![\"jaredproile\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/files\/2014\/11\/jaredproile.jpg\")
<\/a><\/strong>Name:<\/strong>\u00a0R Jared Sylva<\/a><\/span><\/span> (the R stands for Robot!)\nLevel:<\/strong> 4
\nLocation:<\/strong> Salem, Virginia<\/a>
\nJudge start date:<\/strong> Onslaught Prerelease (Septemeber 2002)
\nOccupation:<\/strong> Star City Games Organized Play Department Manager
\nFavorite card:<\/strong>\u00a0Wirewood Savage<\/a>
\nLeast favorite card:\u00a0<\/strong>Abuna’s Chant<\/a> (you know what you did, Reedy!)
\nFavorite format:<\/strong> Legacy as a judge, Triple Onslaught draft as a player
\nFavorite non-Magic Game:<\/strong> Betrayal at the House on the Hill<\/a>, a cooperative board game that becomes uncooperative
\nBest tournament result:<\/strong> I\u2019ve successfully Head Judged a Grand Prix! Does that count? I\u2019ve x-0ed several FNM drafts. I once came in 14th in Connecticut States.
\nRandom fact about yourself:<\/strong> My wife and I adopt greyhounds.<\/p>\n
Why did you become a judge?<\/strong> I had been running events for friends in high school and college. I was even president of the gaming club at Connecticut College<\/a>. I was playing in a Pro Tour Prerelease weekend<\/a> in Boston, and Toby Elliot<\/a> How did you become a L4+? What\u2019s it like being a L4+? What would you like the community to know about\u00a0<\/strong>being L4+ is like? What is your primary role as an L4+ in the judge community? What are you currently working on within the judge program? What is your favorite non-judging moment that happened with other judges?<\/strong>In college, I orchestrated the death and betrayal of Adam Shaw<\/a> How has being a judge influenced your non-Magic life? I mean… my 2 children are named Liliana and Aurelia\u2026..<\/p>\n What motivates you to do what you do within the community? What is the best part about the Judge Program in your opinion? What in your opinion is the greatest challenge for the judge program at this\u00a0<\/strong>time to overcome? What is your greatest personal challenge within the Judge Program? What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?<\/strong>Sorin, maybe??…. He\u2019s an interesting mix of protector and threat, though I don’t know enough of his backstory to really say he represents me.<\/p>\n Who are (were) your role models in the Judge Program? What are (were) their\u00a0<\/strong>certain qualities that drew you to them? John Alderfer<\/a> Steven Zwanger<\/a> Please recognize a few outstanding members in the Program. What do you feel needs to be improved in the Judge program? What is the largest change that you\u2019ve brought to the Magic rules\/Policies or\u00a0<\/strong>the Judge program? What has been your best experience in the Judge Program? What is the strangest card interaction you have seen in a tournament?<\/strong> What advice would you give to a Judge growing up through the program? What is your favorite \u201cafter event\u201d story? Worlds in San Francisco<\/a> 2011 – We went out to karaoke with a LOT of people. Gavin Duggan<\/a> How do you make events you judge at fun, and what do you do to help judges\u00a0<\/strong>under you have fun during events? Tell us a story of a challenge or problem at an event, and what did you and\u00a0<\/strong>your teams did to overcome it? If you were a creature what would be your creature type? What country\/continent is your favorite for GPs\/PTs, and why? What do you do to make GPs\/PTs special? What\u2019s the coolest event you ever been to, and why was it so amazing?<\/strong>Pro Tour Honolulu<\/a>. I don\u2019t know that much explanation is needed\u2026.it\u2019s pretty awesome. Got to hang out in a pool with a lot of awesome judges\u2026.go snorkeling with a whole bunch of judges. Got to see a volcano. Perfect weather and beach volleyball. All with a ton of awesome judges!<\/p>\n What hobbies do you have outside of Magic? What was the proudest moment of your Judge life. As an L4 AND being responsible for the largest Magic tournament series in the\u00a0<\/strong>world, how do you not lose your mind? [expand title=”The answer to the last Two Truths and a Lie…”]While Nick Rutkowski has many German foils in his commander decks none of them are completely German nor foil.[\/expand]<\/p>\n Judges, we would love to hear more about some awesome stories and awesome judges! If you believe one of your local colleagues is doing an Exemplar\u2019s work, this might be your chance to make him an upcoming Judge of the Week, so nominate a Judge TODAY<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello everyone and welcome back to a brand new year with Judge of the Week! We have a super special and rare treat to start this new year: everyone’s favorite heartthrob, L4 Jared Sylva! Name:\u00a0 (the R stands for Robot!) Level: 4 Location: Salem, Virginia Judge start date: Onslaught Prerelease (Septemeber 2002) Occupation: Star City […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"language":[],"class_list":["post-4462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-judge-of-the-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4462"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4642,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4462\/revisions\/4642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4462"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=4462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>I was actually promoted on my birthday. I was in Seattle for a Tournament Organizer Conference prior to Pro Tour Seattle<\/a> in 2012 and there was a Level 4 Conference happening at the same time. Since I was the Regional Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic at the time, I was asked to stop by the L4 Conference to say hello. When I arrived at the conference, they had a red shirt waiting for me.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>There\u2019s a lot of discussion that goes on \u201cbehind the scenes\u201d before things go public. Publicly, it may look like there\u2019s not much going on\u2026.but that\u2019s just not the case. We go through many versions of material internally before it goes public.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I work with supplemental activities<\/a>. Supplemental activities the way that we work with a candidate does not pass his\/her L3 panel to address the concerns that are identified. I am responsible for laying out a clear path forward for a candidate.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Refinements to the L3 process<\/a> and updates to our Supplemental Activities policies.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I\u2019m sorry, I don’t understand the question. What is this non-Magic<\/strong> life you speak of?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I enjoy a well-run event. I love figuring out the best way to do things, and sharing\u00a0that knowledge with other people, as well as seeing other people kind of \u201cget it\u201d. It\u2019s great to be a part of a community that is working toward the same goal, and seeing other people who really care about it is key.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The people. I have met so many intelligent, worthwhile people through judging.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>As a program, our largest challenge is providing support and training to judges who want to advance, and doing so in an effective and sustained way.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Being able to properly frame feedback. I have a tendency to be overly blunt, and I don’t always fully consider how my comments will be received. That\u2019s been a major area for personal development for me that the judge program has definitely been a part of.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Nick Fang<\/a>
