Welcome, judges! This time around, we are honoring someone who is willing to go the extra mile to help out with tournaments, both literally and figuratively. Say hello to Francisco Riveiro!

Name: Francisco J. Riveiro Level:  L2
Location: A Coruña, Spain
Judge start date: February 20, 2014
Occupation: Retired. I’m with a disability for a while.
Favorite card: Harm’s Way Least favorite card: Desperate Ravings, because I always discard the key card…
Favorite format: Booster draft. Also, I love Standard.
Commander General: I never play Commander xD
Favorite non-Magic Game:  In videogames, I’m an Unreal Tournament fan.
Best tournament result: PTQ finals or the last two Nats playing for Top 8 in the final rounds, but none special.
Random fact about yourself: In the first National, I played against the person who became my L1 mentor and my L2 mentor, and won the two matches!

What positive aspects has the Judge Program contributed to your everyday life?
The Judge Program helped me to understand that there are different ways to see the same thing, and one of them is not necessarily the only way. The other thing is the experience in teamwork and calming down when the thing doesn’t work in the way that one wants (this is now my principal target)

One of the things you have been recognized for is being willing to travel a long distance to judge tournaments. Why have you been so willing to travel, and what’s the farthest you’ve traveled?
Nowadays I have no job, but I have a regular source of income. So I’m free to travel every weekend. I did around 1500 km in three days with my car to cover two PPTQs last year. In addition, when I was a L1, I traveled to Barcelona to be part of an event, only to learn.

Another thing you have been recognized for is helping with “Arcanis.” What is that?
Arcanis is a Spanish project in Cantabria. One of the things that they do is a big event twice a year, the Arcanis Deluxe. The Arcanis Deluxe is a event that involves Standard, Modern and Legacy, a great place (Suances, Cantabria), illustrators (in the last edition, in October, it had John Avon) and the organization provides accomodation and food for all the players in a single pack. The players in that event go only to have fun, and it’s a great way to have a perfect weekend with your Magic friends.

How has being a Judge influenced your non-Magic life?
Really, nowadays all my time turns around Magic, but in a first time, being a judge provides me a different way of seeing the things and a great knowledge of teamwork. Now every day I am answering mails, whatsapps or sending messages for Facebook about Magic (events, doubts, projects…).

What motivates you to continue being a Judge?
The people. If I didn’t know amazing people in this “world,” probably I would not involve myself so much. But travelling to other city or country and meeting some great guys and helping others judges and players to have a great weekend is the thing that makes me continue.

What are some tips you have for other Judges?
Other times, I’ve said “have fun”, but I think it is more important to “meet the people.” Everything that other judges, players or TOs say to you, remember that. Every feedback that they give is important. The other important thing is meeting people around the world, that people are going to make you welcome any place that you are going to visit. If you visit some places but don’t know new people, you are losing so much.

What has been your favourite Magic event that you’ve judged?
Probably GP Manchester’16. It was my first foreign GP and I met some great guys.

How do you have fun during events?
Talking with other judges about situations, about a ruling, helping everybody that needs me… I have fun when I’m doing anything Magic-related.

If you were a creature, what would be your creature type?
Ogre probably xD

What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?
This may sound pretentious, but I think Dark Confidant. In my life, I work to do everything I can in the best way I know, so I usually say “Greatness at any cost,” because if I need be two months a diet, doing 4 hours of gym at day, when I feel f*****g tired and hungry I remember the words and continue.

What do you see as your greatest strengths as a Judge?
I think that my unique strength is seeing the things that the event needs. Probably, well, sure I’m not Judge with the best skills in policies or knowledge of the Comprehensive Rules, but I think that I can see all the times that the players are not OK and I try to fix it, things that go from the situation of pairings, the attitude of some judges, the floor that is not covered… I was a competitive player several years, and I think that the players demand very good customer service. If we give them that, it is not a problem if we give a incorrect ruling. They only demand a apologize for that. All of us are humans. We can be wrong, but if we try to fix it, is ok.

What do you see as your short-term and long-term goals within the Judge program?
In a short-term have a great weekend in the next GP (Madrid in December), work hard for be useful, and in a long-term I don’t know yet. At the beginning of the year I mark December in my calendar to decide what I’m going to do next year.

Why do you Judge?
I love the game, I have been playing since 2007 and made several friends, I want to continue meeting new and old friends.

What is your favorite non-judging moment that happened with other Judges (or after event story)?
I don’t know if is a good story to here but… My favorite story is the last Spanish National in Alcoy. I made a good result but not enough for Top 8 (only needed to win one of the last two). The last night some players went to Concentaina, a near village to party. It was the best party, and only Magic can do that, 50 or more players talking, dancing, some drinking… All together with only one thing in common, Magic.

What’s the best part about your local Magic community?
It’s like a big family!

What is your favorite non-Magic hobby?
Football! Spain won their 7th European cup!

How did you get involved in Magic in the first place?
It was when I could not play football because of a injury. One friend talk me about others games different from video games and we bought several boosters (maybe Mirrodin and Kamigawa) and we started playing.

If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
It’s difficult… Too many real and fictional persons come to mind. Maybe one of them could be Bill Gates, who without being the best, and without having the best, became the best!

If you were a Planeswalker, what would be your ultimate?
Return another planeswalker from the graveyard to the battlefield with +1 loyalty. Everyone deserves a second chance.

What was the proudest moment of your Judge life?
Umm… This?

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

1. When I started having health issues, the first doctor asked me who accompanied me. When I said that I came to the hospital alone, he said that is impossible. He asked me again who accompanied me,  with the same answer. He doesn’t believe me again. When I asked him why, he said that I cannot walk alone without help! I offered to get up to slap him into believing me.
2. I started playing with the prerelease for Ravnica. That year, I read about Nationals and I decided that I’m going to play in it. I judged the regional, got paid to fly to Madrid and won a last chance qualifier to play in Nationals.
3. At the last Spanish Nationals, I shared a room with two players from my city. I was snoring every night, but the worst was the Saturday night. My roommates could not sleep and when one of them purposely attacked me with a pillow, suddenly I stopped. Then I said, “No lands” and continued with big, loud snoring. They started to laugh and I woke up, pissed off by the noise they make.

If there is a judge who is also doing something exemplary, please nominate a judge TODAY!