Welcome to the latest edition of the Knowledge Pool! As a reminder, the new format is designed to encourage discussion, knowledge sharing and critical thinking, and not so much focused on finding a single “right answer.” This scenario is labeled as Silver, meaning we especially encourage L1 and L2 judges to participate. So here is the scenario (view the blog post here)!

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Your local game store is running a Sealed GPT next weekend, and they call you up. You're flying to a Grand Prix out of the state that weekend, so you'll have to delegate this event to another judge. Problem is, after searching high and low, the only available judge is a recently certified Level 1 who has never worked at Competitive REL. You know the tournament organizer will be scorekeeping for the event.

What can you do to make sure the judge is prepared to run a Sealed GPT, and has a way to get his questions answered during the event?

What tips and tricks can you offer for a Sealed event expected to be around 20-30 players?

I think a key element is sitting down with the judge and working through various issues with him (or her) in person, and giving him a chance to voice his concerns to you. I also feel it's important to figure out if he's actually interested and excited about judging a Comp REL event, or if he's doing it because he feels he has to.

Besides that, my priority would be figuring out how much he knows about the IPG so far, and helping him understand some basic situations that could come up.

A few other things that come to mind:

• Remind him to use decklists and perform deck checks. He should count the decklists during Round 1 (looking for 40+ cards in the main and a total of 84 cards registered). Deck-checking 20-30 decklists by yourself during Round 1 is possible, but encourage him to use the scorekeeper for help if the SK isn't too busy.
  
• On the topic of deck checks, performing deck checks when you're the only judge can be tricky. Encourage him to do the best he can, and return the players' decks after about 5-7 minutes of looking at them, even if they're not fully checked, so the round can proceed.
  
• Give him your cell number, and also point him at IRC (#mtgjudge and #mtgrules), so he can contact someone for urgent issues during the tournament. (But remind him that he's the head judge, so his ruling is final! IRC and phone are just sources of advice, not a substitute for being there.)
  
• Make sure he knows the tournament structure for a GPT (i.e. probably 5 rounds with a cut to Top 8), and check with the TO whether the Top 8 will be Sealed or Draft.
  
• Showing up early to handle any last-minute issues (shoot, we forgot to set up a basic land station! the printer's not working!) will help things run more smoothly and on time.
  

I've been meaning to write something like this for a long time :)


Prepare, prepare, prepare… In my experience, most of the problems with sealed events happen right off the bat, so the more prep work you can do in advance, the more smoothly things will go as you launch. Note: I've never had a scorekeeper, so some of these roles may spill over to the TO.

Pre-event
- Test your laptop and Internet connection on site and make sure it's running smoothly in advance. The number one time waster for me has been troubleshooting the store's computer. Use a computer you're comfortable with, if permitted, use your own.
- Have deck registration sheets printed and ready to go.
- Practice counting out 6 packs from a box by feel so you can distribute sealed packs quickly. If you're not comfortable with this, tape packs together in groups of 6 and put them back in the box.
- Pre-register as many people as you can, so you're not looking up DCI numbers just before the event.
- Build a timeline for yourself. When does registration end? How long for deck registration? How long for each round? How many rounds? Add times to each checkpoint so you know if you're ahead or behind schedule. This gives you a metric for yourself as well as allows you to give quick answers on, “When will the tournament end? When's the next round? etc…” Part of this includes reviewing time for deck building, time per round, etc…
- Take a few minutes to go over your announcements. Start of the event, opening packs, pool registration, pool swapping, deck building, deck registration, reminder about bribery in round prior to top 8. Common points to cover: REL, number of rounds, prize structure, prize cut off No need to memorize a speech, but know what points you need to convey for each one so you don't have to stop them and say, “Oh one more thing…!”
- Review the IPG
- See if there's a higher level judge you can keep on speed dial in case you really need help with something.

The more you can do pre-event, the better you can focus on what's right in front of you on game day.

Game day:
- Look sharp. Wear your Judge shirt. Don't forget to smile.
- Carry a small notepad, red sharpie, and red pen.
- Carry a smartphone pre-loaded with your favourite tool for Oracle lookups and to refer to the IPG. MTGJudge is fine by me.
- Breathe.
- Execute the plan you made yesterday. Don't feel bad if your times start to slip early on. There are always things that can't be accounted for. When you have a break, make a note of where you lost time, so you can address them for your next event.

