This week’s Judge of the Week is Stelios Christos Kargotis. Stelios is a level 2 judge from Strood, Kent in the United Kingdom. Stelios started playing back in 1999, in the middle of the Urza’s block and played at his local club in Gravesend (which is in Kent). After the release of Onslaught he decided to take a break. It lasted 6 years. However, in this time he joined the Royal Engineers and at the completion of his time in the Engineers rejoined the world of Magic. Stelios’s local Tournament Organiser asked him to help out at the Eventide Pre-Release, to which he begrudgingly said yes. He did not realise that he would compensated for his time and be taught the necessary skills which would make a strong judge. Talking about his first event he says:

“I was nervous at my first event due to the fact that my rules knowledge was nonexistent and that I didn’t want to make mistakes, but Glen made the experience so enjoyable that I was hooked and decided that contributing to my community in this way was far more important to me than playing. So began the journey and a long line of headaches for Glen.”

What interested you in judging?
For me it was helping Glen out and being part of the Kent Magic scene in a supportive role. I think my time in the Army and specifically the time I spent in a support regiment saw me wanting to continue down that road. So helping Kent players and Glen was the biggest pull for me.

Most memorable judging experience?
GP Madrid 2010, it was my first tournament away from home and the energy was just tremendous. 2229 players and close to 70 Judges from all corners of the globe just made it an awesome experience. During the Judge dinner I remember Christian Gawrilowicz saying that the Judge staff present was worthy of a Pro Tour, what an opening line at my first International GP. Working with the Spanish Judges was also a great buzz people like David de la Iglesia, Raul Rabionet, Nicko Glick and Alfonso Bueno who took me under their wing and showed me some cool stuff. Special thanks goes out to Manuel Burgos and Keppa Arrieta for being helpful and correcting my Spanish, I consider these people my uncles.

Favourite Magic format?
It has to be Legacy. The amount of complex interaction that can appear are phenomenal and it exposes you to older game mechanics that just don’t appear in standard or extended. On top of the Legacy players are a very amiable bunch and don’t seem to be as ruthless as in other formats. I’ve seen two players sit down and discuss their decks post game and be very helpful and constructive to their opponent. I like this sort of outlook so judging Legacy is always fun.

Favourite Magic Card?
Wrath of God. It’s a great card and variants of it have seen a great deal of play over the years in a number of different formats.

What do you do outside of judging?
I have a number of interests including socialising with friends and my fiancée, going to the movies, reading for pleasure and Role Playing a number of different systems. My favourite campaign at the moment is 4th Edition D&D in the Harry Dresden Universe where I play a Spanish born Cleric called Alfonso Nicko de la Iglesia. It’s going really well.

If you could play any one game with any one real person – living or dead – what and who would it be?
It would have to be Alexander the Great and the game would have to be chess as I would very much like to see that great strategic mind at work (and perhaps gain a few tips on how to outsmart my opponent).

Name one planeswalker that you would want to have while stranded on a desert island.
Garruk, Primal Hunter. His +1 ability allows you to gain a beast that can keep you either company or can be cooked for food. Drawing cards well that is always fun and finally the Ultimate ability can be used to gain a lot of defenses in case you get attacked by pirates.

What’s your favourite rule or section of a policy document?
Rules-wise it has to be State Based Actions, when I first started judging my mentor Glen White took the time to explain them to me and taught me a great way to memorise them. From then on it was just a matter of time before I became proficient in them and I now use them to test my padawans. It’s a great exercise to get people thinking about what is and what isn’t a state based action.

Just as a conclusion to this wonderful tool towards greater visibility of Judges on different continents I would like to thank Petr for nominating me and of course all those magnificent Judges who have had an active hand in my career I thank you all.