StarCityGames Open Series: Washinton DC!

Greetings again my friends!
I write today of my recent trip to our nation's capital, Washington DC for StarCityGames Open Series: Washington DC! I have been looking forward to this trip for a while, as I have never been to DC, and knew that with my love for amazing and unique architecture, landmarks, and water displays, this would be a greatly satisfying trip....and I get to judge Magic!!!

I arrived a little early to check in to the hotel, so I decided to be a uber tourist, and go see the sights. The view of the capital building was amazing, but I really got taken in by the Navy Memorial...can't help but get emotional being that I myself am ex-Navy. That moment of appreciation almost became a moment of distraction as I arrived at the hotel, only to find out I had been pickpocketed. GRRRRR!!! I didn't let it get me down, this was to be an amazing weekend, and the loss of $60 and cancelling a credit card wasn't enough to dampen my spirits.









I roomed with Gustavo Otero De Leon, one of the most amazing judges I have ever had the pleasure to meet, and he has made plans to join Michael Mills (Milsy) at Fogo De Chao for dinner. I have heard of this place, heard it was amazing, but a little pricey, but why not? Meat on swords....SIGN ME UP!!!! The food was amazing, and more than plentiful, I almost regret eating that much MEAT...I said ALMOST lol!

We head back to the hotel, and get rested for the Standard portion of the event the following morning. I had the same problem I always have, and had trouble sleeping. Even after all the trips I have made over the last couple months, I still can't get over the excitement, anticipation, and sheer pleasure of getting the opportunity to do what I love doing!
I arrive at the event, and see the staff list again, and nope, I wasn't mistaken...there are 8 L3 judges on staff! This will be a great opportunity to learn from this VERY senior staff, and really hone my skills as a judge. I am told that I am on Floor team, with my team lead being the Northeast Regional Coordinator, Shawn Doherty. He divides his team into mini-teams, each with a L2 and a L1 on them, and I get paired with Charlotte Sable, a L2 from Canada. I had worked with her before, and the experience wasn't the greatest, but after talking to her after that event, she assured me that she was just off that weekend, and this one would be better. She really shined this time around, and I am looking forward to working with her again at GenCon in a couple weeks. I feel that I can really improve my rules knowledge by working with such knowledgeable judges such as Charlotte.
Everything goes relatively smoothly, and I finish my day chatting with Martha Lufkin, the HG for tomorrow, and securing myself a Team Lead position for the following day, but getting to judge Top 4 of the standard the following morning!
Day two starts, and I judge the Top 4, and then go to meet up with my team for Paper Team Team Lead. I think to myself, "Maybe I bit off more that I can chew" as I see my team list : Shawn Doherty (L3), Brian Schenck (L3), Josh Parker (L1), and James Hedges (L1), with James testing for L2 today. they had Shawn and Josh alternating on Coverage for the day, so I had one of the two of them each round. Other than a problem with a early round paper malfunction, and some floor coverage issues middle of the day, everything went super smooth! I absolutely loved having these guys on my team, at no point did any of them make me feel inferior or as a rookie, even with the baffling combined experience between these stellar judges. I hope that I get the pleasure to work with every single one of them again very soon.
The tournament ran pretty smooth, except a problem with a thief, and the ABUNDANT AMOUNT OF CALLS ON COUNTRYSIDE CRUSHER!!! We had like 5 appeals on the missed trigger at upkeep, so very frustrating, it's like Geist of Saint Traft questions, only in Legacy! But Martha ran a great tournament, and did an amazing job...expecially being that this Legacy Open was the LARGEST IN SCG HISTORY!!!!
I deadheaded out of DC after the tournament, and decided to visit some family for a day or so, before heading off to Kansas City this upcoming weekend.
Until next time, STAY MAGICAL MY FRIENDS!!!
Mikey

P.S. If you have noticed, on my facebook, my display name is now my real name instead of BALDY MCBUTTERPANTS. He had to depart us, so I ask you to take a moment and pay your respects to the memory of BALDY. He will be missed. -MEA

SCG Open Series: Buffalo!

Greetings again guys!
This time I write about my trip to SCG Open Series: Buffalo!

RAGE!!!

This trip started out on Tuesday from visiting my brother in New Mexico, and upon leaving his place, things went downhill fast. I missed the first bus out of Tucumcari, then tried to catch the 1:40 am bus, but as it turns out, the driver pulled through at 1:05, made a circle, and left. WTF!!! I then call Greyhound in Albuquerque, and complain, and they guarantee me a seat on the 7:25 am schedule. I get on, and just like with every other bus on this horrible trip, it is an older bus, so no Internet. Oh well, guess I will sleep alot this time.
We get into St. Louis, and I transfer, so far so good, but when arriving in Indianapolis for a 20 min break, it turns into a 2 hour break, therefore I miss my transfer in Columbus OH.....CMON!!! I get put on another bus, but now have to transfer a THIRD TIME, now in Cleveland. So now instead of getting into Buffalo at 5:30pm on Friday, or 7:25pm, or even 9:30pm, I am now arriving at 2:40am Saturday. WORST TRIP THUS FAR!!!

