Blaylock – Candidate for Regional Advocate 2025 – Pacific Northwest

Note: This is a candidate page for a Judge Foundry Election. Information on this page is provided by the candidate, and does not represent the opinions or positions of the Elections Committee or of Judge Foundry. For more information about this election, see the schedule and index for the Elections at the 2025 Annual Meeting.

Nomination Statement

Hello team,

I am going to assume a lot of you don’t know me. That isn’t a shock, I’ve only lived in the region for a year, and I don’t tend to work many local events such as RCQs. So, why am I looking to be your regional advocate? Because I see things that can be done, and I want to help.

I’ve been a judge for a decade (MC Atlanta is my 10 year anniversary), and originally I am from Georgia. I mostly work large events at this point, so I travel fairly regularly. I also engage with some of the other TCGs (especially Lorcana).

So what do I plan to do for this region in the coming year? Mainly I hope to help improve lines of communication, develop area communicators, and help encourage the development of judges. Mentorship has always been a key aspect to my judging career. I love working with judges and developing as a group to get better. Often this means finding those better than I am to learn from, and trying to pass off what I learn to others. But on a regional level that means finding ways to incentivize judges to train up new L1s and L2s, developing a next generation of judges.

So my goal is to see the number of judges in region grow due to certification, and see more L1s reach L2. I can’t do this alone, so I will be looking to lean on area communicators and other leaders to help.

Q1: Judge Program Direction

Question: This year, many members are uncertain about our future due to Wizards of the Coast’s announcement of a new Judge Program Manager role. How will you support your region through this uncertainty and potential transition?

What we think might be happening in the future isn’t as important as how we prepare for it. Guessing what a future program might look like is a fun game, but what we do to prepare for changes is really no different from what we should already be doing. We need to be teaching, training, mentoring, and growing our members’ abilities to judge TCG tournaments. One of the major aspects of Judge Foundry that had been missing for several years is maintenance – the process of ensuring we are still meeting a certain standard as judges. We need to maintain those standards so if/when some other program comes along, at least the quality of our judges will remain high.

Q2: Local Judges and Judging

Question: As a Regional Advocate, how will you support local judges and encourage local judging in your region?

I want to empower area communicators to encourage regional leaders. I want a regional conference to happen, even if traditional incentives are available. Events like this and SCG Portland would be our best chance as a region to gather and socialize, which is the best way to build the relationships we need to develop the regional character and identity.

Q3: Programs and Projects

Question: How do you plan to use Conferences and other major projects like Exemplar or this year’s Review Competition to support and grow your region?

Conferences are our chance to gather and build relationships, while also sharing information and experience. Annual regional conferences are a huge deal to me, and I love them. My hope is to have a regional conference that can draw in the more experienced judges to help teach others great skills, but then I would hope it can also be a chance for everyone to get to know one another.

As for JF wide initiatives, encouraging everyone to engage so we can win would be my major goal. I like winning, it’s great. So let’s prove that PNW is the best region.