My last judging event was last March at the GP Trials tournament in Bacolod, and since then, I have not checked on updates or any other related info. It was just last night that I saw a post by fellow judge Phil Pena on the MTG Judges Philippines FB group that there was a redefinition of the Judge Program, and he summarized them as follows:

1. Judge levels have been redefined again, but this is more for the higher-level judges (Level 4 and Level 5). There is no more Level 4 or Level 5 (as a level).

2. Existing Level 4 and Level 5 judges will become Level 3, and will have a higher role as Grand Prix Head Judges.

3. There are new openings for advanced roles, such as Grand Prix Head Judges, Regional Coordinator, and Program Coordinator (this is more for the L3 judges to partake).

4. There are also changes to L1 and L2 certifications. Very soon, L2 judges will have an opportunity to certify existing L1 judges into L2s (provided that they pass a certain exam).

4a. If you are an existing L2, you no longer need to write a tournament report in order to maintain your certification (but you are still encouraged to write one!). Instead, existing L2s will begin to have a maintenance exam each year, among other existing maintenance requirements.

4b. If you are an existing L1, the requirements to become L2 hasn’t changed. Though L1s are now required to take a yearly exam to maintain their certification level, among other existing requirements.

5. There are other advanced roles that existing judges can take, aside from the L2 tester. These are L2 basic team lead (for GPs) and L3 panel lead (for existing L3 judges).

6. The definition of the levels is as follows:

L1 – Regular REL in-store judge
L2 – Competitive REL judge
L3 – Premier judge

So I’d guess I’ll be the Regular REL judge for Rei’s Place as well as on other local game shops if ever they have sanctioned tournaments. I now just have to check on the yearly exam to maintain my current level.

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