B is for Blends, Brews and Big Baddies. Boo Yah!

Hello readers, and welcome back to Exile!

I'm disappointed to say that the Exile zone is feeling a little more empty than usual this week.  Over the past couple weeks I had messaged several of Canada's very best judges and asked them for their opinions on topics I wanted to cover this week, but unfortunately none of my expert panel was able to provide me with their input in time and so we are effectively in 'Plan B' territory here.

What's 'Plan B' you say?   Well, in the case of this week's article the B stands for 'Blends'!

*Actual amount of stars in these blends not guaranteed.  Possible side effects may include saltiness, silliness, and extreme fun.  Use at own risk. 

Wizard's has been putting a ton of effort recently into making Standard an exciting format to play again.  Some bans have given the format a fresh new look, and an announcement from a few days ago will certainly provide players some new incentives to dive back into Magic's freshest format.  Heck, even the FNM promos coming in April through June look to be playable.

With all of that in mind, lets take a look at some cards that I love and then try to find homes for them in our newly reinvigorated standard format.

First of all, I love Metallic Mimic.  I feel like this card could slot into a thousand decks and make them all better.   One card in particular that I'd like to pair it up with is the often under-appreciated Walker of The Wastes.  With just the tiniest bit of help you could be dropping a 9/9 Trampling Walker on turn 4, which seems somewhat good to me.  Also, Walker of the Wastes immunity to standard's new favorite removal spell Fatal Push helps it stick around once it's on the board.
T1: Wastes.  T2: Wastes, Metallic Mimic (Naming Eldrazi). T3: Wastes, Hedron Crawler.  T4: Wastes, Walker of the Wastes. That's a 9/9 trampler (thanks to the +1/+1 counter from Mimic).  Let's see if we can't find a way to make these two cards play nicely together, shall we?

Eldrazi Wastelands

4 Eldrazi Mimic                 (2)

4 Hedron Crawler              (2)

4 Metallic Mimic                (2)

4 Thought-Knot Seer        (3,C)

4 Reality Smasher            (4,C)

4 Walker of the Wastes     (4,C)

2 Conduit of Ruin               (6)

1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion   (8,C,C)

2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger   (10)

Spells:11

2 Warping Wail           (1,C)

3 Cultivator's Caravan   (3)

2 Fortuitous Find         (2,B)

4 Titan's Presence         (3)

Lands:20

4 Spire of Industry

16 Wastes

Sideboard:9

2 Endless One         (X)

2 Warping Wail     (1,C)

2 Fortuitous Find   (2,B)
3 World Breaker    (6,G)

Eldrazi Mimics, Thought-Knot Seers and Reality Smashers are all part of an established shell filled with value and solid threats.   Cultivator's Caravan makes for a nice ramp card to help us get up to casting Conduit of Ruin and our biggest threats at a good pace, but in a pinch we can always crew it up with some small stuff to throw a 5/5 body into the Frey.  Warping Wail and Titan's Presence can help us deal with any Felidar Guardian that our opponents may try to bring out.   But if trampling Eldrazi won't satisfy your hunger, what else is on the menu?   Let's read on and see...

A lot of people have been brewing up Red/White vehicles in the new standard, as it seems like a natural place to be with the overall power and synergy of the cards available to the archetype.  In fact a friend of mine, Chris Lansdell has an excellent brew of exactly that along with some other great lists for your reading pleasure in his latest article for Star City Games that can be found HERE.  While Chris is happy to take the best of two colours and fill up the tanks, I wanted to take a different trip with our "Magical cars and trains" collection and so I'm cutting the red and running a higher octane mono-white vehicles blend.

Mono White Vehicles

Creatures:12

4 Toolcraft Exemplar       (W)

4 Gearshift Ace               (1,W)

2 Sram, Senior Edificer   (1,W)

2 Metalwork Colossus      (11)

Spells:28

2 Consulate Dreadnought   (1)

1 Declaration in Stone       (1,W)

4 Aethersphere Harvester   (3)

3 Cultivator's Caravan         (3)

4 Peacewalker Colossus     (3)

4 Renegade Freighter          (3)

3 Stasis Snare                   (1,W,W)

4 Ovalchase Dragster          (4)

3 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship   (5)

