This document discusses how to balance judging and playing Magic: The Gathering. It notes that several factors like travel time, cost, and social pressures influence whether one judges or plays. Judging and playing require different skills and can be draining in different ways. The document advises hitting the right balance to avoid burnout and frustration from doing too much of either judging or playing. It provides tips for remaining impartial when judging friends and how to conduct oneself when playing as a judge or judging as a player. The overall message is that one should find the right balance that works for them and remember to have fun.

1. National UKISA Judge
Conference 2015
How to Balance Judging and Playing
By
Joao Choca (L2, London)

2. Decisions, Decisions…
● Several factors affect your
choice:
● Time taken to travel
● Cost
● Friends/Peer Pressure
● How early one needs to wake
up
● Example: judge FNM/PPTQ
locally, travel to play

3. Successful Balance
● Judging and playing take very different sets of
skills
● Judging is often automatic and physically
tiring
● Playing is mentally draining
● Decisions can’t really be made on-the-fly, so
hitting the right balance becomes very hard
● If you like C-REL play, then you should aim for
a mix

4. Balancing Fail
● Judging too much can lead
to burnout
● Playing too much can also
lead to frustration and
(different) burnout
● Sometimes you just need a
week off
● Different formats/settings
often help relax/have fun –
Magic is a hobby!

5. Player Judging
● Remain impartial at all
times, even if a
friend/teammate is
playing
● Observe with a poker face,
try to remain as stoic as
possible
● Rolling eyes or sighing is
something to avoid

6. Help! Judge!
● Remember, you are a judge and
not a player
● We fix rules problems, not plays
● ‘Could you please phrase that as a
rules question?’
● Spellskite is public enemy
number one!

7. Judge Playing
● Remind yourself that
judges are impartial and
you are simply a well-
informed player
● Don’t quote the
IPG/MTR – this just
makes you look
disrespectful
● Asserting yourself as a
judge can also lead to
poor customer
experience

8. Player Pitfalls
● ‘It’s ok, I’m a judge’ should never be used to
fix your own board state – call a judge, you’re
just a player!
● Don’t try to overrule the judge
● You still have the right to appeal
● You also have the right to ask HJ away from
table and politely attempt to convince him
otherwise

9. Last Notes
● Sometimes you’ll regret
your choice
● Get the most out of the
event anyway
● Take some days off
● Change it up – judge/play,
UK/abroad, R-REL/C-REL
● Remember, have fun!

10. Questions?
● Thank you for listening!