This week’s Judge of the Week is level 1 James Fields. He just moved to Bellevue WA, from Spokane, so for those of us who do not know where Bellevue, WA is, it is in the United States. James began playing in 10th edition, which sounds like not too long ago, but that’s 10th Edition not M10. He then moved into Tournament Organising. James’s most memorable judge experience was in Grand Prix Toronto. He was assigned to the deck check team, but soon got pulled off to run side events. He was on the main event floor for day 2 where he got to be part of the draft calling, and is excited to get the chance to do it again. As for what interested him in judging here is what James had to say:

“I first became interested in judging because of the Tournament Organizers Forums on Wizards Community. It was apparent that the judges had all the answers to how to run tournaments properly. It really interested me, partly because there was only one active judge in my region, and partly because I like to know how things work and to help, others figure it out as well. I looked into becoming a judge and worked hard on my rules knowledge and policy knowledge to help grow my local community and help other Tournament Organizers as they need.”

Favourite Magic format?
EDH is my favourite format. It’s casual fun with complex rules interactions. What could be better?

Favourite Magic storyline character / Favourite Magic card?
One and the same: Kaervek, the Merciless. I love that he deals the pain out whenever someone is brave enough to cast a spell. He is the general for my first EDH deck and the ultimate finisher.

What do you do outside of judging?
I’m a manager of a local board game store, Uncle’s Games in Bellevue. I work hard at providing all the best games, great customer service, and in growing our events.

Favourite board / video game?
I really enjoy the board games Agricola and Pandemic.

Name one planeswalker that you would want to have while stranded on a desert island.
Koth of the Hammer. He could just remake the island however we wanted. 😛

Reader Challenge – Two Truths and a Lie
Two of the following are true and one is false! Work it out!

1. My favorite drink in the world is coffee.
2. I am a licensed airplane technician and pilot.
3. I once got hit by a car going 90 mph on residential streets that happened to be occupied by 2 people with illegal drugs and a one eyed driver. My car was totaled, but I walked away with minor bruising and no other damage.

(Highlight the blank space between the brackets to see the answer.)
The false statement is [#1! According to James, “I despise coffee more than any other known beverage.”]