Lands:20

17 Plains

3 Inventors' Fair

Sideboard:15

2 Authority of the Consuls  (W)

3 Declaration in Stone        (1,W)

2 Ondu Rising                    (1,W)

2 Quarantine Field             (X,X,W,W)

1 Always Watching            (1,W,W)

2 Collective Effort              (1,W,W)

2 Decommission                 (2,W)

1 Stasis Snare                    (1,W,W)

So one of the immediate benefits of being a mono coloured deck is that we can safely run a few less lands as we won't need to worry about having the wrong colours available which effectively frees up a couple spots for extra threats.  Peacewalker Colossus' ability allows us to cheaply crew any vehicles we have, which is an especially good value when pairing up with our Consulate Dreadnought.  Toolcraft Exemplar basically gives us an ability to 'Crew 3' with our 1 drop slot when we have a vehicle in play, which screams value to me.  I also love the idea of our Gearshift Ace crewing a hasty Ovalchase Dragster and giving us a 6/1 first strike creature with trample.  First strike and trample working together can break a lot of stalemates, partly thanks to the combination's ability to make defending creatures with deathtouch mostly irrelevant.

What's that?   You say you still want something else?   Well how about I tell you about the brand new card in standard that has me totally revved up to experiment with some new ideas?   It's this one:  

I'm feeling inspired by it.

Let's take a look at some improvised math, shall we?  (Oh, the puns, the puns!)

Imagine casting a Kozilek, the Great Distortion or an  Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and using a bunch of clues, servos and thopters to pay for it.  On turn 5.

T1: Land, Thraben Inspector (investigate), Ornithopter. T2: Land, Metallic Mimic (naming Servos). T3: Land, Inspiring Statuary.   T4:  Land, Sram's Expertise into Servo Exhibition. T5: hard cast either Ulamog or Kozilek via improvise. 

Even without a land drop on Turn 5 we are looking at potentially up to 13 mana we are able to improvise, thanks to tapping our clue, Ornithopter, Mimic, the Inspiring Statuary itself, and 5 servos.

White Hot Artifact Ramp

Creatures:25

4 Ornithopter                                (0)

4 Thraben Inspector                     (W)

4 Metallic Mimic                            (2)

4 Chief of the Foundry                  (3)

4 Master Trinketeer                     (2,W)

2 Angel of Invention                   (3,W,W)

1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion   (8,C,C)

1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger  (10)

1 Metalwork Colossus                    (11)

Spells:14

4 Servo Exhibition          (1,W)

4 Inspiring Statuary           (3)

4 Sram's Expertise          (2,W,W)

2 Sorin, Grim Nemesis   (4,W,B)

Lands:21

2 Inventors' Fair

12 Plains

3 Shambling Vent

4 Spire of Industry

I really like splashing for black to run Sorin, Grim Nemesis in the mainboard here.   Something about using his +1 ability and potentially revealing a 10 cmc Kozilek might play into that.  Regardless of what he reveals, his ability to dig deeper into your library for threats and his -X ability that will help protect your side of the battlefield are simply delicious.  Anthem effects from Master Trinketeer, Chief of the Foundry and Angel of Invention all provide a nice synergy that will ensure any Thopters and Servos you have laying around are beefy enough to be of good use.

But what about Planeswalkers, you say?   Surely with Oath of Nissa in standard currently we could find some sort of special blend to bring all of our Super Friends together?   Indeed, dear reader!  Read on, and look at my last list of the day;

 5-colour Super Friends

Creatures: 3

2 Felidar Guardian                         (3,W)

1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger    (10)

Spells: 21

2 Fatal Push                 (B)

2 Natural State             (G)

4 Oath of Nissa            (G)

4 Unbridled Growth      (G)

3 Flaying Tendrils         (1,B,B)

2 Ruinous Path             (1,B,B)

4 Yahenni's Expertise   (2,B,B)

Planeswalkers: 14

2 Liliana, the Last Hope      (1,B,B)

2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar  (1,G,G)

3 Saheeli Rai                        (1,U,R)

1 Dovin Baan                        (2,W,U)

2 Nahiri, the Harbinger         (2,R,W)

2 Tezzeret the Schemer        (2,U,B)

2 Ajani Unyielding                (4,G,W)

Lands: 22

4 Blooming Marsh

1 Canopy Vista

8 Forest

1 Island

2 Plains

1 Swamp

3 Evolving Wild

2 Hissing Quagmire

Sideboard: 14

1 World Breaker                (6,G)

2 Essence Extraction         (1,B,B)

2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance   (2,R,R)

2 Nahiri, the Harbinger     (2,R,W)

2 Felidar Guardian            (3,W) 

3 Stasis Snare                    (1,W,W)

2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar    (2,W)

I think a G/B shell is a nice place to start with this deck, with the mana fixing of Oath of Nissa and Unbridled Growth enabling us to cast all of our multicolored friends.  Our plan here is to keep the battlefield devoid of creatures in the early stages so that we can hopefully be landing a planeswalker into a relatively 'safe' place, and then over the next several turns we can invite some more friends to join in the fun.

