Monday, June 29, 2015

Playing as a Judge and Things to Take Away.

Over the past couple of months, I have taken some time to play Magic: the Gathering at a competitive level. Since I started this, I have noticed things as a player that I think are very important for me to know as a judge as well. So I'm going to go over a few points of why I think every judge should play in a Competitive REL event and how it can help you grow as a judge.

Empathizing With the Players.


Empathy with the player is a very important thing when it comes to judging. It is needed for many different types of interactions when taking judge calls - from answering a simple rules question or how to deal with an upset player when giving them a game loss. recently, I played at SCG Indianapolis in the Modern PIQ and had some interesting things come up where empathizing with the player was important or where it could have helped out the situation a little more.



Valakut, the "How Does That Work" Pinnacle.


Anna and Nathan are in between games 1 and 2 and you get called over to the table. Nathan asks you, "If I kill Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle while the triggers are on the stack, do all of the triggers go away?" How do you answer?

A lot of judges will answer a couple different ways. In this case, Nathan is getting the intervening if clause confused with just blowing up Valakut. So you could go into detail about how Valakut is "interesting" in that it is an intervening if and checks if the trigger requirements are met to put it on the stack and checked again on resolution, or you could say that the triggers are still on the stack even if the Valakut is not in play when they resolve. Both are perfectly reasonable answers, but which one is more correct in this situation?

This is where the empathy comes into play - Nathan probably doesn't care about the specifics of how intervening ifs work, he just knows that there is a way to make the Valakut triggers all go away. Anna also doesn't want you explaining how they work because it seems like strategic information to her at this time. Why answer a question that wasn't asked? On top of this, that explanation takes TIME and they just want to move onto their next game. So in this instance just saying that the triggers are still on the stack even if the Valakut is not in play when they resolve is enough information for you to give the players.

But I Was Almost There!


Amanda was rushing to her seat at table 475. The clock started when she was at table 477 and ready to sit down and then sits at her table a few seconds later. You, as a judge, see this happen and walk over. Natalie, her opponent, tells you that "Hey, it's no big deal she doesn't need the game loss. She was about 3 seconds late." Amanda says that she was hurrying back from the bathroom. What do you do?

Most judges will give the Game Loss to Amanda since she was not in her seat when the clock started. If you do this, delivery with how to give this game loss is where the empathizing comes into play. If you say something along the lines of "You need to tell a judge if you needed to use the bathroom. Since you didn't, you are getting a Game Loss this round." Then, the person getting the game loss feels flustered with how it was delivered - authoritative. Instead, something along the lines of "Hey, you will be getting a Game Loss for being tardy this round. Next time you need to go to the bathroom and you think you might be late, telling a judge and getting their name will help prevent another Game Loss like this."

The second approach is a lot more friendly. If you were in this situation, which reply would you want to hear? Just changing your tone because you empathize with the player will go a long way for them. 

It is things like this that playing the game at a competitive level will help you recognize when judging. On top of situations like this, I have seen that now my investigation skills are sharper and how I judge slow play is more accurate and I give out the cautions/warnings more frequently. 

Format Knowledge.


Not only does playing this game at a competitive level help you with understanding players but it also helps you understand the game and prepare yourself for judging any competitive REL event. 

Play Knowledge.


Whenever you go to play in a competitive REL event, you tend to play competitive level players and competitive tier decks. Because of this, it teaches you what the general meta game of the format will be for the event you will judge (Standard, Modern, Legacy) or it will show you what kind of techniques people will use for Limited whether it is Sealed or Draft. It can also help you prevent unnecessary Deck-Decklist Problems if you know what cards are played in the popular decks since you would recognize the types of cards certain decks play and could help prevent giving a game loss to someone who preformed a clerical error. Knowing these kind of things are invaluable because whenever you walk up to a match to take a call, you can recognize the decks they are playing/archetype they are playing and understand what the deck is trying to do and what kind of cards they will be playing to help them achieve what they want to do.

With Limited formats, it forces you to learn the new cards because you have to play with them. I know judges who will go to judge a Dragons-Dragons-Fate Sealed GP without ever playing with the cards or looking at the spoilers. Being prepared for a GP is good practice and will make the experience for you, the players, the other judges, and the TO much better.

Common Interactions.


While giving you an idea of the kinds of decks and cards that are played in each format, playing in a competitive level event also gives you an idea of the different interactions in the format. If you didn't know the cards in Modern Masters 2015, you wouldn't have known about Electrolyze and Spellskite, or Precursor Golem and Repeal.

For the case of the Modern PIQ I played in at SCG Indianapolis, a lot of people didn't realize that transmute was a sorcery speed ability. 

Time to Play Some Magic!


It's small things like this that can help make the tournament a better experience for everyone. Playing in a competitive REL event helps show you these different interactions on a first hand basis while also giving you a way to learn how to empathize with the players and show you what it is like being the player - being on the other side of the table.

Playing in a competitive REL event from time to time is something I would recommend for every judge, even if that style of play isn't something you are too interested in. If you are going to JUDGE Competitive REL events then you should PLAY in at least some Competitive REL events.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns then comment below or email me at lexie9894@live.com.


Thanks for reading!


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