Hola, judges! How do you say “rock star” en Espanol? One way might be “Miquel Àngel Moya,” our latest Judge of the Week! Miquel, or “Miky,” racked up an incredible seven Exemplar Program recognitions, many of which were for his work getting articles about Magic translated from English to Spanish. Let’s get to know Miky a little better, shall we?

Name: Miquel Àngel Moya Level: 1
Location: Mallorca, Spain
Judge start date: 05/25/2014
Why did you become a Judge? To help my local community and lend a hand to a good friend who was always Judging without any free weekends 🙂
Occupation: Software developer
Favourite card: Cryptic Command Least favourite card: Definitely Choke Favourite format: Commander
Commander General: Teferi, Temporal Archmage Favourite non-Magic Game: Munchkin
Best tournament result: I won two Game Days and made to the finals at a GPT.

Random fact about yourself: I’m a very big fan of video games. My personal library, counting physical and digital games, is comprised of more than 1000 individual titles, and I own almost every console ever released in Spain. I’m still looking for a Super NES, though.

What is your reaction to having received 7 Exemplar recognitions?
The first time I opened JudgeApps and read the names of the people who wrote them I couldn’t continue. I had to close it and wait for the next day because I was in shock. Every single one of those recognitions come from people I truly admire, and reading them made me feel proud and grateful to them, because they were the very ones that inspired me in everything I do. I can’t thank them enough for they are the reason why I’m here. I would be nothing without them.

Some of your Exemplar recognitions have to do with your starting a project to translate articles from English to Spanish. How did you launch the idea? How many people are working with you?
I wasn’t alone. The idea came from Jorge Requesens, who was searching for someone that could help him in translating an article he thought would be interesting for the Spanish-speaking community. I offered my help, as did some other Judges. We translated that article, and Jorge asked us if we were available to translate anything else in the near future. Our answer was “yes”, and that’s how the Article Translation project began. A few months later, he offered me the team leading position, which I accepted. Right now we have 11 Judges working on it every week to make sure the Spanish-speaking community has access to all the articles from Regular REL and Judge Articles, as well as other minor tasks we get from time to time. I’m very proud of every single one of my team mates, and I can’t thank them enough for their work. They may or may not know it, but they do a great service for the Spanish-speaking community, as well as being a truly great example for Judges around the world.

How many articles have you and the people you’re involved with translated?
At the moment of writing this 25, but expect it to be 27 or so when you read it. Every week we finish one or two more, and since we have awesome Judges who don’t stop writing new articles and releasing new content our work is never done. Fortunately, my team is formed of awesome Judges who work tirelessly to have the articles done as soon as possible.

What are some of the challenges and rewards of working on these translations?
Keeping up with new articles coming up every week is really difficult. We’re always one week or so behind, and when we finish something there’s already at least one more thing to do. It’s a never ending cycle 🙂 Seeing the articles published in the blogs, linking them on the forums and watching people comment on them is, for me, the best reward I could have.

Tell us your favourite Judge story.
I’ll tell you a horror story. I was in charge of deck checks at a very large Vintage event held near Barcelona last year. Everything was going well and we were doing deck checks non-stop without any problems, as I had a buddy with me helping me with everything. He would go to the tables, get the decks from the players, come to the deck checks table, sort one deck while I was sorting the other and take the decks back to the players once finished. So far, so good. We had finished the fourth mid-round deck check and I was off to the floor ready for any call when my buddy got back white as a sheet of paper. “The player can’t find his Black Lotus.” I felt like the blood in my body was leaving all at once. “Whaaaaaaaat?” So there we go, searching for that card everywhere. We were sure that it was in the deck to start with, because we had checked it and saw it (it’s not something you see everyday) so we were convinced that it was lost. I was shocked and defeated, thinking how we were going to fix this and wondering how to tell this to the player. When I was about to talk with the HJ about this, my buddy came back running and said, nearly shouting, “We have it! the sleeve was stuck with another and he couldn’t find it!” I don’t think I’ve felt more relieved in my entire life 🙂

How did you get involved in Magic in the first place?
I started playing with my friends in 5th edition. I didn’t understand the rules well at that time (I only was… 10 years old or so?) and quickly left the game. I returned many years later with M12, when I was with some friends in a local store that sells boosters, and we saw the intro packs. They asked me “Hey, isn’t that the game you talk sometimes about? How does it work? Could you teach us?” and I was like “Well, I don’t remember nearly anything about it, but let’s give it a try.” For the first time I gave a look at the actual game rules, and we taught ourselves to play. Four years later, here I am.

