Originally posted by Edwin Zhang:
Joe had been judging for a very long time period, who had good relations with all generations of judges. As a tutor in real life, Joe acted as a tutor for many new judges. Joe had been leader of the Hong Kong magic community by leading local activities, as well as a leader for the entire Chinese speaking communities by joining communications and activities online, and a leader for the entire APAC region be frequently visiting all GPs around Asia.
Steven Briggs
I am very pleased and honored to introduce my dear friend, my first judge mentor, the venerable David Rappaport to the L3 community. Hailing from Westland, Michigan, Judge Dave has been an area leader in Michigan for a decade. He has judged at all levels of Organized Play, with strong ties to both local events and stores as well as regional and larger competitive events. He has been heavily involved in mentoring new judges, working on the Judging at Regular document, along with a variety of other projects, articles, and activities.
On a personal note, I was very fortunate at the beginning of my judging career to be his protege. David has developed many excellent judges who have gone on to become some of the stronger L2's in the region. I believe that the development he has done with and for judges in the region is a testament to some of his greatest strengths in education, mentoring, and helping others enjoy adjudicating this great game. Congratulations, my friend, and welcome to Level 3. You have earned every bit of it!
Originally posted by Johanna Virtanen:
When I first met Patrick, I determined that he wasn't ready to test for L1 and sent him away without much encouragement or advice. Luckily, he came back anyway and got his Level 1 at Swedish Nationals 2008. Since then, he has become one of the leaders of the Swedish judge community, someone players trust and judges look up to - and also one of my favorite people to hang out with after a tournament. His professional mentoring and evaluating skills from his job as a teacher are put to good use in the judge program. Sweden has been lacking a Level 3 for over 10 years, and I'm sure Patrick's promotion will have a huge positive impact on the Swedish community and the whole Europe North region. Congratulations, Patrick!
David Lyford-Smith
I like to ask people who are looking at Level 3, “who's the Level 1 you know that's the best eventual L3 candidate?” It's a great way to find out how they think about the big picture and if they can spot that spark in somebody. Matt was the person chosen for a (short) while, before exempting himself by becoming L2. Shortly thereafter he was answering the question himself as he moved on to pursuing L3.
Matt is a studied thinker on the IPG and our philosophies, and a policy debate with him is always an enlightening experience. He's a master of careful and detailed planning, and has given some genuinely excellent seminars full of deep policy questions. Matthew's also a high-ranked bridge official - ask him about that sometime if you want an eye-opening comparison of just how different two card games can operate their tournaments. Most of all, Matt's a thoughtful, innovative, and deep thinker that I'm sure will do his part to make Magic and tournaments better.
David Lyford-Smith
What to say about Tom Ralph? Thomas just had his 15-year anniversary as a judge, and was at Level 2 for over 12 years. I've known him from before I was ever a judge at all, and from my earliest experiences of judging, Tom was there and involved in working at the same events as me, and sharing his wisdom and experience with me. Whether in Ireland or his current location in London, he's always around with a new idea for improving efficiency, and always has a suggestion on how to keep an event on time and working. His travel-fu is the strongest I know, and even in the foreign climes of Portland this last weekend he seemed to know everything about the best flight plans to get there and the best tram routes tot take! He's also never seen to be overcome by events and is a rock you can rely on to get something done no matter the circumstances. More importantly, he's a friend and an excellent person. Congratulations and welcome to L3 at long last, Thomas!
Originally posted by Nathan Brewer:
Simon ‘Fry’ Freiberg is a relatively new L1 from Australia. Wait. That's not right at all. Let me try again. Simon ‘Fry’ Freiberg is a relatively new L2 from Australia. Wait. That's still not right. Simon ‘Fry’ Freiberg is a new L3 from Australia. There. Much better.
Fry's rise to Level 3 has been nothing short of meteoric. His determination and dedication to mastering judging and sharing the lessons he's learned with others are a shining example of what judging is at its best. He's actively involved with the Australian magic community in a host of different ways, having travelled extensively to events and being one of the administrators of the hugely successful Australian/New Zealand Rules and Policy Facebook group. He's made the most of his short time as a judge (well shy of two years from 0-3), having travelled to the US for a Pro Tour/GP combo and making sure he took on every opportunity presented to him here in Australia. Watching Fry develop as a judge has been incredible, and I encourage everyone looking to develop their judging career to look to Fry as a role model.
