{"id":5211,"date":"2015-06-05T14:38:13","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T19:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/?p=5211"},"modified":"2015-06-05T14:38:13","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T19:38:13","slug":"rob-mckenzie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/rob-mckenzie\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob McKenzie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time to meet Rob McKenzie, a Judge whose talents – from his charisma to his intelligence \u00a0to his friendly demeanor – are legion. Which is appropriate, because he has been a big contributor to Legion Games, one of the United States’ premiere tournament organizers. He has also been credited with being one of the most prominent leaders in the Midwest judging community.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, here’s Rob, this week’s rock star!<\/p>\n

Name:<\/strong>\u00a0Rob McKenzie<\/a><\/span><\/span>
\nLevel:<\/strong> 3
\nLocation:<\/strong> Minneapolis, Minnesota
\nJudge start date:<\/strong> August 2004<\/p>\n

\"Minneapolis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Occupation:<\/strong> Some Nebulous Untitled Role for Legion Events and IT temp
\nFavourite card:<\/strong> Today it is the Future Sight printing of Boldwyr Intimidator<\/a>. \u00a0His first line of rules text is better flavor text than 99% of flavor text ever printed.
\nLeast favourite card:<\/strong> Today it is Rasputin Dreamweaver<\/a>. \u00a0He has his own state-based action. \u00a0This frustrates me quite a bit.
\nFavourite format:<\/strong> \u00a0Commander, followed closely by Team Trios Constructed. \u00a0(I pine for a GP in Team Trios Constructed.)
\nCommander General:<\/strong> \u00a0Most recently I built Alesha, Who Smiles at Death<\/a>. \u00a0I have something like 30 Commander decks. \u00a0I think my favorite I have ever had was Chorus of the Conclave<\/a>.
\nFavourite non-Magic Game:<\/strong>\u00a0Battlestar Galactica.<\/a>
\nBest tournament result:<\/strong> \u00a03rd\/4th at a Team Trios Constructed PTQ
\nRandom fact about yourself:<\/strong> \u00a0I was a playtester on the Daybreak expansion for Battlestar Galactica. \u00a0My most useful feedback during the playtest was \u201cnone of the abilities of this Cylon Leader should be printed.\u201d \u00a0The final version of that leader bears no resemblance to the test version I smashed the humans with.<\/p>\n

Why did you become a Judge?
\n<\/strong>I was attending a PTQ at Misty Mountain in Madison, and the store was super packed. \u00a0The only Judges were Chris Richter<\/a><\/span><\/span> (head judging), plus Peter Jahn<\/a><\/span><\/span> and Ingrid Lind-Jahn<\/a><\/span><\/span> floor judging. \u00a0The event seemed understaffed, and I knew the rules pretty well and had organized LAN parties and other events in the past. \u00a0I really enjoy being useful and doing work to keep the things I like to do running, so I walked up to Chris and asked if he needed help running events.<\/p>\n

Chris invited me to work a GPT two weeks from then, and when that was done he asked me if I was interested in working Gen Con<\/a>, which was three weeks out from the GPT. \u00a0I had no idea how staffing worked, so I said \u201csure,\u201d and Chris talked Alan Hochman<\/a><\/span><\/span> into putting me on staff for the weekend.<\/p>\n

I worked Gen Con, tested for L1 there, and have not stopped judging regularly since.<\/p>\n

What is it like to work full-time for a premiere tournament organizer? What are some of the highlights and some of the biggest challenges?
\n<\/strong>It\u2019s fascinating, and frustrating, and wonderful, and terrible.<\/p>\n

Being trusted to make big decisions and small ones about events is awesome. \u00a0Realizing that those decisions are really constrained in a lot of cases can be very frustrating. \u00a0Knowing that those decisions are actually lots of money puts a lump in the pit of your stomach.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve made some good and bad suggestions, and Steve has made some large purchases based on my recommendations. \u00a0We spent a bunch of time figuring out the Judge comp for Omaha, and I spent a while searching for Judge gifts for events. \u00a0Getting the bags we used for San Antonio and Omaha was fantastic.<\/p>\n

Having to make very mathy decisions that make some of my friends not able to attend events (either due to not accepting them as Judges, or making their travel numbers not work out) hurts, but is necessary.<\/p>\n

