Grand Prix Pittsburgh

Welcome!

Thank you for your interest in judging Grand Prix Pittsburgh.  Below you will find all of the information you need to apply for the Grand Prix.  

If you have any additional questions please contact our judge manager at Ben.McDole@gmail.com.  

If you have any questions about the event itself, please do not hesitate to contact us at staff@tjcollect.com.

The head judge for this event will be Toby Elliott, with support from Kevin Desprez.

The format of this event is Standard.

At this time we are looking for judges for any combination of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Additionally, we will be looking for judges to assist with set up on Thursday and breaking down on Sunday evening.

We do not need stage staff or scorekeepers at this time.

Applications will be accepted through April 24, and a decision will be made soon thereafter.  

The staff for Grand Prix Pittsburgh will be primarily level 2+ judges, with limited level 1 spots available.

Expectations

Judges at Grand Prix Pittsburgh are expected to prepare for the event by reviewing the Comprehensive Rules, Magic Tournament Rules, Infraction Procedure Guide, and Judging at Regular REL documents. These documents can be found at theMagic: The Gathering Document Center. As representatives of TJ Collectibles and the Magic Judge Program, judges are expected to behave in a professional manner at all times.

Judges are expected to arrive in time and in appropriate attire to begin judging at the start of their assigned shifts. The Head Judge will be arranging main event shifts for Saturday and Sunday and assisting with the schedule for Friday and the weekend on demand/swiss events. If you anticipate being unable to arrive by 9:00 am any day (noon on Friday), or needing to leave before 8:00 pm any day, please include that information in your application.

Judges at Grand Prix Pittsburgh should be in Magic Judge Program attire of Official Magic Judge shirt, black pants, black belt, and comfortable black shoes. During breaks, or any other time that a judge is off duty, judges should remove, or cover, their Judge shirt.

Ultimately, a Grand Prix is hard work.  It’s also extremely rewarding.  We would love for you to come and be a part of something bigger than just a weekend judging.  Please, enjoy one another’s company, help players, and dive into this wonderful community.  

Compensation

Each judge selected to work Grand Prix Pittsburgh will receive the following:

1 Grand Prix exclusive playmat

1 Side events playmat

1 TJ’s logo embossed Messenger Bag!  

1 Booster box per day (36 packs per day) of the most recent standard set

Judges will also receive the following cash considerations:

Local (level 1) judges will receive $100 per day worked

Area (level 2) judges will receive $200 per day worked

Regional (level 3) and higher will receive $300 per day worked

The majority of the payment above will be paid by check at the conclusion of the weekend.  A valid tax form is required.

As part of the compensation, each judge will be receiving $100 paid in cash at the start of the weekend. The remaining balance will be paid via check at the conclusion of the event.

Extended Saturday

Recently at GPs, the trend has been to divide the day into shifts.  This does provide for a shorter day for judges, but does have some drawbacks.  In an effort to provide better structure and continuity, we are going to be selecting some judges to work an extended shift on Saturday, covering the entire main event.  It will make for a longer day for those individuals and so we are offering additional compensation.  If you are interested in volunteering for this, please indicate so on your application.  Those selected to work these shifts will receive the following extra compensation:

Level 1 judges will receive $50.00.

Level 2 judges will receive $100.00.

Level 3+ judges will receive $200.00.

Finally, we will be looking for judges to assist in setting up and breaking down the venue.  These shifts will be Thursday and late Sunday.

The compensation for Thursday will be $100 in cash, and the compensation for the tear down shift is an additional booster box.

Hotel Block

Judges are responsible for booking their own lodging.  A hotel block is available, at the Westin in Pittsburgh.  As a walk, the trip is about a block from the convention center, and the two are connected.

Rooms for TJs staff are $149 a night. They will need to call and say that they are TJs Staff. If they don't say that they are TJs Staff, they will be billed $169 a night.

The block cutoff date is June 3rd.

Westin Convention Center

1000 Penn Ave

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

(412)-560-6336

How to Apply

Simply click on the "Apply Now!" link toward the top of the page. Please answer all of the questions in the application form.

Due to staff needs, judges may be accepted for one, two or three days. Please indicate your preference, and requirements to attend, in your application.

If you may be unable to attend without being accepted for an extended shift please make note of that in your application.

Finally, we will be accepting judges for standby.  For the purposes of this application standby means the following:

1. You will be attending the Grand Prix even if not selected to be on staff.

2. You will receive free entry into the main event if you are not selected to work the Grand Prix.

3. You may be activated to work any of the possible days.  You will be notified by Friday evening if you will be on staff Saturday/Sunday.

4. If you are selected for activation you will receive the same compensation package as judges initially selected.

5. If you are selected for standby you will be included in all forum communications.

Testing

Testing is available at this event!  If you wish to test please do the following:

Complete the pretest requirements.  They are listed at the official resources page, http://blogs.magicjudges.org/o/judge-levels/

Take a level 2 practice exam and email the score to ben.mcdole@gmail.com