Johnathan Bentley wrote an article a few months ago entitled “A Tale of 2 PTQs” chronicling his journey through two PTQs with “Craw-Go”. I’ve decided to steal his title and use it for A Different Perspective. I’m so creative. (Thanks JBent!)
Last week, I went to the PTQ in Kitchener. It was the largest PTQ I’ve been to that wasn’t coupled to a GP. People seem to love Innistrad Sealed, even with the uncertainty of the Pro Tour in 2012 and onward. In December, I’ll be going to the PTQ in Montreal. I expect the turnout to be even bigger, because unlike the last two PTQs in the area, this one won’t be competing with an Ontario PTQ for player attendance. (Seriously, what a scheduling disaster.) The event should be a great day for all.
Unless I ruin it.
How could the actions of one person ruin an entire tournament? Simple. I was (and will be) the Head Judge for the two PTQs. It will be the first time I’m the Head Judge of a PTQ. I will be the voice of authority. (BOW DOWN BEFORE ME, MORTALS!) I chose the judging staff for the event. I decide whether Player X gets a Game Loss for Drawing Extra Cards. I represent WotC, the DCI, and Magic Judges around the world.
And I have no idea what I’m doing. What a great start.
Part 1: Weeks of preparation summed up in one word
Panic. Doubt. Fear. (I’m Head Judge, I get however many words I want.)
A month before Grand Prix Montreal, I was assigned (read: I begged for and the TO graciously allowed me) to be the Head Judge at the PTQ in Kitchener on November 5. “Perfect,” I thought, “I’m advancing in the judge world.” Immediately after that, I put it out of my mind; because GP Montreal! I generally find a Grand Prix to be slightly more interesting than a PTQ, don’t you? After the GP, I started writing articles for ManaDeprived, and I didn’t spend too much time thinking about the PTQ. Two weeks before the PTQ, I got an e-mail asking how my preparation was going.
Erm… Good…
Time to spring into action! Picking my staff? That’s easy, I know most of the judges in Ontario anyway, I’ll just pick the judges who have impressed me in the past. Obviously, after pulling up the applicants list, I realized that I didn’t recognize about half the names on it. There goes my easy job of staff selection. Now I have to pick from a group of people whom I’ve never met. How do I fairly do that?
I’m afraid I’ll be a bad manager.
Essentially, the Head Judge of a tournament is a manager of all the other judges. We select and educate the judges beforehand, make the opening announcements, and then sit back during the event while directing everyone else around. That seems pretty easy…
About an hour after I made my staff selection, I got an e-mail from an L3 saying he noticed that there was some noticeable lack of experience. Wonderful, I’ve only done one thing as Head Judge and I’m already wrong. That’s fine, I’ll supervise them closely, give a lot of direction, and make sure they consult me whenever they are unsure about a ruling. And while all this is happening, I have to schedule breaks and ensure everyone has the opportunity to do deck checks, results entry and end-of-round procedures. I guess I don’t just get to sit back and relax, like I’ve been told. And on top of that, I have to handle player appeals.
I’m afraid I’ll make a bad ruling.
If you’re a Floor Judge at an event, your rulings can get appealed to the Head Judge. That means there’s a safeguard in place for you. Although a judge’s rulings should be correct 100% of the time, sometimes mistakes are made. I’ve made many mistakes myself. Recently I ruled that [card]Angelic Overseer[/card] would not die to [card]Blasphemous Act[/card] because the Angel’s owner controlled a Human (one internet cookie if you tell me why that’s wrong). If the player had wanted to, he could have appealed to the Head Judge.
But what if I had made that ruling as the Head Judge? Suddenly the ruling is final, and the players have no one to turn to for the remainder of the tournament. These rules interaction questions aren’t even the difficult ones; a quick conference with other judges would allow me to determine the correct answer. What if the ruling is a bit more subjective, like the ones in my previous article? Who’s to say my ruling is the correct one, when legitimate arguments could be made for the other side? I hope my years of experience would lead me to the correct answer, but…. what if it doesn’t?
I’m afraid I’ll have to disqualify someone.
Have you ever read/heard a judge say that contrary to popular belief, no judge likes to disqualify a player? Well, I agree with that… I think. How would I know? The only DQ I’ve handed out was for Collusion, which is pretty clear-cut. To be honest, the DQ that I’m most familiar with is the one that serves delicious ice cream snacks. What if I suspect a player is stacking his deck? Or lying to a judge?
When I perform my investigation, I’m supposed to be asking questions to determine whether or not a disqualification is in order. The problem is, no one really taught me what questions to ask. I’m just supposed to figure it out as I go along. Um, I hold the fate of a player’s tournament in my hands and I’m just supposed to figure it out as I go along? Without being certain of guilt, chances are I’m going to err on the side of caution. And if that’s the case, I might accidentally let a cheater slip through the cracks, and I certainly don’t want that.
I’m afraid players will have a bad time.
Above all else, and perhaps as a culmination of all my other fears, I’m afraid things will happen that make the event un-fun. Because the real goal is for everyone to enjoy themselves. I know you drove several hours, paid good money, and gave up an entire day to play a game, so I want to make sure you have the best time possible. Sure, not everyone can win, but that’s not the only measurement of fun. I want the event to run smoothly, the judges to be friendly and approachable, and the players to play nice. If the players don’t have fun, then they stop playing, and without the players, I have no job.
And so I’ll face my fears. I’ll spend more time practicing the announcements, planning the tournament procedures, and reviewing the rules. Perhaps I’ll have prepared so much that I won’t be nervous anymore. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes, because everyone does on their first attempt. I just hope that the mistakes I make are small, and that I’ll remember and learn from them for my next event.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where I reflect on the lessons I learned after the December 3 PTQ, and try to apply them in life and in Magic. In the meantime, give me feedback! Were you at the Kitchener PTQ? Let me know what you liked and more importantly, what you thought could have been improved. I know I’m treating the two PTQs as one event, but I can still improve from one PTQ to the next.
Jason Wong
@azngenius on twitter
jason[dot]wong[at]manadeprived[dot]com
P.S. Here’s how I would rule in the scenarios posed in my last article:
1. No, I would not issue a Warning for Slow Play.
2. No, I would not allow the Mind Rot to be copied.
3. No, I would not allow the alter to be used.
As a level 2 judge from Kingston, Ontario, you’ll find me at many of the big events in the Toronto/Montreal area. Stop by and say hi, and listen to me butcher another foreign language!