Hi all,

As you may have heard from your local L3, from now on some Level 2 judges might be selected at Pro Tours. Before you get all worked up, let me explain how it works and the reason behind this.

First of all, the number of slots is quite limited – no more than 2 Level 2s can be part of a Pro Tour’s staff.
Second, the expectation is that these judges will test for level 3 at the Pro Tour.
Third, there is no application process – these judges are contacted directly by the L3 Testing Manager and selected at the same time as the normal L3 applicants.
The selected judge(s) is a floor judge on Friday and tests either on Saturday or Sunday. The compensation is the same as for a regular L3.

In order to be recommended for this, the judge must already have submitted an L3 checklist. This means having it accepted about 10 weeks before the Pro Tour at the latest, although this time depends on the exact timeframe of the Pro Tour selection.

Pro Tour judges are selected mainly for their event skills at the Pro Tour. Expert rules and policy knowledge, excellent logistical skills, ability to perform under stress are prime qualities sought in Pro Tour judges. This makes Level 3 judges the natural pool to pick from – these are central skills that we’re testing and thus guaranteeing. So why allow Level 2 judges who haven’t been tested on these so thoroughly?

The idea is that with the above process, we accomplish two goals at the same time:

1. The judge has submitted an L3 checklist, so most likely has proven event skills equivalent to an L3;
2. More testing slots are opened up, reducing the pressure on Grand Prix staff.

Q: Does this mean no more testing at Grand Prix?
A: No, the vast majority of testing will still happen at Grand Prix. There are about 30 panels per year; the best way to gather a candidate and two senior judges is still the Grand Prix circuit.

Q: So I should submit my checklist exactly 10 weeks before the Pro Tour?
A: Besides the fact that it would be extremely tight timing, we plan to use this only based on needs and there’s no guarantee of which event you’ll be testing at. Selection will mostly be based on excellent tournament skills.

Thanks for reading,

Daniel