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

Pre-release at Pastimes in Chicago

Greetings again peeps!
So there has been some changes to my epic adventure this last week. Peter will not be joining me for the duration of my trip, it turned out to be that he had things in his life that made it impossible for him to continue. I wish him the best in everything he does, and look forward to working with him at an event in the future.
That being said, I made the choice to pursue working a pre-release in the midwest, instead of shipping out to San Jose as planned. I sent out an email to a couple contacts, and Nick Short from PASTIMES in Chicago replied and said he would be happy to staff me for the weekend. Awesome! I have been to Pastimes, and love working with Jason Long, and this would be my first opportunity to work with Nick Short. I saw this as a chance to gain more experience from these two judges, who have been judging for a while and have so much experience between them both, being that they work for Pastimes, and run GenCon every year, and I have worked with Jason numerous times, I can't wait!
Dr. Elliott extended the the offer for me to stay with him for a couple days, and of course I took him up on it, I really love being around the Doc, and every time I visit him or work with him, I leave feeling that I am a better judge because of it. We had some discussions about my upcoming presentation on "PROPER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN JUDGES AND PLAYERS- BREAKING DOWN THE WALL" at the Judge Conference at GP-Boston-Worcester. Doc Elliott is a perfect example of how I see myself in the future as a judge, so taking his opinion into account seems like the proper thing to do. He gave me some very good tips, topics to consider, and we had some pretty good discussions. I like seeing things from his perspective, he really sees things from all angles, which I bet is why he is such a well-respected judge.
I then head out to Chicago, and meet up with Jason Long, and get ready to play in FNM, then the midnight release of M13. I bombed FNM, just couldn't get my deck to operate properly. It was a decent draft pool, but just wasn't my tournament. My sealed pool for midnight release however, was pretty solid! I had Garruk, 2 of the new fireball, a magmaquake, a couple visionaries, and some mana dorks. I get mana-flooded game three of round 1, but then didn't drop another game all night! The prizes were based on record, so I was happy with the 5 packs. There were less players at the three events than expected, but I hear that that was the case across the board, so it makes me wonder if this core set may not keep value....who knows.
This was the most difficult week so far for my journey, and there is no way I could have continue my travels without the help of Dr. Elliott and Jason Long, both are amazing people and judges, and am so very happy to have people like that in my life now. They opened their doors to me and gave me a place to stay when I needed it the most. They both seem to want to see me succeed as a judge, and for this I am very thankful, and am able to continue my growth because of these two gentlemen.
I am next in St. Louis for the SCG Open series....my first TEAM LEAD detail!!!! I cant wait, and am insanely nervous, but am sure that I will knock it out of the park, I will not allow myself to fail.
Until next time!
Mike

ATLANTA...MY FIRST GRAND PRIX!!!

Hey guys!
It has been such a busy trip, trying to keep up on this blog is becoming difficult, so bear with me.

I write today about my trip to Atlanta, GA for my first GP on Judge Staff!

We arrive at the event site around 8:30 am, I am slotted for staff, but not until 2pm. The hotel where the GP is being held is the HYATT REGENCY, an amazing hotel, one of the nicest I have had the pleasure to visit. I take the time before I am scheduled to judge to look around the hotel. Everything here is so beautiful, the restaurants on-site and the ease of access to the food courts of the mall via the sky walkways make it super convenient, and everyone was more than friendly!


Now it is time to judge!

My team lead for the side events on Friday was Ben McDole, who as it turns out was my team lead on Saturday as well. Mr. McDole is a L3 Florida Judge, and knowing this, I fully expected the daggers to be flying. (Daggers are difficult judge questions) He would not disappoint. I really like this about him, and the entire Florida Judge community, throwing daggers is a way to educate judges, and moreover, encourage communication between judges on staff.









There really wasn't much going on in side events on Friday, which is good, but I got to pick the brains of many senior judges that were staffed for GP Atlanta, which is always a great thing for me, as I try to become as stellar a judge as everyone at this event. Side events end, and we depart to our rooms to rest for the upcoming Grand Prix Day One!

Call time for the judges was 7:30 am, and we meet up with all of the Saturday judge staff, our T.O., Jeff Williams, and our Head Judge, Scott Marshall. I have met Mr. Marshall from a player perspective, and a dealer perspective, but never have I had the opportunity to be on his staff. Mr. Marshall gives his pre-tournament announcements, and we divide up into our teams and get ready for Grand Prix!

I get a couple random judge calls in the first two rounds, nothing special, but then, Round 3, I get a call about bridge from below and the zombies that it makes. AP sacs a creature to a spell, cabal therapy I think, with 2 bridge from below in his graveyard. NAP in response sacs his creature to a different ability, now AP wants to know if he gets his zombies.  I rule that he does, due to Bridge from Below's ability going off of last known information, and puts the zombies into play. NAP chooses to appeal, so I fetch Scott Marshall.  I realize on the way to Get Mr. Marshall that I have made a colossal bad ruling, Dan Stephens educated me about "Intervening If Clause" the previous week, and I had just spaced on that information at a Grand Prix...my first Grand Prix. Upon arrival, I say to Mr. Marshall, " I have an appeal, and my ruling will be overturned." There goes my judge career.