Casting a turn 4  Yahenni's Expertise is definitely what we want to be doing, with so many wonderful potential 'free' spells to follow up with.  Our prime choices for our free spell include Flaying Tendrils to effectively give all creatures -5/-5 until the end of turn and completely wipe the board, or perhaps a Ruinous Path in order to remove a particularly dangerous threat, such as an opposing Planeswalker.   Ideally we are probably happy to just cast Yahenni's Expertise and then bring out one of our own Planeswalkers into an already secure position, with our 3 mana cmc super friend choices consisting of Liliana, the Last Hope, Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, and Saheeli Rai.  I particularly like Liliana here, as her +1 ability can help finish off a lingering creature of 4 toughness (I'm looking at you here, Avacyn!) which often enough will finish emptying our opponents board.

For those of you who are loving standard's new 'crazy cat lady' infinite combo, introducing  Saheeli Rai to a Felidar Guardian should provide you with sufficient feline friends.

B is also for Bye Bye

Well dear readers, that's going to do it for another week.   I'm looking forward to writing more of an educational article next week, as what I really enjoy focusing on is helping players get a better technical understanding of the game that we all love..  If you enjoyed this week's post please be sure to let me know, as sharing my special blends is something I'm willing to do more of if there's interest in it.

Until next time, I'll be here for any Magic questions you may have, wandering along on my Path To Exile.

-JVM

A Beginner's Guide to Magical-Road-Trip-Adventures™

Hello again dear readers, and welcome back to Exile!

This week's post is about something very near and dear to my heart, and something that I personally know a lot of Magic players and judges are underestimating the value in - taking the time to travel to Magic tournaments outside of your local region.

Some of the best memories I have are of playing or judging in Magic tournaments far from home over the past few years.  Interestingly enough, it's not the games of Magic that I look back on and cherish.  And it's certainly not my win/loss record, as I'm truly a mediocre Magic player at best.   Well, sort of.

In fact, most of my favorite memories from my Magical-Road-Trip-Adventures™ really had nothing to do with playing Magic at all.  I've got stories of dinners with friends gone horribly awry in strange cities, judges trying to get into complete strangers cars (because mine is Hexproof),  polka music playing escalators, a borrowed GPS steering us in the wrong direction, and even staying in a room now affectionately known as the Murder Hotel™.  The one truth I've learned is that when you take the time to go away with friends to somewhere new, the most valuable things you'll bring back home with you are the awesome new memories and (often hilarious) stories to share at your local gaming store.      

In today's post I'm going to go over some useful tips and tidbits of knowledge I've learned from the dozen or so road trips I've been on during the past few years while travelling to Grand Prix and other Magic events.  So for now, prepare your minds to expand their horizons!


Find Your Fellowship

"Now class, remember who your travel buddy is and stay close..."

Whenever it's been possible, I have always chosen to travel with others to Magic Grand Prix and other large events.  I have a small group of close friends that I always turn to first when I am considering booking another trip to a far off event - shout outs to Ed, Bradley, and Seth here for always being good travelling compatriots!

I personally find that getting a group of 4 people together for a road trip is the 'Magic' number you want to usually aim for.  Four people can travel comfortably in most cars that people commonly own, and this will usually give you at least one option for a reliable pal to swap out the driving burden with.  While pushing your group's size above this may be tempting (no one wants to leave a buddy behind), I suggest against it unless you will be travelling in two or more vehicles, or flying to your destination.  Having three people literally rubbing shoulders together while crammed into a vehicle's back seat for any significant amount of time does not make for an ideal travelling experience.

Travelling in a group of four also tends to work out well for booking your hotel rooms, as you can either go the route of two rooms or two people, or for the ultimate value seekers four people break down nicely into two pairs sharing a queen sized bed each in one room.  Sleeping on pull out couches, roll away beds, inflatable mattresses or in extreme cases, tossing a couple pillows onto the floor are all acceptable options as well for budget conscious groups.  I cannot overstate how much more affordable trips become when you are splitting hotel costs between 2 to 4 people.

*Pro Tip!*  It is beneficial to pick one person who tends to travel the most often, and have them sign up for all of the travel membership plans and hotel perks programs available.  Whenever possible, try to always stay at a hotel that belongs to the membership program you have chosen. This way if the same person always books the hotel accommodations for your group, you all will get to enjoy the privileges of free upgrades and perks much quicker.

