Author: Stephan Classen

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The NW Regional Logo

| Stephan Classen

Note from Sept 2019:  With the new Judge Academy changes to the program, this article is a bit less relevant.  However, we’d still like to feature our contest result, and thank our entrants.  And, of course, thank you, US-Northwest region, for being amazing in your own way!  Our region may be merging with the Southwest to become the new ‘West’ Region, but our logo exists, for those who need it! 

 

Hi Judges!  Perhaps you remember, from waaaaay back in fall 2018, we had started a contest, to make a regional logo for all you Northwest judges!  We’d hoped to have something that can characterize the region across it’s entire width and landscapes, and we had a few submissions from this post!   At the end of the day, with multiple submissions, we asked your Area Captains to vote, and it was decided:

 

This is our Northwest Magic Judges Regional Logo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I, for one, hope you all like it!  It was designed by L1 David Hollis, who worked with our RC to get this finalized version!  We have new judge regional shirts for you, featuring this logo, to purchase [as a last send off for our region]!  We’d love to hear your opinions on it!

And as we promised, here’s David with his winnings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s the deck he’ll be playing it in!  Who wants to play him in commander?

 

 

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MTG808Junior – Building Youth Magic Community

| Stephan Classen

No photo description available.
by Sean Pottenger.

Hi. My name is Sean Pottenger and I am an L1 judge out here on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. While I’ve been playing Magic for over two-thirds of my roughly thirty years of being alive, for the past two and a half years I’ve been working on a project called MTG808Junior. We focus on creating and supporting opportunities for youth players (enrolled in a K-12 school) to engage with, enjoy, and become a part of the Magic community.

The Story:

To make a long story short, I fell in love with the game when I was very young, and moved all-in on playing competitively when I was about 13 and learned about the Junior Super Series (JSS). For those of you unfamiliar with the JSS, it is a long discontinued tournament series for youth players run by Wizards to qualify for JSS nationals which awarded scholarship prizes. I dedicated pretty much all my free time to playing competitive Magic with dreams of winning JSS Nationals. I ended up qualifying three years in a row and finished in fourth place my final year earning $5,000 in scholarship. I spent the next decade of my life prioritizing taking as many shots at qualifying for the Pro Tour as I could while living on the most isolated chain of islands in the world (thank you Magic Online!) and went on to qualify for and, sadly, scrub out of, seven Pro Tours.

I can honestly say that my journey of growing up in the local, national, and international competitive Magic community has incalculably enriched my life. It introduced me to and brought me closer with some of my best friends, served as the catalyst of many of my fondest memories, and in a somewhat roundabout way introduced me to my fiance. And it all started thanks to the JSS lighting a fire in me (or igniting a spark in me, if you will).

    After returning from my 7th Pro Tour I took a look at my life, did some soul searching, and made the tough decision to put competitive Magic on the back burner in order to refocus some of that energy on my career and relationship.

    The MTG808Junior project started shortly thereafter. Given my formative experiences with the JSS and my career in education, the project was a natural fit for me and served as a way for me to stay involved in the community without the need to commit myself to prepare for qualifiers on a weekly basis.

Thankfully I wasn’t starting from scratch and I wasn’t alone. I had a good relationship with most of the larger local game stores on the island and they were more than willing to donate cards to the project and host tournaments. There were already a few MTG/gaming clubs in schools around the island that I was able to network with. Once we started running and promoting youth tournaments, more clubs started to pop up.

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At first, I was using my FNM winnings to provide prize support for monthly youth tournaments. Two and a half years later we have roughly $300 in monthly funding from Patrons around the world, have run dozens of youth tournaments (roughly two a month during the school year), and have given away $2,250 in scholarship prizes over three scholarship tournaments! All of this has been possible by focusing on these pillars of the project: School Clubs, Local Game Stores, Community, and Standard Pauper.

Pillars of the Project – School Clubs

    I cannot overstate the importance of the school clubs and the advisers that make them possible. While a small percentage of the students who compete in our tournaments hear about our events through a parent that plays the game, the vast vast majority of them learn about the game and our tournaments from one of their teachers or friends at school. Having a safe place at school to learn and play the game is crucial for getting kids to get and stay involved, and therefore the club advisers are the lifeblood of the project – without them the rest of the project wouldn’t function.