Fry has worked very hard to achieve all he has in such a short time, and it is with great pleasure that I welcome Fry to the rank of Level 3.
Originally posted by Justin Turner:
Matt “Billy Willy” Williams was one of the first judges I ever interacted with. Even back then, at my first event, he was the epitome of hustle. His infectious energy and decisiveness has always been a boon to Florida events and beyond. Congratulations!
Originally posted by Shawn Doherty:
When I moved to the Philadelphia area almost 10 years ago, I started judging at some of the Prereleases and PTQs in the area. That's where I first met Nicola DiPasquale. He was one of a handful of Philly-area judges that were regulars on the scene. As others moved on or fell away, Nick became the leader of the community. Over the years, he has grown as a judge, expanding his role, and influencing the region. Throughout the years, he has maintained his personality and enthusiasm about judging and the judges that he works with. For those that know him well, they see this new level as confirmation of what they have known for years. Welcome, Nicola, to Level 3 and congratulations on all the hard work and dedication that you have given to the program that has gotten you to this point.
Adrian Estoup
Carlos is one of the most active judges in the region, is one of the leaders of the Venezuelan community. His passion for certifying other judges has made him one of the judges who made most certifications in one last year worldwide. His passion for the game and the program is easy to see in each thing he does like translations, contest or discussions in the list or tournament in the region. I'm sure he will keep growing in this way and I hope see more of his “sons” in the near future.
Originally posted by David Lyford-Smith:
Jack is a great up and coming Level 1 Judge with a great keenness for improving. Oh, I'm sorry, did I say Level 1? I meant Level 2 - Jack's a great L2 with an amazing amount of presence in the online Magic community. Wait, Jack's L3 already? Where did the time go?
Jack Doyle is a rising star in the UK judge community and “Scryus” is a well known judge anywhere where judges have internet connections. Jack works hard and works endlessly on a tonne of projects, at any event he can get to, and everywhere else. He also has a positive attitude, is always ready with a sympathetic ear, and is well liked in the player community, too. He'll be an awesome L3 and I am super happy to have him join the UK / Ireland / South Africa team.
Originally posted by David Lyford-Smith:
The South Africa & British Isles region has grown five new Level 3s in 2014 - Adam Liebman, Matthew Johnson, Ray Fong, Thomas Ralph, and now Jack Doyle. This is an amazing achievement and I'm proud of all those that passed, and of all the judges that have mentored and worked with them to get our community to this new, more mature stage. Particular thanks must go to my predecessor, Kim Warren, and especially to our Level 3 advancement coordinator, Oli Bird. I'm excited to see what we're capable of as a region in 2015 with this new generation of leaders and role models.
Originally posted by Adrian Estoup:
Julio is a proof that if you have the desire and skills, anything is possible and the Judge program is not an exception. During the last few years Julio has shown admirable energy and become one of the most important exponents of a new generation of Magic Judges, not only in Argentina, he is a Rockstar in Sudamerica also. It is always is a challenge predict the future but in this case, I can say without doubt: "The Judge Program is better every day with Julio in it” Congrats!!
Jeremy Behunin
Scott first came to my attention as someone wanting to organize judge gatherings outside of events. Since then he's put countless hours toward getting people together and growing the community. Mentoring and building relationships are some of his greatest strengths. This was made clear to me during a PTQ in Boise. Scott was able to help keep a member of the staff from tilting while bringing a less active judge to take a more active role in the event. I look forward to his influence growing with his new role in the program. Well done and congratulations!
Originally posted by Alfonso Bueno:
I remember a PTQ several years ago. One of the judges in staff had to cancel and other of the judges told me “Hey, this guy just certified for L1 a few weeks ago. He’s not experienced, but he has potential”. I thought: well, let’s see. Early that morning I discovered the judge recommending AJ was right… at least on the first part; AJ was not very experienced in Competitive REL. For the lunch break I left the L2s on the floor and I took the L1 with me, and then was when I discovered the recommending judge was quite right on the second part as well!! I really became impressed by the ideas and perspective of that “random L1” had.