Flying for Less

For many of us, flying somewhere for a weekend of fun simply isn't an option.  Airlines in Canada especially can often seem to be charging ridiculous amounts of money to travel.  Fortunately for you, I've learned a few money saving tips that I can share here that may just help get you into the friendly skies for less than you expected.

1. Not all cities are created equal.  I was preparing to fly to #GPMilwaukee in December when I learned that Milwaukee is far more expensive to fly to than nearby Chicago. This is because Chicago is a 'hub' city with far more direct flights daily, causing each flight to be cheaper than a direct Toronto-Milwaukee flight, which had a premium price tag attached.  I was able to save myself $200 usd in airfare by flying into Chicago, and then taking a charter bus from O'Hare airport to Milwaukee at a cost of only $50 round trip.   *Pro Tip!*   When looking to fly somewhere on a budget, consider flying to a major hub city in the area, and then taking affordable ground transit.  #value
2. Timing is everything.   When my plans to drive to SCG New Jersey fell apart in August of 2016 I was left considering all options, including buying a last minute round trip ticket to Newark airport, as my judge friend Seth was already booked to fly to the event. This was when I learned a valuable (read: painful) lesson.  Seth had booked his airfare around two months prior to the event, and his tickets had cost him approximately $230 cad to fly round trip.  But now, with less than a week until the event I was looking at paying $490 cad for the exact same tickets.  For future reference, the sweet spot to try to book your airfare at the best price seems to hover around 10 to 12 weeks in advance.   Also, Tuesdays and Thursdays often have been slightly more affordable days to fly in my experience.
3. Carry on, my wayward son.  I've flown to two Grand Prix in the past 3 months, and for both of them I was able to avoid expensive fees for checked luggage by packing efficiently in my carry on.   With Air Canada you are allowed one carry on luggage and one personal item within a defined size limit.  In my case, I used a carrying case designed for a 15" laptop as my personal item and between the two pieces I was able to transport enough clothes and Magic related items to successfully get through each weekend, while even being able to bring home a few souvenirs. *Pro Tip!*  When you are packing up to return home at the end of your trip, you would be surprised how much more you can fit into your luggage if you try rolling your clothes up instead of neatly folding them.  I somehow managed to cram 3 boxes of Kaladesh and 3 new playmats into my previously full carry on by utilizing this trick.
4. Sign me up, Scotty.  When I booked my first flight for a Grand Prix last fall I signed up for an Aeroplan™ membership to start working towards earning rewards, and I chose to be added to the Air Canada mailing list for any promotions that may come up.   I tend to get new offers in my e-mail monthly and some of these offers have far better value than others.  Keep an eye out for the best deals possible and maximize your value for each dollar you spend!

There and Back Again

If I could pick just one message that every Magic card loving gamer out there would hear, it would be this:   There is an amazing world out there beyond our local stores, filled with thousands of other people who also love this game just as much as we do.  Gather up a few friends and make an effort to get out there and see some of it for yourselves.   Visit a new city that you've never been to, and make some amazing memories at it's Grand Prix.  And if you DO get out to a Grand Prix this year and happen to see me there, be sure to say hello. I'll be the judge with the butterflies in his stomach and loving every second of it, feeling kinda this this guy over here...

Thanks for joining me once again, here on my Path to Exile.

-JVM

From The SideBoard

A new thing I want to start doing is sharing interesting stories about judge calls I've been a part of in the past, so that we can all hopefully learn something new from them.  Hence, I'll now be adding a separate section on after the end of some of my weekly articles, where we can look at things that don't really connect to my topic of the week, but are still good to discuss.   And so, welcome to our new blogging zone:  'From the SideBoard'.

Whose Turn Is It Anyway?

For today's judge call we are going to go back to Grand Prix Providence, a Standard GP that occurred in October of 2016.   I got called to a table where two players had gotten themselves lost while trying to figure out whose turn it would be next.

Andrew (active player) vs. Nathon (non-active player)

Nathon casts and resolves Emrakul, the Promised End.  The current turn ends, and Andrew's turn begins, with Nathon controlling Andrew for the turn.  With the perfect information of seeing Andrew's hand, Nathon is then able to use up some of Andrew's resources and send some of Andrew's creatures to a painful demise; thanks to choosing both how Andrew would attack and how Nathon himself would block those attackers.  It was in Andrew's post-combat main phase (with Nathon still controlling Andrew) that things would get interesting.

Before choosing to pass on Andrew's turn, Nathon decided to activate his Aetherworks Marvel.  When the ability resolved, while still in Andrew's turn, Nathon chose to cast a new copy of Emrakul, the Promised End.  It was at this point that I was called over to the table, as neither player was clear as to what would happen next.

