lessons learned as an l1
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Lessons from a Year in the Life
A lesson-based look back at my 1st year judging Nik Zitomer, L1
Roswell, GA [email protected]
Atlanta Judge Conference – 9/20/2012
Outline
• What does being L1 actually mean to you?
• How should you present yourself?
• Working Competitive REL
• Steps towards L2 (not the checklist)
• Some rules maybe
Outline
• How should you present yourself?
• Working Competitive REL
• Steps towards L2 (not the checklist)
• Some rules maybe
http://wiki.internationalmagicjudges.net/index.php/Welcome_to_Level_1
By The Books, What is an L1? • Level 1 - Local Judge • Level 1 judges are local judges who oversee local tournaments, run Regular REL events, or
work as a floor judge on larger Competitive Level events. They are knowledgeable of Magic rules, DCI tournament rules, structures, formats, and are capable of organizing store-level events.
• Local Judges are the main envoys to the retail community and work with (sometime for) retailers. Retailers often inquire about local judges and will often have local judges asked to aid them in organizing and running/reporting their tournaments. Many retailer operators employ local judges or become local judges themselves.
• Qualifications – Has acted as a judge at a sanctioned event twice in the last six months. – Brief interview with, and written recommendation from, a level 2 or higher judge. – Passing score on Level 1 judge certification exam. – Knowledge of tournament structures with experience as a player in DCI-sanctioned
tournaments. • The following items are NOT required for a candidate to be considered for L1. These
represent optional growth areas that are not expected of a starting L1 judge. – Working at Competitive REL tournaments – Knowledge of the MIPG – Passing a Rules Advisor or other practice exam – Writing Judge Center reviews
• Requirements to maintain • Act as a judge at a sanctioned event once every six months. • Maintain qualifications above. • Retest interval: A candidate who fails may reattempt certification in two months.
What does being L1 actually mean to you?
• What “jobs” are there, and how do I find them? – DCIFamily (www.dcifamily.org) JudgeApps!
• http://blogs.magicjudges.org/judgeapps/
– Facebook – International Magic Judges and the Judge Wiki
• I’m still finding stuff in here I never knew existed
– Various judge groups regionally – Pester that poor judge that certified you – Get communication going
• Be proactive here. If you can’t find it, chances are someone else can’t either.
What does being L1 actually mean to you?
• How do I contribute, or even interact with, the judge community? – IRC – Judge Lists (through email) – Facebook
• This has been the best resource for me, as there are regional groups, and the MTG Study Group
– Reviews – Judge Projects – EVENTS
Judge Center
• This is another site that you have all likely interacted with at least a little.
• There is a lot to do here, go look around, get comfortable, take a test, etc.
Judge Wiki – Lots to explore
Outline
• Working Competitive REL
• Steps towards L2 (not the checklist)
• Some rules maybe
How should you present yourself?
• Judge List etiquette
– Don’t Spam
– Read the history, check archives
– How do you recognize an official answer?
• [O]
How should you present yourself?
• Personal appearance
• Confidence
– Body Language
• Stand up straight, hold you head up
• Keep your shoulders back
• Smile and make eye contact
How should you present yourself?
• Confidence – Verbal authority in rulings
• This may sound odd, but whatever you rule, rule as if that is the correct answer, even if you have slight doubts. – If you have a real concern, obviously confer
with another judge.
• If you give your ruling clearly and with
authority the players will be much
less likely to appeal, even if you
flubbed it.
Outline
• Steps towards L2 (not the checklist)
• Some rules maybe
Working Competitive REL
• IPG, not the Judging at Regular Doc.
• Working on a team
– Paper
– Deck Checks
– Logistics
Teams
• Deck Checks
• Logistics
• Paper
• Public Events
• Whatever other teams the
HJ wants to create
Notes on working competitive
• We are using the IPG here, not the JAR
• Players are held to a different standard than at Regular
• As a judge, you have to be more concerned about strategic advice
Outline
• Some rules maybe
Steps towards L2 (not the checklist)
• What can you do to further help study/keep up to date?
– Judge List
– Facebook MTG Study Group
– Practice Exams
– Reviews
• Don’t forget self review!
Steps towards L2
– Flashcard Project
– Judge Classes
– Judgecast – you have one of the hosts right here…
– Find an L0!
• Nothing will force you to learn something better than having to teach someone else
• By Judge List I more specifically mean Knowledge Pool
• Both this project, and the FB group are run by Ben McDole
• They both provide interesting scenarios that are open to discussion before an answer is provided
• These are VERY useful for learning material
Judge List and Facebook MTG Study Group
Practice Exams
• As an L1 you have access to multiple practice exams
– Easy Practice
– Hard Practice
– L2 Practice (with cooldown)
– Policy Practice
• How should you be taking these?
– SERIOUSLY
– Take these as if you were actually testing that moment
– Right down your answers on a piece of paper, take notes, read and reread the questions
– Once done, take it again (time permitting)
• Then put in your answers
Practice Exams
Flashcard project
• This project was done by Ryan Stapleton
• He has a site providing the relevant files, you plug them into whatever app you want – www…..
