June 2018
As we roll along into the beginning of summer, many of our Judges are tempering their event loads with vacations. But fear not as you plug back in after some well-deserved downtime, possibly melting in the sun, which incidentally appears to have migrated slightly closer to Dominar – er, the Earth. Before the conflagration of the summer sun sends us the way of the Thran, let’s take a look back at what last month brought us:
Regional Town Hall Meeting
We began June with our monthly Town Hall meeting. John Temple briefed the region on the topics covered at the recent Regional Coordinators (RC) Conference. The Day 2 Team Lead and L2 Tester certifications are both being reviewed to ensure that the intent behind their creation is being fulfilled in practice. Morale across all Judge levels was also discussed: in short, we are all a little stressed. Machinations are presently swirling at high levels in order to address the various concerns of each level of Judge.
The RC’s also discussed the role L1’s fill in the program at present. Along with this, the Exemplar program and Conferences as a whole were topics of focus. Details on each of these topics can be found below in the Town Hall meeting notes.
Great Lakes Spotlight
The Communications team launched a new feature article last month, the Great Lakes Spotlight. While we have the Exemplar Program to highlight efforts on a program level, we wanted to take a deeper dive into the Judges that make our region so great.
If you know of a Judge who makes a difference through their continued efforts in their community, we would love to hear about it! You can reach out directly to Scott Markwart or Brian Rapp
with any recommendations you may have for our next Great Lakes Spotlight!
Conferences
Conferences team continues to create exceptional continuing education opportunities! There are a few conference applications still open, one of which is a mock tournament! Be sure to check out the event applications, linked below.
Additionally, if you missed the most recent Cincinnati Conference, you can catch John Alexander’s presentation on Competitive REL on the Judging for the Win’s YouTube channel.
- Michigan Area Conference (Mock Tournament) – August 25, 2018 in Howell, MI (DEADLINE: July 31, 2018)
- Northeast Ohio Community Conference – August 25, 2018 in Streetsboro, OH (DEADLINE: August 20, 2018)
- John Alexander’s Presentation
Rules Updates
This past month saw an update to the Comprehensive Rules. This update added the relevant rules for mechanics related to the release of Battlebond.
Additionally, the Squee, the Immortal / Ixalan’s Binding interaction has been addressed to align with how it works in M:tG Arena. In short, if Squee, the Immortal is exiled with Ixalan’s Binding, you CANNOT cast Squee. Read more about the update below. Also, Pangolin is now officially a creature type.
We also received the Release Notes and image gallery for the M19 Core Set early! So if you’re looking for something to read while kicking back in a hammock this summer, why not dig into those Release Notes!
Exemplar Wave 13
The results of Exemplar Wave 13 have been published! Congratulations to all of those Judges who received nominations this time around! You can read the official announcement below. And if you’d like to read the nominations received by Judges in the Great Lakes Region, we’ve provided the link below as well.
Judge Anniversaries
June saw some milestones for three of our region’s Judges. Frank Scarber celebrated 15 years with the Judge program in June! Frank Singel
and Eric Searfos-Miller
. Both celebrated five years this past month as well. An immense feat of endurance and dedication by these Judges to be sure!
New Judges
The month of June saw three new Level 1 Judges certified in the Great Lakes Region! We would like to extend a warm welcome to Daniel Hines, Trevor Smith
, and Kevin Bilbrey
! Congratulations and welcome to the fold!
Closing Remarks
Moving into summer means hot days and hotter events. But make sure you take some time to relax and enjoy the season! Judging is incredibly fun, but hard work. So remember to stave off that ever-looming specter of ‘burn out’ by blocking out some time to hang out with family or friends, attend a conference and join in some camaraderie, or just get out of town for a few days. Stay cool out there, Judges!
Pass turn.