"Those who can play, do. Those who can't, judge.": June 2012

Friday, June 22, 2012

"Those who can play, do. Those who can't, judge.": SCG Open and Invitational INDIANAPOLIS!!!

"Those who can play, do. Those who can't, judge.": SCG Open and Invitational INDIANAPOLIS!!!: Greetings again! This blog comes from beautiful Indianapolis, IN, where Peter and I were staffed for the SCG Open Series AND Invitational...

SCG Open and Invitational INDIANAPOLIS!!!

Greetings again!

This blog comes from beautiful Indianapolis, IN, where Peter and I were staffed for the SCG Open Series AND Invitational. This event was a blast, with 200+ Invitational competitors, almost 500 Standard Open competitors, and 300+ Legacy competitors!

I was slotted for side events on Friday, and while side events were a little slow, I was happy to be in my element. (side events) No real interesting judge calls, most of the players were not new to the game, and played accordingly.

Day 2 is where it got interesting.

Round 2 the Head Judge, Kim Warren, calls me to the stage. I arrive, and she says that she was putting me on side events...YAY!!! BTW you have an L1 candidate shadowing you. AWESOME!!!! I was going to request to be shadowed in Detroit, as I would love to have a hand in molding a new judge in my deadly image lol. I happen to think that my personal take on player-judge interaction, charisma, and general attitude are all things a new judge could take away from working with me.
My shadow's name was James Risner. He was a touch older than I, soft-spoken, with much legacy knowledge. The downside was that his presence as a judge was hidden by his timidness and nervousness. He ended up loosening up around our 3rd side event, and was handling side events with ease after that. Later, he took THE TEST.....and passed!!!! I am so happy to see a nice guy like James join the Judge family, and look forward to working with him again.

I was then moved back to the floor, and was instantly shadowed by a L2, Nick Rzeczowski, which I didn't mind at all, there was much I could learn from this seasoned judge. His way of explaining how things work was smooth, and he at no point became frustrated with me, and told me something that very much surprised me: Be confidant in your rules knowledge, it is not as bad as you think. You should test for L2. WHAAAAAA????? This is now the 3rd judge to say that, but I will return to that.

The Judge calls BLEW UP day 3, but one of my favorites that I got to handle was this:

AP controls SIGARDA, HOST OF HERONS, and attempts to MAELSTROM PULSE his opponent's TARMOGOYF. NAP calls for a judge, and asks if he understands this situation correctly. Can he cast MISDIRECTION targeting MAELSTROM PULSE, and pulse the SIGARDA? I am pretty sure the answer is yes, but I really need to know how to properly explain it when the inevitable judge call comes. (SIGARDA has hexproof).

Luckily, a L3 judge pops out of nowhere to come to my aid. That judge was the Invitational Head Judge(and ninja), Daniel Kitachewsky, who was now working the floor for the Legacy open. He pulls me to the side, broke down the entire interaction to me in a very entertaining, and easy to understand way.
Pointing his hand high in the air, he proclaims "I CAST THIS ON YOU!!!! then from above (pointing down) SOMEONE SAYS NO!!!, YOU WILL GO OVER THERE!!!(pointing to the left)."

The controller of the pulse doesn't change, just the target of the pulse. EPIC RULES EXPAINATION!!! Therefore, AP pulsed his own SIGARDA, and entered "SAD PANDA PHASE" (hiya Bruce Mills lol)
I wish I could have worked with Daniel more, as I feel I could have learned so much more from this stellar judge. Hopefully I get to work with him again in the near future.

My team lead for Legacy Open was a newer L2, one Nathan Stanley. This judge kept me cracking up all day, what an amazing personality! Nathan was very down to earth, and had no problem chatting with me about past judge calls, interesting situations, and how to further myself in the judge program. I had the most interaction with Nathan, and consider myself a better judge because of it.

The call of the weekend for me was in Round 7, when a player I was checking on because his opponant wasnt in his seat at the beginning of round said to me, "My opponent ran to the bathroom". I said, "He came to the table, and informed you of this?" he said yes and I instructed him to begin play swiftly when his opponent returned. I hear "JUDGE!!!" about 7 minutes into the round, from the same player that I had just spoken to. I arrive, and ask him whats going on? HIS EXACT WORDS..... "Judge, I kinda lied to you." WHAAAAA???????? "My opponent is my friend, and I dont know where he is, but I didnt want him to get into trouble for being late."
So he just lied to a tournament official.....DISQUALIFICATION. Those are the rules right?