Me:  Hi folks, how can I help?

Andrew: Well, Nathon here resolved an Emrakul and took control of me during my current turn.  Then before it ended, he used his Aetherworks Marvel to cast another Emrakul, so we aren't sure what happens next.

Me: Is that correct Nathon?

Nathon: Yep.  Now we don't know whose turn is next.

Me:  So tell me where the confusion is coming from?

Andrew:  Well, the first Emrakul resolved and said that he would control my turn, and then I would get an extra turn after that.  So now he's already controlled me for a turn, but then here's a second Emrakul now and it says he controls my next turn.  So what happens with my extra turn from the first Emrakul?  Do I still get a turn from the first Emrakul's ability resolving, and then the 2nd Emrakul will take my next turn after that one, or do I just lose my extra turn altogether from the first one, or does he control this turn and my next turn and then I get 2 extra turns in a row after that, due to both Emrakul's each giving me an extra turn that I haven't had yet?

Me:   Oh boy...

Any thoughts?    The explanation to this week's ruling is below when you are ready...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Spoiler Alert:

The first Emrakul did indeed create an extra turn that Andrew would take after Nathon had controlled Andrew for a turn.  Unfortunately for Andrew, that extra turn that he had planned to take ends up being the first turn that the second Emrakul will see Andrew is about to take, and as such the turn ends up being controlled by Nathon again.  After this turn ends, Andrew will then get an extra turn where he will be able to (finally) control himself again.

  

I hope you enjoyed this tricky bit of turn taking.

-JVM

Things every Magic player should know ...but some probably don't

Hello readers, and welcome back to exile!

Today I'm going to talk a little about some helpful things for all Magic players (and judges!) to know, that often times people might not be aware of.  Reading this post today may just help save you some time in the future, or at least help to make sure you are able to get a snack in when the opportunity arrives!   But for now, let's just jump right into our first topic of the day.


When will I need a decklist?

If the event you are planning to play in is Competitive Rules Enforcement Level event, or 'Comp REL', then you will need to have a decklist filled out before you can start playing Magic.  By default this includes all Premier level events - think GPTs*, PPTQs, RPTQs, SCG IQs, SCG Invitationals and Opens, and Grand Prix main events.

*regular REL GPTs  not included, additional shipping and handling may apply.  Not available in Vermont or Mexico.

*PROTIP!*    Make your deck list super easy to read (and help keep your judges super happy!) by using the totally awesome website www.decklist.org to fill out your deck list ahead of time.   It saves you a lot of writing as you can simply copy and paste a decklist from your favorite program or website right into their form, and then once you've entered in your name and DCI number, you will be ready to print!  As a side benefit of using their website, the form will automatically total up both your main and side board for you, helping to reduce the chances that you might forget to list a card by accident.


I finished my game early, can I grab something to eat now?

We've all been there before.  Maybe the Gods of poor shuffling caused you to not draw any lands for two quick games in a row, or you ran into a hyper fast aggro deck that you just weren't prepared to deal with.  Either way, your round has finished a lot quicker than you expected and now you are wondering if this is a good time to try to sneak out for a quick bite to eat.  A lot of players I know have often been scared to risk going out for food because of one dreaded question:

"What if everyone else has quick games too, and the round ends early while I'm gone?"

Fear not hungry Planewalkers, for I bring you good news!

The policy regarding player tardiness (read: being late to your match) that we as judges enforce recognizes that it would be unreasonable to punish someone for being late to a match that unexpectedly started ahead of schedule.   

Once a round has begun, if a player leaves the tournament area and then returns before the next round was scheduled to begin, they cannot be penalized for being tardy.  Let me break this down for you with a handy example.

You're playing in a PPTQ, and round 3 began at 3pm.  Each swiss round in this tournament lasts for 50 minutes.  This means that round 3 will be ending by 3:50pm.   If your match in Round 3 ends early, say at 3:15pm, you can totally go next door to grab some food without worrying - just be sure to be back by 3:50pm, when your round was orignally scheduled to end.

"But what happens if the round ends early and they start Round 4 while I'm gone?" 

This can happen occasionally, but it's not something to stress about.  If a round begins ahead of time due to the previous round ending prematurely, then all players still present will begin their matches when the head judge announces the next round has begun.  As for you, when you arrive back at the tournament (now feeling refreshed from your delicious meal), a judge will provide you (and your opponent) a time extension for your match so that the two of you will still get your entire 50 minutes to play Magic that you are entitled to.  