How has being a Judge influenced your non-Magic life?
I have made a lot of friends (as far as counting some of them among my best friends), I have learned a lot of things and I travel quite a lot. I can’t really say that my life is the same as before. I feel that the way I behave in my daily life has been influenced by the things other Judges have taught me at events: keeping things organized, communicating with my team mates, keeping a record of everything and training my mind to keep track of lots of things. It really helps a lot on my daily small things, and of course in my everyday job. Also, I’m far better at maths than I have ever been!

What motivates you to continue being a Judge?
Helping the community, learning new things, exchanging points of view with other Judges and players, traveling and discovering new places. There are so many things left to do and learn. I have the feeling that our work is never done and that there’s always something new to discover.

What is one tip you have for other Judges?
Ask a lot, write down everything, learn to listen and share your knowledge whenever possible. And when you fail in something, never, ever give up. You have a lot of friends here that will lend you a hand – or two – when you are in need.

What’s the best part about your local Magic community?
It’s a small community, since we live on an island (everything is blue!), but it’s a wonderful one, full of great and talented players, friendly and dedicated judges and hard-working tournament organizers. I couldn’t be more proud of everyone of them 🙂

What is your favourite non-Judging moment that happened with other Judges?
The last conferences we had in Madrid were a blast, I had so much fun that I couldn’t name a single thing as the best. And also a very good friend of mine taught me how to play billiards, which I had never played before! It was a glorious weekend, indeed.

What’s the biggest rule-breaking play you’ve ever made as a player?
I once misread Quicksand and didn’t realize the “sacrifice” part. This mistake single-handedly won me a Conspiracy game. Every time I see Quicksand now I can’t help but feel ashamed. I’m not proud of it.

What has been your favourite Magic event that you’ve judged?
GP Seville 2015 was awesome, and also my first GP as a Judge (and second in my life!). I took many notes on things I need to improve, met many friends, learned a huge lot of things and had a great time. And came back with an awesome squirrel playmat, which is nice 🙂

What positive aspects has the Judge Program contributed to your everyday life?
In so many, wonderful ways! I have learned to be patient, insightful, organized and to take responsibilities with courage, not fear. I sincerely believe that Judging and being part of the Judge community has helped me become a better person.

If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Either Mark Rosewater, Magic Lead Designer or Matt Tabak, Magic Rules Manager. There are so many things I would try to get them to tell me 🙂

What is your favorite “after event” story?
I went to GP Madrid 2014 as a player, but was welcomed to the Judge dinner after the event. I was traveling with my wife (who usually doesn’t come with me) and she joined us as well. We were having a great time, but I was worried that she would feel displaced with so many people she didn’t know. After one hour or so, I lost track of her, and next thing I know there she is, wine cup in hand, talking and laughing with our RC like they’ve known each other forever!  To this day I still believe she knows more Judges in Spain than I do 🙂

If you were a Planeswalker what would be your ultimate?
Probably “You get an emblem with:

Islands you control have “T: Counter target spell”

: )

If you were a creature what would be your creature type?
I was about to say Teenage, so finally Mistform Ultimus could be a Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtle, but since I’m in my late 20s I’ll go with Human Advisor 🙂

What was the proudest moment of your Judge life?
Being there when one of my greatest friends advanced to L2 the very same day our former RC advanced to L4, along with many other friends who got to L2 too. I was so really proud of them that I was on the verge of tears. But don’t tell anyone! 🙂

What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?
Tamiyo, always studying and learning new things. And trolling her opponents, of course.

What do you see as your future in the Judge Program in the next year and the next five years? What is your plan to get there?
I hope to be L2 by next year, since I’m getting tested soon. In five years… come back and ask me, since I really don’t know how far I’m going to get. I don’t plan to stop improving and learning and doing new things, so, who knows? I’m not afraid of the new challenges and projects to come 🙂

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

1. I’m banned from playing in any tournament at my LGS because I always win.
2. I’m an avid collector of anything that has or is related to cows.
3. Neither Spanish nor English is my first language.

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