Level Two - Lesson 1
What is Level Two?
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Hello there!
Welcome back to the Judge Program for Star Wars™: Unlimited!
As always, I’m your host Jonah, and today I’ll be talking about what level two means, the expectations that come with the level, why you might be interested in advancing or why you might not be interested in advancing.
This is the first in a series of lessons to help you earn that level two certification, which will be focusing on some more complex interactions within the rules, but with a lot more focus on competitive play and an introduction to logistics.
There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s dive in.
What is Level Two?
Alright, so what is Level Two? Who is it for? What does it mean?
Let’s put it in context - Level One is for judges who want to assist with casual tier events at their local game store. Level Two is the next step up from that, with competitive tier events.
The scale isn’t that much different - the baseline expectation will be preparing you to run an event with about thirty to forty players at competitive tier. That’s a bit larger than the baseline for L1, but still something that a judge can feasibly handle on their own. It will also prepare you for being a floor judge on a larger competitive event, like Planetaries, Sectors, and Regionals.
As the vast majority of play is at casual tier, and most players never participate in a competitive event, level one is where the bulk of judges will be. It’s not an expectation for judges to constantly increase their level.
A lot of level two judges will also never venture out from their local game store as a judge. A common story is that a competitive player will qualify for an event like the Galactic Championship, and then not really feel the pressure to play in events like Planetary Qualifiers for the rest of that set, because they don’t need to. But, because they love the game they do still want to attend the event and so they start judging at competitive events! However, when larger events come around, those are still unique enough that they remain as a player in those events.
These individuals who both play competitively and judge their local events are hugely important for the long-term health of the game. By understanding what it’s like to be a player, you can identify pain points in the processes and established practices for running events, and can experiment and try to improve the process. There’s also an inherent trust that you develop if you have a reputation as a strong player - other players in the community are more likely to know you and trust you.
Lessons and Syllabus
Level Two is also the first step towards larger judging roles. It introduces you to a lot of policy and logistical considerations that aren’t necessary at Level One, but become increasingly more important as you advance. Furthermore, at higher levels, you’ll be expected to lead judges handling these tasks, and so it’s expected that you understand them on a fundamental level, so you can provide strong leadership and direction to your team.
The syllabus for Level Two includes a bit over twenty lessons, including a couple of lessons on more advanced concepts from the rules that aren’t a part of the Level One certification, multiple lessons on both the Tournament Regulations and Master Event Document, and several lessons to up your skill level while taking calls, including introductions to investigations, card counts, and disqualifications.
Advancement Requirements
To advance to Level Two, a candidate needs to demonstrate their experience, their understanding, and their knowledge. To that end, there are several requirements to advance, very similar to the level one requirements, just a little bit more stringent.
Experience
A Level Two candidate must judge at least three Competitive-Tier Star Wars: Unlimited events. These don’t have to be official events like Planetary Qualifiers, but can include store-run events, like a $1k or an event that awards a showcase to first place.
Endorsement
A Level Two candidate must also receive an endorsement from either an L3+ judge or a Tournament Organizer that has hosted at least six competitive tier (or equivalent) TCG events. This can include non-SWU TCG events, as the general logistics and process from the perspective of the Tournament Organizer is very similar, and this will allow established stores that are dipping their toes into SWU the opportunity to have a certified judge for their events.
Exam
After completing their events and receiving their endorsement, a Level Two candidate must take the exam. Like the Level One exam, it contains a mix of rules, policy, and logistics questions. However, because Level Two focuses more heavily on policy and logistics, those questions will appear proportionately more frequently in the exam. Rules knowledge is still essential, but a lot of the new knowledge for L2 is in the policy and execution of events.
Mentorship and Level One Endorsements
An important part of the judge community is developing an environment that fosters growth. Level Two judges, as leaders in their local community, will frequently be the person that level one judge candidates turn to when looking for help with becoming involved in the program.
Some Level Two lessons will be dedicated towards how to provide useful structure to newer candidates as well as how to provide education, mentorship, and feedback. However, this won’t be a requirement for all Level Two judges - many judges simply want to work some events and play in others, but aren’t interested in engaging in this networking and mentorship, and that’s entirely okay.
Rather than requiring all Level Two candidates take part in a process that isn’t necessary for running events, there will be a separate process for earning the ability to write Level One Endorsements for Level Two judges.
Level Two judges have flexibility and insight that Tournament Organizers are less likely to have - a judge can travel to a different store than the one they usually go to to observe a judge candidate, or can provide more specific feedback, because they’re working more closely with the candidate.
Certification Prerequisite
In order to gain the ability to write Level One endorsements, a judge must first demonstrate a standard of feedback and evaluation, and be Level Two.
Once a judge is Level Two, they’ll be able to submit one or two reviews that they have written of other judges to be looked over. If only one review is submitted, it will need to be more comprehensive than if two reviews are submitted.
Feedback, mentorship, and writing reviews will all be covered in later Level Two lessons.
That’s all we have for this lesson! Next up are the first of our intermediate rules lessons! The first will cover Game State Maintenance and Destruction Responsibility, as well as a few other more complex rules! Good luck, and have fun!