Patrolling:
- When nothing else requires immediate attention, you should be patrolling your matches. (In this case, all of them).
- Watch the time… you did set a timer right?
- Don't get too focused on one match.
- Keep your head on a swivel. Look over your shoulder as you walk past a table. Try not to keep your back turned to one group for too long. Try to spread your attention both evenly and randomly across the group.
- Follow your gut. If something doesn't feel right, investigate a little further.
- Engage players who have finished their rounds in short conversations. You're the judge, but you should also be human.
- Collect results slips as you pass. Nearing the end of the round, figure out how many match results are outstanding and focus on those games.

Judge Calls:
- Check the clock first! Note the time so you can give extensions for any calls that take longer than a minute.
- Ask questions to make sure you understand the situation correctly and the question being asked.
- Take your time. Early on I always felt I had to rush to a decision, you don't. Stop and think. Feel free to walk away from the crowd to think if you feel everyone's eyes are bearing down on you.
- Be concise with your answers so you don't inadvertently give play advice.
- Use your “phone a friend” or Google if you're really stumped.
- Once you've made your decision, deliver it confidently and with finality. You're the Head Judge, act like it. Unless there is some very important fact that was left out that the players only now bring to light, stand your ground.
- Keep smiling.

Top 8:
- The round before top 8 right through to the finals is where bribery is most common. Make an announcement reminding players about bribery and keep your eyes open.
- Have your prizing ready to hand out. Especially at the end of a long tournament, once a player is eliminated they usually want to leave. It's good customer service to have this ready for them.

Post Event:
- Clean up, push in chairs, put things away.
- Chat with your TO and ask for any feedback or suggestions. Make suggestions of your own, or record them for yourself.
- Pat yourself on the back. Judging small competitive events can be a lot of work, and is often thankless. Don't worry though, other judges, TOs, and experienced players know how much work you just did and appreciate it very much, even if they didn't say anything.

I highly doubt I could actually bombard a Level 1 with all of this information, but those are my thoughts as they came to mind.

Hmm…

Assuming he hasn't signed up for JudgeApps, I'd really ask him to do so, and read up on the forums.
Also, introducing him to IRC for quick assistance if need be would be good.

I'd probably also write down a checklist for him to refer to.

Some points I can think of right now to include in the checklist would be:

- Punctuality. Be there on time. One of the worst things to happen would be an event waiting to start just because the judge was late. And it cascades, since you'll have lesser time to make sure everything's working, etc.

- Dress smart. I've been drilled by my senior on this the day I became a judge. You're not only representing the event, you're also portraying your image as a judge. No judge shirt yet? Wear a decent black long sleeved shirt. No shorts, bermudas, etc. Jeans are the bare minimum I'd suggest. And shoes. No slippers or flip-flops or whatnots. And make sure to smell gooooooooooooooooooooooooooood.

- Ensure the computer system and printer are working at least one hour before the start of the event, or at least half an hour before registration starts. This is to have a bigger window and lower chance of anxiety should anything be messed up. Even if the equipment were working properly the day before, it's always good to play safe. Murphy's law.

- Make sure table numbers are available and displayed clearly for players to find

- Deck registration sheets; prepared beforehand to avoid having to run to the local photocopier or *gasp* print them out. Also ensure that a softcopy of the deck registration list should be available on the computer itself for urgent prints

- Blank papers. Are there enough for the day's printouts of pairings, final standings, etc.?

- Land stations. Are there enough and are the lands sorted already for the players' convenience?

- Starting announcements. Prepare what he wants to announce, preferably writing it down in order so that he will not be flustered when making them. A typical announcement order I would suggest would be: Introduction of self, REL, what format they are playing, number of players registered following into number of Swiss rounds before play-offs and how long each round will be, and any other miscellaneous items eg. deck swap procedures, raise your hand and call for a judge clearly if need be, take care of your belongings, ensure nothing except your registered cards are on the table etc.