    Finding adults willing to step into the role of club adviser is a constant struggle. The best club advisers already have a foot in both worlds of education and Magic and are willing to invest the time in running a club. This subsection of person that meet the first two criteria are rare, but not as rare as you’d think since Magic is becoming more and more mainstream. However, finding someone who meets all three criteria is like finding a needle in a haystack. Educators already have so many commitments on their free time, and running a school club is a big additional commitment!

Thankfully our most dedicated club advisors find ways to have their time spent at club funded through third-party organizations that run after-school programs (21st Century, After-School All-Stars, and PALS), so they do get compensated to a degree. However, taking the students to tournaments is almost always unpaid time, and without their advisor making the trip to tournaments only the most dedicated students will take the plunge and show up on a weekend. Despite this, some of the advisers consistently show up to tournaments, and their students’ involvement and success at the   adviser’s commitment.

Pillars of the Project – Local Game Stores

    Local game stores are the second pillar of the project. Similar to club advisers, they are integral to the project running. However, unlike club advisers, local game stores are much more willing and ready to play their part since running tournaments is what they already do. Many of the stores that we partner with donate extra promos or packs into the prize pool and the ones who bust large amounts of product donate their excess commons to the project and/or specific clubs.

    By holding the tournaments at the local game stores everyone wins. The stores to grow their player base and the students are exposed to the larger Magic/gaming community. Many of the students are wide-eyed when they first step foot in a store dedicated to card games and see all the different people who come here to play their favorite games. Ultimately we want the students to graduate past our tournaments into the larger Magic community with prereleases, drafts, commander, and occasionally even standard being natural next steps that kids have taken.

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Some of the most dedicated students have even started playing MTG: Arena! My hope is to start running league style tournaments through Arena, but running a computer program on school hardware is a barrier that requires school level solutions unique to each campus, and coordinating individual students to effectively communicate independently to play league matches from home is very hit or miss. A lot of the parents have also mentioned that they are eager to support their kids playing Magic because it gets them off their devices, so Arena may be a tougher sell.

Pillars of the Project – Standard Pauper

    The vast majority of the tournaments we’ve run have been standard pauper, with the occasional and headache filled draft thrown in during the slow season. We chose the standard pauper format for two reasons: card accessibility and format simplicity. The local game stores that support us almost always have excess commons that would otherwise get thrown away, so they are happy to donate them to the project and/or the school clubs directly. This keeps the cost of competing to a minimum, which is important since many of our school clubs are located in low-income neighborhoods. We also keep the cost of entry into the monthly tournaments at $1 for this reason.

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Having only commons legal in the format also means that all the cards are generally around the same power level. Therefore the format puts extra emphasis on the basics of solid deck building, card advantage, tempo, and combat math – the bread and butter of Magic. In practice, this means that youth players new to the game can go from learning with the 30-card starter decks to playing a competitive standard pauper deck in the span of an hour or two.

    The format isn’t perfect. Some of the students wish they could use their flashy powerful rares. Others feel as though the format is too simple. However, the format fits our needs nicely and serves as a great first step into the world of competitive Magic. The students who want more out of the game can find it by participating with other aspects of the Magic community.

    I’ve considered trying out a format where either uncommons are legal, or where a limited number of rares are allowed. This would reduce the format’s accessibility in favor of depth, but I don’t think that’s a trade I want to make right now since there are currently $4 uncommons legal in standard and the number of kids we’d gain with the added depth would probably be fewer than we’d lose with the added cost. On top of that, MTG: Arena running occasional standard pauper events so that other people in the broader community care about the format feels like enough inertia to stay with the tried and true.

Pillars of the Project – Community

    The final pillar of the project is the amazing MTG community, especially those who have supported the project via showing up at tournaments to help the students feel welcome, informal donations, or by subscribing to our Patreon page. When I started the project I was playing standard win-a-box FNM’s weekly and donating all my prizes to the project – probably upwards of 8 boxes by the end of it. I no longer have that amount of free time, so the monthly project budget provided by our wonderful Patrons is what is really keeping the project going. We also never would have been able to run our bi-annual scholarship tournaments without the support from our Patrons, so extra props to all of them for making that amazing opportunity possible for our students.

