Hello everyone! Welcome back to another edition of Judge of the Week! Today’s featured judge is René Ahumada, from Bogota, Colombia. René became a judge in August 2004. 6 years later, he passed his Level 2 exam. Why did he become a judge?

“When the local organizers in Colombia (my brother and his then-girlfriend and now-wife) started with the big tournaments, we all had a lack of experience with rules and organization issues. So my brother asked me to become a judge. I traveled to Argentina to take the test with one of the two active South American level 3 judges, Juan del Compare. Luckily I passed the exam with basically no experience in tournaments. Now I must admit I enjoy more judging than playing.”

Occupation: Computer Engineer

Favourite card: Desolation Angel

Least favourite card: Opposition

Favourite non-Magic game: Role-playing games in general

Best tournament finish: Only competitive event ever played in was Nationals 2004 (I’m guessing he didn’t do too well ;))

Commander general: Numot, the Devastator

How has being a judge influenced your non-Magic life?
I have had the opportunity of meet new people, and make new friends because of the game. That’s the most important fact to me. From meeting new people, I learn about other places, different experiences, and different times. I try to use that information to improve my personal life.

You were nominated by Carlos Ho because you are seen as a leader in the Colombian judging community, even by judges who became L2 before you did. Why do you think this is so?
At the very start I focused my efforts in teaching people about the game. With help from other local judges I started to teach the game in local stores, and not just the basics. I told the players about strategy and some of them who assisted to the classes became the top players in my country. I help organizers communicate among many cities in Colombia. And on top of that, I’ve HJed all PTQs and prereleases in Bogota for many years. That may be why people think of me as a point of reference here.

If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Leonardo Da Vinci. I would ask him a lot of things so I would try to understand what was on his mind. He was a genius and probably I would learn something useful.

What would you be doing now if Magic no longer existed?
I should focus in my job. Working to get the money to travel and visit new places. (Editor’s note: Couldn’t you visit new places as a judge? 😉)

What is your favourite non-judging moment that happened with other judges?
Walking on the street in Buenos Aires in 2008. We were with some players too (Tomoharu Saito and Shuuhei Nakamura). How often can you share time with people from different countries in middle of the night laughing? That kind of moments make this time as judge very pleasant.

What’s the biggest rule-breaking play you’ve ever made as a player?
Probably trying to play a sorcery as a instant when I was learning the game? No, I remember now! I tried to play a land with spells in the stack to avoid a Mana Leak.

What character in Magic represents you the best, and why?
Venser the Sojourner. Sojouner is a word that defines what I think I would do most of the time.

Please leave questions/comments for René below, and as always, nominate a judge today!