From that day he quickly got use to the competitive environment becoming a known face at the GP scene in Europe. He also became a leader in the judge community of Madrid and later in the Spanish community. And now he’s a L3!!!
Originally posted by Alfonso Bueno:
Sandra is one of those judges who have been stalling on becoming the L3 for some years because she was too busy with other things in the judge community that she didn’t have time to prepare for the test. But when she took the test she was, indeed, prepared: scoring 100% in the written and succeeding at the panel.
For the last years Sandra has play many roles in the community, as a judge, as a TO, as WotC staff (and even as a player :p ). When doing so she always looked for the wellness of the entire community. I’m very proud of finally having Sandra amongst the L3s.
Nicholas Sabin
Josh Feingold has been a long-time contributor to the Magic communities in Richmond and Virginia Beach. His work creating and leading the Personal Tutor project, as well as his contributions to Knowledge Pool, have shown the judge community at large what his local colleagues have known for quite some time: Josh is an insightful, intelligent member of the program whose work has benefited judges worldwide. I'm thrilled to welcome him to the Level Three community, and look forward to seeing more excellent work from him in the future. Congratulations, Josh!
Edited Christopher Richter (Nov. 21, 2014 12:03:04 PM)
Originally posted by Sebastian Pekala:
Jara Karban became a judge back in 2005, and L2 two years later. He's been preparing for L3 for some time, but in the last 2 years entire local community was crossing fingers for him. He's a great leader in Czech Republic and a guiding light for many judges, organizing everything judge program-related in his country and helping Slovakia when necessary. I'm thankful for all his contributions locally and hope that he will continue to help grow new L2s and L3s in his area.
Guillaume Beuzelin
Khanh Le Thien started his judge career in December 2010 in the Paris suburb. Barely certified, he immediately started to organize and handle almost alone the prereleases in his area. It’s during this period that Khanh developed his main skills which are: federate people, having a great community vision, in parallel he also developed the skills need to organize tournaments. All this involvements naturally lead Khan to pass level 2. Khanh really wanted to improve so he traveled a lot in France and aboard to: judge PTQ, organize conferences, he also started to do GP in Europe and in Asia where he quickly became popular. All the interactions with the Asian community let him learnt and shared a lot.
With his multiples talents and a strong will to share it was pretty natural that Khanh test for level 3. His level 3 legitimates his involvement in the program and give him more possibilities to have an positive impact on the judge program. Congratulations to Khanh, we wish you a good continuation among us.
Originally posted by Alfonso Bueno:
I know Sergio for quite a long time, since he was a kid from the far north of Spain playing and winning PTQs. For several years he was playing the most of the PTQ I was judging. But one day Carlos Ho came and told me ‘I’m going to test Sergio for L1’, at that point I thought “well, another pro-player with the L1. He’ll lose it in 6 months, when it expires” I couldn’t be more wrong. Soon after Sergio became L1 he became fully involved in the judge community, he judged frequently and he stepped up as a leader. I ended up testing him for L2 a few months later. And two years after that, I’m welcoming him to the L3.
Sergio, thank you for all the efforts you’ve done and will do for the community.
Originally posted by Shawn Doherty:
Back in April of 2013, I received an email from Joe Hughto. He had been Level 1 for under a month, but he wanted to tell me two things: 1) That he would be moving to my region in a few months; and 2) That he was interested in becoming Level 2 in the next year. My next contact with Joe was in August 2013. I had to get his address to mail him a recognition for working on the Missed Trigger Guide. Getting to recognize a judge 3 weeks after he moves to your region is usually a good sign.
Around that same time, I received another good sign: An email from Bernd Buldt. He was making sure that I knew that Joe had moved here from Indiana and that I should keep an eye on him. I had received a similar email a year prior from Bernd about a new L1, Paul Baranay, who was only then well on his way to becoming Level 3 himself. These early signs proved to be true as Joe dove deep into the judge program.
