{"id":6171,"date":"2016-12-28T13:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T19:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/?p=6171"},"modified":"2016-12-28T07:29:44","modified_gmt":"2016-12-28T13:29:44","slug":"jurgen-baert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/jurgen-baert\/","title":{"rendered":"Jurgen Baert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Judges! Our rock star this week is none other than Belgium’s own Jurgen Baert! \u00a0He’s a multi-talented individual that’s never too busy to lend support to his fellow judges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Name:<\/strong>\u00a0Jurgen Baert<\/a><\/span><\/span>\"Jurgen\"
\nLevel:<\/strong> 3
\nLocation:<\/strong> Oostende, Belgium
\nJudge start date:\u00a0<\/strong>January 2007
\nOccupation:<\/strong>\u00a0System engineer for a public radio and television broadcaster
\nFavorite card: <\/strong>Fathom Seer<\/a>.. those were the days
\nLeast favorite card: <\/strong>Fog<\/a>
\nFavorite format:<\/strong> Any limited
\nCommander General:<\/strong> I don’t play Commander anymore \ud83d\ude42
\nFavorite non-Magic Game:<\/strong> Hmm, varies. Right now, Steampunk Rally<\/a> scores well!
\nBest tournament result:<\/strong> Hahaha \ud83d\ude42 I think I won a couple of prereleases a long time ago, maybe?
\nRandom fact about yourself:<\/strong> The previous time I ruled the galaxy, it exploded. Sorry! :\/<\/p>\n

Why do you Judge?
\n<\/strong>Many reasons, really. None of them are why I started. One, for the awesome people I get to meet and the friends I see
\nat events. Two, because I like the challenge; even after this many years, I still find it interesting to do many of the things the judge program has me doing. Three, because it’s a hobby that’s financially rewarding, allowing me to do
\nlots of it (and allowing me to play Magic<\/strong> for cheap). Four, because I love to travel and judging has brought me all around the world! Five … well, I could go on for a while…<\/p>\n

\"Baert-HJ\"What is your favorite non-judging moment that happened with other Judges (or after event story)?
\n<\/strong>One memory that just pops up: we once played “guess the card” after the event, where we opened a booster pack, each got a random card stuck to the forehead and had to guess through yes\/no questions. Daniel Kitachewsky<\/a><\/span><\/span> got a Swamp<\/a>…that was hilarious. I think he had it narrowed down to a Red Mythic Enchantment or something similar that wasn’t even in the set. I think we broke him that night \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Who have been some of your biggest mentors in the Judge Program, and what did they teach you?<\/strong>
\nEarly on, Arnaud Bourdoux<\/a><\/span><\/span>. He doesn’t judge anymore, but he was my main mentor, teaching me all things judge-related. Later on, Carlos Ho<\/a><\/span><\/span> and Kevin Desprez<\/a><\/span><\/span> have had a huge influence when I was trying to become a decent enough human being to be considered L3. I’m not sure they succeeded entirely (;p), but I’m thankful for their efforts every day.<\/p>\n

What positive aspects has the Judge Program contributed to your everyday life?<\/strong>
\nThe judge program is great at self development, and that has really helped me a lot. One example: Jaap Brouwer<\/a><\/span><\/span> once gave me a book named Leadership and Self-Deception.<\/a> Read it!<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best part about your local Magic community?
\n<\/strong>Meeting for food and games, obviously. We don’t do this often enough, but when we do, it’s great fun!<\/p>\n

\n

\"Baert-Debrief\"What is your favorite non-Magic hobby?<\/strong>
\nDiffers, lately LEGO has been pretty high on the list. It’s been computer games, and I have another great project lined up that involves building a rather heavy motorized\u00a0“toy”<\/a>.\u00a0Yeah, I’m geeky like that.<\/p>\n

How did you get involved in Magic in the first place?<\/strong>
\nHigh school playground, when I was … ugh … I just realized … half my current age. Wow. Time’s fun when your having flies.<\/p>\n

If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?<\/strong>
\nWell, I’m actually happy being surrounded by the people that I do know! But hey, maybe Han Solo<\/a> to tell him [expand title=”spoiler!”] to stay away from that bridge?[\/expand]<\/p>\n

If you were a Planeswalker what would be your ultimate?<\/strong> Probably making an emblem that gives all your planeswalkers a couple of loyalty counters each upkeep. (Hey I actually like this; someone tell MaRo<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

Proudest moment of your Judge life?<\/strong>
\nPT Berlin, making L3. And that’s not close \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

What are some tips you have for other Judges?<\/strong>
\nDon’t get too nervous! You’ll be fine =)<\/p>\n

What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?<\/strong>
\nNicol Bolas<\/a>, your Evil Overlord. Obviously.<\/p>\n

Is there anything else you’d like to add?<\/strong>
\n2 and 2!<\/p>\n

Two Truths and a Lie<\/strong>
\nTwo of the following statements are true and one is false. Figure out which!<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I could walk alone when I was 10 months. My mom hated it, but at least I fit under the table so I couldn’t bump my head!<\/li>\n
  2. When I grow up, I want to be retired.<\/li>\n
  3. I have two brothers and a sister. None of them ever played Magic<\/strong>. \ud83d\ude41<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    [expand title=”The answer to the last Two Truths and a Lie…”]Not only did Emmanuel Gutierrez not end up 9th in a RPTQ, he has never even played in a RPTQ.[\/expand]<\/p>\n

    If there is a judge who is also doing something exemplary, please nominate a judge\u00a0TODAY!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Judges! Our rock star this week is none other than Belgium’s own Jurgen Baert! He’s a multi-talented individual that never too busy to lend support to his fellow judges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":6383,"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-6171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-judge-of-the-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6171","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\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6171"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6394,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6171\/revisions\/6394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6171"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/jotw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=6171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}