JudgeCast

Bryan, Charles, and Marcos were at SCGCon Tampa this past weekend working Magic events. However, there were THREE other TCGs at the SCGCon; Lorcana, Star Wars: Unlimited, and Flesh and Blood. We took the opportunity to speak to three head judges for the three games this weekend. Join us as we gain a little insight into other games, and their judge programs. Ben Harris - Lorcana Seth Arar - Star Wa...

Bryan, Charles, and Marcos all have SCGCon Tampa this weekend, so we need a small episode with little prep. Or thats what we THOUGHT. Join us as we take turns stepping on and off the soapbox for topics like: the recent bannings, excessive charging for store championships, Wizards giving Judges the finger AGAIN, the new Spotlight Series of Tournaments, and the importance of Online Judge Communities...

Judges are not immune to twitter drama. We get sucked in the same way players do when there is a post about a potentially bad judge call. In this episode, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos talk about how judges respond when we hear about an issue on social media, and how we go about trying to figure out what really happened, and how we attempt to reconcile the player version of the story with what we kno...

Join Bryan, Charles, and Marcos as we forage over the mechanics of the newest set, as well make a valiant effort to review some cards that you might have questions about at your prerelease or local commander game. We spring off into a tangent about a punk band, and have an otter ridiculous Mickey Mouse impersonation (Steamboat Willy version), and discuss the proper ways to gift a fish. Oh, frogive...

Join Bryan, Charles, and Marcos this week as they talk about the system Magic uses to determine which player can act when, what they can do, and how the game advances to the next part. This is a fundamental MTG topic, so if you are looking to become a judge, an existing judge looking to brush up, or an old-timer just listening to hear them say things you already know, this is the episode for you!

Is it a reference to a Celine Dion Song, or a little-known skit from The State. How about both? Both is good. Join Bryan, Charles, and Marcos as we talk about the Judging at Regular Policy document. This document governs judging at Regular Rules Enforcement Level (REL), which covers the vast majority of events. Everything from 8-player Wednesday night drafts to 200-player Myster Booster Sealed eve...

Did you know there are a lot of rules regarding ending the game? There sure are! Join Bryan, Charles, and Marcos as we go into the rules around ending the game. There's a surprising amount of rules around this seemingly simple task. And not just the Comprehensive rules, we talk about Tournament rules and Infraction procedures. There's even a "blink and you'll miss it" shout out to the old Platinum...

Modern Horizons 3 has a LOT of mechanics, and a LOT of cards. So for this release notes episode, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos decided to try something a little different. We each chose our 6 favorite cards from the set to talk about, along with covering a selection of mechanics that may need an in depth refresher for your MH3 Prerelease events this weekend. We highlight some Nightmares, say Umbra Ar...

Prompt: Write a 2 paragraph description of a Podcast episode JudgeCast where the hosts Bryan, Charles, and Marcos talk about AI in MTG Judging, and then ask ChatGPT a bunch of policy/rules questions and then discuss how well it did. Response: In a recent episode of JudgeCast, hosts Bryan, Charles, and Marcos delve into the intriguing intersection of artificial intelligence and Magic: The Gathering...

In this episode Bryan and Marcos go over the April Policy updates. But that's not enough for a full episode, so we bring in three other smaller topics.- The Judge contradiction of "I want to be staffed because of what I know, not who I know" vs the sense of entitlement when all the TOs know you.- When new information is gained with respect to Reversing decisions.- Open Book vs Closed Book testing.

Bryan, Charles, and Marcos work an event together. We talk about our time at SCGCon: Atlanta, and then we do micro interviews with many of the judges working the event. Who are you? Why do you keep judging? Do you have a PG rated story you could share? Big thanks to all the judges that took time out of their shift to talk to us, and big thanks to Star City Games for allowing our shenanigans during...

Join Bryan, Charles, and Marcos as we tour this western planet of hats and discuss the new mechanics such as Plot, crime, Saddle, and Spree. We go over nearly 50 cards to help you get ready for your prerelease. The only thing missing is a in depth discussion regarding the different between the Cattleman, the Gambler, the Pinched Front, and the Gus. Which now that I think about it, thats at least w...

