This week’s Judge of the Week is Callum Milne. Callum is a Level 2 judge from Nanaimo, which is in British Columbia, Canada. Callum first found Magic in 1994 when his cousin showed him the game, however, with no store or cards availbale he was unable to begin playing. In 2002 he found www.magicthegathering.com and went head first into the game. In 2009 he began to judge tournaments. Callum, like many other judges, loves the rules of Magic, and was amazed that Magic has a rules system robust enough to be called “comprehensive”. He began asking and answering questions in the rules forums for the sheer fun of figuring out the answers, and he assures me this hasn’t stopped. The love of answering questions made him interested in judging. Living in a remote location, he was unable to achieve certification. In 2009 on a trip to Vancouver he realized there was a PTQ on. He arranged to volunteer and test at the event, where he passed with flying colours and has never looked back. His most memorable judging experience was at that first PTQ he attended. Here is what he had to say about it:
“I walked into that event having never been to a PTQ, I didn’t know what to expect, I felt like I knew nothing, and mostly wanting to be a judge was the proof that I knew what I was talking about when it came to the rules. I ended up meeting three great new friends and having a blast the entire time, even though I wasn’t actually doing much beyond deck checking and walking the tables, when the end of the day came I was happy to be a judge mostly because judging was downright awesome.”
Favourite Magic format?
I haven’t played it often enough to know whether it quite beats out EDH, but I love hamming it up as the Archenemy. There’s just something incredibly satisfying about a good long maniacal laugh and an over-the-top evil mastermind schtick.
Favourite Magic storyline character?
Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran. The Ravnica block novels were awesome, and there’s just something totally badass about Agrus.
Favourite Magic Card?
Either Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker or Seshiro the Anointed. They’re the centrepieces of two of my oldest and most beloved casual decks.
What do you do outside of judging?
I’m currently an economics major at Vancouver Island University, and I’m the Senior Volunteer Community Lead for the Magic section of the Wizards Community website.
Favourite board/video game?
Portal. Twisting the laws of physics and motion to your own advantage has never been so fun.
Favourite Magic background story novel?
Agents of Artifice. Ari Marmell is a fantastic author, and he revisited some of my favourite settings and captured them perfectly.
Do you have a favorite rule or section of a policy document?
Section 711 of the Comprehensive Rules: Controlling Another Player. It’s my favourite because I wanted to change Mindslaver from controlling turns to controlling players almost from the moment Mark Rosewater first previewed it for the original Mirrodin set, and it finally happened.
Reader Challenge – Two Truths and a Lie
Two of the following are true and one is false! Work it out!
1. I’ve never lived in the same town or city for more than five years straight.
2. On my way back home from judging that first PTQ, my car skidded out of control on a downhill curve in the snow and crashed head-on into the side of an oncoming semi. My airbag didn’t deploy, but I emerged with only a touch of bruising from the seat belt.
3. According to several former coworkers, I’m a dancing machine.
(Highlight the blank space between the brackets to see the answer.)
The false statement is [#1! Callum lived in Nelson, BC for seven years.]