{"id":487,"date":"2017-03-23T14:13:07","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T14:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/?p=487"},"modified":"2017-03-23T16:53:59","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T16:53:59","slug":"my-view-on-grand-prix-events-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/2017\/03\/23\/my-view-on-grand-prix-events-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"My view on… Grand Prix events in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

My view on… Grand Prix events in 2018<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Magic is a complex game, made of several facets; there is a paper version of the game and there is (at least) one electronic version of the game; there is the story and there are the social aspects of the game environment… and there are surely other important aspects that just don\u2019t come to my mind now\u2026 I believe I even heard about a movie!
\nFocusing on the game play, we have the very casual version, which I often hear called \u201ckitchen Magic\u201d and there is the more competitive version that is the mix of all the tournaments.
\nThen, when we take a look at the tournament scene, we have the tournaments in the local games stores and the huge tournaments on the international scene.
\nOK, today I want to talk about this last aspect, specifically the Grand Prix circuit and, even more specifically, a recent announcement from Wizards of the Coast about a change in the organization of these events for 2018.
\nHere<\/a> you can read the announcement.<\/p>\n

I regularly judge Grand Prix events, and it looked to me that this announcement brought to the most discussed topic of the last couple of weeks: \u201cWhat is going to happen?\u201d.
\nThe comments ranged from \u201cEverything will be exactly like it was before\u201d to \u201cEverything will change and I will not be able to judge any more\u201d.
\nI was a little surprised by this wide range of comments, and I decided to speak about it to some of my colleague-friends.
\nWe spoke about the practical aspects (Who is going to organize the events? How staffing is going to change, if there will be changes? What will remain the same? Who are the people to talk to? \u2026) and also about the more ephemeral aspects (I call it \u201csociology analysis\u201d).<\/p>\n

My first conclusion is a psychological one: *humans are scared by the unknown*.
\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable.
\nStability is reassuring, because we know what to expect.
\nInstead, the unknown can be destabilizing or even frightening.
\nI have a message to the judges about this: *changes are opportunities*.
\nI know, I know, changes are scary; they are scary to me too; trust me, I want stability and I don\u2019t want to see everything I built be washed away by a huge ocean wave, but I have been thinking about what is going to remain stable and therefore reassuring.
\n*I* am going to remain the same.
\n*My colleague-friends* are going to remain the same.
\n*The people who support me* are going to remain the same.
\n<\/p>\n

Then, starting from these points of stability, I will do my best to see any changes as new opportunities.
\nIf you want to read more about my view on changes, opportunities and new adventures, you can read the \u201c2016 in review<\/a>\u201d article, especially the part about Spring.<\/p>\n

Then, in addition to the psychological aspects, we have the practical aspects.
\nTournaments will be exactly the same; actually, I wish there will be even more GPs every year; wouldn\u2019t it be great to see a 2018 GP schedule with 70 GPs? I keep my fingers crossed!
\nMain event, side events, staff roles, we will have plenty of opportunities to dedicate our weekends to our favorite hobby.<\/p>\n

I received many comments and many questions, and I will try to give my best answers.
\nFirst, a couple of disclaimers.
\n1) This is just my opinion, not Wizards\u2019, not ChannelFireball\u2019s, not the leadership of the program\u2019s\u2026 just the personal opinion of one of the judges and writers that you like the most in the world\u2026 ok, ok, maybe I\u2019m exaggerating ^__^ but you are reading my words, so I can pretend to be ^__^
\n2) I may be direct and blunt with my thoughts; if you know me, you already know that I\u2019m often a very direct person; if I have to say something negative, I don\u2019t wrap it in a series of compliments.<\/p>\n

OK, let\u2019s see the most frequent questions or worries I heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cMonopoly is very dangerous\u201d<\/em>
\n<\/p>\n