I explain what happened, he says OK, and goes to the table, corrects the bad ruling, and the players continue play. Then he surprised me. He turns to me and says, "I wish that I could say that I have never been appealed, or that I have never made an incorrect call, but I can't. It happens." I was sure that that moment was to be the end of me as a judge. I mean, a L5 just saw me make a HUGE mistake at a Grand Prix! But with the reassuring statement by Mr. Marshall, I gained insight that mistakes will be made, and to keep chuggin along, otherwise, how did Mr. Marshall get to where he is in the program?

Later that day I get moved to Side Events, (the entire team I was on was to do this, as the side events become busier later in day 1) and get my opportunity to Head Judge an event! SOFA KING EXCITED!!!! I get slotted to HG the 2-HEADED GIANT event, and everything went pretty smooth. I got to work with 2 great judges, Ryan Dowdy, and Katie Temple, and the event ran perfect with the work of these 2 judges. Thanks guys!

I then leave for the judge dinner, it is to be held at Ted's Montana Grill. The food was amazing, the conversations even better, I had the pleasure of dining with Kim Warren, Daniel Kitachewsky, Ryan Stapleton, David Hibbs, George Fitzgerald, Bernd Buldt and Michael Puccio, all senior judges, and all very friendly judges, within and outside of judging. I really enjoy the thought of a judge dinner, being able to see judges as themselves, not only as their role in an event. I hope that events in the future have judge dinners, because I feel that the more comfortable people are with each other, the better they can work together. Dinners like these open up the opportunity to socialize with people on a level playing field, and in a casual, non-work environment, people speak freely and socialize better. Just my opinion.

Day Two call time was 8am, and I am slotted for side events all day. My new team lead is Kevin Binswanger...wait...That's my Regional Coordinator!!! I had yet to work with him, and finally, after months of being a judge, get the opportunity! That is, if some sort of tournament would fire....It is a little slow in what I refer to as MikeyLand (side events)

I get slotted to work a standard T2 1K event in the afternoon, and pretty much durdle most of the morning, chatting with other judges, and taking daggers all morning. My HG for the event, George Fitzgerald, tells me that I am going to be DeckChecks Team Lead! Yay!!!! I get to have the pleasure to work with L2 Michael Mills (Milsy) on deck checks for this event! We end up with just a couple bad lists, and corrected them early. I then get pulled away for something they call a "2-on-1" where 2 senior judges talk to you about your advancement in the judge program, and try to help you in any way to achieve whatever you wish to gain from the judge program. There were 3 judges on the 2-on-1 team, David Hibbs (L3), Daniel Kitachewsky (L3), and Kim Warren (L3, RC).  Ms. Warren is the judge that sits down with me, and I ask why there is only one? She says that the other 2 on the team are working with another judge.

Ms. Warren really helped me with concerns I had, and was more than willing to talk to me about anything that I had questions about. I hope others get to learn from her judge wisdom, and use the information given by such a stellar judge to further themselves in the judge program.

The day ends on the last day of my first Grand Prix, and many of the judges head to the Hard Rock for dinner. Hibbs, Fitz, and I arrive, and get seated. Eddie Cheung hands me a menu, I open it, and there is a foil card in that says "BOOM TUBE"...and everyone yells BOOM!!!! This is a little game that I guess Florida judges play, you get the Boom Tube, and must make someone else accept it from you. I ship it to Aaron Stickney, and I think it made its way back to Eddie Cheung. We will come back to that.
I order the rack of ribs, get them, and they are REALLY REALLY SMALL!!! I ask the waitress to come over, state my case, and she says she will fix it. Meanwhile, the other judges are trying to get me to "seal the deal" with the waitress, but I just can't get over the lack of neck on our waitress...I mean she looked like someone had hammered her head into her torso....total no-go for me. She comes back with a proper rack for me (see what I did there) and I enjoy my dinner with all these judges. Everyone is laughing and having a good time. I then see that someone has ordered a drink called a "blowjob" (kahlua, buttershots, and cream, topped with whipped cream) and are deciding who will get the honor of drinking it. If you do not know, the novelty of drinking this drink is that you drink it with no hands....pretty hawt, until the selection of Ben McDole is made. Sorry McDole, but I cant seem to find you attractive.
He takes the drink, drinks it according to the instructions, and low and behold, what is sitting under the shotglass on the plate coated in whipped cream? THE BOOM TUBE!!!!!!

We head back to the hotel, hung out with people, played some EDH, and then some "WEREWOLVES" a game that I really love now, and hope to get a game going of it at my next event.

All in all this was an amazing event for me, and hope to have the opportunity to work many more GP's in the future. I now head off for M13 pre-release, then off to St. Louis..one of my favorite destinations.

Until next time!
Mikey