I finally arrive in Buffalo, but then it gets real interesting. A transient asks me for a smoke, and I say no, since I had like 4 left, and no stores around the area. A couple minutes later, I lite a smoke up, and he says HEY! Thought you didn't have any? I didn't take kindly to his tone, so I say, "let me rephrase, I don't have one for YOU."  He then calls me an asshole, and I respond by saying that I work for a living, and do not work to support him. I turn away, and he decides to swing at me while my back is turned. My spidey-sense starts tingling, so I turn, duck the punch, and hit him with an left hook, dropping him, then mount and drop two elbows to the side of his head. Problem solved. Security lets me go (Thank god!!!) and I decide to go chill somewhere other than the bus depot.

I grab a cup of coffee and a bagel, then head over to the ADAM'S MARK HOTEL, the location of SCG Open Series: Buffalo. I hope this day turns around, not exactly how I expected it to start. (should have expected it after the rest of the trip)

I finally see a friendly face, Chad, who has been alternating between event staff, judging, and booth work for StarCityGames over the last couple trips, and we head to the event hall.
This place is SO BEAUTIFUL!  This has to be the nicest venue I have had the pleasure to work at, almost too pretty!

RIKI AND DLS

DLS AND FRANCISCO

David Lyford Smith is the head judge for this event, if you guys remember, he was on my team for my first team lead in St. Louis, so this is my first chance to work with him, and see if I can get a feel if I did decent in St. Louis, by reading his interaction with me here. It seemed fine, he was friendly and not standoff-ish, so I assume all is well. I meet with my team lead, Abe Corson, and we get ready to do out duties on Logistics.

Everything is going great, didn't really have any difficult calls, and I was then moved to HG my favorite event, 2 HEADED GIANT!! I so love playing and judging this event, not really sure why, but I do. I had another judge working it with me, and though it was difficult working with him, we made it work and had a great event. Him and I spoke afterwards, and hopefully worked out our differences.

THE STARCITYGAMES BOOTH

BUYERS PUTTING IN WORK

JUDGES GETTING READY

GO GO COVERAGE!!!

NOM NOMS!

NON-COMPLIANCE

After the event, Jeff Darran, Amber, Linsay, Anthony, myself, and others all decided to go to TGI Fridays for dinner, and had a great time...expecially when the server was a Magic player! We finish up, and head up to the room (which is convieniently located above the restaurant) and crash, getting ready for Day 2!

ME AND MIKE CLARK

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BUILDING!

Day 2 starts with our head judge, Francisco Iramain leading the forces. The turnout was a little light, so this would be a great opportunity to learn from the senior judges on staff, and mentor younger judges. Tasha Jamison was my team lead, and she really helped me work on my ability to explain rulings to players in a way that they understood. I had a chance to chat with her as we went to pick up the dinner that we had to all pitch on, since apparently there is nowhere to eat anywhere close to the event site on Sundays. She had some real good suggestions for me to grow as a judge, and I plan on following everything she suggested I do. She allowed me to later sit in on a L1 test debrief, and I am thankful for that opportunity. It is amazing to see a highly respected judge mentoring a cantidate after the test, something I can use to pattern my own actions after in the future.I had a chance to chat with another L1 candidate later, and hope that he will test some time down the road. He kinda showed up at the event, and since he lives in an area that he could reasonably test with a local L2, it was suggested that he does so. It did make me feel good that Dan Stephens had him work with me, it makes me feel that people have faith in my abilities as a judge, and that I have something to offer to others.

I wrap up my evening, and head back to the hotel. I am happy that this weekend ended so well, expecially after how the trip started. I get ready to head to Chicago, say hey to Jason Long, and take some time to catch up on stuff that I need to, then off to Washington DC.

Until next time!
















Mikey

SCG Open Series Las Vegas!!

VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!

SCG Las Vegas Staff!

This week I visit Sin City, but I come not for the gambling, women, booze, shows, or the food. I come for MAGIC THE GATHERING!!!
The StarCityGames Open Series visited Las Vegas this past weekend, and I had the pleasure of being on staff for it, and WOW! was I happy! This city is amazing, with so many things that I would never get to see, I almost want to move here after this weekend!

KISS

MORE KISS!

I arrived in Vegas, and my hotel roommate for the weekend, Louis Fernandes, had not arrived (turns out his flight got delayed), so I met up with Amber Golden, an alterist and token generator I have had the pleasure to be at events for in the past. We decide to check out the MONSTER MINI-GOLF presented by KISS! This place was right down the road from where we were staying, and we decided to be kids again and play the video games they had. This was a blast! We won some tickets and got some cheap toys, you know, what everyone did as a child! There was a wedding chapel there as well.....luckily Amber is taken, and I escaped Vegas un-hitched lol!

THE FIELD!

Saturday starts off, and I am on deck checks...again....with a new team that I had not worked with. My team lead was Arturo Picazo, Adam White, and Will Bumgardner.  I did however recognize Adam White as "Taz" from a couple GP's I had attended in the past. Head Judge Eric Shukan gave us our instructions, and we started!

