Judge's Den: State Champion! Setting up for Success

This Saturday is an extremely important day. The Real Idaho State Championship is happening, for the first time since Innistrad we will have a real state champion. If you are unaware or from anywhere out of state let me explain what we mean when we say a real champion. When Wotc stopped supporting state tournaments other well known shops took up the mantle and kept the state championships going. This was good until we started having a new 'state champion' every couple of months, there was no more prestige in the title when three of your five opponents at fnm were state champs. Wizardden.com and other local stores had a better idea.

Working together, the six biggest shops in Idaho removed all the state championship events from their calendars and made one true state tournament. With a $500 top prize, prestige returned to the title of State Champion, and teamwork between all the shops this has been a huge success! You can follow everything about it here at http://mtgidaho.blogspot.com.

This is of course a Judge's Den article though so that's enough about this event, on to the main topic. What can you as a player do to best prepare yourself for this type of event?

• Sleeves: Bring extra. Wear and tear happens. Intentional or not the likelihood of gaining an advantage (or even disadvantage) from recognizing a card that should be unknown due to the condition of its sleeve is there.
• Pen and Paper: Life disputes happen, having a record to refer to can help clear up a lot.
• Silence your Devices: Keep in mind electronic devises are not allowed at competitive level.
• Deck Reg: Being prepared by printing one out or showing up EARLY does a lot to get the tournament moving and keep your fellow players and judges happy.
• Know your cards: Know the rulings for your cards.
• Food and Water: Dont let yourself get hungry and cranky in the middle of a long tourney.
• Know where you are going: Check ahead of time when and where the tourney is.
• Shower: Seems to be less of a problem now days, but still.

There are many things that go into being prepared for a tournament, only a few of which I highlighted today. I highlighted the ones I felt were most important for players newer to competitive rules enforcement. Good luck to everyone playing this weekend and thank you for reading this weeks issue of Judge's Den here at Wizardden.com