Myself and another judge, Aaron Clay, take this issue to the Head Judge, one Michael Zimmerman, trying to keep a straight face the whole way. I cant see this being an actual DQ, I mean, what advantage can the player get from this? Sure he lied, I think that a proper talking to would be fine, and would hopefully make the player understand that lying to a judge is really bad!
Michael Zimmerman tells us to do just that, and doesnt give the player the DQ, based on the situation, the fact that this table was nowhere near contention, even for prizes, etc.
So, all in all, this was an amazing weekend of Magic, I feel that this event was the one that I learned the most from. With such a deep pool of judges to syphon information and knowledge out of, would you expect any different?
Now I head off to Detroit, for the SCG Open there this upcoming weekend. Oh and by the way, I am going to attempt to TEST FOR L2!!!! Hopefully there is no conflict in schedules, because with the judges that I have spoken to saying I should test, and my own personal will to succeed, the only thing that can stop me is not having someone to actually administer the test.
Wish me luck!!!!

Until next time!
Michael

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

DEEP DISH PIZZA IN CHICAGO!!!

Greetings again!
We decided that after SCG Worcester, we would go to some other city to kill some time before heading to SCG Indianapolis. We chose Chicago....for PIZZA!!!! Sure there will inevitably be other stuff to see and do, but when I think Chicago, being the fatbody I am, I auto-thought PIZZA!!!
We asked around, checked online, and ended up at a little shop called BEGGAR'S PIZZA.

BEGGAR'S PIZZA
310 S. Clinton Ave
Chicago, IL 60661
312-588-0055
www.beggarspizza.com
HOURS:
Mon-Thur 11am-11pm
Fri-Sat 11am-12am
Sun 11am-10pm

"I do hope that this place is as good as people say" goes through my mind as we approach the small pizza shop on Clinton Ave. It would be very disappointing to have my Deep Dish Pizza virginity taken by a sub-par pie. "This experience has to be special", I think to myself, for I can never get my Deep Dish cherry back. "Is this the right one"? "Maybe I am rushing into things". NO MIKEY!! This store has been around for over 35 years, I can smell the delicious smells of dough baking and the sweet aroma of tomato sauce in the air as I approach. "Maybe I am not ready, is this really the one for me"? The nervousness of the experience to come is growing stronger as I reach for the door and pull..."BEGGAR'S, please be gentle...it's my first time".

We step in the door, and see a friendly face welcoming us to Beggar's. There are 7 or so pizzas on presentation, and the counterperson is throwing another pie up in the display. That is the one I gotta have! Looking at it, this Pizza has to be 2 1/2-3" tall! Red on top? Where is the cheese??? I am so confused!

She tells us of the special, the thin sausage and mushroom, but I have already made my mind up....GOIN WITH THE THICKNESS! Peter and I order the Deep Dish Sausage and Cheese ($3.70 slice) a large fountain drink($1.99), and against my typical self (I am not a huge fan of sweets) the chocolate gelato($2.99). Beggar's has the typical chili pepper and Parm shakers, but in addition have garlic shakers and oregano shakers....shake to taste!

We sit down, and prepare to devour the monster slice of pie before us. There are people in the bar area watching Game One of the NBA finals, and there is a 20 person party celebrating graduation as well. Too many people to just go primal and destroy this pie, tearing it apart swiftly as a lion would do to his latest victim.
Peter decides to eat this monster slice as he would a typical slice, I opt for the fork and knife method. I cut in, and see a 1/2" layer of crust, 3/4" of cheese (there it is!) 1/4" of italian sausage, and covered with a red sauce. I raise the fork-full up to my mouth.........
SHAZAAM!!!!!
The medley of flavors explode in my mouth: tons of cheese, the sausage is uber flavorful, sweet, slightly tangy (hint of merlot) red sauce, the oregano and garlic I sprinkled on, all coming together is Fatboy bliss! Why have I waited this long for this? This shoots up the list as one of the best things I have eaten! I finish my slice, and unlike almost everything else I eat....I AM FULL. WTF?!?!? This makes no sense at all. My 280# ass has never only eaten ONE slice of pizza! How did you manage this Beggar's? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME???? I am in love with you CHICAGO STYLE DEEP DISH PIZZA!!

After the orgasmic experience of the slice, the gelato falls by the wayside, it was good, but having to follow the pizza, it simply stood no chance.

I will be in NY soon, and have gotta try the biggest competition, and personally settle the Chicago vs NY pizza battle. But it will be an unhill battle NY, its hard to change the mind of a FATMAN IN LOVE!!!!

Until next time!!!
Mikey

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

SCG WORCESTER!!

Greetings again!

what a turnout!

This last week, we had the pleasure to judge with an amazing crew at SCG Worcester!
There was an awesome turnout for both day's events, over 500 for the standard, and over 300 for legacy!

James McKay...the sole Canadian judge

We got to work with some of the best judges I have got to work with, with Jared Sylva off the stage and Head Judging the standard, and Gustavo Otero commanding the legacy. With these fearless leaders, and an amazing support staff, including Ben Klein, Steven Zwanger, Casey Brefka, Francisco Iramain, James McKay, and so many more!

judges getting ready!

