of how an event of this size is managed.
Who is your mentor?: Jonah Kellman
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: A general lack of confidence in decisions I make when questioned by insistent players, and a tendancy to forget small details of my procedure.
How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: By just doing it more, as it has gotten easier the more I do it and the more places I do it in. That and take notes throughout, to look over later so I can make new mistakes.
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The vibrancy of the players, even when someone stops being there for months.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: My first time running legacy squirrels. The genuine surprise of other players at the deck is something I’ve spent a lot of time trying to recreate.

Bernie Hoelschen

Name: Bernie Hoelschen
Level: Level 1
Location: Rockland, Massachusetts
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Sometime in 1994
L1 Certification Date: 8/16/2016
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: I think one of my favorite things is the eternal community. Vintage and legacy are such cool formats and the people that frequent them are just as fun as the game itself.
Occupation: Supervisor for software technicians
Random fact about yourself: I didn’t get my one and only tattoo (so far) until I was 35 years old.
Why did you become a judge?: Initially (a few years ago), I wanted to be a judge because I wanted to learn more about the rules of the game. Last year, after getting into legacy, I decided it was time to take my interest a bit more seriously.
What excites you most about this event?: I find the idea of team sealed to be really interesting, so I’m looking forward to learning more about that.
What worries you most about this event?: I think that rules changes and new set are going to provide challenges to the day, but I think this is something I’ll be able to offset with relative ease with good preparation.
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I am looking forward to learning more about the operations of GPs on the whole.
Who is your mentor?: Jason Riendeau and Alfred Dziewit
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Competitive REL experience is sometimes hard to come by, especially in a relatively saturated area like the Northeast.
How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I have been applying to lots of events lately, including out of area GPs, Eternal Extravaganza 7 and more. I work closely with my mentors and friends in the program to look for more local opportunities.

Jacob Janssens

Name: Jacob Janssens
Level: Level 1
Location: Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: October 2001
L1 Certification Date: 8/22/2014
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Strategic Complexity on every level (Deckbuilding, Play)
Occupation: Student (Part Time Function Setup and LGS Employee)
Random fact about yourself: I mentor a high school age robotics team.
Why did you become a judge?: I liked being involved in running a tournament smoothly and I wanted to be a rules guru.
What excites you most about this event?: Getting a chance to judge a format with the newest cards that we’ve barely had access to.
What worries you most about this event?: My anxiety getting to me.
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: To beat back my anxiety and be confident but willing to double check myself.
Who is your mentor?: Ian Taylor, Level 2, Massachusetts
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Amount of events available/feasible for me to judge; I find no shortage of Regular REL judge opportunities at my LGS, but I rarely find opportunities to judge larger events between school, work and money.
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I’m also constantly fighting my anxiety while judging screaming to me that I’m wrong or I’m completely missing something.
How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: I’ve become more willing to toss my hat into the ring trying to get onto events I know I can find a way to do (like this one!) and fight tooth and nail to make it work.
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I’m confident while judging at my LGS, but I’m still trying to shut off my anxiety in larger situations. I see a therapist regularly for my anxiety, but it’s been a while since my last major event, so the anxiety will be fresh.
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: My community is inviting, open, and a fun bunch of people on the whole. It’s not uncommon for cards to be frantically passed around to be borrowed, laughing as a group at hilarious board states and situations and advice after games about situations are handed out like candy.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: GP Providence 2015: Going into Round 9 I am 6-2. I can’t come back for Sunday due to work. Once pairings go out, I stand at my table waiting for my opponent. My opponent arrives, and after confirming that they are my opponent, I ask the “Are you able to come back tomorrow?” They quickly say yes. I reach out for a handshake saying “Welcome to day 2.” I’ll never forget the pure elation on their face.

Corwin Knight

Name: Corwin Knight
Level: Level 1
Location: Albany, New York
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: Fall 2011
L1 Certification Date: 12/2/2013
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Casting Brainstorm
Occupation: Student
Random fact about yourself: I’ve practiced Taekwondo for over 19 years
Why did you become a judge?: I love knowing the nuts and bolts of how things work and I wanted to help my local playgroup with rules interactions.
What excites you most about this event?: Getting the chance to learn and work with new judges. It’s both the first GP and team event I’ve judged so I have a lot to learn!
Who is your mentor?: I have two, Dan Jackson and Will Anderson
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Currently, my biggest challenge is finding time to judge outside of the store I work at. Between work and school, I don’t have a lot of time to travel to events.

Alex Martin

Name: Alex Martin
Level: Level 1
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: August 2014
L1 Certification Date: 2/1/2017
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: The Modern Format
Occupation: Researcher/Analyst
Random fact about yourself: Loves vegetables
What excites you most about this event?: The size and scope
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: How to most effectively work alongside other judges to make things seamless.
What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge?: Making sure I can rattle off policy at a moment’s notice
How have you worked to overcome those challenges?: Heavy Studying!
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Killing myself with a Herald of Torment after bestowing my creature at 2 life.

Joseph Previti

Name: Joseph Previti
Level: Level 1
Location: New York City, New York
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: December 1993
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: I am a big fan of Commander due to the greater likelihood that you can learn a lot about people based on how they like to build and play their decks.
Occupation: Architectural Engineer
Random fact about yourself: I have rung the opening or closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange on 3 separate times.
Why did you become a judge?: I became a judge so I could better grow communities of players. More often than not, the LGS’s I would frequent were scattered and disorganized. I also enjoyed teaching the game to others young and old. And I very much enjoyed inspiring players to get better, to always strive to make new things and try new elements of the game.
What excites you most about this event?: I enjoy the scale of it and the learning opportunities I will be presented. I have been TOing and judging Magic events for years. But I seldom had to manage more than 30+ people. I would like to master managing larger events and groups of players.
What worries you most about this event?: I am not particularly worried about any aspect of the event. I will study and be prepared to fulfill my role fully.
What are you hoping to learn at this event?: I am hoping to see if there is any real difference in the challenges I face with the group sizes I am used to managing. Anything that makes me a better judge is all the better.
Who is your mentor?: Russell Deutsch, great guy.
What is the best part about your local Magic community?: The commander players 🙂
What is your favorite Magic memory?: Casting ‘Ertai’s Meddling’ on my own ‘Orim’s Chant’ with kicker targeting myself with one counter so that when a players ‘Mindslaver’ resolved it’s effect on me, he couldn’t make me do anything to hurt myself on my enslaved turn.

Danny Simpson

Name: Danny Simpson
Level: Level 1
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Region: USA – Northeast
Approximate date/month/year you started playing Magic: August 1998
L1 Certification Date: 7/8/2017
Favorite thing (e.g., card, deck, group of people) about Magic: Trying to make janky combos work.
Occupation: Bioinformatician
Random fact about yourself: Appeared on a Discovery show in high school
What excites you most about this event?: I am really excited to meet more of the other judges around the country and get a feel for how large events work in general.
What worries you most about this event?: I’m worried about some logistical issues, like where to meet players or reporting results, but I’m pretty sure all of those will be addressed once I get there!
Who is your mentor?: My primary mentors are Adam Eidelsafy, Russell Deutsch, and Nataniel Bael.
What is your favorite Magic memory?: My favorite Magic memory is playing events with my brother growing up–we both started playing together, and he helped bring me back to the game recently, incidentally leading to me joining the judge program.