Judges getting ready to collect decklists

This was my team lead, Arturo Picazo's first team lead detail, but with Taz, Will, and myself on the team, everything went pretty smooth. We didn't really have that many problems....Those would present themselves on Sunday.

Sunday Legacy rolls around, and my new head judge, Jeremy Behunin, splits us off into our teams. I am AGAIN on deck checks, so I request to work side events. He allows it, and I head off to run the 8 man drafts, tourneys for a box, the 2 headed giant, and the called draft. Those that know me know that I loves me some side events, but became disappointed when I got pulled off of them to go back on the main event, because another judge was having some problems on it. I returned to check on side events, and he was having problems too, so I took this as an opportunity to help another judge. It didnt appear that he wanted the help, or thought he needed the help, but after he had a chat with Nicholas Sabin, he approached me and wanted to chat.
I discussed with him how he can improve his interaction with other judges, and to ask for help when he needs it. The family of judges is just that...A FAMILY. We all want each other to succeed and grow, and are more than willing to help another out when they need it. As it turns out, there is not a Las Vegas-based L2, so I may want to consider this as my relocation desination....who knows. I want to end up in a location that I can grow as a judge, and can grow the Magic and Judge community, so a location that seems to be in need will be the correct fit for me when I am done with this journey.

Limo down the Las Vegas Strip!

Dinner at the Luxor

panna cotta, tiramisu, and oreo cheesecake 

pork adobo, chicken piccata, and dover
sole w/ chili sauce

Tournament done, now it's time to see the scene!!! Taz, Bumgardner, Nick Rutkowski, TJ Morrison, Peter Golightly, and myself jump into a limo and tour the strip, on our way to the Luxor for the EPIC buffet, as suggested by Nick. The food was so amazing, everything was some of the best that I had eaten of its type in a while! I would absolutely recommend the buffet at the Luxor if you want good food and a great casino to visit!


flank steak w/ portobello sauce, prime rib with
creamy horseradish sauce, potatoes and gravy,
and bean blend



chilled snow crab and shrimp

TAZ channeling his inner baldy!



I departed Las Vegas on Monday, feeling pretty good about myself. I got to learn from senior judges, got to mentor an up and coming judge, got to see some amazing sights, and may have found another choice to final destinations. All in all, the trip was worth the long travel from the east coast....to the west coast...back to the east coast, as I am in Buffalo, NY this weekend.
Until next time!
Mikey

STARCITYGAMES OPEN SERIES: ST. LOUIS!

Hi St. Louis, we meet again!

I PITY THA FOOL!!!

WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?

This time I had the pleasure to visit St. Louis for the 4th time during my epic journey, but instead of coming to visit friends or play in a WMCQ, it was for the StarCityGames Open Series: St. Louis! This trip was even more special though, as Legacy Head Judge Jason Long has given me the opportunity to TEAM LEAD for the first time!!!!

I was super nervous going into St. Louis, especially when I found out that I had 2 senior judges on my team that I had either worked with, or had heard of, L2 Maximilian Schroeder and L3 David Lyford-Smith....wait! That is the Head Judge for SCG Open Buffalo! I can't screw this up, especially with DLS on my team. I got my nerves under control, and met up with my team.

I had done deck checks many times over the last couple months, and knew from the judges that I had worked with what needed to be done, when to do things, and what to watch for. But when you are in the driver's seat, and not just along for the ride, the experience feels completely different.

THE TEAM THAT MADE ME SHINE!

EVENT REGISTRATION

THE FIELD!

My team consisted of the following judges: David Lyford-Smith (L3), Max Schroeder(L2), James Hedges(L1), and Amber Kintner(L0), Amber would be testing this weekend. We introduced ourselves, and went over the routine of deck checks. I then informed my team about my incentive for the weekend. I was to give a artist print of surgical extraction to the team member that did the most amazing job...and made me look good!

DLS, DAN STEPHENS, AND JAMES HEDGES 

Our event went smoothly, with very little problems. I would expect nothing less from an event with Jason Long as the head judge. Very few problems arose, and when they did, they were corrected swiftly.

We had one interesting situation that arose at Top 8 deck checks.
One of the players handed in his Charbelcher deck, and then handed me his sideboard. On his deck registration paper, he didn't register a sideboard. THAT'S A PROBLEM!

MR. STEPHENS DOING SOME MENTORING

I tell Jason Long about the issue, and he investigates, and determines that the player had not used a sideboard all tournament and finds out that the player's brother had told him he needed a sideboard, so he had 15 islands sleeved up. We instructed him to remove them and good luck in Top 8.
Other than that there were not many problems at this tournament, which is a sign of a well-ran tournament. Everyone on staff did an amazing job, and I can only hope that events that I get to do run as smoothly as this one did.


AMBER WITH HER PRIZE...GREAT JOB!

Amber Kintner ended up passing her L1 (congrats!) and with her stellar performance on my team, I gave the print to her, she had earned it. I chatted with the members of my team after the event, and asked for feedback, and will continue to put all feedback I receive to use to continue growing as a judge.




I next depart for Las Vegas, such a long trip across the country, but this should be exciting!
Until next time!
Mikey