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Hello Judges!


We’re approaching the end of 2023, and we hope that you all had a productive year of learning, growth, and joy as judges. In our first monthly newsletter, we’ll recap some recent announcements from Judge Foundry, preview what you’ll hear about from us soon, and let you know about upcoming event application deadlines you don’t want to miss.

Dair scans the room at Eternal Weekend in 2023

Dair scans the room at Eternal Weekend in 2023

Latest Judge Foundry News

  • The biggest news is that… we launched! We're excited that hundreds of judges in Canada and the United States have already joined Judge Foundry. If you're not yet among them, we hope you'll join us! You can read our full launch announcement for details.

  • Update quizzes are now live for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Level Two and Level Three Judges can take the regular update quiz, Level Four and Level Five Judges can take the advanced update quiz. Take the quizzes on your exam hub on JudgeApps, and learn more about the quizzes here.

  • JudgeApps is back! JudgeApps is an independent website that serves as the centralized online community for judges, tournament organizers, and event staff worldwide. Judge Foundry is partnering with JudgeApps to host our certification; this announcement from Paul on the JudgeApps blog provides information on what’s new. If you don’t yet have a JudgeApps account, today is a great day to create one, because you’ll need it to join Judge Foundry, take exams, and more.

  • Expedited Promotion is still live for judges who meet the requirements for Level Four and Level Five. You can learn about the requirements here and submit your application here.

Coming Soon from Judge Foundry

Here’s what you can expect to see from us in the next month or so:

  • The Event Admin Certification process moves forward with the launch of the exam and with information on joining the initial class of Event Admins. If you’re interested in helping develop this process, please email Amanda to volunteer.

  • The Advanced Rules and Policy exam will be live in the next few weeks. This test is part of the Level Four (and sometimes Level Five) promotion process. If you’re a Level Five Judge who wants to help test the exam when it’s ready, please email John Brian.

  • Gift subscriptions are still under development, and we’re hoping to launch them very soon. While they won’t be available for Santa to stuff in stockings, we’ve had a lot of interest from TOs who want to add them to judge compensation and we’re working hard to get these live for you.

  • The judge gear store is still under development, but once the holiday season wraps up, we’ll be able to finalize our merchandise offerings so you can look good at your events in a brand-new Judge Foundry button-down or polo.

  • Last, but not least, we’ll be launching our new website in the coming weeks! All our existing content will move over there, along with a bunch of new content that we’ve waiting to post once we’re in our forever home.

Jonah waits to distribute playmats at Eternal Weekend in 2023

Welcome to Level N+1!

Congratulations to the judges who were promoted since the launch of Judge Foundry!


We’re delighted to celebrate our very first promotions. In particular, welcome to Robin Moon, the first new Level One Judge certified under Judge Foundry! Some judges were automatically promoted to Level Four and Level Five - you can read more in this article. The next wave of automatic and expedited promotions will be coming soon. And please join us in congratulating the first class of judges promoted to Level Three in December:


Michael “Baldy” Arrowsmith

Adam Blaylock
Sam Duralde
Garrison Fogt

Steven Krysiak
Marcos Sanchez
Sam Tsafalas
Dave Unni

Brandon Welch
John White

Upcoming Events

Applications are closing very soon for the following major events:

Victoria clears trash during build at MTG Summit in 2023

Help Wanted

Are you interested in volunteering on a judge project? These forum threads talk about some ways you can get involved:


Member Services Team

We’re looking for the most community-focused judges to join the Member Services Team. You’ll help answer questions like “How do I become a judge” and “Could you help me find a judge for my event?”


Canadian French Translations

Our goal is to translate all our key articles into French for our French-Canadian members. We also want to provide French-language exams.


Exam Content Team

Are you a rules and/or policy guru? Help future judges demonstrate their skills by joining the exam content project. You’ll write and review questions that will appear on future judge exams.


Social Media Teams

We want judges to be able to engage with our content on the social media networks of their choice, but we need members who are active on those networks to handle posting and responding in a way that works for the space.


Conferences Team

We want to host a series of large regional conferences this spring, but before we start soliciting organizers, we need some help determining the parameters. If you’ve got ideas for what makes a great standalone conference, this is the project for you.


Marketing Team

Want to write this newsletter? If you can’t get enough Judge content, you’re probably the right person to compile it to share with other Judge Foundry members! There are plenty of other ways to get involved in sharing Judge Foundry’s message as well.

Upcoming Board Meetings

Mark your calendars to attend Judge Foundry’s board meetings. We’ll share details on JudgeApps for how you can tune in. Q1 board meetings will be on these dates, at 8pm Eastern:


January 31st

February 28th
March 27th

Eric drops in pairings at Eternal Weekend in 2023

However you celebrate the holiday season, we hope you have a good one. We’re looking forward to seeing you at events in 2024!


Amanda, Joe, John Brian, Paul, and Rob

The Judge Foundry Board of Directors


Join Judge Foundry