Adequate. Three stars. Met baseline expectations. Average. Getting an evaluation like that can sting. I find that a lot of judges strive for constant improvement or perfection. The community has sometimes carried the label of a “cult of self-improvement.” Outside of judging, a three-star rating is practically an absolute condemnation. But here’s the thing – […]
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An Update to Conference Applications
For a while now we have been using a rolling acceptance system for our conference application process. It has certainly gotten the job done, but it has some larger logistical hangups and it has not scaled well with the growing interest in conferences. In an effort to streamline the process further, use a bigger global […]
Academy Blog: How Do We Actually Cast Spells?
Welcome to our first edition of Academy Blog for 2023! One of the more ubiquitous judge stereotypes is that judges love corner cases and unique card effects. Now, obviously, this can’t possibly be true for every judge out there. That said, it does make sense that the group of folks that have dedicated themselves to […]
Updated Judge Regions for 2023: International Edition
Hello Judges! Lots of people have been excited for us to share the changes we’re making with Magic judge regions. Today we are revealing our international changes. Updated USA regions will be revealed a little later this year. Country Changes Very few changes have been made to which countries belong to which regions. For socio-political […]
End of 2022 Judge Academy News and Updates
Hello Judges! At the start of November we made our big announcement about upcoming changes going into 2023, so we didn’t do much of a monthly wrap-up. Now seems like a perfect time to talk about both November and December and ALSO more developments on the changes we’re making going into 2023. You all like […]
Academy Blog: Leading The Unknown
I had this idea while I was editing in a last-second conclusion to my article on leadership. Leadership in judging has what I find to be a relatively unique dynamic. One week, you’ll be leading a team, or head judging an event, and then a month later, or maybe even a day later, you’ll be […]
Welcome Travis Lauro to Level 3!
We’re proud to announce the promotion of Travis Lauro from California to Level Three. Here are a few words that his friends and mentors had to say about him: “Travis is quite the character. Personally, and I know this is true for other judges, too, he keeps me in check on my policy knowledge by […]
Levels Clarifications and Updates: Philosophy – 2023
Okay – so this post is a lot longer than the one that simply covers the changes, which you can find here. The goal of this post is to walk through why we’re making the refinements and updates that we are. If you’re looking for the overview of levels as they will exist in 2023 […]
Level Clarifications and Updates: Overview – 2023
Hey folks, as you may have discerned from the title, we’re working on clarifying and updating the various judge levels and certifications. This post is just covering what the changes are, so you can quickly look and see what’s different. This is not a redefinition – the general scope of each level is remaining the […]
Membership Renewal Payments in Fall/Winter 2022
Hello judges! It’s getting close to membership renewal time for a lot of you. I thought it might be a good idea to provide some instructions and answer a few questions to help you all get your accounts sorted. How to Renew Your Membership On judgeacademy.com go to your profile. Click the Account Details tab. […]