So you’ve certified for L1, you’ve judged a few PTQs, you are gaining experience… and you want to aim higher. A Grand Pix or a StarCityGames.com Open Series weekend is a big event, but the Pro Tour is the real thing. The tour is a dream come true for players seeking glory… but what about judges?
When / Where?
The number of Pro Tours has varied in past seasons, but now there are four Pro Tours per season (including Worlds). So far this year, we’ve had San Diego and San Juan; in September we will have Amsterdam, and in December there is Worlds in Chiba, Japan.
Typically, there is one Pro Tour in Europe, another in the U.S. and another in Asia every season. The last one is held in an exotic location, with “exotic” meaning “a place where there usually wouldn’t be a big MTG event.” Recent examples are San Juan in Puerto Rico and Honolulu in Hawaii, the latter being the most memorable Pro Tour to date for me. This was a place where I learnt a lot, where I had loads of fun, where I met great people, and where I wouldn’t mind returning.
My guess (or my hope!) is to have an upcoming Pro Tour in Ibiza, Spain. We haven’t had a Pro Tour in my country since Pro Tour: Valencia in ’07, and after the record-breaking Grand Prix: Madrid earlier this year, it would be great to host another big event like this. Why Ibiza? Well, I wouldn’t mind hosting a Pro Tour in Madrid, my hometown, but Ibiza is such a beautiful island. It’s a place where you can enjoy its famous nightlife, as there are lots of nightclubs and open air beach bars (in Spanish that’s “chiringuitos”). There’s also an amazingly beautiful natural environment, one that has led UNESCO to recognize Ibiza as a World Heritage Site due to its biodiversity and culture.
Is there any particular place you would like to see the Pro Tour? Discuss it in the forums!
Why?
There are several reasons that can lead you to apply for a PT. The most straightforward and most frequent will be your willingness to learn, your desire to gain experience, and to improve your judging skills. If you are looking to advance within the DCI Judge Program, there will be onsite opportunities to do so. A Pro Tour is normally the only event that has Level 3 exams administered, and there are opportunities to test for Level 1 and Level 2.
But there’s more! What about traveling?
My favorite memories come from the trips themselves. The places you can visit are an added value that you shouldn’t miss. In order to fulfill my tourism interests, I always schedule a few extra days so I can go sightseeing in the city or country I am visiting. I particularly enjoy taking tons of pictures and sharing them on Facebook. This provides a way of keeping a photo log of your trip for yourself, and also engages other people, making them a part of your experience. I always enjoy when people comment on these pictures after an event, sometimes leading to epic-fun threads of comments and jokes.
All of this sounds exciting and interesting; these are all valid motivations, but to me the real thing is the time I spend with people.
In my opinion, meeting people is the most valuable asset the PT can offer to you. At any given event there will be lots of judges, and you know what? I’ve met most of my best friends in the Judge Program at these events, high quality people that have become a very important part of my life, and all thanks to the PT. Again, receiving a lot of friend requests on Facebook after an event is a joy to me. In the Internet era, it has become possible to establish relations with friends from all around the world, and Facebook provides us a way to connect with our friends from abroad.
Who?
There is a common misconception about the Pro Tour being an elitist event. This is far from being true. The Pro Tour is not only for high level and seasoned / experienced judges; there is also room for new people. Because the DCI wants these events to serve as a training ground for those who are attending, there is a provision of activities and opportunities in many fields to improve and to learn. The Pro Tour gives judges exposure to professional events, but it also provides education for everyone. Normally every Level 2+ judge will be scheduled at least one day to work on the main event, and for the rest of the event he will be assigned to diverse tasks. It is true that a Level 1 judge will rarely work at the main event, but there are more things to do at a Pro Tour besides the main event!
What?
Of course there’s the Main Event, but fortunately there is a lot more going on. Public Events (PE) are usually really big events that are staffed with everyone that is not on the main event. There are PTQs, GPTs and all kind of different events of all imaginable formats. Vintage, Legacy, EDH, 128-player Draft Challenges, eight-man single elimination events… you name it, you got it.
But wait… Are you saying that if I volunteer to judge at a Pro Tour, I might end up at PE doing eight-man events?
Maybe… why wouldn’t you want to do that? Eight-man is an interesting task to perform, and please don’t see this (or any other particular task) as too small or too unimportant; everything that is done at an event is important, from counting decklists or sorting lands to Team Leading or administering exams. There is no small task. I will always remember John Alderfer (L3 from Pennsylvania), Johanna Virtanen (L3 from Finland), and Mitsunori Makino (L3 from Japan) sorting lands at Pro Tour: Kyoto. I was a freshly-minted Level 1 back them, and I was truly impressed to see some of the finest judges in the world doing such a dull and repetitive task. It simply needed to be done.
I was in charge of eight-man events at Worlds in Rome, and I have to say that it was quite challenging. I prepared for that assignment, making good use of The Art of Eight-Man Drafts, an article by George Trichopoulos (L2 from Greece). Believe me, it was not easy, and I was so fortunate to have Riki Hayashi assigned to my team, since I probably would have screwed it big time without his help.
One of my favorite activities at Pro Tours is attending seminars. These are master classes on certain topics. There are a lot of different seminars, from a practical approach to tournament operations (like how to perform a Deck Check), to guidelines on how to run an investigation, or on how judges have to communicate and interact with players. Providing access to the rest of the community to this knowledge is tough, and sometimes there are seminars that get published in the form of articles, just like Justin Hovdenes’ award winning on The Layer System or Nick Sephton and Jurgen Baert’s A Matter of Perspective, an article on player communication policy.
There are also “interviews” called 2 on 1; they are opportunities to talk to more experienced judges about whatever you want to discuss! You can discuss issues like your goals in the program, the development of your local community, or anything you want to suggest about the event itself.
Other ways to encourage people to communicate with others is through games or social activities. As examples, we have Pete Jahn’s Judge Bingo, or Carlos Ho’s Map Quest at PT Honolulu, or the more recent Boom Tube at PT San Juan.
Of course, you can also enjoy of the company of your fellow judges outside the event having dinner or drinks at very fine places, like the mandatory visit to Fogo de Chao, the unofficial DCI churrasqueria. And don’t forget, there is the traditional Judge dinner on Sunday night, after the Pro Tour, where the judge staff goes out for dinner en masse.
How?
When judging at a PT you receive a gift, consisting of some amount of product and a set of DCI Judge foils, in compensation for your time and your work. Usually, you have to cover your own travel and lodging expenses, but sometimes you may receive a sponsorship.
These sponsorships cover either travel or hotel expenses, or sometimes both. Sponsorships are a way to reward judges who are working hard, and for those who have proven their commitment and dedication to the DCI Judge Program. On occasion, they also help judges from more remote regions to gain experience at big events.
To sum it up, I strongly recommend that all judges out there do their utmost to attend a Pro Tour… and, if you are not a judge, have you ever considered becoming one? There is a lot of fun to be had, and the Pro Tour is the place to be!