Author Archives: Bryan Prillaman

JudgeCast #329 – Soap Box City

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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.
Unfortunately the cEDH drama hadn’t fully exploded when we recorded or that would have been a topic too.

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JudgeCast #328 Meta Drama or Betta’ Drama?

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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 know about policy. We also discuss why judges typically don’t make comments about contentious calls. It’s a very meta episode.

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JudgeCast #327 – CEDH – It was bound to happen eventually

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Join Bryan, Charles, and Marcos as we discuss the up-and-coming format cEDH. That’s Competitive Elder Dragon Highlander to the uninitiated. However, to do that we bring on Michael Arrowsmith, also known as Baldy, to go over what the format is, how it’s different from commander and the various logistical challenges that might arise at a cEDH tournament from the Judges perspective.

Baldy’s Spice shop: baldysblends.com
MTR-A & IPG-A: Comp Rel MTR/IPG Addendum for Commander Events
Monarch Policy Documents: https://www.monarch.cards/policy-documents
Command Tower Software: https://topdeck.gg/subscribe

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JudgeCast #326 – Bloomburrow Release Notes

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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 me, did I mention this set was Bloomburrow?

The Proper Way to Gift a Fish – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8XeDvKqI4E

Preview of Emmet Otter’s Jug band Christmas – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFJ2jxIe4CQ

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JudgeCast #325 – “…And in Response”, a Podcast About Priority

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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!

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JudgeCast #324 Near, Far, Wherever you JAR (Judging a Regular)

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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 events at MagicCons, the JAR tells us how to handle common problems that can occur in games. The JAR is also part of any L1 exam you might be considering. We go over the philosophy, and the various categories of issues, making sure you know everything you need to know.

If you are studying to become an L1, or just need a refresher, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

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JudgeCast #323 – You Just Lost The Game

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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 Angel/Sudden Death scenario. I won’t spoil the answer; you’ll have to listen. Or Google. I guess you could google it. If you wanted to be lame.

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JudgeCast #321 – Do Android Judges dream of electric CPVs

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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 (MTG) judging. The trio begins by exploring how AI can potentially assist judges in managing tournaments, interpreting complex rules, and ensuring fair play. They discuss both the benefits and limitations of AI in this context, highlighting how machine learning algorithms could streamline the adjudication process and reduce human error. [Bryan: Lol, no we didnt, and no you don’t] However, they also caution about the current technological constraints and the essential role of human judgment in interpreting the nuanced aspects of the game.

To put AI to the test, the hosts invite ChatGPT to answer a series of challenging [Bryan: Simple] MTG policy and rules questions. The questions range from handling obscure [Bryan: Common] card interactions to resolving intricate [Bryan: Simple] gameplay scenarios. After each question, Bryan, Charles, and Marcos analyze ChatGPT’s responses, comparing them to official rulings and their own experiences. They find that while ChatGPT demonstrates impressive knowledge and can provide accurate answers in many [Bryan: Slow your roll there, Chatty] cases, it occasionally [Bryan: Frequently] falters on more complex or context-dependent issues. The episode concludes with a lively discussion on the future potential of AI in MTG judging, acknowledging that while AI can be a powerful tool, it is unlikely to fully replace the expertise and intuition of experienced human judges anytime soon.

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JudgeCast #320 – Policy, and Odds ‘n Ends

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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.

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JudgeCast #319 – SCGCon Atlanta Interviews

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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 their event.

If you want to share a story, join our discord at https://discord.gg/hQd48guKFR

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