    The project has been an absolute joy to work on, and I dream that one day other communities will grow their own youth circuits to keep the spirit of the JSS alive for future generations of Magic players.

Contact Info:

youtube.com/mtg808junior

Instagram: MTG808Junior_sean

Facebook: MTG808Junior

Support us on Patreon:

patreon.com/mtg808junior

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Idaho Conferences History and Updates!

| Stephan Classen

This article is authored by Lee Fisher, L2, Area Captain of Idaho!

 

Greetings fellow Judges!

I would like to provide an update on the amazing recent Judge Conferences in the Idaho area.

We held our very first Idaho Judge Conference in October 2017 at Game Pulse in Rexburg. This was a great event and approximately 20 attendees were able to come from Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming!

Topics included opportunities for newer judges, such as Recruiting & Developing New Judges, Progressing to L2, and Customer Service. We also worked on improving rules knowledge with Replacement Effects vs ETB Triggers and Turn Based Interactions & Combat Shortcuts. After the conference, a friendly booster draft was held where players had the opportunity to meet and play with local judges.

 

The second Idaho Judge Conference was held at Enclave in Boise in April 2018. The location was selected to provide a better opportunity for judges in the western part of the state, as it is about a 4+ hour drive away from the eastern cities. Nearly 30 judges showed up from Idaho, Oregon, and Utah for a wide variety of including: Path to L2, Layers, 2-Headed Giant, Counterfeits, and Investigations.

The Counterfeits class provided physical examples that we were able to pass around and get a better idea of what to look for and learn about the methods used to identify them. While it is hard to try to catch them at large events, it is a great skill to be able to share with our local communities.

My personal favorite was Investigations, as it provided techniques used in the US legal system. It discussed how the human brain works with memory and chronology, which can be helpful when we perform investigations from small issues up to Disqualification situations.

 

After receiving feedback from the first two conferences, the general consensus was that it would be preferred to have one on each side of the state annually.

The next conference was held at Quests and Legends in Pocatello in September 2018, with approximately 25 people attending from Idaho, Montana, and Utah. Due to the larger venue, we were able to have a dual presentation track for attendees to select from. There were a wide variety of topics including rules and mechanics (Steps to Casting a Spell, Layers, and Hidden Card Error), application of skills at events (Customer Service , Deck Checking, Live Judge Calls, and High End Scorekeeping), and community development (Recruiting and Developing New Judges).

 

The plan for 2019 is to have two Idaho Judge Conferences, with one in Pocatello (Spring) and a later one in Twin Falls (Fall). I hope to see you there!

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Western Washington Winter Conference: 2019 Report

| Stephan Classen

Judge Conference report.  On January 12th, 2019, 48 judges gathered at Mox Boarding House in Bellevue, Washington, for a community focused Judge Conference.  The organizers stated the goals of the conference were “to focus on L1 judges improving on rules, policy, and procedures, and building good relationships with others within the Magic community.”  There were six speakers and a catered lunch provided by the judge program. Two attending judges were happy to give their perspective here on the first conference in the Northwest Region in 2019!

 

Ryan Shelter: “We Are Not Alone”

In the region with the largest geographical area, it is nice to know you are never left on completely on your own.  The 2019 Northwest Judge conferences helped make things feel just little smaller.
I was particularly impressed with all of the presentations.  The presenters were very well prepared and charismatic.  I could really tell that everyone had put in the time to practice their material.  There were no noticeable technical issues once we got started.
Derek Barbee taught us how to conquer our fear of mistakes in part by getting help from peers and using online resources such as IRC and our region’s slack chat.
At lunch I met with Joe Klopchic about creating some steps towards my L2 advancement.  Mentorship is essential for getting the experience and recommendation required for testing.
Mox put together an outstanding lunch buffet.  When the sliders ran low, Stephan quickly ordered more for the last people in line.  The food was fantastic and the venue royal.
Jeremy Button taught us about introducing ourselves as a Judge to TOs.  It gives us tremendous strength to have the Judge program’s support behind us rather than just as individuals.
Between sessions I was able to chat with James Lee about a new Library Magic group I’m starting.  He had some very encouraging words and pointed me to a free activity kit.
Overall, the conference was a valuable opportunity to connect and learn.

