Hello Canadian Judges! Our fifth judge spotlight is a well known Eastern Judge, former Canadian Regional Coordinator, and veteran Team Lead. He’s also known for working events from one end of Canada to the other and even larger events across North America!

Favorite card: Zoetic Glyphs

Least favorite card: Temporal Lockdown / Pinnacle Starcage

Favorite format: Standard

Commander General: Ixidor, Realtor Sculptor

Favorite non-Magic Game: Tyrants of the Underdark

Random fact about yourself:
My username comes from a mockumentary series produced by friends for class projects, none of which I was a willing participant in.

Why do you Judge? Love of the game, the community, and opportunity to travel and see the world with a bunch of loveable nerds.

Tell us your favorite Judge story. I was attending a MagicFest in Seattle and another judge chased after me to teach me how to make better tape-loops after I left a fiasco on a pairings board. I sincerely thanked them for taking the time to provide feedback, for showing me a better path, and for being so efficient with it. Now we’re married.

That’s Adorable! So… what’s the secret to making better tape loops? Make a firm connection between the two ends of the loop. Have a mounting piece that’s at least as long as the loop, going through it. Use the roll to firmly smooth onto the mounting surface.

What are some tips you have for other Judges?

Make a budget, and then stick to it. You can have a great time while spending the minimal amount of money by prioritizing things instead of merely reacting.

Take your time. A call lasting two minutes longer because you took the time to verify a ruling or ask a few additional questions away from the table is much better than a thirty minute time extension when you had to go back and fix a mistake you made.

Own your actions, fix your mistakes. Sometimes you delivered the wrong ruling. Maybe it’s because you misheard and didn’t clarify the wording. Maybe you’re three versions behind on how Decklist Problem is worded. You owe it to yourself to apologize, and to the players and judge to explain what went wrong and how we’re going to fix it.

Accept that mistakes happen. Sometimes you miss your flight/bus/train, and you need to find alternative transportation home from an event (thanks Jared). Sometimes the old church basement isn’t really sealed against the torrential downpour outside, and you have to move a few tables on the stage for the rest of the event.

Seek feedback, keep notes. Note-taking is a skill that enables you to not rely on the ephemeral mind of a judge who is hopping in between ten different things at the same time. Documenting your actions, and those of judges around you, gives you a leg up when someone asks for a review later, or when you need to write a self-review!

What is your favourite non-judging moment that happened with other Judges (or after-event story)?
I had a friend cancel on a road-trip to Jon & Cali Goud’s wedding in Nova Scotia so I called up Jeremy Sivaneswaran and asked if he could leave the next day to drive 13 hours to the Maritimes with me. We missed the ceremony, but made the reception, and danced the night away with gluten-free cheesecake cups.

Who have been some of your biggest mentors in the Judge Program, and what did they teach you?

Gavin Duggan – Everything is a test, especially the things that aren’t a test. I’ve got to always remember that I’m my biggest critic and my biggest proponent. 

Mauro Bongiovanni – The most important thing we can do as tournament staff is deliver what we promised, as soon as we can. Starting a tournament on time is one of the ways we show respect to all the participants, and earn their respect in turn.

What positive aspects has the Judge Program contributed to your everyday life?
Writing and crafting feedback is a difficult skill to grow, but doing it over and over again gave me the confidence to write for other people, to advocate for myself in job applications or interviews, and to re-enroll in school in my thirties.

What is your favorite non-Magic hobby? Wandering around on public transit reading war stories from Eve Online.

How did you get involved in Magic in the first place?
Thanksgiving 1998, my cousin Lucas Colantino popped open a pencil case full of cards with text like “Wurm heads appear, Wild wurm near, Wurm tails you see, Wild wurm flee.” I went to the LGS across from my grandmother’s place, The Magic Realm, and bought a Tempest tournament pack. Opening a Cursed Scroll, I traded that for an entire Elf deck, and the rest, as they say, is history.

If you were a Planeswalker, what would be your ultimate? -20 Each player exiles their library, hand, graveyard, and battlefield. Then, each player opens two JumpStart packs, shuffles them into their library, and draws 7 cards.

Where would you go if you could take an omenpath vacation on any magic plane? Equilor seems like it would be a trip. It would be nice to spend 80 years figuring myself out for a bit. However, I suspect it might not have an open omenpath to it.

If you could have any magic character as your head judge who would it be?
Grenzo, as they would always have a Backup Plan.

Two Truths and a Lie:

I booked a trip to Puerto Rico, but didn’t book a trip back.
I was appealed when I ruled that time had been called.
I have lost my passport five separate times.

Last episodes answer:
Aaron was defense player of the year in Highschool (He even got US scholarship offers). Aaron once won a ton of points in a school competition drinking 180 shots of beer in 180 minutes leading to an A from an impressed professor. His degree was actually in Geomatics engineering!