• Very useful to just brush up on rules and policy while you would otherwise be playing a time-waster app on your phone – I also used these to great affect while at events
• Questions for L0s, as well as just brushing up while walking around/downtime
Judgecast
• You all listen to this weekly, correct? • (hint, say yes)
• CJ Shrader is one of the 3 hosts of this show
• The podcast provides great learning material weekly, and it is also fairly entertaining
What is an L2, By The Book? • Level 2 - Area Judge
• Level 2s are the Area judges who want more than judge inside one store. They desire to see tournaments run to a higher standard, and are willing to travel, train and mentor other judges. It’s common for L2 judges to organize events and work with more than one location to improve tournaments for a community. Level 2s require knowledge of Competitive REL policy and processes and with experience judge Qualifier events, support Grand Prix and National Championships. They can test L1 judges. For many judges, Level 2 is as high as they’ll desire to progress in the program - higher levels requiring more time-commitment.
• Qualifications
• Pretest Requirements
– Must have written at least one review
– Must have judged at least one Competitive REL event with a second judge (can be at their primary location and other judge can be a L0)
– Must have acted as Head Judge at least in one event with a second judge (these last two can be the same event)
• Interview Items
– Must pass a rules exam
– Must pass an IPG and MTR exam
– Must demonstrate knowledge of deck verification procedures.
– Must show knowledge of requirements for testing a new judge.
– Must show willingness to mentor and certify other judges
– Must show diplomacy with players, judges and TOs.
– Must show willingness to participate in the judge community and its communication channels.
• The following items are NOT required for a candidate to be considered for L2. These represent optional growth areas that are not expected of a starting L2 judge.
– Knowledge on how to conduct a certification process.
– How to create an exam.
– How to enter a disqualification report.
– How to fill a penalty in a Result Slip
– Head Judge of Qualifier Events
– How to work on a team in a professional event (GP, Nats, PT)
• Requirements to maintain
– Act as a judge at a sanctioned event once every six months, and a
sanctioned CompREL event once every twelve months.
– Act as a judge in at least two different locations every twelve months.
– Maintain qualifications above.
• Retest interval
– A candidate who fails may reattempt certification in two months.
What is an L2, By The Book?
Rules!!!
• I put this here not to teach you the rules now, but to get an idea of what gives everyone trouble. Also, what are your favorite sections to test others on? – I know Ben McDole, for instance, loves Shortcuts
(MTR 4.2)
• Anyone have any particular sections they have trouble with? – I’m no expert, but hey, they are here today!
The L2 Exam 50 questions long: 35 rules questions, 15 policy questions. Minimum passing score is 80%. Any score lower than this should not be accepted as a passing score. Candidates should have read the Comprehensive Rules, Magic Infraction Procedure Guide, and Magic Tournament Rules. General expectation for a Level 2 is to know the rules well enough to help players with slightly more complicated questions, providing a "why" for an answer as necessary, proctor a Level 1 exam, and otherwise act as a Floor Judge at Competitive REL events, up to and including Extended-format events.
The L2 Exam continued
• Important concepts to know: • Turn structure. • Combat phase. • Casting spells and/or activating abilities. • Handling triggered abilities. • Resolving spells and/or abilities. • Determining characteristics of a permanent. • One-Shot effects. • Continuous effects. • Interaction of replacement and/or prevention effects. • Handling state-based actions. • Copying objects. • Two-Headed Giant. • Keyword actions and/or abilities present in Extended. • Identifying an infraction, and assessing the appropriate penalty. • Applying the appropriate remedy, if any, to an infraction. • Policies applicable in a Competitive REL event. • Policies on player communication and shortcuts. • Sideboarding (Limited and Constructed) and match structure.
This came from a recent email from Brian Schenk:
(1) Study CR 614.1 as it relates to the interaction of replacement and/or prevention effects. Especially in being able to identify the "affected object or player" and who gets to choose what happens when ordering multiple replacement and/or prevention effects to determine the modified event. (2) Study CR 303.4f and CR 701.3 when it comes to Auras entering the battlefield by means other than the stack. Some spells and abilities might cause an Aura to attach to another object, or enter the battlefield attached to an object, and you will want to know what happens in those situations. This also potentially applies to Equipment, though CR 303.4f is specific to Auras. So, you should look at CR 301.5 instead. (3) This is a small thing, but make sure you read the text of all cards very carefully. Overlooking a word or phrase can result in a dramatic functional difference, which could mean the difference in selecting the correct answer. In a real situation, this means you give the wrong answer to a player. At a minimum, this results in an appeal to the Head Judge, but it could potentially adversely affect a game or match. So, please make sure to read all the cards: Make no assumptions!
Advice from the top!
More advice from the top
(4) Study CR 701.14, which is about the "sacrifice" keyword action. Understand what that term means and what it potentially applies to, whether it is an instruction to sacrifice your own creature (such as being able to sacrifice creatures that regenerate or are indestructible) or knowing that you can't sacrifice a permanent you don't control. (5) Study MIPG 4.2 and recognize the situations that are considered outside assistance, and what the penalty is when a player or spectator commits outside assistance. Even just a review of Appendix A of the MIPG can be helpful in refreshing yourself on the baseline penalties for all infractions, and even just the names of infractions.
Obviously, these aren't the only things you need to study. So make sure you know the steps and phases in the turn, as well as what happens in each step. Review casting spells and each step described in CR 601.2. But, really, be sure to focus on those core rules that are listed in the link I provided above. Each is listed by a section in the appropriate document, so you should be able to find and review those sections accordingly.
More advice from the top
Best piece of advice I can give?
• Get out there and judge!
– Talk to judges
– interact on the networks
– don’t be a wallflower
• Why? It only hurts you!