\nLevel:<\/strong> 3
\nLocation:<\/strong> Dublin, Ireland
\nJudge start date:<\/strong> Some time in 1999. I can\u2019t really remember exactly when. I scrubbed out of a PTQ, and everyone else in the car made top 8, so it was something to do.
\nWhy did you become a Judge?<\/strong> To start with, because the opportunity to take the test presented itself. However, I soon realised that Ireland needed active Judges quite badly, so I took it seriously and became the guy that made sure everyone had events to play \ud83d\ude42
\nOccupation:<\/strong> Software Tester
\nFavourite card:<\/strong> Probably Mind’s Desire<\/a>, though I also have a great deal of fondness for Birds of Paradise<\/a>, because it\u2019s perfectly balanced between unplayable and broken.
\nLeast favourite card:<\/strong> That\u2019s hard to say. I love all of Maro\u2019s little children.
\nFavourite format:<\/strong> Rochester draft (single or team). Needs a general plan and quick reactions. These are things I like.
\nCommander General:<\/strong> None – I am not a Commander player.
\nFavourite non-Magic Game:<\/strong> My favourite non-Magic<\/strong> game (at least in meatspace) is an Avalon Hill game called Titan<\/a>. It\u2019s a game of deep strategies and significant forethought, which I like.
\nBest tournament result:<\/strong> 2nd, Irish Nationals 2003. 6-0\u2019d limited, then played a bad deck to the finals, lost a good matchup \ud83d\ude42
\nRandom fact about yourself:<\/strong> The first time I met my (now) parents-in-law, I accidentally set myself on fire. It was a Christmas in the Arctic, so the air was very dry, and my hair was very dry. At that stage, it came down to the middle of my back, and I tended to wear it loose. Whilst helping to clear dishes from the table at the Christmas Dinner, I managed to swing my hair into a candle flame, and up it went. Everyone else had their back to me, and the lack of a common language, and my innate politeness, led to me just standing there embarrassed while I burned, saying, to quote my wife, \u201cUmm.. help\u201d.<\/p>\n
How did you get involved in Magic in the first place? How has being a Judge influenced your non-Magic life? You were credited with growing the next generation of L3s in your region. How did you go about that? What\u2019s the best part about your local Magic community? What is your favourite non-judging moment that happened with other Judges?![\"Oli1\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/files\/2015\/06\/Oli1-293x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Tell us your favourite Judge story.
\n<\/strong>This one time, at my Nationals, a player was disqualified for draft signalling. What he was doing was that, when he drafted a card, he dealt the rest of the booster out in the shape of the colour letter of the card he had drafted (so, a green card became a \u2018G\u2019, etc).<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>To put it simply, it was more interesting than studying in college. I didn\u2019t know anybody in university, and I liked gaming, so I joined Trinity Gamers in 1994. Everyone was playing magic then, and I liked it, so in I dove. Still haven\u2019t surfaced.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Immensely – I\u2019ve got jobs and promotions solely through the skills I\u2019ve acquired as a Judge. I like to describe it in interviews as \u2018My hobby is travelling to foreign cities and managing small teams of relative strangers at short notice\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I\u2019ve always been passionate about the Judge program – especially with helping people find where they are happiest within it. It\u2019s just a matter of guiding people in the appropriate directions, really. If you can tell people what it is that they will need to know, and help them get there (and help them decide if they want to), then they can succeed.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The best part is that we really are a community. The whole of the island is a big (mostly) happy family. We\u2019ve always got each other\u2019s backs. We\u2019re always cheering on our own.<\/p>\n![\"Oli3\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/files\/2015\/06\/Oli3-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>What is your favourite non-Magic hobby?
\n<\/strong>Definitely my time as a mad social scientist. I like people, and I like experimentation. Learning more about someone from observing their reactions to stimuli is something I\u2019m constantly actively engaged in.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I\u2019m just back (as I write this) from taking a week-long overland trip from GP Paris to GP Florence with Jack Doyle<\/a><\/span><\/span>, Mark Mc Govern<\/a>
<\/span><\/span>, and Alex Roebuck<\/a>
<\/span><\/span>. It was a long moment, but repeatedly awesome.<\/p>\n
\nIf you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
\n<\/strong>It would probably be Jurgen Baert<\/a><\/span><\/span>, because I don\u2019t get anywhere near enough opportunity to do so.<\/p>\n
![\"Oli4\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/files\/2015\/06\/Oli4-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>What would you be doing now if Magic no longer existed?