\n<\/strong>I wouldn’t be where I am today, and neither would the program wouldn’t be where it is today without Jeff Morrow<\/a>
\n<\/strong>There is an attitude that is becoming more prevalent that events are simply social gatherings. I\u2019m all for having fun at events and winding down when the tournament is over (and the people are WHY I am there) but there is a lack of focus on the tournament that concerns me. With the changes to judge foils, I am concerned that GP staffs will have heavier demands placed on them. With the TOs staffing costs per judge increasing sharply, I expect many TOs to trim back staff numbers, and for each judge\u2019s focus on the event to be more important to the success. \u2013 I\u2019ve always valued judges who show up in the morning focused on the event and have the hustle and drive throughout the day to make it a success. I feel that this attitude will become even more important in 2015.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Most larger changes are a collaborative effort. I\u2019m proud of my work on the current trigger policy and even through the evolution of lapsing triggers and current breakpoint model of when a trigger is missed.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>GP San Diego<\/a>. The first one that I Head Judged on my own as a Level 4. The first time I was out there, on my own. I did a lot of prep work, and I think it paid off since it was an enjoyable and efficient event for both the players and the judges. It was a great staff with a ton of my friends, and there have been wonderful experiences before and after, but it was special because it was the first time I was given the reins and told to go make it happen.<\/p>\n
\nShipwreck Singer<\/a> and Loyal Pegasus<\/a>. When the Siren forces the Pegasus to attack, it can\u2019t attack alone so Loyal Pegasus can be forced to drag a friend to its doom.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Don\u2019t forget to actually grow up. It may sound flippant, but a lot of the progress that judges make in their judging is driven by them growing up in real life. A ton of judges are at the age where they will be different people in a year or 2. Growth outside the judge program is very influential on your growth in the judge program. Often, judges can be so focused on developing as a judge that they don\u2019t think about the social skills which are exceptionally important to becoming a better judge. What is holding a judge back may not be something that can be learned directly through the Judge Program. This is also something to keep in mind when evaluating other judges. Someone you dismissed for being immature a year ago might be completely different person today.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Grand Prix DC<\/a> 2013 \u2013 Judge on Judge laser tag at Grand Prix DC 2013.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>What\u2019s fun for me at events is running it quickly and efficiently. I try and have a couple of meetings during the day to keep the energy up. Events drag when it slows down and you don\u2019t feel like you understand why. When you get out of the habit of pushing round turnaround, it slows down more. Honestly, the most fun for me is when we are able to finish a tournament much earlier than expected.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>At a StarCityGames.com Open in Philadelphia<\/a> in 2010, we actually got kicked out of the venue during the top 4. We relocated the top 4 to the lobby of the staff hotel, playing on one of the coffee tables. We were there for a little while before we were hassled by the hotel staff who ultimately, the hotel staff called the cops (because apparently our quiet game was an issue) and we were kicked us out DURING game two of the finals. I managed to preserve the game state and transferred the game to MY hotel room three floors up where we finished with StarCityGames.com President Pete Hoefling sleeping on the bed behind the match.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Well, robot is not a currently supported creature type so\u2026 Golem?<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I actually have less experience than I would like. I\u2019ve done a ton of GPs in the US, a Grand Prix in France as well as Pro Tours in Canada, Ireland, and Japan. I\u2019d love to do an event in Australia.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I Head Judge them. *laugh*. I try to be specific in my scheduling. I look for situations where I can give judges opportunities by putting them in a position to succeed. The best part of a GP is there are a ton of chances to Head Judge side events where you are NOT just thrown out there on your own.<\/p>\n
\nWhat\u2019s the farthest you have ever traveled for a Magic event?
\n<\/strong>Worlds in Chiba<\/a>, Japan in 2010.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>At times in my life, I\u2019ve considered myself an athlete\u2026less so now. I still like to throw a baseball or football or play tennis when I have the chance.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Jason Reedy<\/a>
\n<\/strong>You\u2019ve got to keep perspective. At the end of the day, even if your life is intertwined with this game, it can\u2019t be the most important part of your life. I\u2019ll be the first to say that it can be one of the pillars that you build your life around, but there have to be other pieces. I have my wife. I have my kids. I have my dogs. Having something that you step away to is very important. Judging is going to be the most enjoyable, and fulfilling, when it is something that you want to do. That makes it much easier to find balance.<\/p>\n
\nTwo Truths and a Lie<\/strong>
\nTwo of the following statements are true and one is false. Figure out which!
\n1. I competitively ballroom danced.
\n2. I’m related to John Adams.
\n3. I have an auxiliary calf muscle.<\/p>\n