 

“Getting the Mox-imum Out of Conference”
You see what I did there? In case you didn’t catch it in Ryan’s perspective, the 2019 Western Washington Conference was held at Mox Boarding House-Bellevue.  It’s a venue I’ve been to quite  a few times, which definitely eased my worries about going to my first conference since transplanting to the Pacific NW. (I came from Colorado, NW region has always been home).
Can you spot Kimberly in this photo?

After receiving the presentation schedule a week or so before the conference, I was very excited about all of the presentation topics.  Joe Klopchic gave his fantastic layers presentation, which is engaging due to its entertainment value and clever examples to test your knowledge with.  Layers is definitely still a skill I am working on and this presentation, and helpful handout, were super beneficial.  Joe was followed by Derek Barbee, who gave a phenomenal presentation on making mistakes while judging.  I especially enjoyed Derek’s take on the topic as he not only covered common mistakes that Judges might make, but also identified reasons we tend towards these errors. Common things like being afraid of getting something wrong or wanting to feel confident. I found great value in a presentation that not only helped me recognize common mistakes I might be making, but also reasons for them. Plus Derek is extremely energetic and very engaging.  Last up before lunch was Jeremy Button and his presentation on TO interactions.  This presentation was especially interesting for me, as I have experience working for a TO and helping support events.  One of the coolest things I saw was Jeremy breaking down the investment vs income dollar amounts, which provided a perfect answer for the all too often asked question of “why is this event so expensive?”  I really enjoyed the additional tips on how to connect with TOs when you’re new to an area. Definitely beneficial for any newer Judge in the audience.

 Lunch time! Lunch was amazing, but it turns out Judges really like sliders.  So much so that when the amount for 50 people ran out, our wonderful conference organizers had to order more food. But it was all delicious. The lunch break also gave me an opportunity to connect with some Judges I don’t see regularly, since Portland sometimes feels so far away from Seattle.

After lunch, Ken Nichols got us back on track with a presentation on the new take-back rules.  Set to the theme of Taking Back Sunday’s greatest hits, it was definitely engaging. I think this presentation was of great value, because I personally feel these new take-back rules can be a little fuzzy and it was nice to have a clearer picture on how they might work logistically.  After Ken, we started the back-to-back guest  appearances of some friends from the South.  Erin Leonard gave a presentation on diversity in the Judge program, complete with beads! Beads, you might ask? Erin provided the group with a unique hands-on activity that definitely generated some discussion around topics related to diversity. I won’t spoil it for you, in case you get the honor of seeing this presentation, but it was very clever. Diversity can often be a tricky topic to approach but Erin handles it masterfully.  Closing out the day was a customer service presentation from Michael Arrowsmith.  He presented us with a very clever visual diagram of ranges of responses to players, including playful banter or that all-too-serious face needed when dealing with things like DQs.  Michael also included some actors from the crowd for a few skits and gave attendees the opportunity to practice skills such as handling calls and making head judge announcements. It was a presentation very well done.

After a wrap-up conversation in small groups, we were turned loose. Overall, I think the entire day was beneficial for all Judges who attended, whether they were a brand-new L1 or a seasoned L3. I think this gathering definitely showed off the mox-imum potential that a conference of dedicated individuals can have.

Thanks for reading judges.  We’d love to hear about your next conference experience, and feature it on the Northwest passage.  For further reading, you can read the conference report of one of the presenting judges!

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Introducing your Area Captains

| Stephan Classen

Hello judges of the Pacific Northwest!  One of the concerns we’d like to address with this blog today is one we’ve heard from around the region.  Our judges don’t know who our area captains, or Level 3s in the region are.  Therefore, we’ve gone ahead and asked some of our L3s and Area Captains to introduce themselves, so that you can read a bit about them, get to know them better, learn who to contact for a question about judge testing, or where the next conference in your city or state will be!  We hope that this article is could be the start of a good conversation,  an introduction to discuss a topic, or just who is available for you to know is a nearby, all around awesome judge!

Without further Ado, your region’s leaders!!

