Pittsburgh Mock Tournament

About this event

Join us for the Pittsburgh mock tournament judge conference on February 15! The format for the mock tournament will be Modern with no entry fee.  All participants are expected to be able to attend the full conference day.  If you have a significant and exceptional need for an exception, please contact the organizers.

This conference will be run as a competitive-level tournament with a judge team structure similar to a Grand Prix.

What is this event?

This event is intended for judges to develop their skills in a competitive setting. At the beginning of the day, we will have a couple presentations to get everyone ready to judge.  Then, we will host a 3 round modern tournament styled after a large event like an SCG Open. Some judges will act as the judges of the event, led by experienced team leads to mentor them.  Other judges will simulate judge calls during their rounds, giving lots of opportunities to practice judging at Competitive REL. Judge calls will be structured and are planned to be realistic and similar to those you’d see at an actual large event (a lot more GRVs than DQs!).  At the end of each round, there will be a team debrief where "lessons learned" during the round will be shared and we can discuss best practices and feedback. This is a perfect low-stress way to work on your Competitive REL judging skills! Judges will rotate between End of Round, a Deck Check workshop, and Paper teams, so you will get to try everything.

A full event schedule is here!

Schedule:

During the day, judges can expect to do workshops for two of the rounds, and judge the mock tournament the other two.

9:30 Doors open

10:00 Introductions 

10:30 Round one

11:30 Round two

12:30 Lunch

1:30 Round three

2:30 Round four

3:30 Debrief and foil distribution

Roles

Presenters:

John Alderfer

Joeseph Steet

Alex Bastecki

Karl Simmons

Brian Coval

Judges:

Steve Edelson

Hank Weist

Andy Martin

Brad Saunders

Eric Slater

James Tempelton

Ryan Wolfe

Players:

Stephanie Saunders

Kalvin Moyle

Sean Heverly

If something looks wrong here or you would like to change your role, feel free to reach out to us!

Who can participate?

All certified judges are encouraged to attend and participate.  Non-judge players are also welcome to participate as players, but they should be aware that there will not be prizes for winning event, and time between rounds will be used for debriefs.  This is, however, a good chance for players to learn more about how judges take calls. There are several roles available at this conference:

Player Participant- Player participants will play in the event as if it were a normal Competitive REL event.  They may participate in certain scenarios when paired against a presenter, and they will participate in the debriefs after each round to discuss calls taken during the round.

Floor Judge- Floor judges will judge the event on teams similar to a Grand Prix.  Floor judges will take judge calls at Competitive REL and practice each team of the event to get familiar with required large event tasks.

Head Judge- The Head Judge will handle announcements and coordinating between teams.  The Head Judge will not be taking appeals at this event.  This role is for an experienced L1 or newer L2 who would like to practice the skills of running an event and communicating to large groups.

Team Lead Presenter- The Team Lead Presenters are experienced team leads and will guide a team of judges through the judging tasks of a large event.  They will also moderate the debriefs each round. This role is for experienced L2+ judges only and is a presenter role.  

Player Presenter- The Player Presenters will coordinate ahead of the event to collaborate on scenarios that will be used in the tournament and to present those scenarios at the tournament.  This is a presenter role and requires advance preparation.

Foils!?

Yes, this is a foil-supported conference.  All Judge Academy Certified judges who apply before the deadline, are accepted (we do not anticipate declining any applications for this event), and attend in good faith for this conference will receive foils appropriate to their role at the conference.  That includes certified players acting as players for this event.  

How (and where) do I apply?

All applicants should apply using this application.  Please read the role descriptions above and select all roles you are willing to accept.  If you have role preferences, please include them in your application. Please also feel free to share the player participant signup link with people you think would be interested in helping with this event!

Applicants for judge roles should tell us what they would like to get out of this event in their cover letters.

Applicants for Player Presenter should include a common judge call scenario they would like to present in their cover letter.

Applicants for judge roles may write their cover letter as if this were a MagicFest or other large event you are applying for.  If you choose to do so, we are happy to give you feedback on it. This is good practice for applying to large events.

Questions?

Feel free to contact Eliana Rabinowitz or Avi Grinberg.