Being on good terms with the TO is also a good thing. \u00a0After Omaha, Steve and I discussed the way San Antonio and Omaha went, and the big takeaway is that having one person doing all the stuff I did does not work. \u00a0(It was about a full time job and a half.) \u00a0So things have changed. \u00a0I still work for Legion, but not full time any longer. \u00a0We really have not defined the limits of the part time role yet, but that is because planning events is pretty fluid. \u00a0I am something<\/i>, but not Judge manager\/stage manager\/full scale event coordinator any longer.<\/p>\n

\"2014<\/a>What are some things you think would surprise the average Judge about running a Grand Prix?
\n<\/strong>How much work a lot of the hidden pieces take. \u00a0Building a GP kit is a ton of pre-work. \u00a0Optimally you want everything you will use, with backups of the crucial bits. \u00a0So you need to really figure out what possible crises can come up, and either head them off or have tools to deal with them.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of random things, like booking flights and hotels, that have \u201cgotchas\u201d I never knew about. \u00a0Every venue and every hotel is different, and you can\u2019t depend on them having any idea what things a Magic event needs.<\/p>\n

If I remember correctly, you wrote an article about the process of becoming L3 and what it meant for you. How would you summarize what you said there, and how you\u2019ve improved yourself through judging?
\n<\/strong>I did! \u00a0It actually started as a Facebook post I made mostly to explain what the big deal was to the non-Magic people in my life. \u00a0I started a Judge blog specifically to post it.<\/p>\n

The very short version of it is: You can view L3 as a professional level certification in running Magic events. \u00a0I ran through the core parts of the process and how much work they are, and why they are important for the process, so the non-Magic folks could see how much work it was and what it was certifying me as being good at.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve improved myself a ton through Judging. \u00a0Group management and leadership, planning, writing and speaking skills, mentorship, and presentation skills are all things I have either built out, or honed through Judging. \u00a0The 10 Qualities of Regional Judges could very well be the 10 Qualities of Successful Adults.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve made L3, I\u2019ve also built out a network of friends and colleagues that is so amazing I have a hard time comprehending it. \u00a0Getting to spend time with friends everywhere, going on pineapple mazes in Hawaii to eating barbecue in Kansas City is just incredible. \u00a0Having friends all over the country and world I can talk to, ask for help, and just be part of a shared community with feels amazing.<\/p>\n

\"SCG<\/a>Steven Briggs<\/a><\/span><\/span>, the Midwest Regional Coordinator, has frequently referred to you as the Riker to his Picard. How did you develop that working relationship? And what is your \u201cBest of Both Worlds\u201d moment?
\n<\/strong>The Picard\/Riker dynamic on the show had to grow organically across years, and this has too. \u00a0I am a very regionally\/area focused Judge, and spent a lot of my time growing MN judging prior to making L3. \u00a0Steven Briggs had been pushing me to take a wider of a view prior to making L3, and had been talking about bigger and wider plans with me while I was on my L3 run-up. \u00a0A lot of my growth into L3 was Steven pushing me to be better and to grow into where he knew I should be.<\/p>\n

From there, Briggs started bouncing ideas off me, and included me into his planning more and more, including putting me into the core group of state captains he was assembling. \u00a0Then Dan Stephens<\/a><\/span><\/span> stepped down as the Regional Coordinator for the Central region. \u00a0Briggs stepped up and took over that region, merging the state captains Dan had started doing as well into the state captain group that was already running.<\/p>\n

While this happened, I just kept on doing more and more things – hitting lots of regional events and conferences, doing more and more L2 development, and acting as Briggs West, because with the big lake in the middle of the region we have some very strange geography.<\/p>\n

We are at the point now where we are really colleagues more than mentor\/mentee. \u00a0He and I talk most weeks about about something judging or regional related, and he and I both trust the other to solve problems and make things happen. \u00a0(I autonomously make L2s without getting his stamp of approval, for instance.) \u00a0I\u2019ve served as his backup on a couple RC related things, and we have split up community duties at a couple regional GPs.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t feel like there has been a real \u201cBest of Both Worlds\u201d event yet. \u00a0I\u2019ve not had to rescue Briggs from anything catastrophic, nor him me, and I\u2019ve not had to give my uppity temporary first officer Ken Bearl<\/a><\/span><\/span> orders to fire all weapons on Briggs yet. \u00a0Actually, stepping down as Minnesota state captain might have been the closest we have gotten. \u00a0Steven tried to convince me not to for a while, but I felt like the state was suffering with me trying to focus on both it and on more regional and TO focused goals. \u00a0Ken has done a remarkable job since stepping in, so I feel vindicated in handing off the role to him.<\/p>\n