Alaska

Mark Hensley, L2, Alaska Area Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

I became a Judge initially in large part because I tended to know the rules better than everyone around me, and we had literal 0 Judges in the area!
The catalyst though was Variance (Read: Mana Screw/Gush). That said, my favorite formats are ones that remove those particular forms of variance
altogether 🙂 I play a lot of Type 4 (Infinite mana, 1 spell per turn (with exceptions)), and Momir Basic (60 lands? Yes please!) and have created
extensive real life decks for both formats.See the source image

My collection piece cards are both Johan from Legends, and Serra Sphinx, both for the art. I have hundreds of each, including artist proofs and signed copies of Johan! If anyone happens to find the original art for these I would be ecstatic to know about them 🙂 Tournament wise I am a big fan of  Lingering Souls and Young Pyromancer and try to find decks that play one or both.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

Anchorage is the smallest large city you will likely find. Land mass wise we are about 60 miles long, and 15 miles wide. But have a population of
around 300k, and only 2 card shops that dedicate themselves to Magic tournaments. Infact, the entire STATE has only 6 shops total that I know
about! Judging more than FMN and Pre-Releases is few and far between.

Do you have any hobbies outside of Magic?

Alaska is a great state to get out and explore though, so other than Magic you can often find me outside in the wild 🙂

Colorado

Bryan Spellman, L3, Colorado Area CaptainSee the source image

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

Fav format: Limited
Fav deck: any deck that wins
Fav card: Phyrexian Obliterator (bonus points if you can figure out why)

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

We have a great community of judges. They really seem to care about growing the community and are genuinely interested in helping improve each other. They’ve created friendships that go beyond Magic and Judging. The passion for the game is strong here.

What’s one hobby or thing you do that you enjoy outside of Magic?

Dancing, training a therapy dog, Hearthstone, writing — oh wait, you said ONE

Guam

Neil Pendon, L2, Guam Area Captain

See the source imageWhat’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

I enjoy all formats of Magic but if I had to choose only one to enjoy with friends it would be draft and competitive is standard constructed.  Any Cult of Rakdos deck is my favorite.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

I enjoy how diverse the players can be week to week depending on who moves to, is stationed on and/or visits Guam. Guam is near the Philippines Sea and in the Western Pacific Ocean. The island is five times smaller than Rhode Island with a population of 166 thousand people. We are a small community but we go out and gain experience.

What’s one hobby or thing you do that you enjoy outside of Magic?

I enjoy designing graphics online and learning digital graphics on my own.  I also relit my love on console games (I won’t say which one) and I am waiting for the new World of Warcraft for PC. Most people don’t know I am my own worst critic and I enjoy making new friends.

Hawai`i

Daniel Clarke, L2, Hawai`i Area Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?See the source image

Favorite format is Vintage powered cube, favorite deck is Legacy Elves and favorite card is a judge foil Gaea’s Cradle

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

My community is small and very tight. Everyone that is serious about playing Magic knows all the other serious magic players. For several years, I was the only L2+ judge in Hawaii and am still the only one on Oahu- which is a bit frustrating at times. I have only been able to play in one PPTQ since PPTQs were invented.

Do you have any hobbies outside of Magic?

I listen to about 30-50 audiobooks a year, exercises in several different ways on a daily basis and I enjoy spending time with puppers, usually in the form of humane society volunteer work.

Idaho

Lee Fisher L2, Idaho Area Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card? See the source image

My favorite format is Draft, as it allows me to enjoy many new sets and be innovative with cards that are often not played. My favorite deck is my Old School Land Destruction (does that make me a bad person?). My favorite card is Juzam Djinn as it brings me back to when I first learned Magic.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

I love how we have both competitive and casual players, so there is a something for everyone.

What’s something you enjoy outside of Magic?

I enjoy preparing meals from Pad Thai and Sushi to Smoked Ribeye Steaks and Cajun Seared Salmon. I love the thrill of experimenting with flavors (like Yuzu), practicing how to improve recipes like Crab Rangoon or Mung Bean Spring Rolls, or making quick treats like Tamales.

