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 2026 Annual Meeting.
- Name: Mark Mason
- Location: Mid-Atlantic
- Election: 2026 Annual Meeting
- Running For: Regional Advocate for Mid-Atlantic
Nomination Statement
<I’m Mark Mason (They/Them), and I’m asking for your vote for Mid-Atlantic Regional Advocate.
I made this self-nomination on the day of the deadline. It’s also the night before a Wisconsin weekend for NRGEvents.gg featuring a Judge Foundry conference at which I’ll be presenting, a Riftbound Showdown with more than 600 players, 70 MTG Trios teams, robust Learn to Play and Neuroscape Prerelease celebrations, and, finally, Commander for a Cause benefiting Tappy Toe Claws.
I don’t share this to impress you, but to impress upon you that I judge tournaments across multiple games and formats and am now into my second decade of doing so. When I first tested to become a judge, I said that I wasn’t much of a joiner. I lived by Marxism—Groucho Marxism and distrusted any group that would have me as a member. Judging remains one of those rare communities that would have me and I remain honored that it does, Groucho Marx notwithstanding.
Although I am running unopposed, I do not regard the result as a blank check. I regard this process as an opportunity to tell you how I intend to serve, hear what you need from your Regional Advocate, and give you standards by which you can evaluate my work. Some of you may decide I am the right person to advocate for you. Others may conclude otherwise. Both are legitimate uses of your vote.
You deserve to know that I’ve lived and judged in multiple regions. But the mountains of North Carolina are now my forever home. So, you all are now my regional judges.
You also deserve to know that I have changed my relationship with judging. For the most part, I simply don’t do events where I cannot be with my dogs. This means some of my connections to larger TOs are not as robust as they once were. I want you to have a realistic sense of how often my advocacy would turn into an SCG or Laughing Dragon hire. The good news is that, where I may now lack direct reach, I still have relationships with world-class, large-event judges who will take my calls—and not just when I raise my hand and yell, “JUDGE!”
I’m fiery, emotional, dedicated, ideological, and boundaried. I also abhor unjustified or permanent hierarchies. Whatever my own takes may be, if I see a way to support you ethically and practically, I will.
If you don’t yet know me, I’m eager to connect. If you do, then you know 1,400 more characters would do little to constrain or contain me. So I will simply end by again acknowledging that, although I am running unopposed, I take nothing for granted. I hope you will see progress for our community regardless of how you vote.>
Q1: Judge Program Direction
Question: Many members are uncertain about our future due to Wizards of the Coast’s plans to reinstate a Wizards-run judge program. How will you support your region through this uncertainty and potential transition?
<I do not believe our region should organize itself around predicting what Wizards will do, on what timetable, or whether its program will be the best option for every member. You deserve the relationships, skills, and local capacity to serve LGSs and TOs under any eventual structure—or with no changes at all. Where a Wizards-run program creates opportunities, I will advocate for your access to them. Where Judge Foundry meets needs that Wizards does not, cannot, or will not; I will advocate for its continuation. Throughout any transition, I will communicate what can be shared and amplify regional concerns.
I also believe judging any game is still judging. I would like to build more community around other publishers and celebrate your work helping local gaming communities get their play on, however they play. A publisher developing organized play should be overjoyed when a Judge Foundry judge expresses interest: you bring crucial transferable skills, strong networks, and institutional support.
Finally, as we know from game design and development, changes Wizards makes today may not become visible for a long time and may change again before they do. I hope we will take the long view without neglecting the present: supporting one another, serving our local communities, and becoming better judges year over year. Whatever programs eventually emerge should count themselves lucky to have you.>
Q2: Local Judges and Judging
Question: As a Regional Advocate, how will you support local judges and encourage local judging in your region?
<There are three ways to grow our community:
- Bring more judges into the region;
- Develop more leadership among us; and
- Help LGSs and regional TOs increase the frequency and diversity of events.
Local judging needn’t be treated as preparation for “real” judging elsewhere. Large events provide valuable experience, but money, geography, employment, disability, and family obligations affect who can attend them. I want to make regional paths for learning, onboarding, and advancement visible and accessible.
Organizers also need advocacy and support. We can help LGSs bridge the gap between “it would be nice to have a judge” and seeing judge involvement as a good use of limited dollars. Part of that means demonstrating the long-term value of successful events, the kind that stay off Reddit. I will share tools that help stores need you more and help judges understand the tier and reward systems of different games so they can communicate their value. For example, my LGS once ran only all night-prereleases. I showed them how adding three-round and Two-Headed Giant events could increase their allocation and support from Wizards. Even a fraction of that value covered my judge fees.
Recognition matters. Let’s notice, build up, and celebrate one another’s contributions: every regional level-up, leadership at major events, and highly visible competitive role. Let’s also fill Exemplar with joyful stories of our region’s local wins.>
Q3: Programs and Projects
Question: What tools/projects do you plan to use to support and grow your region?
<This is the area where I need your help.
I want to begin with a brainstorming session where nothing is off the table, followed by a second pass asking, “Which of these things can we actually do?” From there, I will support the projects we agree upon as a community.
No one of us is smarter than all of us. I want to tap into that collective intelligence to identify the right projects, then help turn good ideas into sustainable practices.
I do have plans to bring to that conversation. First, I will invite judges to participate in events around the events. For example, I would like to offer weekday and weekend opportunities to complete our quarterly maintenance tests together, using them as occasions to discuss, learn, and grow. I also propose a monthly Discord check-in organized around four questions: What’s up? What’s working? What’s missing? What’s next?
Finally, I want to talk with you about your LGSs and identify one or two practical ways we can support each of them while enhancing your value. The region needn’t become a collection of marketing experts. However, it should be regular and ordinary for us to help make our communities free of toxic behavior, socially welcoming, and willing to explore the boundaries of play. Stores should be able to grow because their judges help people return, bring friends, try new events, and feel that they belong.>