NRG Series Chicagoland Showdown Weekend - February 2025
| Organizer: | Nerd Rage Gaming |
|---|---|
| Judge manager: | Landon "Libby" Liberator |
| Event type: | NRG Series |
| REL: | Competitive |
| Format: | Mixed Formats |
| Event date(s): | Feb. 1, 2025-Feb. 2, 2025 |
| Location: | Elmhurst, Illinois, United States |
| Venue: | Waterford Banquets and Clarion Inn Hotel, 933 S. Riverside Drive Elmhurst, IL 60126 |
| Applications accepted through: | Jan. 10, 2025 |
Event Information
Nerd Rage Gaming is excited to present the staff solicitation to work at the NRG Series Chicagoland Showdown Weekend on 02/01/25-02/02/25.
Saturday: Modern Showdown; Head Judge TBD
Sunday: Team Trios Constructed (Legacy/Modern/Standard) Trial; Head Judge TBD
Please read, understand, and apply accurately as decisions will be made relying upon your answers.
Roles
We are accepting applicants for many different roles at this event. You may apply for more than one role. In your application, please specify which role(s) you are applying for.
Floor Judge: We will be accepting 6-7 main event floor judges for each day and 1 designated side event floor judge.
Floor Judge (extended Sunday shift): This role is for judges who are willing to stay throughout the Top 8 on Sunday night. We will be accepting one extended Sunday shift judge per weekend.
Prize Wall: This is a role for judges who are willing to come in later and assist players with redeeming their prize tix. After the prize wall is closed, a Prize Wall judge will assist with tearing down the prize wall.
Standby (NEW OFFER): We will be accepting a limited number of judges in a standby role. More information about this role can be found below.
Expectations
All Staff: All judges are expected to act in a professional manner as a representative of Nerd Rage Gaming Ltd. Staff members should be wearing a Magic Judge black shirt, NRG Series judge shirt, or Judge Academy polo shirt along with an undershirt, black belt, black pants, black socks, and comfortable, close-toed shoes. If you do not have any of these shirts, a plain black button-down works fine. A typical shift will cover all rounds of Swiss. This shift will last approximately 8-10 hours, with a full-round break and a half-round break given at the head judge's discretion.
Floor Judge: Roles that this staff member may be asked to do include, but are not limited to:
- answer calls and deliver rulings at Competitive Rules Enforcement Level.
- answer calls and deliver rulings at Regular Rules Enforcement Level (side events).
- conduct deck checks at Competitive Rules Enforcement Level.
- assist with player inquiries about MTG Melee tool.
- help maintain a safe play environment consistent with Nerd Rage Gaming standards.
- minimal tear-down tasks, such as collecting table numbers.
Prize Wall: Prize Wall judges are asked to:
- Occasional preform the duties of a floor judge in the side events area
- Assist players with receiving their prizes
- Staying on site until the prize wall has closed and is torn down completely.
Compensation
All staff members will be compensated based on their role. They will receive their compensation via Paypal upon the conclusion of the event and must complete appropriate tax paperwork (W-9 for US citizens). Judges may opt to receive store credit or MTGO Tix instead of cash compensation. Store credit can be spent at the vendor booth, in-store, or at nerdragegaming.com. Choosing to take compensation in-store credit will apply at 20% bonus.
| Role | Cash compensation (per day) |
| Floor Judge | $250 |
| Prize Wall | $300 |
| Extended Sunday Floor Judge | +$50 |
In addition to their compensation, all Floor Judges will be paid out a $15 lunch stipend each day they work. This is known as "Hot Dog Money."
All judges also receive NRG Judge Rewards points upon the conclusion of the event. These points can be redeemed in the NRG Judge Rewards program. For more information on points and swag, check out our website.
Standby
Nerd Rage Gaming uses standby roles at some of our events to be able to adjust the size of our judge staff based on attendance. Standby judges should come to the event ready to play with a deck of the appropriate format, but should also bring their judge uniform in case attendance exceeds our expectations.
Should a standby judge become activated, they will be compensated at the typical floor judge rate based on their role. We will try to notify standby judges in advance if we anticipate them being activated, but all activation decisions will be based on the tournament organizer's discretion at the event.
Should a standby not be needed to judge, they will receive the following:
- Free entry into any constructed side event as long as they bring a deck.
- One of the following
- Free entry into the main event of the day & $50 in side event credit (to be spent on side events entry).
- Free entry into two mystery booster sealed spectacular events
Misc.
All questions or comments about this application can be directed to NRG Judge Manager Landon "Libby" Liberator at libby@nerdragegaming.com.
Applicants will be notified regarding their acceptance or declination on or before January 11th, 2024.
We expect applications for all NRG Series events to be fairly competitive. If you apply and are not accepted, please apply again in the future!