Montana

http://www.thebagofloot.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Scapeshift.jpg

Brook Gardner-Durbin, L2, Montana Area Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

My favorite format is usually Standard – I love how much it changes and how it rewards innovation. But my favorite deck is Mountain Tribal (RG Scapeshift) in Modern – I have it fully foiled out, and about another 150 or so foils that have gone in and out of the deck at different times in different builds. I’ve played it RUG, 4 color with Bring to Light, Naya, Jund… my favorite card is Snapcaster Mage.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

One thing I really like about judging in Montana is that we have a much larger overlap between our judges and our players than most places. When the other L2s and I are putting our heads together to figure out who’s judging what, we aren’t just looking at who is available, because we know everyone available will show up to the event one way or another – we’re also looking at whose turn it is to play! It’s cool we get to see each other frequently even when we aren’t working multi-judge events.

What’s something unusual about you? 

Something unusual about me: I rarely get hungry until I’ve been awake for several hours, so I rarely eat breakfast. Tacos are one of my favorite foods to make, for both lunch and dinner. Occasionally two facts together have led to stretches where I’ve eaten tacos for every meal for nearly a week.

 

James Watson L2 – I’m working towards taking over for Montana from Brook

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

Favorite format is Modern by a lot. In my opinion, it rewards deck choice more than any other format, but also lets people play what they are good at regardless of how well positioned it is, and still do well.

See the source imageMy favorite deck is Jund by miles and miles; grindy midrange that looks to win the game by just straight out-valuing your opponent will forever have a special place in my heart. My favorite card is Tireless Tracker, you get so much value just for playing lands! Don’t even get me started on how good it feels to fetch more than once in a turn for more clues.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

I think the thing I like the most about judging in Montana is that I’ve been able to be more involved in the community as a whole, and at least know most of the competitive players in the state since we have a much smaller “scene” since we are much smaller than places like Washington or Colorado.

Do you have any hobbies outside of Magic?

Outside of Magic, I’m currently a college student, and whenever I can I try to get in a session or two of DnD.

Oregon

Brandon Welch, L2, Non-Portland Metro Area Oregon Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?See the source image

Favorite format is Modern by a mile, favorite deck is Grishoulbrand and have done really well at competitive events with it. Favorite card is Norin the Wary.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

In my area there is always room for growth. When I first came to Corvallis I was the only L2 outside of the Portland metro area. I got to build up a community of judges both in my city (which a few are my good friends now) and the local city areas.

Do you have any hobbies outside of Magic?

Photography, disc golf, and does masters thesis count as an activity?

 

Jeff Higgins, or Shiggins, L2 Portland Metro Area Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?
Commander.See the source image
Cruel Control back in Standard
Garbage Fire (only the foil version) I collect foils and own the original art.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

Portland has tons of stores all with different communities and focuses. There really is a store for every type of player and judge.

Do you have any hobbies outside of Magic?

Outside of Magic I uhhh, work at a shop selling Magic cards so uhhh, Pokemon Go and crossword puzzles.

Utah

See the source imageJeremiah Adams, L2, Utah Area Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

Format EDH, deck Splinter Twin (the true red blue with one stomping ground to flashback ancient grudge, none of that 3 color nonsense) favorite card Nuisance Engine

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

I love how the Utah area has some many judges and people willing to help judges grow and develop.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

Outside of Magic I enjoy playing video games (Destiny 2 right now) and painting miniatures from Warmachine.

Washington

James Lee, L3, Seattle Area co-Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

I do not play any constructed formats at all – none. Not Commander, not Pauper, no format where I have to have a deck maintained. My favourite format is Sealed and is my exclusive go to when I play. As such, I don’t really have a favourite deck at all. However, when I am thinking about decks or toying around with brews with my friends, I like decks that seem to be weirdly bad but tend to work. Most recently, I have been enjoying Hollow One in Modern. My favourite Magic card remains Standstill.Image result for magic gathering standstill

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

I love the fact that Seattle is pretty much intense about everything. Almost anything here is extreme in some way. The whole community here is overwhelming. At any point in Magic history, whenever there is a change or some new announcement, folks around here will lose their minds. I am convinced that it is due to the presence of Wizards of the Coast actually being here and the local community being filled with not just many high-level people but many people with direct connections or contacts with Wizards and the entirety of the game’s infrastructure and/or history. It is a place where anyone who loves chaos, emotion, and bureaucracy can thrive. We are a city and region of big personalities, big opinions, and cults of personality. We have people who know where the bodies are buried. We have people who can make one phone call and create a wave of international speculation or consternation. These days, there is much talk about being in the “room where it happens.” Well, Seattle is that room.