Gustavo giving announcements

There were a couple situations that came up over the two days, and some interesting judge calls and board presence, that I thought I would mention:
Player activates Gideon Jura, making him a 6/6 white soldier creature, then phantasmal images the Gideon...what happens?
Two dead Gideons lol

I personally took THREE Geist of Saint Traft angel lapsing trigger calls...THREE!!!!
You must represent the angel token when attacking with Geist, otherwise you are attacking for only 2!

28 pristine talismans!!!

My favorite was a board presence that was baffling when I walked by it. The AP had a pile of paper bits on the field. I asked him what they were, and he informed me that it was TWENTY-EIGHT pristine talismans. He had 2 Prototype Portals out and had a Pristine Talisman under each....F$#&ing EPIC!!!

that panda hat was a such a whore this weekend

There was numerous marked cards penalties dished out, but not as many decklist/deck registration penalties as I thought there would be. But 2 ACTUAL player communication violation penalties....unheard of!

Tony Pagliocco getting a ruling

This tourney was a great success for me, mostly because of Jared Sylva, who wouldn't allow me to work my usual side events. I was bummed, but at the end of the tournament he told me why. He doesn't want to see me get horseshoed into sides all the time because I enjoy and volunteer for them, he would rather see me grow and become a well-rounded judge. I appreciate that, and will take his advice in mind in future events.
Special thanks to my team lead day 2 Casey Brefka, who basically shadowed me on day 2. I learned alot from you and am thankful to have a team lead that puts in the effort to help teach a young judge how to become a better judge.

sexy panda

sad panda

molestation panda!

We are planning to visit a city or two before we head off for Indianapolis for the SCG Open and Invitational this upcoming weekend.

judge decklist shenanigans

epic control battle!

Till next time!!
Mikey

Friday, June 8, 2012

GAMING AT THE FANTASY SHOP IN ST CHARLES, MO

Greetings again!!!
I come to you today from THE FANTASY SHOP in beautiful St. Charles, MO.
This gamestore was the host for the WMCQ and our home-base for this leg of our adventure!
With some of the friendliest staff around, HUGE gameplay area, and a MASSIVE variety of stock, this is by far the BEST gamestore in the St. Louis/St. Charles area!!!

THE FANTASY SHOP
2426 West Clay Street St.
Charles, MO 63301
(636) 947-8330
Store Hours:
Mon-Sat 11 AM - Midnight
Sun Noon - 5 PM

MTG needs!!

tons of rpg books!

go go miniatures!!

Ms. Dawn...manager lady

yay casual magic!!

soft weapons!!

doing a demo of RED DRAGON INN

So Many Games!!!

gamespace that can fit over 100 players for FNM!!

John, asst mgr, scared of a little flash!!!

John, chatting with a customer

The boss man Mike, and ME!!

The Fantasy Shop, opened in 1981 by Dave and Kelli Wallace, started with one store, and grew rapidly by the late 1990's to a total of 9 stores in 3 states. Over time, they consolidated down to the 4 stores they have currently, all four in the Greater St. Louis area: Maplewood, Florissant, South County, and the location that we frequented on our visit: St. Charles.

The staff here is AMAZING!!!! When we first arrived, we met Dawn, the Manager of this location, she was more than helpful, friendly, and introduced us to the GM, Mike. Though he was swamped with a late delivery and getting ready for the WMCQ the upcoming weekend, he took the time to chat with us, and took a sincere interest in what we were doing. I know when people are being fake, and "providing customer service", but not in this case. Everyone here is uber friendly, and draws happiness from their customers being happy gamers. Every person that enters the door is greeted with a smiling face, pleasant greeting, and in most cases is greeted by name...even with Peter and I after the first day!!!

With a stock that is so diverse, you would think that it may be cluttered, or games overlapping, but you would be wrong. Everything has its place, and has its players, and the shop schedules to accommodate everyone.

Though everyone that works here is amazingly knowledgeable and friendly, for me the stand-out person was John, the assistant manager. Every day that we came in, he was more than helpful, extremely friendly, and went out of his way to make sure that we were thoroughly enjoying our visit.

Because of the staff, game selection, and stellar player base, I look forward to my visit to St Charles again.

This has been my favorite stop so far, but I have to move on. Peter and I are staffed for SCG Worcester, and gotta take off for that leg of the trip, but will be making our way back to St Charles in a couple weeks. It is absolutely worth spending a night or two in St Charles simply to visit this store that seems to do everything right, which in turn makes for a great gaming experience, no matter what your game of choice is.

Until next time,

Mikey

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

VISITING THE ARCH IN ST LOUIS!!

Greetings again!!!!

CAUGHT THIS PHOTO ON THE DRIVE INTO TOWN!

While we were in St. Louis for the WMCQ, we had the chance to visit THE ARCH...the gateway to the west. I have never been to St. Louis, and didn't realize how huge this is, and how beautiful the area is!
There is a museum underneath, riverboats on the Mississippi River, horse-drawn carriages, and beautiful fountains and scenery all around this area of St. Louis. An absolute must-visit when in St. Louis!