Level Two - Lesson 25
Large Event Structure - Tournament Tasks
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Hello there!
Welcome back to the level two lessons for the Star Wars™: Unlimited Judge Program!
As always, I’m your host Jonah, and this course is going to continue to talk about large event structure - as an L2 judge, you may begin to work events that have hundreds, if not thousands, of players, and with dozens of judges. While the rules and policies for these events are the same as they are everywhere else, the logistics can change pretty dramatically.
Knowing what to expect coming into these events can be a huge boon, so this lesson is going to give you a broad overview of what you need to know to be a bit more comfortable at your first event, like a Sector Qualifier.
This document won’t be comprehensive, as there are a lot of specifics that are unique to particular events and organizers.
There are a lot of different tasks that judges handle at an event, and you should get specifics from your lead at a larger event, but knowing the basics of each sphere can be helpful even at smaller events.
Not every event is going to have all of these tasks, and not every task is going to have a dedicated team. Frequently, teams will have several related tasks, or tasks assigned based on where in the rhythm of a round they have the bandwidth to handle something else.
Deck Checks
This team inspects decks to verify that they are legal for the event. This is primarily checking to make sure that there aren’t marked cards and that the deck matches the decklist.
- Decks should be picked up after the player has presented their deck to their opponent, but before they draw their opening hand
- The deck should be picked up with the sideboard and kept separate
- If the deck check occurs during the pre-game procedure for game two, the deck/sideboard configuration should be maintained
- More details can be found in Level 2 Lesson 17, which covers deck checks.
Deck Lists
For limited events (draft or sealed) or events where online decklists are not required, paper decklists need to be managed. Often, the use of a sorting method or index is utilized.
For drafts, ensure that every decklist has the pod number prominently on the decklist (usually on the back of the form), so that they can be quickly sorted into pods. When performing a deck check, because players are playing within pod, every pair of decklists will be in the same pile of eight lists.
For sealed, have players prominently write their table for deck registration and construction on their decklist. Then, have a copy of seatings for registration and construction sorted by player name, not by table number. As decklists come in, sort them into buckets (potentials by 10s or 100s, depending on the scale of the event), and then refine it further. When you need to find a decklist, refer to the copy of initial seatings and use that to find their location within the sorted decks.
The Decklist team is also responsible for managing copies of decklists - if copies need to be made, either to distribute to a media team, or to players as part of a decklist swap, they need to ensure that the originals are returned.
End of Round
The end of round team handles several tasks, all associated with making sure that every match ends when it is supposed to, and is reported in a timely manner.
- Ensure that any unreported matches that do not have players at them (sometimes called “ghost” matches) are brought to the attention of the Head Judge or other individual to page for player names
- Ensure that players heard the end-of-round announcement and are either in their final Action Phases, beginning their time extension, have called a judge for assistance or have completed their match and report it
- When the number of matches remaining is low enough, assign judges to tables with ongoing matches (prioritizing time extensions) to ensure someone is there to answer any questions that may come up and that the result is reported
- Once all tables have been covered, assign judges to double up on matches
- Assign Head Judges to the last table or two, to ensure the Head Judge is engaged and aware of the end-of-round proceedings
Stage/Start of Round
This task involves being present at the stage at the start of the round in case a match result was incorrectly reported and one or more matches need to be repaired. With digital match reporting, the frequency of mis-reported results discovered after pairings have been posted has dropped dramatically.
If there is an error, assist the scorekeeper with whatever is necessary for the repair. Rather than repairing the entire round, either a pairing swap or a cascading repair can occur.
If the players input the result incorrectly, and each player should have the match points their previous round opponent had, usually their matches can be broken, and the players swapped. Judges should go to the in-progress affected match to pause it, to ensure that no game completes and that if a player arrives to their corrected match, they don’t gain information about their new opponent’s deck.
There’s the possibility that this impacted a pair-down (where one player has one more match win than their opponent). In this scenario, the scorekeeper may adjust multiple matches to ensure that matches as close to even records are played. Like with the swap, the in-progress affected matches should be paused, and once the re-pair is confirmed, cleaned up before the new opponent arrives.
Pairings
This team ensures that physical pairing boards are placed around the room at the beginning of the day as necessary and appropriate for the number of players. Having some number of physical pairings boards so that players who are traveling abroad or have a phone with low battery are still able to find their seats.
