Hello everyone! Today we feature another Level 3, but this time, from Down-Under… it’s Fabian Peck, from Melbourne, Australia! I had the privilege of working with Fabian at GP Manila, and I definitely agree with this nomination. Thanks to Mark Brown, fellow Australian, for nominating him. Fabian became a judge in 2006, became level 2 at GP Auckland 2008, and then became level 3 at Worlds 2010. Why did he become a judge?

“It just looked fun. I had a few friends who were judging at prereleases and having even more fun than I was having playing. I spoke to Mark Brown who was running things and asked if I could get involved and it went from there.”

Favourite card: Island, it’s involved in casting most of my other favourite cards.

Least favourite card: Shaharazad, for its ridiculousness. I have a grand but implausible plan to somehow buy every single one and every unopened Arabian Nights booster to ultimately ban it.

Commander general: The following mysteriously happens any time someone asks if I play commander – “I can, er, only find 98 sleeves, guess I’m not building a commander deck today, how unfortunate”. It’s a great format but not really my thing.

Random fact about yourself: I’m only 22, but everyone seems to think I’m 30 or so 😛

Tell us an embarrassing story that you’re not afraid of everyone knowing.
The day people discovered how ticklish I am…. At dinner after GP San Diego last year someone let it slip and I had Kevin Binswanger and David de la Iglesia chase me around the restaurant screaming until I fell over and couldn’t escape. I look back and laugh 😛

How has being a judge influenced your non-Magic life?
Well, there’s a lot less of it 🙂 (by choice). I think the biggest thing is how much confidence it’s given me, I’ve gone from a fairly quiet shy guy to being a lot happier to meet people and go and do random things.

What’s the best part about your local Magic community?
How interested and involved the players are in judges and judging. People have learned that calling a judge helps them learn and play magic more accurately and they’re often just curious as to how we fix things. People urge their opponent to call a judge when a mistake has been made just to be sure of how things work.

What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?
Deranged Assistant, because I am one [at L4 James Mackay’s store Games Laboratory]. There are always corpses to be fetched and brain tissue to be used, fortunately it’s pretty fun with a good Laboratory Maniac.

What is your favourite non-judging moment that happened with other judges?
One of the best was getting to go to the Asahi Brewery in Nagoya with a few other judges, it was fascinating and there was even a free tasting at the end. All you can drink in 20 minutes followed by the gift shop probably works out pretty well for them 😛

I write this as I’m road tripping up to Canberra (our glorious but freezing capital) to hang out with a bunch of other judges for the weekend and attempt to recreate the nationals spirit (there also happens to be a PTQ on but that’s just a convenient excuse).

If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
M.C. Escher, his work fascinates me and I’d love to know how he designs it all, I’m kind of a sucker for anything that merges maths with art.

Two Truths and a Lie
Two of the following statements are true, and one is false. Figure out which!

1. I’m also an English citizen
2. I hate tomatoes
3. I studied architecture as part of my degree

Fabian’s next big venture is Head Judging GP Auckland later this year! Let’s all wish him the best of luck and leave some good guesses in the comment section down below!

[expand title=”And the answer to last week’s Two Truths and a Lie…”]2! According to Milijan, you do not want to hear him sing.[/expand]