Academy Blog: Ghosts and the Modern Era of EOR
Hey, remember that “Logistics Champion” title? Let’s talk about event logistics then! I’ve recently worked on several larger competitive events, and I’ve noticed that there are two areas that have the potential for evolution. End-of-Round and Deck Checks. I want to start by saying that these are both ideas that I haven’t had the opportunity […]
Judge Academy Merchandise Kit Information – Edgar Markov
Hello Magic Judges! Information about the much-anticipated Edgar Markov merchandise kit is now finally available for public release! Let’s get into it. What Comes In The Kit? Merchandise 1x Ammonite Anti-Theft Backpack (Red/Black 2020-Exclusive) 4x Exclusive Transparent PVC Vampire Tokens (Steve Argyle Original Art) 1x Edgar Markov Card Binder (4-Card Pages) 1x Edgar Markov Playmat […]
Academy Blog: What Dark Souls Taught Me About Judging
This is gonna be one of the goofier ones (Samma apologizes for letting me have free rein*). A friend of mine recently (okay, like, a year and a half ago) has started to “encourage” (peer pressure) me into playing Dark Souls (and Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne and Sekiro and Demon Souls and Elden Ring). […]
Conferences: Season 3 2023 Applications and Updates
What’s New Season 3 is coming! Sponsorship applications for conferences held between July 1 and September 30 are now open! The primary application window for this season closes May 14. Due to an expected delay in the delivery of promos to the Judge Academy office, we are cautioning organizers that it is extremely likely that […]
Tournament Organizer – Endorsement Writer Badge
Judge Academy is finally ready to fully launch our Tournament Organizer – Endorsement Writer Badge and the capabilities that go along with it! We are very excited to bring even more event organizers into the fold as we expand our Magic: The Gathering education community. If you are a game store owner, game store manager, […]
News and Updates: Spring 2023
Hello Judges! What an amazing start to the year. Membership renewals held steady while even more new judges continue to be brought into the fold. Our ever-growing judge community is something really very special. As the weather slowly gets warmer and we start to see more events sprout up, we are reminded of how incredible […]
I Promise This Isn’t About Warcraft
Here I go, finding ways to write about my hyperfixations again… …do you like World of Warcraft and/or longform video essays about niche topics? Earlier this year documentarian Dan Olson published a video essay titled Why It’s Rude to Suck at Warcraft. It is a deep dive talking about various social constructs in the context […]
Academy Blog: Judge Jargon
Hello and welcome back to Academy Blog! Today I want to talk about judge jargon and how we can improve our relationship with it. “Jargon” means “special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.” A lot of rules- and policy-related terms fall into […]
Quarter 1 2023 Conference Bulletin
Season 2 Supplemental Applications This took a bit longer to prepare than expected, and as a result this form’s deadline has been extended out until March 26, 2023. You can find the form here: https://forms.gle/9VeCYGZ6Y1DXckJq6 Postponing Launch of Mid-Year Conferences to 2024 One of the original goals for a mid-year celebration was to help supplement […]
Academy Blog: Reliable
So, not too long ago, at least on the scale with which I have articles published, I wrote about the concept of adequacy and being evaluated as such. Beyond adequate, we have a whole slew of terms to describe judges who perform well: rock stars, exceptional, fantastic, and more. But there are two terms that […]