He has been involved in a variety of projects, both on the local and global level. He is a staple on the Grand Prix and SCG Open circuits, while still helping out at the store level. In a just a short time, Joe has become one of my important and valuable judges in the region. This value has been seen by many others as well and is exemplified by people commenting “Wow, finally” not “Oh, already?” when they heard that he was promoted to Level 3. I look forward to seeing Joe's impact on the Level 3 community now. His hard work, straightforward attitude, and passion for the community will continue to strengthen all that get the opportunity to interact with him. Congratulation, Joe!
Richard Drijvers
It was during Pro Tour San Diego 2010 that I was intrigued by the fact that a Belgian player AND a Dutch player made it to the Top 8. I believe this is when I first met Niels Viaene. Little did I know that he was also a L1 judge who had paused judging for playing the game and seeing the world. During my conversation with him there, nothing about judging was discussed, only a mere congratulations for his achievement was given.
It wasn't until 2 years later that Niels decided to pick up judging once again and, oh my, he did. He passed his L2 and bulldozered over the European GP Circuit gaining a tonne of experience in a short timeframe. I guess that's why he told me about his L3 aspirations during GP London 2013. It was one of the craziest talks I've had about such a serious topic, mostly because it largely took place AFTER the judge dinner.
Still…plans were made and goals were set.
And, all be it with a slight delay due to some Pacific travels, I am very happy to welcome Niels Viaene in our select group of esteemed L3 Magic Judges!
Originally posted by Jeremy Behunin:
Stephan is the driving force behind the Hawaii community. He is constantly looking for ways to keep people active. His dedication really shines in training new judges, helping those wanting to advance, organizing events, and bringing everyone together regularly.
He first came to my attention after organizing a local conference for Hawaii. Somehow convincing Scott Marshall to take a break from his vacation to hold a Q&A session. Later he worked with Riki Hayashi to organize a more formal conference while the Pro Tour was in town. Again luring people away from the wonders of the islands to give seminars and learn. All while organizing side events for the PT.
Stephan continues to make his community a priority. Organizing regular gatherings via skype and encouraging others to talk about subjects that matter to them. The reach Stephan has achieved while in such an isolated area is an inspiration. I look forward to his future projects, events and friendship.
Originally posted by Guillaume Buezelin:
Few weeks ago, Sophie had her 5 years judge anniversary. I wrote a text explaining the impressive evolution in Sophie behavior between her level 1 and today. The two last years Sophie completely change her behavior and became more and more open to discussions. At the same time she has been able to develop leadership skills. Now Sophie is clearly a leader by example. She shows so much enthusiast that you feel obliged to follow her.
I'm super glad to have her joining the French L3 team. Sophie profile is pretty complementary with the others French L3. At the international scale, you will see her on tournament as usual and I would not be surprised to see her name on more and more international projects.
Originally posted by Edwin Zhang:
Hans Wang had been judging for a very long time, he means leadership for the local judges, and he means the judge program for the local players. I have known him forever, to a point I'm not sure when I met him for the first time, and he had always brought a super friendly atmosphere around him like a party organizer (well, he worked as party organizer at one point).
Hans worked very hard toward L3 since he decided that he wants to be one, he actively communicates with judges from mainland China, and share ideas to connect up Taiwan and mainland China judge communities. He experienced failure with L3 interview once, but he came back from it, and worked on his weakness for improvement. Finally he got there, congratulations Hans, well done!
Originally posted by Jeremy Behunin:
Adena has become a road warrior of the Northwest. Often driving for hours to attend events, mentor aspiring judges, or even to catch a flight. Her travels around Wyoming and Montana have resulted in many areas that were starved for events now having access to a judge and a growing community. This dedication to customer service and community have become a staple of the work Adena does across the region. Her work ethic is clear and we’re certainly lucky to have someone so willing to put so much of herself into the community.
Gavin Duggan
While we recently sent Charlotte as an envoy to Finland, she's been a mainstay of judging in Canada for many years and is one of the community's public faces. She's helped build the international community with her efforts in rules documentation and podcasting, and has bootstrapped a number of local communities on her own. She's always willing to patiently mentor others and provide a sounding board, sharing her experience from numerous nationals, grand prix, and pro tour events. The Canadian community was incredibly proud to hear her journey to L3 was complete, and we look forward seeing what comes in the future.