There is one thing every judge knows and instinctually responds to (or will given a little more time)—the call of JUDGE! I hear this word for days after every event, and will often end up turning around to look for who called in the strangest places. At the grocery store? Nope, unlikely to have a judge call there. The park? Nope, not here either. So we all know the urgency we feel when we hear the call for real while judging. I wanted to dive a little more deeply into what we should actually do when we hear that call go up.
I have previously written a longer post about body language, but I wanted to focus on a simpler, step by step style discussion of the anatomy of a judge call.
The Call
Your first response to hearing the JUDGE! Is generally to look around for the hand in the air. This is often harder to find than it could be, but that’s a different discussion. Once you find where it is, make sure the player knows you’ve seen them. Holding your hand up and potentially pointing to them serves this purpose, and additionally it alerts other judges to where the call is if multiple judges are trying to respond (you may not be the closest).
Getting to the Table
If possible, approach the table from the side of the player who called you. This matters because the player who called may wish to speak to you away from the match, and if you are on the wrong side of a row of 25 matches, it’s going to add time to the call to get over to that player. When you reach the player, make an effort to get on their level. I often kneel to take a call, or, when space is tight, at least try to bend or squat so I’m not looming over them.
The Discussion
The first step once you’ve gotten there is to determine what question is being asked? Very often the question a players asks isn’t exactly what they want to know, so take a second and understand what the issue is before jumping to your ruling. The question itself will, of course, dictate what actions you take next. A request for Oracle text? Easy. A complicated investigation? Not so easy.
Take a small amount of time to determine what you intend to do based on what needs to happen, before you start into your ruling. Make sure you give both players a chance to speak even if the situation seems simple and easy to fix, as the other player may have information you haven’t accounted for. Make sure you take a moment to determine what is going on in the game itself. Where in the turn is it? What actions are “paused” currently (is a spell about to resolve, for instance). Taking the small amount of time needed to ensure you have all the information will result in your rulings being more accurate more of the time.
The Ruling
Now you have all the information you need, it’s time to deliver your ruling. Do so clearly, with authority and confidence. If you aren’t confident, check with another judge before delivering the ruling. I’ve yet to have any player be annoyed at having to wait a few seconds while a ruling is confirmed, but I have had players get upset at bad rulings. Do the first, avoid the latter: check rulings when you aren’t sure. If you are the only judge on staff, deliver your ruling confidently even if you aren’t 100% sure. If you seem unsure, the players will be unsure, and you’ll be more likely to be appealed, even if you are correct.
If a player seems likely to be very unhappy with your ruling, make sure to offer them the option to appeal. Do this politely, as it is a function of why we have a HJ in the first place. It isn’t always an insult if a player wants a second opinion, and you should be willing to suggest that they have that option to alleviate the tension players may feel about appealing your call.
Conclusions
The major activity judges should be doing during an event is answering player questions. Hopefully this post helps you think a little bit about how some very small things can change how a player views your actions, and how you can think about improving the process of taking a call and delivering a ruling. If you want some further depth about body language and how it can impact other areas of judging as well, check out this previous article too! One of the best ways to improve at taking calls is to observe others who are skilled at it. If you go to a large event, it can be eye-opening to watch a veteran judge versus a newer judge and how they approach a call. Before you begin thinking about it critically, you’d think there wouldn’t be that much difference. Get out there and make some rulings, and think about what you do well, and what you can improve on.
As always, thanks for reading! Keep watching for excellence to emulate, and come back next week for another installment!
The Elvish Farmer 