They also post and take down the pairings for each round. Pairings should be taken down after the window for Tardiness/Absence has closed (10 minutes into the round) and before the round ends, so players don’t believe the next round has been paired.
Judges assisting with pairings can sometimes also act as personal digital pairings boards themselves, standing at a central location and providing seat numbers to players who need assistance, using the scorekeeping tools to get the necessary information.
Standings
At the end of the day or event, sometimes a physical set of standings is printed for player access. This is less common, with digital standings available to all players.
Coverage
When there’s a feature match area, sometimes a judge is needed to act as a spotter for the match, tracking life totals or providing tokens. A spotter is not a table judge, and is not expected to minutely track every game action. For high profile events, a table judge may be assigned, who watches the match, to help keep the game on track, as well as to be able to quickly answer any questions and minimize broadcast disruptions.
For most events, however, coverage simply means having a judge near the area so that they can quickly respond to calls, but they are not explicitly watching the match in full.
Clock
Depending on the technology present, judges may be required to start, stop and reset a digital clock display. At some events, this is handled by the scorekeeper or stage staff.
For other events, this isn’t an available option, so signage should be posted, clearly indicateingthe time at which the round will end.
Floor
This team’s primary responsibility is making sure that judges are well distributed across the event and are not clumping up. Beyond that, they answer calls and watch games of SWU. All judges are on this task unless they have a different task explicitly assigned to them at that moment.
Breaks
At events with several teams, each with a dedicated task, when one team goes on break, nobody is there to handle the task. The breaks team covers those tasks while other teams are on break.
Flex
Very similar to the breaks team (and often the task is assigned to the same teams), the flex team goes where they need to go. While any judge can and should be prepared to switch tasks, this team's expectation is to change tasks throughout the day.
Distribution
This team is most prevalent for limited events, such as draft and sealed. It is their responsibility to coordinate the distribution of all of the product that needs to go out to players. Other teams are frequently recruited to assist in the distribution, but are not involved as much in the planning stage. This team can also be tasked with the distribution of goodies that players receive, such as promos, playmats, or other prizes and participation rewards. Frequently, this is one of several tasks assigned to a team, because after the first round, they don't have a lot to do.
Sides - On-Demand Events
On demand events (ODEs) can be hectic. These events don't launch on an assigned schedule, but rather whenever the eighth player signs up for the event. These events are often single elimination or best-of-one and may not use full scorekeeping software, instead using a paper bracket that is easier manage for many small scale events.
Finding places for the events, while remaining efficient with use of space and consolidating events as they shrink is a key part of the task. Furthermore, collecting results and assisting players in receiving prizes is a constant task, as players don’t play on a set timer.
On-Demand events are frequently untimed, because it’s can be difficult to independently track the round end up for dozens of events individually.
Sides - Scheduled
Scheduled events, other than the main event, occur at planned times throughout the day, sometimes offering different formats or lower-stakes events of the same. Often times there is a “rebound” event, part way through the event, after many players will have found themselves eliminated from contention or progression. These events can span the range of competitiveness and formats.
Usually a judge is assigned an event to be responsible for, and ensures that it’s rounds turnover in a timely manner and that any questions are resolved. Other times, judges on the scheduled sides team are split into sub-tasks.
Kickstart
This team launches scheduled side events - they prepare the pairings board with an event title sheet, find a spot for the event, collect any prizes or promos necessary for distribution at the start of the event, and sometimes help with opening announcements. After things get started, they hand it over to the head judge. When there isn’t a dedicated kickstart team or judge, this responsibility usually falls to the Sides Lead.
Turnover Team
Some scheduled sides leads don’t have individual head judges for side events, instead using floor judges assigned to broad areas, and turnover judges who are responsible for keeping every event turning over smoothly. This is a job with constant pressure, and many tasks to handle.
Now that we’ve discussed what roles are present at larger events, and what the responsibilities of various tasks are, you’re well set to begin your first event. Our final lesson on large event structure will cover when you need to escalate or consult with another judge. If you’re watching this on YouTube, and you want more level two lessons in your feed, go ahead and subscribe. Join us Tuesdays and Fridays on twitch.tv/swu_judges for live broadcasts covering the content of these lessons as they are released, and join the Star Wars: Unlimited Judge Program Discord to join the community in discussion of this and much, much more.
As always, good luck, and have fun.