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 […]
Policy Wonks: Failing to Maintain the Game State
Hello and welcome to our June edition of Policy Wonks! Today our topic is a strange little infraction in the IPG, one that is handled differently from every other infraction in the entire document. If you read the title of this article, then you know that I am, of course, referring to Failure to Maintain […]
Judge Academy Judge Program Manager Nicolette Apraez is Joining Wizards of the Coast
Judge Program Manager Nicolette Apraez has accepted an offer from Wizards of the Coast to join their team as a Game Producer for Studio X, focusing on their Universes Beyond sub-brand. For those unfamiliar with Universes Beyond, think Magic meets Warhammer! Magic meets The Lord of the Rings! The game system we all know and […]
June 2022 Judge Academy News and Updates
Hey, all! June News and Updates are below! I (Nicolette) will be around for Office Hours tomorrow in the JA Discord from 9-10am Pacific (UTC-7) and from 4pm-5pm Pacific. Some areas change for Daylight Savings at different times, or not at all! So to see these times in your local Timezones, follow the links below: […]