Hello there, loyal readers. Hello there, customer who accidentally clicked on my article instead of the WoW TCG ad block. This is my report from Grand Prix Amsterdam. If you have read some of the player reports from Amsterdam on this website, you know that it was not a good event. Some people are even calling it the worst-organized Grand Prix they've ever seen. While GP Amsterdam doesn't deserve the title of Worst Ever, it had more serious problems than any GP I've judged in the last couple of years.

It started out nicely. There was a party with free drinks, inflatable chairs and other "party" furniture, and a DJ. The Magic players were, of course, more interested in the 5 EUR sealed decks than the dance floor, and I'm sort of grateful for that. Registration closed with over 400 teams, an early sign of trouble. We had our judge meeting and received our snack bags and drink vouchers from event manager Danny, who loves to promote healthy lifestyles among his judges. I had a single Bacardi Breezer and some candy before going to bed. Some time after midnight, I got woken up by a text message from my husband Pasi, who didn't come to Amsterdam with me. Somebody had told him that I'd won an Arabian Nights booster in the party raffle, and he wanted to tell me.

I was assigned to one of the deck check teams for Day 1. Our first job was setting up table numbers. Usually this is handled by the logistics teams (and often it's handled on Friday), but they were busy enough with setting up product. While we were numbering the tables, we also had to set up more tables and chairs, because the team count was now at over 600. Registration closed at 668 teams, and then the problems started.

There was a long delay before seating for deck registration was posted. Soon after player registration was closed, one of the Finnish teams had to leave the site because of a medical problem. We put them in a taxi and dropped the team from the event. When they came back, hours later, deckbuilding had just barely started. We had an extra preregistered deck, so they were able to re-enter, build, and play themselves into day 2.

This first delay, and some of the other delays during GP Amsterdam, were caused by problems with the tournament software. Many players remember GP Paris 2004, another event with huge delays. At both Paris and Amsterdam, we were trying something that had not been done before. Paris was the first split event; Amsterdam was the first 2-Headed Giant Grand Prix. Both events also had huge numbers of players. Sometimes unexpected things happen when you have a large number of players and try to do something unusual. The good news is that the same problem most likely won't occur again; the software will be updated and the scorekeepers will be more prepared. The next split tournament after Paris didn't have the same delay, and the next 2HG GP should be much better [I sure hope so... -Seamus, getting ready to head out on a vacation that will end up at GP Fitchburg].

While the scorekeepers were fixing the problem, the rest of the staff just had to wait and be ready. In a situation like this, it's important to keep players reasonably informed about what is happening. "Reasonably informed" means that they don't need to know exactly what the problem is and what caused it. A short version is enough, but whatever you tell them, you have to include the message that the situation is under control, whether you do it with words or body language. Be calm, be polite, and don't look like you are incredibly frustrated with the delay.

Delays caused by DCI Reporter are frustrating when you can't really do anything about them. It's important to maintain a professional attitude, but it's even more important to look for ways to catch up on time, once the tournament gets going again. I'm going to mention a few things you can do to save a bit of time. These are all things you can and should do even if there are no delays, but they become especially important at an event like Amsterdam.

• When time is called, all judges should check the room for games still in progress. Don't forget the low tables that spectators are not interested in. Ask the players which extra turn they are in, remind them that they are to play at a normal pace, and (if possible) watch the game until it's finished. Track the extra time for matches that have extra time.
• Sometimes it happens that some players don't hear the end of round announcement, or fail to call a judge to track their extra time. This is more likely to happen at smaller events—most GPs have a decent PA system and a couple of large round clocks. Players are expected to pay attention to round announcements, so you should still give them their five extra turns if you find them some time after the time was called. Similarly, you should find out or estimate how much time has passed since time was called, and stay at the table to track the remaining extra time. In extreme circumstances, one might consider giving the players less than the normal five extra turns (current turn plus three, or current turn plus one). However, judges should be making sure that all players know when the round time is over.
• Be extra vigilant about slow play. If you see a player who is not doing anything, or in 2HG, a team that is not doing anything but talking to each other, keep watching them. Tell them to speed up if necessary.
• Be aware of time when making rulings and investigating situations. Always take a quick look at the round clock when you get called to a table. Players have a tendency to overestimate how much time a ruling really takes. You should give them the extra time they deserve, but no more. Make sure only one player is talking to you at a time. If you are issuing a penalty, tell the players what the penalty is, how much extra time they're getting, and then write the penalty on the result slip while the players are continuing their game (if there still is a game to play). If they players just sit there admiring your writing technique, tell them that the clock is running and they should keep playing.
• Get help when you need it. Your fellow judges are there to help you, we are all responsible for the event together.
• The pairings team should have the tape ready in their hands (I'm a big fan of cutting bits of tape and sticking them all over my hands) when the scorekeeper clicks on the pairing button. When the pairings are in your hand, you should be moving in the direction of the pairings board, not fiddling with the roll of tape.
• The deck check team often does their work in a back room where the round clock is not visible. Someone on the team should make sure that—unless there's a problem that will result in a penalty—all decks go back to the players at 10 minutes. If you have spent a lot of time checking the main deck in a Limited event, it's okay to skip the sideboard.

Sometimes, more extreme measures are needed. At GP Amsterdam, two rounds were cut from the event so that it would finish at a more reasonable hour. Some players were understandably upset about this, but I was happy to get to bed at 2 am instead of 5 am.

On day 2, I was in charge of the Pairings team, which consisted of myself and Glyn Forster, L2 judge from England. Pairings team is rarely this exciting! DCI Reporter couldn't handle 2HG draft pods, so day 2 was run with... Microsoft Excel, which isn't exactly designed to run Magic events. In the first round of day 2, some teams were paired outside their pods. In the second round, some teams were paired against the teams they played in the previous round. This problem was caught immediately after I posted the pairings. After this was fixed, some teams again ended up paired outside their pods. This was caught only after players were getting seated. I think we posted pairings at least nine times in the six rounds that were played on day 2.

It would be dishonest for me to say that only DCI Reporter is to blame for the delays of GP Amsterdam. There were times during the event when judges were not performing at 100%, not doing everything they could have done, and not working as a team. This event gave me a reminder about my responsibilities as a Level 3 judge—but that might be my topic for next month.

Finally, here's the Official Johanna's Arabian Nights Booster FAQ, based on a zillion billion conversations at the GP.

1. OMG! You won an Arabian Nights booster!

Yes, I did.

2. Did you open it?

No.

3. Are you going to sell it?

Maybe, but not this weekend.

4. Did you scan it?

Of course not! Don't be silly!

5. So what are you going to do with it?

I'm just going to keep it for a while, probably until I accidentally drop it behind the radiator. I'm still not sure what happened to my Italian Legends booster.

Johanna Virtanen
DCI Level 3 Judge, Finland
flame (at) bore dot org
flame- on #mtgjudge (Efnet)
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