Important fact:  Everyone should be aware that the penalties for being late to a match are often an immediate game loss once the round has begun, and a match loss (and usually being dropped from the tournament) if more than 10 minutes into the round have passed and you still not have arrived at your match.   

In the previous example, this would mean that if you came back from your food break at any time before 3:50pm there is no infraction.  If you return between  3:51pm and 4:01pm you likely would be receiving a game loss for being less than 10 minutes late to the originally scheduled start of round 4.  At 4:01pm your opponent would be awarded a match win for round 4, and you would be dropped from the tournament as a 'No Show".   If you return before Round 5 begins you can ask the scorekeeper to 'undrop" you and place you back into the tournament if you wish to continue playing.

*PROTIP!*  Before you leave to go grab food (or to pay your taxes, or pick up your dry cleaning, or smite your enemies - whatever!), be sure to check exactly how much time is left in the round, either by checking the round timer or by asking a judge.  Then set an alarm on your phone to go off when you need to start heading back to the venue.

An Alter-nate Choice

One of the greatest things about the game of Magic is that it is constantly providing players with new ways to customize and personalize their Magic decks so that each one feels as if it was tailor-made just for it's owner.  Some players like to make sure all of their lands have the same art.  Some like to use the very distinct unhinged or unglued lands.  Others prefer to foil out their decks and make them shiny. The card that features my absolute favorite art originally looked like THIS, before it recently was released as the glorious masterpiece that now looks like THIS.

One of the more creative ways that people have been utilizing to truly give their decks a one-of-a-kind feeling is by having the artwork on their cards physically altered, often by the actual artists who painted the card's original artwork in the first place.  

What a lot of players may not realize though is that not every alter is okay to use in magic tournaments.  Here are some things to be aware of:

Altered cards are illegal for tournament play if they are distinguishable from non-altered cards (ie. due to being thicker, heavier, or being warped or bent)

Section 3.3 (Authorized Cards) of the MTR states "Artistic modifications are acceptable in sanctioned tournaments, provided that the modifications do not make the card art unrecognizable, contain substantial strategic advice, or contain offensive images.
 Artistic modifications also may not obstruct or change the mana cost or name of the card."  See an example HERE.

Judges can have differing opinions on what alters are suitable for tournament play.  The Head Judge of a tournament is always the final authority of whether an altered card is allowable for play in that tournament.  Always get your alters approved by the Head Judge before a tournament begins or you might find yourself being issued a game loss for marked cards!

Top Decking - Quick Hits and Important Reminders

*1.*  The only way you are allowed to determine the winner in a game of Magic is by actually playing Magic.   You CANNOT EVER offer to role dice, offer a gift or incentive to your opponent for a concession, or look at the next few cards in your decks to 'see who would have won'.   If you do any of these things, you will be disqualified.  Now I know that this may be surprising to some readers, so let me state it again in very plain terms.

• Offering to role some dice for the win after your 5 extra turns is done at FNM?    That's a DQ.
• Telling your opponent that you'll give them a pack of cards if they concede?  That's a DQ.
• Both you and your opponent showing your next 3 cards and seeing who would have gotten to an Emrakul that would have won the game? 

...and a DQ.  Remember, even at FNM these are DQ offenses every time.

*2.*  If you are using dual faced cards in your deck, you must either use checklist cards to represent them in your deck, or use sleeves that are completely opaque.   And by opaque, I mean that we better not be able to see even a *hint* of a non-standard magic card backing through it.  You would be amazed at how many players take it for granted that their brand new sleeves will be fine for playing dual faced cards.   It's a real problem.

*3*  Got a smart phone?  I do, and I use the 'Decked Builder' app on mine for all my deck building needs.  It is AWESOME.  I can even export my decks out from it into lists that I then conveniently copy and paste into www.decklist.org (You remember that site?  Of course you do!), and then I get my new deck lists printed out in no time, with almost no effort.

*4*  I know that wearing giant sized music headphones is all the rage these days, but if you are playing in a Comp REL event you will be asked to remove them while playing.  Similarly. no electronics are allowed on the table during your matches.  Text messages from your "bae" will just have to wait until between rounds.

End Of The Road

I think that we've covered enough material here for another post, so I'll just take this time to wish you all well, my dear readers, and to say that I look forward to chatting with you again the next time that you join me here, on my Path to Exile.

-JVM

My path to becoming a judge... and yours?

Hello readers, and welcome back to exile!

Since 2017 is just beginning, I think this is a perfect time to take a look back at the beginning of my journey into judging - and explain why it will be so much easier for you now, if judging is something you are interested in pursuing.