What’s one hobby or thing you do (activity or game) that you enjoy outside of Magic?

I play a ridiculous amount of D&D and D&D adjacent games. Indeed, my whole path to Seattle and working at Wizards of the Coast was started in middle school when I thought it would be nifty to work at TSR just a couple of hours from my house. These days, it is even more intense as I am part of a YouTube channel that just films our games and puts them out into the world.

What’s something unusual about you that you don’t think most of your magic friends know?

I have an odd array of genetic anomalies that all seem to contribute to positive results. Throughout my life, I have had weird medical issues that, when diagnosed, seem to either be benign or actually contribute to life benefits. For example, I have a heart condition that is typically considered to be potentially fatal to infants and is typically repaired surgically shortly after birth. Because I did not die, and at my age, it is considered a bad idea to do open heart surgery, nowadays, whenever I am at the clinic, my doctor will call in every available doctor on the floor to come listen to my heart to see if they can figure out what it is that I have. Since it is super rare to find this in living adults, she has quite a bit of good fun with this. I have a similar oddity with my ocular nerve that makes any doctor looking at it think that I have cancer there and that I’ve lost at least 80% of my vision. However, it’s just weird and recently, after changing ophthalmologists, I forgot to mention it and gave him quite a start when he wasn’t sure how it was possible for me to have scored so high on the Humphrey Field exam I’d just taken.

 

Stephan Classen, L3 – Seattle Area co-Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

I love Legacy, as well as stranger drafts and styles.  The more complex the better.  Basically, Future Sight was absolutely amazing for me.  I’ve always had a sweet spot for Oath of Druids decks, specifically green-blue.  That said, Force of Will quickly becomes my friend for both format and deck!  🙂Image result for oath of druids exodus

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

I’m newish to the Seattle area, but for me, community is always the priority in an organization like the judge program.  We’re here to certify people to become the best judges they can be, to help host the best and biggest events, to help players have the best (and fairest) time possible.  That said, Seattle is a city of such variety, and yet such focus.  We have teams of players looking to grind toward the Pro Tour.  Tons of stores of people focusing on casual EDH, as well as enjoying FNM in various formats across the metro area (yes, even Canadian Highlander or every Masters Set sealed deck), and even a few competitive series like the Legacy Preservation Series.  That brings a great amount of perspective when our judges come together, and lets us share our diverse interests, backgrounds, and enjoyment of Magic to great effect and awesome events.

Do you have any hobbies outside of Magic?

I love the outdoors.  Scuba, hiking, geocaching, gardening… The world is more spectacular than we realize.  But I love a good board game and read a ton of books lately too.  I’m also a Vorthos, and have read a large majority of story based materials that Magic has released.

 

Chris Shafer, L2, Eastern Washington and Idaho Panhandle Area Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

My favorite format is Standard. I love toolbox decks: Birthing Pod, Recurring Nightmare, Chord of Calling. Decks with answers to everything as long as the cards line up.

My favorite card is Greater Gargadon. That monster causes all sorts of headaches for the opponent. An un-counterable sacrifice outlet and sometimes a hasty 9/7 for the win.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

See the source imageThe thing I like most about the Eastern Washington community is how diverse it is. Our competitive scene is thriving, sending multiple people to the Pro Tour and generating large numbers at the local PPTQs. The Commander crew has a large following. You could find a game that leans towards more casual or ultra competitive depending on your favorite flavor. Every sanctioned format has good representation. Legacy FNM, drafts any day of the week, and Standard and Modern sprinkled in to satisfy any player.

Do you have any hobbies outside of Magic?

Outside of Magic I play a decent amount of video games. I’m in school for Nutrition and really enjoy talking about the latest fad diet or what people can actually do to help themselves.

What’s something unusual about you? 

Unusual facts about me? People either don’t know I was in the military or think I still am enlisted. I was, but not anymore.

