Policy Wonks: It’s Never CPV (Except When It Is)
Hello and welcome to our August edition of Policy Wonks! Today we’re going to explore one of the lesser-known infractions in the Infraction Procedure Guide, and look into the origin of the common joke surrounding it. Let’s talk about IPG section 3.7, Communication Policy Violation. What It Is First, to talk about CPV, we need […]
August 2022 Judge Academy News and Updates
Hey, all! August News and Updates are below! July sure flew by! The Judge Academy team has been working hard on updating out-of-date educational content as well as reorganizing the conference application system for faster turnaround time on approvals and sponsorship package mailing. More on that in a bit! Samma will be traveling this week, […]
Policy Clarification: Cryptic Spires
is a new card with a brand-new mechanic for tournament Magic. Found in every draft pack of Double Masters 2022 (set code 2X2), it is a nonbasic land with five mana symbols and the text, “As you create your deck, circle two of the colors below.” This is a mechanic reminiscent of the Legacy mechanic […]
Policy Clarification: Deck Problem
Despite the IPG being very exact in its nature, sometimes some ambiguity in the language can lead to misinterpretations. In this case we’ll be taking a look at one of the more common presentations of Deck Problem at Competitive REL events. Here is the relevant text of the IPG: IPG 3.5: Upgrade: While presented to […]
Strategy Schmategy – Imposter Syndrome
Today I’m going to talk about a topic near and dear to my heart – imposter syndrome and self-doubt. To begin with, “Imposter syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud.” I find it affects me most frequently when I’m stepping into a new role for the first (or second, […]
Policy Wonks: This Whole Sequencing is Out of Order!
Hello and welcome to our July edition of Policy Wonks! Today we’re going to take a closer look at a strange aspect of tournament policy that is often misunderstood and misapplied. Section 4.3 of the Magic Tournament Rules gives judges a tool to avoid overly penalizing players that participate in play that may not be […]
July 2022 Judge Academy News and Updates
Hey, all! July News and Updates are below! Nicolette has begun her fabulous new job at Wizards of the Coast (Read more about that here!), so Samma, our Communications Champion, is stepping in for a bit as the Interim Magic Judge Program Manager. Samma will be around for Office Hours tomorrow in the JA Discord […]
A Better Term Than Soft Skills
What if we found better terms than “soft skills” and “hard skills” to discuss the things we do as judges? If you haven’t heard those terms before, ‘soft skills’ is a term that judges often use to describe those skills that we can’t objectively measure. (Credit to Logistics Champion Jonah for the definition.) In practice, […]
The Rulebook: Rules and Events
Welcome to today’s edition of The Rulebook! We’ll be discussing an interesting way of interpreting the Comprehensive Rules when it comes to handling actions within a game of Magic, one that has helped numerous judges advance their rules knowledge. We’re going to talk about game events. What is an Event? Importantly, we’re not talking about […]
Strategy Schmategy: Finding Your Team
The other day during the June First Week chat about a judge’s first large event, we were asked “What’s the best team to ask to be on for your first event?” My guest and I disagreed, and it prompted me to dive deeper into the topic. There are a lot of different teams and roles […]