In The Beginning

A long time ago, in a gaming store far far away... or specifically; during the summer of 2014 at a gaming store close to me, I was often answering other people's rules questions that came up during FNM.  I had studied the rules a little, and passed a (now obsolete) test called the 'Rules Advisor' exam.  Passing the RA exam didn't actually give me any authority to do anything new or special, but it did show other people in my local store that I had a good grasp of how the game generally works and that my answers could probably be trusted. 

As our local gaming community grew in size, our FNMs naturally got bigger as well.   These bigger FNMs would lead to people wanting to see what it felt like to play in something bigger or more prestigious.  Eventually our store decided to take the next step and hire a certified magic judge to come in on a Saturday and officiate a Grand Prix Trial for us.   This was the very first taste of competitive level magic that most of us had ever experienced, myself included.

Unfortunately, it didn't make sense for our local store to continue bringing in a judge from another area to officiate GPTs for us on a regular basis as the costs were difficult to offset.  There was only one solution that would make any sense - one of our local players would have to step up and become a judge, so that the rest of us could continue to play in these exciting new tournaments.

My Road(Trip) To Judging - A Long and Winding Road

I had known for quite a while that I wanted to become a certified judge, but I had no idea how to make that happen.  One of the problems of living in exile is that there aren't the same opportunities or resources available to us in small rural towns that people living in larger cities get.   My road to becoming a judge would begin with a road trip to Grand Prix Ottawa 2014.

None of the players at my local game store (or LGS) had ever been to an actual Grand Prix before, but we had heard whispers and tales, often spoken in hushed voices, of these magical events which would last for 3 whole days.  We heard of entire halls filled to their limits with vendors selling every possible magic card or collectible you could imagine - nothing was impossible to find at a Grand Prix, and new tournaments were beginning almost every minute of the day.   Some of us felt the call of the GP in our hearts, and we made plans to travel the 5+ hours of driving from our homes to Ottawa to see for ourselves just how big this game we enjoyed could actually get.

On a cold November morning I packed up some cards and clothes and drove off to pick up three of my fellow gamers, and we were off to Ottawa for my first ever Magical-Road-Trip-Adventure™.   I find it humorous to point out that GP Ottawa did not actually happen in Ottawa.  Instead, the event was held in the city of Gatineau, Quebec which is directly across the river and Provincial border from Ottawa. I mention this mostly as an excuse to bring up the fact that since we were technically spending three nights in Quebec we decided to do what everyone should do when they visit 'La Belle Province', and we went out to enjoy some genuine Quebec poutine for dinner.  You haven't lived until you've eaten poutine in Quebec!  There were some 'Legendary' stories not involving magic or judging that came from this road trip, but those will have to wait for another time to be shared.

I remember that I was talking to my friend Ed on the Sunday afternoon of the GP between events when he pointed out two judges talking to each other, not far from where we were standing.  Ed suggested to me that I should go introduce myself to them and explain to them the difficulties I had been having in becoming a judge due to a variety of reasons, with geography and distance being two of the largest hurdles.

I took a minute to take a breath and prepare my thoughts, and then I walked over and asked if I could ask them a couple questions.  Both judges were quite happy to oblige, and I briefly explained that I had been a rules advisor for a long while - about 8 months by this point, but could not get any assistance in becoming certified as a judge from anyone.   One of the two judges introduced himself to me then as Michael, and he immediately offered to sit down with me and take some notes as I explained both my frustration and how I wanted to become a judge to help my local store's community continue to grow.

Michael was a rock star of a judge that day, as after he had taken notes on all the relevant details he told me that he wanted to speak with someone who could help my situation, in order to finally get me on the road to judging.  Michael gave me a time and place where I could find him later on that day, and when I went there he was waiting for me with the news that I was going to be actually speaking to the Regional Coordinator for all of Canada's judges in a 1 on 1 meeting.  I was thrilled to get the opportunity to speak with someone that important to the judging community, and Michael led me to a private office where I was introduced to Gavin Duggan, the (then) Regional Coordinator of Canada.

Gavin was a genuinely personable guy, who sat and listened to me as I explained to him my situation and all of the hurdles I had been facing in my effort to become a judge.   Gavin had a judge in mind immediately that he wanted to put me in contact with, so that I could begin the judge candidate process. I was then given an e-mail address so that I could get in touch with the Level 2 judge who would become my online mentor, Eddie.  I came home from my first Grand Prix with a ton of awesome memories, a few stories, some new cards, and most importantly; a way to finally achieving my goal of becoming a magic judge.

