I woke up this Saturday morning knowing a good news from the MTG Judges community: I received another judge exemplar recognition for this wave #15. I checked on the Judges app website and found two recognition from fellow PH judges. Here below are their recognition messages:

From Judge Felix Capule:
Hi Mark, The Iloilo community is very lucky to have you as their judge, you’ve always updated the players whenever a set is released. Almost like what we normally do during judge meetings but what you’ve been doing is that you’ve been doing it with your local players. Talk about “DEDICATION”. Thank you for your continuous effort and for being generous with your time. “Consistency”, that is something that definitely describes you. You’ve been doing such a great job Mark Ian. Thank You! 

From Judge Dominic Yu Ping Kun:
An L2 judge who has been frequenting the Visayas to judge PPTQs has told me about your efforts to develop the judge program in the small Island of Iloilo. In the past 3 months, you have successfully mentored and prepped 2 other judges for certification to better cater to the increase in Local Game Stores and the booming demand for L1 judges where you are. Not only have you mentored them, but you have helped them transcend geographical barriers and linked them to an L2 judge who can process their certification. Thank you Mark Ian for inspiring people to become judges despite the changes in organized play.

Just last week, my fellow MTG Judge Felix messaged me a sort of an interview form which contains questions on my origin as a Magic Judge. He mentioned that he will using the information as part of his upcoming article to be posted at The Judges of Southeast Asia blog. Here below is what I have written and sent to him.

Name: Mark Ian Alloso
Local Game Store: A3 Bookstore Reis Place, Iloilo City
Mentor: Sashi Kumar Balakrishnan, L2 from Malaysia
When Did you got certified for L1: January 2015 Friday before Grand Prix Manila

What motivates you as a certified judge?
The main reason is probably my love of the game and I really wanted to learn more not only as a player but also as a certified judge. Gaining this status has opened a lot of opportunities for me to grow with the knowledge of the rules, organizing tournaments and handling the players’ questions and concerns. It is also my objective to get more people to learn and enjoy Magic. Given in this digital age as most of the favorites games are in the electronic platform, I will prove to them that playing a classic tabletop card game is still popular and of course fun.

Most memorable experience as an MTG judge so far?
My most memorable event is probably this year’s Philippine Nationals. It was my biggest and grandest tournament and being part of the judging team since Day 0 was very overwhelming. Having two different formats within one event was very challenging and I learned a lot of things though it was tiring but enjoyable.

What do you like most about your local MTG community?
Most of the Iloilo players are very competitive in terms of big-time tournaments and we make sure to prepare enough for an upcoming event. We do mainly our playtesting sessions after work up until late in the evening and during the weekly tournaments. Almost all of my travel buddies here have already earned a high finish in a major tournament or at least have gained a Pro point.

As an MTG judge, how would the local players of your community describe you?
My long-time friends can refer to me as a ‘suplado’ or strict type of person with regards to the implementation of MTG rules though I try to be friendly as possible especially to new players and explained to them in simple terms their rules questions.

Message for aspiring judges/inactive judges:
Yes, it is fun to be a Magic judge. You should be wary and observant on a lot of things especially on the correct rulings and penalties on competitive REL. This is sort of a continuing learning process for me personally which the aspect I really liked. Please do join us and become part of Magic: the Gathering Judges.

My Magic: the Gathering Judging gig has been pretty much relaxed lately as I was only engaged in handling Store Championships and Prerelease events. I also did a few tutorials for the local game stores as well as during local conventions. I was then

hoping to judge in premier or major tournaments as my last one was during the WMCQ 3 way back in 2015, and what followed was an opportunity.

Fellow Judge from Manila Nick Yu has posted in the Judge PH groups in Facebook that he was reaching out to the Judges outside the Metro Manila area, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao to be part of the judging team for the upcoming Philippine Nationals 2018. It got me an idea since I have already booked a trip for the event and I then immediately messaged him of my interest. He then asked a few questions which I diligently answered. The Application page at the Judge apps was posted the next day and after checking the details, I decided to file my application. I would expect this event to be very hectic and challenging if ever as the forecasted attendance would be near 500 players but I think I am up to the task to deliver the fast and smooth service of being a floor judge (the position I have applied to).

They are still open to evaluating my profile and I am still hoping for a positive response. For now, I might need to check again, review the updated IPGs, and get a few tips from the judge forums. I guess I’ll need to plan for a study schedule.

Wizards has been providing special promo foil tokens given as prize support for FNMs in the past months. This time, the Magic: the Gathering Judges did an initiative. Fellow judges Milan Majercik and Tan Zie Aun announced to release of a batch

of special custom art MTG Judges tokens. I received the information via email last February and then they asked if I would like to order for use to my local MtG Iloilo community. I gladly agreed and ordered the following token prints for the Rivals of Ixalan print run:

50 City’s Blessing
50 Treasures
50 Dinosaurs
50 2/2 Zombies
50 4/4 Zombies

I then gave the address to that of the PHLPost Office at JM Basa St, Iloilo City which is just near my office. The package arrived almost a month later last April 23rd, according to their tracking number. I was able to claim it just yesterday and saw the packaging fully wrapped and the tokens completely secured. I opened it right away after arriving at the office to check on the tokens and here they are below.

I will soon distribute them as additional prize support for the top finishers in the weekly FNM and Standard Showdown and also at the upcoming Unicon event in June. This is one way of reaching out to the players and bridging the gap between them and the judges. I hope this will remind them every time they use the tokens in their matches.