How do you balance your Magic and gaming life on the one hand and \u201creal\u201d life?
\n<\/strong>I am amused by the implication that you think there is a distinction. \u00a0I work for a TO, I have a spreadsheet of every GP, Open, and other random major Magic event in the country (so I can plan which I am attending), have a weekly board game group, and when I go to visit my parents my wife and I bring a big bag of board games to play with my family while we are there. \u00a0Gaming is<\/i> \u201creal life\u201d to me. \u00a0My best friends are my gaming buddies and Judge buddies.<\/p>\n

\"2006<\/a>How did you get involved in Magic in the first place?
\n<\/strong>I grew up in Haward, Wisconsin, a small tourist town. \u00a0There was no game store, just a t-shirt shop that sold cards on the side, with no play space. \u00a0A friend played a few games with me with some decks he had, and the next week I bought three boosters, and traded him the rares from them for two decks of entirely commons and basic lands. \u00a0Both of us won on that trade, I am pretty sure.<\/p>\n


\nHow has being a Judge influenced your non-Magic life?
\n<\/strong>It has had a huge impact. \u00a0I work for a TO, most of my friends play Magic (or other games), and I schedule a lot of my life around Magic events because of how much fun I have at them.<\/p>\n

What motivates you to continue being a Judge?
\n<\/strong>People. \u00a0Specifically, friends that run events, friends that Judge, friends that play, and getting to see the actual people having fun as a result of what I am doing.<\/p>\n

What is one tip you have for other Judges?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t do the things you feel obligated to do purely out of obligation. \u00a0Everything is voluntary, nothing is mandatory. \u00a0If you hate doing something…don\u2019t do it. \u00a0If you love doing something, do it enough so you keep loving it, but not so much it is a millstone around your neck. \u00a0Tell people what you like and dislike, and you will probably get to do the things you like more than the things you dislike.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best part about your local Magic community?
\n<\/strong>Minnesota is really nice. \u00a0You may have heard of Minnesota Nice, and it is a real thing. Stores communicate and cooperate.<\/p>\n

Ken Bearl and Mike Combs<\/a><\/span><\/span> did a fantastic job of getting PPTQs Judges, in part through getting stores to talk to each other about scheduling. \u00a0There is a master PPTQ calendar schedule sheet that each store posts up with a list of all the stores that are a part of it.<\/p>\n

Stores will coordinate their Legacy nights so they don\u2019t all happen on the same night of the week. \u00a0There is always a little friction, but we aren\u2019t out for blood. \u00a0We compete, but we don\u2019t fight.<\/p>\n

What is your favourite non-Magic hobby?
\n<\/strong>Board games. \u00a0I had a description here of my board game shelf, but decided a photo<\/a> would be better.\u00a0 I also have a closet where games get relegated to if they are not good enough to make the shelf. \u00a0It has a similar number of games. \u00a0I probably need to do a purge at some point.<\/p>\n

I have a weekly board game group, and we do a monthly \u201cbig game\u201d on weekends that I usually miss. \u00a0(Advanced Civilization, Here I Stand, Twilight Imperium, etc)<\/p>\n

I have playtested for Fantasy Flight Games in the past, and did editing and playtesting on the board game Legion Supplies released last year, Foretold: Rise of a God.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the biggest rule-breaking play you\u2019ve ever made as a player?
\n<\/strong>At a PTQ in old old 7-block extended with Invasion block, I was playing Wish Rock. \u00a0I Living Wish<\/a>ed for Kataki, War’s Wage<\/a> game 1 to beat Affinity, and put the Wish back into my deck for game 2, and shuffled up.<\/p>\n

I Wished for Kataki again in game 2…and there was no Kataki! \u00a0And my sideboard only had 14 cards!<\/p>\n

I had to call a Judge on myself to get a game loss for a game I had locked up if I actually de-sideboarded correctly. \u00a0(If this seems weird, the sideboarding policy changed so you can have less than 15 in your sideboard a while back, and this story predates that change by…many years.)<\/p>\n

\"2012<\/a>What has been your favourite Magic event that you\u2019ve judged?
\n<\/strong>The Unguled sealed deck we ran at GenCon in 2005.<\/p>\n

We started it with a straight of faces as we could, and then ran it progressively further and further off the rails as the rounds progressed.<\/p>\n

Every round the pairings were posted in another strange place. \u00a0Some of them were:<\/p>\n