 

Joe Klopchic, L3 – Seattle, WASee the source image

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

My favorite format is booster draft, but if I have to choose a deck then I’ll go with Protean Hulk combo in modern. My favorite card is Gempalm Polluter.

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

The best thing about Magic in Seattle is that there are several great stores, and a lot of players who have been around for a long time. If you go to FNM at Mox Boarding House in Bellevue enough, you will meet some of the people that work on Magic.

What’s one hobby or thing you do (activity or game) that you enjoy outside of Magic?

I enjoy playing video games, good food, and spreadsheets.

Wyoming

Nole Clauson, L2, Wyoming Area Captain

What’s your favorite format, deck, and magic card?

See the source imageMy favorite format is probably my cube (it’s my baby, 540 cards unpowered and as of this writing only 19 cards away from being completely foiled), my favorite deck is whatever modern deck someone lends me (I love that format but my decks tend to be kind of a flavor of the week thing), and my favorite card is probably Ancient Silverback, because every time I see that card I’m reminded of first playing kitchen table magic with my friends. Urza’s Destiny had just come out and it was the precon rare. We had no idea how regeneration worked and basically thought it meant “cast it from your Graveyard for its regenerate costs”. I had a sweet deck designed to make me discard it and “regenerate” it on turn 2. (the first time I took this deck to a real tournament I was in for a rude awakening).

What do you enjoy most about your area/community?

One thing I love about our community is how close knit we are. The players that travel all know each other, the judge community is super close knit, and generally wanna see each other succeed.

What’s one hobby or thing you do (activity or game) that you enjoy outside of Magic?

Every year I try to learn a new skill, to varying degrees of success. This year I’ve been learning how to hypnotize people. I also love board games (is kickstarter addiction a hobby?).

 

Uncategorized

NW Logo Contest!

| Stephan Classen

Welcome Judges of the Northwest, to an Iconic Contest!

Today we’d like to start our region off with something fun: a contest!

One of the things many other regions have done is create an individual logo- something the region can put on items to represent themselves, and, being such a spread out region, we felt we could do well with a logo of our own.

This is an example. Please don’t copy this! (Credit to Neil Pendon, L2 from Guam!)

Therefore, we’re going to open it up to all judges of our region as a contest, to design, create, and innovate a logo to represent the Pacific Northwest!  If we were the Izzet, we would suggest you “die trying” (But we’re not, so we won’t)!

Some considerations for your submission:

-A square logo, no more than 2 colors, that is 2 dimensional.  No special 3d effects, or cgi, please.  (Remember, we hope to have this printed on a variety of items!)

-Suggested pixel sizes: 16 × 16 (mdpi) 24 × 24 (hdpi) 32 × 32 (xhdpi) 48 × 48 (xxhdpi) 64 × 64 (xxxhdpi)

-Please make sure your image is vectored!

-No copyrighted material!  This means no mana symbols, no art from Magic or any of your 2nd favorite CCGs. We want this to be original, awesome, and exciting for our region to see!

-Please feel free to be creative.  It doesn’t have to be something that relates to our region.  It could be any fantasy, magic related content, or otherwise!  (See the USA-SW, they have a dragon!)

-No maps!  We already have a decent map image (some of you have it on the backs of your hoodies!), so let’s try to have something different than that!  See the top image for an example of the map we already have and is awesome!

-No offensive material, please!

 

What you can win!

We’re going to make the prize for this pretty amazing- so we’ll be offering you a iconic prize!

We have been working on getting playmats printed for some time, and one of the reasons we’ve held off is that we wanted our logo on it!  So, if your logo is selected, you’ll get to see it on our regional playmat!  And you get one yourself, for free!  Since we also want our region to have more strength (of isolation), we feel you could “be a Force in the Northwest for creating our logo!”  Yes, that’s right, a judge Force of Will is the prize for the winner!

See the source image

 

Contest will close in one month, on October 31st, 2018!  Please submit logo designs to PNWjudges@googlegroups.com!

The winner of the contest will relinquish any and all rights to the image(s) they submit. By entering this contest, you agree to that stipulation.  We want this to be an open use logo for the region’s projects!  Thank you!

The voting body will be the Area Captains of your region (who can’t vote on their own logo if they submit one)!  We hope you decide to submit a logo! Happy arting!