Exemplar Highlights – Eliana Rabinowitz and Alex Kelemen

Hello, everyone! It’s Fortunato Acosta, that guy with knots and toes in his name! It’s been over a month since I wrote one of these and I missed it a lot–but I must say the other authors do a phenomenal job doing this, I’d go as far as to say probably all do a much better job than me! Anyway, let’s get to today’s radical review by Eliana Rabinowitz!

Eliana Rabinowitz

Eliana Rabinowitz

Other than having most people call her Liliana at first, Eliana is a pretty awesome Judge! She’s been a Judge since February of 2015 and has only been playing since June of 2014!(Wait, June? It’s been two years! Woah!) Her first draft format was triple Theros–wait sorry currently having nightmarish flashbacks of dying to Wingsteed Riders at every FNM. Anywho, for anyone that  knows Eliana knows that her knowledge of how the game works is pretty impressive. That’s actually due to the fact that she didn’t learn the game like how most players did: friend teaching  you with starter decks and whatnot easing you into the game– she learned how to play the game by straight up reading the Comprehensive Rules, MTR, IPG, and JAR simply because she just didn’t know any better. I don’t know about you but learning how to play the game from only the Comprehensive Rules is kind of a monstrosity of a challenge to anyone bestowed with it. Now she’s having fun as an L2 playing Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Limited enjoying all aspects of the game!

Her review was for Alex Kelemen, another really awesome L2!

“Thank you for putting so much effort into helping other judges get the experience they need to improve. You put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into getting judges opportunities. You stood up for having me as a floor judge and later a head judge or team lead on events when I was trying to get established as a judge locally, and that along with your mentorship enabled me to develop my skills as a judge.”

Alex Kelemen

Alex Kelemen

This review was one that really caught my eye because Eliana touched on a topic I don’t get to see much in reviews: establishment as a Judge. As an L1 hoping for the day I become an L2, I’ve heard one of the harder things about the level is getting the recognition of stores and the rest of the community for being the fantastic Judge you really are! The problem seems to be even more problematic in our lovely Californian Magic Community than in most others. So, seeing that Alex really tried to get Eliana’s  name out there and find her opportunities to move up in the Judge world is really quite marvelous.

Well, until next time–remember all Judges are incredible,  you don’t need to be featured on an article here to know that or even need a review to know that! So, remember to be the best in the world at what you do, and what you do is being you.

Written by: Fortunato Acosta

Written by: Fortunato Acosta