![\"JANikita\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/files\/2016\/08\/JANikita.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nJudges, welcome back to another edition of Judge of the Week! This week we’re\u00a0talking to a dedicated community builder, Russia’s very own Nikita Tarima!<\/p>\n
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Name:<\/strong>\u00a0Nikita Tarima<\/a> How did you get involved in Magic in the first place?<\/strong> Why do you Judge?<\/strong> Tell us your favorite Judge story.<\/strong> What are some tips you have for other Judges?<\/strong> What is your favorite non-judging moment that happened with other Judges ?<\/strong> What challenges have you faced or are you facing to become a better judge, and how have you worked to overcome them? Who have been some of your biggest mentors in the Judge Program, and what did they teach you?<\/strong> What positive aspects has the Judge Program contributed to your everyday life?<\/strong> What\u2019s the best part about your local Magic community?<\/strong> What is your favorite non-Magic hobby?<\/strong> If you were a Planeswalker what would be your ultimate? What was the proudest moment of your Judge life?<\/strong> What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?<\/strong> Two Truths and a Lie<\/strong> [expand title=”The answer to the last Two Truths and a Lie…”]Although Hugo Carvalho has made a guide for Shadow Over Mystara, he did it for a different website than Steam.[\/expand]<\/p>\n<\/span><\/span>
\nLevel:<\/strong> 2
\nLocation:<\/strong> Nakhodka, Russian Federation
\nJudge start date:<\/strong> L1 – 2010 and L2 was after my first GP Moscow 2012.
\nOccupation:<\/strong> IT-technician
\nFavorite card:<\/strong>\u00a0Stocking Tiger<\/a>
\nLeast favorite card:<\/strong>\u00a0Jace, the Mind Sculptor<\/a>
\nFavorite format:<\/strong> EDH (Commander) or booster draft. I don’t know what I like more. \ud83d\ude42
\nCommander General:<\/strong>\u00a0Derevi, Empyrial Tactician<\/a> or Ertai, the Corrupted.<\/a>
\nFavorite non-Magic Game:<\/strong> on PC – Diablo 2: LoD, board game – Russian RPG “Era Vodoleya” (Age of Aquarius), for\u00a0a sport – airsoft.
\nBest tournament result:<\/strong> 1st place in local Legacy FNM’s. \ud83d\ude42 I don’t play in huge tournaments yet.
\nRandom fact about yourself:<\/strong> I cannot swim.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Back in 2000, we read about this game in a magazine and we were lucky enough to find starter sets of Portal Second Age and a couple of additional booster packs. I played at home with my friends and my brother. There were no existing clubs by that time. Six years later we went to another city for a tournament for the first time. It was a Legacy event and I took 4th place.<\/p>\n
\nAs soon as I started to learn\u00a0the rules, I realized that playing by the rules is more fun. I love the result of what I’m doing as a Judge.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>That’s the story of my mistake, which had changed my opinion on the fairness of some players. It happened during GP Moscow 2012. I was on a GP for the first time as a judge. I was busy as a deck-check team member and realized that one of the players had an extra land card in his deck. I corrected the number in the decklist and went to find the player to tell him that he made a mistake. But the player pretended to be innocent and told my team lead that the number was already fixed and there was no mistake. The player escaped justice and afterwards I was told that I should find the player first and then make corrections. This player was a L1 Judge himself, by the way.
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\n![\"Nikita](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/files\/2016\/08\/Nikita-2-300x225.jpg\")
You were nominated for your efforts in building a community in a isolated area. Can you tell us about some of the challenges that have come up and how you handled them?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>I live 5,600 miles away from Moscow. At the moment I became a Judge, it was 620 miles to the next L1 Judge. I judged and trained players in three different cities with 100 miles from one to another. Once I became an L2 Judge, I certified some more judges in my area and established contacts to other regions nearby. I’m the only L2 Judge in a thousand miles. That’s why I\u2019m trying to set a good example and encourage the L1 Judges’ progress. The greatest challenge is to maintain the tournament standards on the conventional level and to educate the players.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>1) Don’t be afraid to admit your mistakes.
\n2) Continue learning new things although you might already have achieved what you craved for.
\n3) Communicate with other Judges – they are nice guys.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>It was very interesting to discover that Kim Warren<\/a><\/span><\/span> likes condensed milk. During the conference in Moscow, some guys presented her a few cans and she was very happy. Condensed milk is a kind of sweets made from milk that is common for C.I.S. countries only, I guess.<\/p>\n
![\"Nikita](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/files\/2016\/08\/Nikita-3-300x224.jpg\")
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\n<\/span>The most difficult thing for me is I can only judge a small amount of tournaments at the moment and moreover I have no opportunity to judge huge events like GPs. It keeps me from applying and testing my skills constantly. That’s why I spend my efforts in rules and policies investigation and the development of local player and Judges community, and communicate with my colleagues through the Internet.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Irina Samonova<\/a><\/span><\/span> – she taught me to understand the rules rather than the individual relationships between cards. That’s probably what everything started from.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>A calm attitude to people and organizational skills.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>We do not have an official store in my native town where I leave. We are playing in a club, that exists thanks to passionate players. I wish further evolve Magic for them.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Live-action and tabletop RPGs.<\/p>\n![\"Nikita1\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/files\/2016\/08\/Nikita1-199x300.jpg\")
If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Oh. Recently I wrote to Matt Tabak<\/a><\/span><\/span> with a question on rules, because I could not find anything in the Comprehensive Rules and the moderators of apps.magicjudges.org<\/a> seem not to know the answer either. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/span>“-6: Each opponent shuffles all non-land permanents and his or her hand in his or her library. Each player draws two cards.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>The moment when my first article in Irina Samonova’s<\/a><\/span><\/span> project was published.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Circu, Dimir Lobotomist<\/a>. I also gradually cut waste.<\/p>\n
\nTwo of the following statements are true and one is false. Figure out which!<\/p>\n\n