All three hosts were at GP Atlanta! We spend this episode to talk about our experiences, including what our roles were and what we ended up doing throughout the weekend.

It was a big GP and a lot of fun, and our experiences range from the main event to every portion of side event. If you’ve ever wanted a behind-the-scenes look of how a GP is run, this is it.

And stay until the end for an abject lesson on reading Oracle text from CJ!

On this episode, the equivalent of the Avengers for deck checking assembles to share our great bounty of knowledge upon you.

We talk about what deck checks are and why we do them (Beyond just the fact that the MTR says to). We also cover our favorite methods for performing a deck check, all the way from the swoop to the check to the return.

After that, we discuss the infractions that can come up as the result of a deck check. Become a deck check master. Learn the secrets.

We decide to cover a topic we did in one of our very first episodes all over again, but this time we bring special guest Justin Turner (L3, RC of the SouthEast) into the mix to help us. Hear some of the most common mistakes judges make, and some of our own stories of our own mistakes (Mostly Turner’s).

CJ’s article on HJ announcements: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/articles/2014/06/24/head-judge-o-pun-ing-announcements/

Feedback Loop on writing reviews of higher level judges: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/feedback/2015/05/06/a-coworker-is-a-coworker-no-matter-the-level/

New sealed deck procedure: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/sealed-pool-procedure-update-starting-gp-sydney-and-gp-madison-2015-10-08

Toby’s post on DEC tweak: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/telliott/2015/10/14/tweaking-the-new-dec-rules/

On this episode, we cover the brand new IPG in all its glory! We take another deep dive into the changes made for DEC, talk about handling scry with mulligans (And a new tournament shortcut built around scry), and a bunch of miscellaneous changes up to and including it now being illegal to bribe a judge!

New IPG: http://wpn.wizards.com/sites/wpn/files/attachements/mtg_ipg_02oct15_en.pdf

Article on Changes: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/telliott/2015/09/28/bfz-policy-changes/

Article about Scrying Improperly During Mulligans: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/telliott/2015/10/03/the-forbidden-look/

In our quarterly tradition, we’re back with an episode all about the Battle for Zendikar release notes! We cover every mechanic in depth, and pick out the juiciest looking cards to give you a boost for playing in and judging your prerelease.

Want to learn how Awakening a spell might not always be the best move? How about how it interacts with manlands? How colorless is devoid? Converge, what’s the deal with that? How to handle “processing” when there are multiple piles of facedown exiled cards, I know that’s been eating away at you.

Come for the knowledge, stay for the awkward segues!

Release notes: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/battle-zendikar-release-notes-2015-09-23

JudgeCast is excited to introduce Molten Nursery to the world! We spend this special episode discussing the card in-depth, including everything rules-related for the card and our own personal thoughts on all parts of the card, down to the flavor text.

Here’s the card you’ll all skip the episode to see:

If you’re interested in becoming a judge, please visit http://blogs.magicjudges.org/o/judge-levels/become-a-magic-judge/

Ahoy!

We take an episode to get caught up on e-mails, and with the help of Nicolette Apraez, L2 from Wiscons (you’ll get it soon), we are able to knock out a whopping 12 e-mails in one short, action packed hour! We cover questions from all corners of policy and the rules.

Exemplar Blog: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/exemplar/

CJ’s cats, as cardified by Josh Carr:

We have L4, 15 year judge, and head of the Conference Sphere Damián Hiller on to talk about conferences. We cover what to expect from attending and presenting at a conference, how the entire conference system works, and how a being a judge for 15 years can make you lose your hair.

Conferences blog: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/conferences/

Bryan’s seminar on giving seminars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FkWLtwbia0&app=desktop

We have special guest Riki Hayashi on to talk about cover letters, and applying to events in general on Judge Apps! We talk about how to prepare your profile, and what to include in your applications, and what not to include.

We also get weird at the end and learn the secret of why CJ’s name is CJ.

Yes I know I used this title on episode 38. YOU COME UP WITH NEARLY 100 TITLES AND KEEP THEM FRESH.

Speaking of fresh, we have a brand new IPG out! This one has some big changes, and we go in-depth on the biggest: Drawing Extra Cards is now a warning! We go in deep on what this means with a few examples.

We also discuss some of the other miscellaneous changes to the IPG and some small changes to the rules (A change to casting spells?! Will we need to learn a new mnemonic?), and read the spiciest of e-mails.

Toby’s Blog: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/telliott/2015/07/13/magic-origins-policy-changes/

Tabak’s Rules Update: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/magic-origins-update-bulletin-intro-2015-07-16