I have just returned from Pro Tour Atlanta, and it was an exciting event. Congratulations to Nova (David Rood, Gabriel Nassif and Gab Tsang) for winning the event. From a judging perspective, this was my first Pro Tour as a Level 3, so I tried to lend myself more to helping others than I had previously. Sheldon assigned me two Level 2 judges that I was to work with and help evaluate (and they were to evaulate me also; I like any feedback I can receive) to work with over the course of the event.

The subject of this article is Pro Tours versus Pro Tour Qualifiers. First, bit of a judging background on me. I became a judge in September 2002, so the judge program and organized play had been pretty well established by then. The majority of my events have been Pro Tour Qualifiers, primarily in Chicago and St. Louis. So keep in mind that I don't have a lot of experience running "average card shop" type tournaments.

A Pro Tour has usually a L5 head judge, a few other L4-L5s, maybe 10 or so L3s, and quite a bit of L2s, most of whom are working toward L3. Conversely, a PTQ normally has a L3 head judge (in some areas, a L2), a few L1 or L2s, and often a trainee (someone who is uncertified, but is likely testing with the L3 at that event).

This difference in staff means that on the qualifier level, you have to do a lot more judge training. Also, players generally are both less skilled and less familiar with tournament procedures. Rules questions are more common at the PTQ level, as well, as most pros have above-average rules knowledge (a highly underestimated skill among pros, sometimes knowing an obscure rule can help you out of a tricky situation). This is one of the reasons that L1, and to a lesser extent L2, place most of the emphasis on knowing the rules.

The Pro Tour is a different environment. Most of the people who come to judge a Pro Tour are not coming to *judge* so much as *learn how to improve their judging* from the highly experienced staff. In Atlanta, during a lunch break, the Netherlands' Gis Hoogendijk (L5) sat down with me and talked about a difficult ruling situation, and helped me see it from a differnet perspective than my initial thoughts. The next day on the PT, a similar situation to what we discussed occurred, and I felt a lot more confident in my ruling. It's these kind of things that are more important at the higher judging levels, which is why higher level judge interviews, while having a rules component, are far more focused on the ability to deal with situations, train judges, and manage events effectively. It also uses judge teams, which rarely see use outside professional events (and some US Regionals).

Ironically enough, Pro Tours have far more appeals than Pro Tour Qualifiers. This is almost a shame, since many judges dislike having their rulings appealed and take it personally (though there are those who feel "safer" about it, since the ruling, if wrong, is out of their hands). Why this is is a bit of a mystery to me. I think pro players dislike judges a lot more than most PTQ players, and so don't trust them and might appeal just about any ruling against them.

In summary, Pro Tours are great learning experiences where the focus (among the judging staff) is generally on judge education, dealing with a lot of player interaction issues, and working with small groups of judges at a team. Conversely, PTQs focus more on *player* education, as well as dealing with rules issues and minor situations. I honestly don't have figures or even estimates on which would have more disqualifications, but I suspect it's approximately the same.

What I want from you is a vote regarding next week's article. Just reply in the forums or send me an e-mail. Pick one, rank them, whatever. I want to know what concepts people--both Judges and players--are having problems with!

The topics I am looking right now are:

Last Known Information

Applying Continuous Effects

Priority, State Based Effects, Triggered Abilities, and the Stack

What is a replacement effect, and how are they handled?

Supertypes, Types, and Subtypes

Structure of a Turn

Mana Abilities (what they are exactly, and when you can play them)

I would go on, and I'll have some other less-topic specific stuff as well, but I really want to know what you all think. See you next week!

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Lee Sharpe, lee DOT sharpe AT gmail DOT com

DCI Level 3 Judge