Welcome to Judge Academy.
For many of us in the MTG community, this is a moment of change and revitalization. Change creates emotion. Everyone in the Judge community has feelings about this change. Some are positive and excited about the changes. Some are cautiously optimistic. And for some, we’ll need to start from scratch building up a sense of trust and community. To all of the MTG community I want to say, I love games and I particularly love the events that Judges make possible. On this the day of our rebirth, I promise to be the best steward I can be. As a team, we promise to support both the Judges and the larger MTG community.
I’ve been a member of this community since Alpha, and in that time I’ve seen Magic and the Judge community go through many changes. Today, Magic is larger and more diverse than ever. The Judge community reflects that growth and diversity. Today as we launch a new program and a new site to support it, remember, in all this, that we as a community are not done growing. Magic is a global game and the Judge community must be global to support the game we all love.
As of October 1, 2019, Judge Academy supports Judges in Japan, Canada, the United States, and most countries in Europe. Today, anyone who is an MTG Judge, regardless of location, is invited to create an account on JudgeAcademy.com and have their level and skills recognized. Unfortunately, we are not able to fully support the entire community at launch. This is a strong achievement in the short months we have been working on this project, but it is necessary to unite the global community.
I am proud to announce that on January 1, 2020 Judge Academy will be able to serve Judges throughout the world.
Everything we’ve done as a community has brought us to where we are now, and I’m excited to continue to see the Judge community grow, change, and flourish. In the coming months we will give greater support to all levels of judging, with more learning modules and more certifications. As we grow, we will support new games, new areas and cultures.
With a new site, 29 Level-1 classes, and new features, we are proud of what we have accomplished. However we are far from done. We have ambitious plans for serving all of gaming. Some of those new plans are announced on the site, while others are coming soon. But we know we need your support and feedback, so if there is anything you want to see Judge Academy doing, please let us know! This could be an elective module you want to create, a User Interface issue you encountered, ideas for optimization, or anything else. We want to hear from you.
Moving forward, we are focusing on expanding out to the rest of our community, be it Judges around the world, L2/L3 Content, Scorekeeping/Admin tracks, etc. That said, this company will always be, like the Judge Program or any individual in it, a work in progress. Something that keeps listening, learning, changing, and getting better every day.
I can’t wait for all of you to see all the work we’ve done, and all the work we will do in the future.
I could not be happier to serve the Judge Family.
Timothy Patrick Shields,
Member
Judge Academy