Angela Chandler here to bring you more exemplary goodness.

Steven Zwanger has been a part of the judge community for over 19 years! I would also be willing to bet that he is one of the only active judges in the judge community who went from uncertified straight to L2. Steven originally passed his L1 test at Grand Prix Washington DC in 1997. He passed it again a year later after the original paperwork was never submitted. After getting the runaround about the second test not being submitted, one of Steven’s local TOs called the head of the DCI and put Steven on the phone with him. After a brief conversation about the fact that Steven passed the test and has been judging for a year, he was certified as an L2.

Steven became interested in judging as a way to give back to the Magic community, and given back he has! Many of us of had the pleasure of interacting with him on Grand Prix floors around the world and have been the recipient of world class mentorship. Travis Lauro was one of these judges at GP Oakland earlier this year and here is what Steven had to say:

Travis, at Grand Prix Oakland, as both a member of my Saturday Slips team and as Logistics/Checks/EOR Team Lead for the Super Sunday Series, you not only were on top of all the responsibilities I assigned you, but went beyond that. On the main event, you proactively retrieved feature match slips. For the SSS, you put forethought into the team structure, even discussing it with me on Saturday; you made sure all the team’s tasks were completed, all the judges got breaks. I never had to remind you about getting something done, and that saved me a lot of time.

 Thinking ahead of the event and being proactive is one of Travis’s many attributes. He has strived to be the best since he decided to become a judge. Playing in a prerelease event for M14, he had his first interaction that put him on the path to becoming a judge. Travis corrected a spectator on the missed trigger policy during this event. The spectator informed Travis that he actually wrote the policy that they were discussing. Turns out Toby Elliot was the spectator at this event. That evening, Travis went home and looked up the missed trigger policy which had just changed with the release of Gatecrash. He decided from that moment on he would learn and study the rules governing organized gameplay and never embarrass himself like that again.

Both of these judges strive to be great not only for themselves but for the judges they work with and mentor.