- Have an IPG easily accessible. I use my app, so if he runs Android, I'd recommend he install it on his device too (most are free, why not? :P). If not, at least a softcopy on the computer or even a printout beforehand would be good

- Bring along a notepad and a pen, just to take down anything

- Always remember to set the timer at the start of each round

- Voice check. Make sure everyone is able to hear you audibly

Once players start their first games, and after collecting deck lists, ensure that every player has their deck lists submitted. Depending on whether a meal break is available in between, either sit down and check the lists immediately for any discrepancies (40+/84) while keeping an eye out for judge calls, or do so during the meal break.

I'd recommend that he try to sort out all problems regarding deck lists by the start of Round 2 if possible, and perform deck checks from Round 2 onwards. If time permits and resources are available, I'd probably even run through a few deck check practices with him in person so that he gets used to it. Also remind him that he could rope in the scorekeeper/TO to help him perform his checks.

Point out to him that since this is an event run at Competitive REL, that he should remind players of bribery and such issues, and watch out for them happening.

Also, as players are likely to drop halfway into the event (“Ah crap, I got 0-2, I'll never break into Top8”), prepare all prizes for drop-outs with the TO or shopkeeper beforehand so that he may hand them out without needing to dig or look for the relevant persons to provide them.

Since there's a scorekeeper for the event, I would encourage him to be more proactive in making his rounds while the games are being played and look out for any suspicious activities.

And lastly, be friendly, but firm. (Perhaps it's just my local community - a judge gets too friendly, and sometimes the players just climb all over them)

Most of the points made so far are very good. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that the judge review the MTR which is very important in this case; I would also recommend that the TO read over certain sections for running the event.

Thanks for the exceptionally thorough answers from Adam and Andrew! It's obvious that there was considerable thought given to these answers.

Ideally, you'll already know how much the TO does, which limits how much you need to tell the judge about. If you can avoid overwhelming the judge with too much detail, that will make his life easier. In our scenario, the TO is scorekeeping, which helps a lot. Let's say our TO is experienced with GPTs, and knows to have the checklists ready, land stations set up, and will handle registration and player entry in WER.

The technical aspects of judging Competitive REL:

Make sure the judge has read the IPG (with an emphasis on the Missed Trigger policy, since it's different from Regular REL). Even if he's not intimately familiar with it, just having a copy of it available will make it easier to handle rulings. Direct him tothedci.com/docs and suggest that he download some kind of judging app if possible from http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/77/.

Make sure he knows the MTR (kudos to Joseph for pointing out the importance of this!). As an L1, he was required to know certain parts of it, but reviewing the sections about shortcuts and free/derived information would be especially helpful. Remind him about checklists, pool/deck registration and time limits, offering suggestions for the deck swap (paper bags, or rubber bands, etc.; collect and redistribute or some combination of passes not announced in advance).

Remind him that deck checks are required (at least 10% of decks in the event). Counting deck lists should be performed during the first round if possible, with any fixes/penalties applied at the start of round 2 (this can push to round 3 if necessary).

Provide the link to the GPT Fact Sheet http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=grandprix/trials and make sure he understands the tournament structure. Tell him to confirm with the TO whether the top 8 will be draft.

The other aspects of successful judging:

If you can, try to get a feel for how much the judge can handle before getting overwhelmed. Some will just want the most relevant information, and some will ask endless questions to prepare as much as possible. Follow his lead and give him what he needs.

Andrew suggested providing a checklist. This is great idea if you have the bandwidth to provide this service! (Perhaps you can provide a sample checklist which can be included on the Judge Wiki!)
As Paul pointed out, providing your cell number can be great if you think you'll be accessible. The link to chat.magicjudges.org (#mtgrules and #mtgjudge channels) is an invaluable resource to get quick answers. Let him know that his rulings are final, and a wrong ruling isn't the end of the world so much as a learning experience.

If you can, make suggestions for the announcements he'll make at the beginning of the event (e.g., tournament structure, prizing, reminder that this is Comp REL and what that means, etc.).
Tell him to show up early for the event to make sure everything is in order. Be available for any questions leading up to the event. Reassure him that he'll do fine, and there is a great support network for him. Remind him that he earned the chance to judge this event, and we trust him to do a great job!