The Magical Apprentice

It wasn't long until I was getting frequent e-mails from my new mentor.  Eddie had a few candidates that were all simultaneously pursuing certification, and so he would send each of us e-mails with questions of hypothetical situations that could come up at a tournament.  I was really motivated to impress him, so I diligently answered his e-mails as quickly as I could and got to work studying up on all of the suggested documents that a new judge would need to be familiar with.  Eventually Eddie told me that he would need me to attend an event that he would be judging at so that he could evaluate me in person.

The event would turn out to be a Pro Tour Qualifier (PTQ) happening in Oshawa, Ontario.  Oshawa is almost a full 2 hours of driving from where I live, and the event would be happening in late January so I knew it would likely be a treacherous drive through snowy weather.   Sure enough, when I got up that morning it was a virtual blizzard with snow plows already out and clearing the highways, so I knew it would be a long and stressful drive to my first ever day of judging at a Competitive Level.

Pro Tour qualifiers are a type of Premier Magic event that is no longer in use in our current system.   These old school PTQ events would often bring in 150 to 300 players (or more!), all of whom would be showing up with dreams of winning the main event that day and qualifying to fly off to some far off location to play against the best Magic players in the world at the next Pro Tour Event.  Try to keep in mind that up until this point I've only ever officially judged a couple small FNMs at my local store.  I really had no idea what to expect when I left home that morning, I just knew that if my store was ever going to start hosting competitive level tournaments again I needed to get it done.  With that in mind, it was 5:45 in the morning and I had my Timmies coffee in hand, I was wearing a black dress shirt and had a red pen in my pocket, and I was on my way to attempt to become my area's first certified judge.

The event was a long day of hard work for me.  I'm not ashamed to admit I was very nervous that day, as I had a lot of respect for the impressive prize that all of the players there were competing for, and I did not want my inexperience to negatively affect anyone else's day.  Fortunately, judges are experienced enough to know not to send a completely new candidate into the proverbial lion's den without some support and guidance.  Throughout my whole day I was supervised, assisted and mentored by some of the senior judges on staff, and they constantly gave me words of encouragement and suggestions on how I could improve.  Eventually Eddie told me that the feedback he had gotten from the other judges was that I seemed to be doing okay, and that he could feel free to allow me to write my Level 1 certification exam.   This meant if I managed to pass my written exam I would be driving home that night as an actual certified Level 1 Magic Judge!

Spoiler Alert:





 I passed.  😅

Level Up!

In the time that has passed since then, I have worked a multitude of events of all sizes, passed my Level 2 certification, flown into the United States to judge multiple Grand Prix, and certified three brand new Level 1 judges.  That's right, I'm now the proud papa of 3 little baby judges of my own!  If you happen to be near Owen Sound, North Bay, or Elmvale and while playing Magic at the local gaming store there if you meet a friendly, knowledgeable and helpful Level 1 judge, tell them that Jason says hello!

Your Road to Judging - A Short and Simple Trip

If you've been reading this blog because you are considering becoming a judge yourself someday, allow me to help you get started on your road to judging.  First of all, you'll need to know what the process of being a judge candidate involves.  You can find out all about the various levels of magic judges and the requirements for earning each level by clicking HERE.

As of when I am writing this blog post, there are currently 3 separate levels of magic judges:

• Level 1: Regular REL in-store judge: The first step to judging.   Mostly judging more relaxed events at your local store, ie. FNM, pre-release, Game Days.  Also, L1s can head judge GPTs!
• Level 2: Competitive REL judge: These judges are the ones who comprise the bulk of the staff at large events, ie. Grand Prix, PPTQs, RPTQs.  Level 2+ judges are able to head judge PPTQ events, and certify new Level 1 judges.
• Level 3: Premier Judges: Currently the highest level of judges we have, Level 3 judges are the leaders in our judging community.  L3s can head judge RPTQs and certify both Level 1 and Level 2 judges.  Select L3s can be certified to head judge Grand Prix, as well as be chosen to become the Regional Coordinators for all judges in their region.

No one can become a judge without having someone mentor them and help them prepare to join the judging community.  All you need to do to begin is reach out to a current Level 2 judge in your area, and they will either be able to help you with the process or put you into contact with someone better suited to assist you.  If you are in a situation like I was, and you do not currently know of anyone in your area who can help you, fear not!  As I mentioned, I am now a Level 2 judge myself and I will gladly help anyone interested, either by mentoring online or by helping them get connected to the right mentor in their region.  Feel free to comment below if you need help getting started, I want to see that no potential judge gets left behind!

And thus ends this long and winding trip down memory lane. Thank you again dear readers, for once again joining me as I travel along my Path to Exile.

-JVM