Bryan, Charles, and Marcos venture once again into the Unknown. But why? Is it an Unfulfilled quest? Is it an Undercover task to Unseat some evil? Join us for an Undeniably special treat. You won't want to miss this one, the clock is ticking!

"Hey Judge, Can I offer my opponent any extra cash for the RC invite? In this episode, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos discuss the rules around bribery; what it is, isn't, what's legal, what isn't, and how to handle some common questions that you might run into at your RCQ. If you are a player, this episode will help you stay out of trouble, but it won't teach you the most common question of: "Ok, so I...

In this episode, the JudgeCast hosts welcome David Hibbs and Joe (TxJoe) Klophic, to talk about the Hunter Burton Memorial Open (HBMO). The HBMO is an annual Dallas based tournament designed to raise awareness of the impact suicide can have on our lives, and the importance of having a place you are welcome. David and Joe were the HJ and TO, respectively, for the HBMO this year as it celebrated its...

Completely unrelated to any twitter drama you might have read about, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos talk about the types of information in Magic. We talk about what types of information you have to tell your opponent, what questions you have to answer, and what types of things do you have to be truthful about and what you can even lie about. Lying? Not in my competitive card game with money on the lin...

During the winter break, we asked listeners for their "Judge New Years Resolutions". One of our listeners said they wanted to work on confidence. In this episode, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos bring on L2 from Tennessee, Madison Henry to talk confidence. We talk about things that can rattle your confidence, tips and tricks to build confidence, and we even get personal and share stories about times we...

Join Bryan, Charles, and Marcos as we discuss the ins and outs of the latest MTG Set, Murders at Martina Navratilova Manor, and go into more detail than you probably wanted about the new cards and mechanics. Want to know about Morph 2.0? We got you covered like a fedora. Want to know about Manifest 2.0, we got you covered like a cloak. Want to know about Mole Gods? We talk about that too. Links:Ju...

In this episode, Bryan, Charles, and Mark talk about the rules and policies around Marked Cards. Do you ever wonder what the criteria for an upgrade is? How to protect yourself as a player? What to look for as a judge? Are all foils inherently marked? Join us as we take a guided tour through all these questions and more. Links:JudgeCast Discord: https://discord.gg/hQd48guKFR

In this episode Bryan, Charles, and Marcos celebrate Festivus, JudgeCast-Style. We have our own Festivus dinner (questions from our discord), the airing of grievances, feats of strength, and finally acknowledgement of the Festivus miracle that we are still judging at all. Links:JudgeCast Discord: https://discord.gg/hQd48guKFR

In this episode, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos talk about reviews. We go over the history of reviews within the various judge programs of the past, their requirements in the future. We also talk about the importance of reviews, and a few tips on how to write a good one, and pitfalls to avoid. We even write a few review snippets on the fly. You can also leave us a review on your podcast platform of ch...

It's a brave new world, with the announcement of Judge Foundry's launch date coming next week. In this episode, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos welcome Joe Klopchic, one of the founding exploratory committee members of Judge Foundry, and we ask the hard hitting questions you want to know about Judge Foundry. Things like will there be judge foils, what level will I be with this new structure, how much a...

Bears, Beats, Bad Seques into the next cardIt's a prerelease episode. You know the drill. Oh, and WOTC is changing some card types. Here's the info: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/card-updates-coming-with-khans-of-tarkir-on-mtg-arena

After the serious/heart-wrenching episode that was last podcast, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos take a significantly less serious approach to this episode. Everyone loves a good tier list. "Everyone" loves state-based actions (or would if they knew what was good for them). Watch these donkeys push the ball around the metaphorical barnyard as we rank all State-Based actions in the game based on our hig...

We do circle back on Anger a few times. And acceptance is a bit iffy, but....In this episode, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos talk about the most recent Judge News. In case you haven’t heard, Wizards of the Coast has cancelled their relationship with Judge Academy effectively killing the company and abandoning judges. In a substantially more candid episode than usual, we talk about the announcements fr...