My answer:<\/strong>
\nActually, we have always lived in a tournament world with a monopoly, as we have a company that produces a game and manages the organized play.
\nIf we were safe and satisfied about how it was before, I really think that there is nothing to worry; we may see a specific logo much more present than in the past, and it doesn\u2019t seem worrying to me.
\nIn other aspects of business, yes, there are even laws against monopolies, but I don\u2019t see how the laws about the supply of electric energy (for example) would be needed in our case. No worries.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what if they try to abuse the system to just gain more money at the expense of everybody else?\u201d<\/em>
\n
\nMy answer:<\/strong>
\nWHAT?!?
\nThis is not a rational worry; this is only an emotional reaction due to the fear of changes (see the part above about the psychological aspects).
\nWizards is extremely interested in the success of the game in the long term; ChannelFireball is interested in the success of the game and of their tournaments in the long term. I haven\u2019t seen any action or heard any word that would make me even imagine that any of them would do anything to harm their business.
\n
\nRemember, companies of success invest on the future and they wouldn\u2019t have arrived to today\u2019s successes without investing on the future!<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a core team, and I\u2019m not part of it; I will have no opportunities\u201d<\/em>
\n
\nMy answer:<\/strong>
\nDo you want to know how many times I judged a Grand Prix organized by ChannelFireball?
\nONE, only one, and I don\u2019t even remember if it was 2016 or 2015.
\nMore, my schedule for 2017 has zero of their tournaments at this moment.
\nStarting from these numbers, I count that you will trust me when I reply \u201cI know your worry\u201d.
\nOK, this is the current situation, what can we do?
\nIf you want to cry and shout, feel free to do it, but I will not be at your side to cuddle you.
\nI can tell you what *I* will do.
\nI will do my best to do a good job at my current tournaments (and also online), so to build (or improve) a good reputation. If I will be recognized in the Magic judge environment as a valid judge, I count that they will want to select me for their event.
\nThen, when I will have the opportunity to show them my value, I will just need to do exactly what I have been doing in the other tournament: *do a good job*.
\nNow, starting from what we said so far, I would like to ask you a question:
\n*How the future is different from the present?*
\nDon\u2019t we go to tournaments to do a good job?
\nDon\u2019t we need to show to all organizers and colleagues that we are able to offer a value?
\nHow is the future different from the present?
\n
\nLet\u2019s roll up our sleeves (it\u2019s an Italian expression, but I guess it has a similar meaning in English too), let\u2019s do a good job, let\u2019s contribute to an efficient system and let\u2019s be proud of ourselves!<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, OK, I listen to your motivating speech, but I still have some doubts\u201d<\/em>
\nMy answer:<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m listening, always.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m writing to them, and I\u2019m not receiving any replies\u201d<\/em>
\nMy answer:<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t even want to know how many mails they are receiving in this period.
\n
\nWe are so used to receive very quick replies from other judges that we forget that they are travelling all around the world to get in contact with current GP organizers, they need to build a system much bigger than the one they have now and who knows how many other things they have to do.
\nI have another question for you: if you were extremely busy in your work, what would you like to do after a very long day of work\u2026 go back to your family or reply to my mails?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure that they are interested in the wellbeing of judges\u201d<\/em>
\nMy answer:<\/strong>
\nWHAT?!? (second time ^__^)
\nIf you have been a judge for some years, you may have met or at least heard of Chris Richter and Jason Lems; they are much less active than a few years ago on the judge scene, but I can assure you that they have been pillars of the current judge program and I\u2019m very confident that they still care a lot about judges.
\nIf you are reading this article and you read until this point, I can say that you trust me, right? OK, so I put my face on it (another Italian expression that means \u201cIf you trust me, I tell you that you trust them; if they disappoint you, you can blame me, because it\u2019s me who convinced you to trust them), and I\u2019m sure that, in a year, you will realize that today you worried too much.
\n
\nI met some of the other members of the ChannelFireball team a few times (actually, very few times), and they were all available to listen to our opinions and interested in building a very good environment together. I\u2019m not worrying, at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho should I talk to, if I want to judge GPs?\u201d<\/em>
\nMy answer:<\/strong>
\nWell, actually, my answer is the same that I would have given one year ago.
\n
\nYou need to show your value; first, you have to have the skills, so work hard to build them; then, you have to demonstrate that you have them.
\nSpeak with your Regional Coordinator, with the L3 judges of your country\u2026
\nDo exactly what you have been doing so far.
\nHas it worked until now? Keep doing a good job.
\nHasn\u2019t it worked so far? It means that you need to do better; I\u2019ve been taught that efforts pay, so make your best efforts and you will collect the reward!
\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if you are completely wrong\u201d<\/em>
\nMy answer:<\/strong>
\nIf I am completely wrong, join me in Tenerife and we can have a wonderful restaurant or two on the beach; where are you from and what type of cuisine will you take care of?
\nWouldn\u2019t it be great? \ud83d\ude09
\n<\/p>\n

Changes are opportunities and life is an adventure; *we* decide *how* to live our adventures.<\/p>\n

I hope you enjoyed this article, and I\u2019m looking forward to reading your comments.<\/p>\n

\n

Contact Riccardo<\/span><\/strong> \"Send-Email-Button-Transparent-PNG\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

If you want to add a comment and discuss this article in the Judge forums, click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All comments, feedback and advice are very welcome \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My personal opinion on ChannelFireball as single organizer of the Grand Prix circuit in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"language":[],"class_list":["post-487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions\/493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}