Greetings once again, Judges! This week’s Judge of the Week is Manuel Amaya Gonzalez , L2 from Tenerife, Spain. Manuel has been a judge since April of 2012. In December of 2012, Manuel made the jump to L2.

Occupation: I’m a sales representative of crop protection products and seeds.

Favorite card: Unexpected Results

Least favorite card: Liliana of the Dark Realms. She isn’t like her character at all!

Favorite format: For constructed I’d say Block, and for limited Chaos Draft!

Commander general: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician. I just bought a deck when some of my little padawans (L1’s I certified) insisted that I should try the format and start to play with them.

Favorite non-Magic Game: Defenders of the Realm.

Best tournament result: 5-1-2 at a PTQ with the awesome BW Tokens of Innistrad era with Hero of Bladehold and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad.

Random fact about yourself: I actually have a Bachelor in Philosophy and my plan was to end working as a high school teacher.

Why did you become a judge?

It all started after some casual conversation with a local judge, he told me that I was good with the rules and that I should try to become a judge to help at the store.

Tell us your favorite judge story.

I was still a little padawan myself, judging an FNM. I received a call from a player who cast a Green Sun’s Zenith for 3 and only had a Viridian Corrupter that he could put into play from his library. He had a Sword of Feast and Famine on the battlefield and no other artifacts were in play. The player asked me if he needed to put the card in play and blow up his own sword. I answered casually that he could fail his search, and then another judge looked at me and said, “You’re not supposed to give strategic information!” My face was like “Oops” but then the players and the spectators started laughing and thanked me because nobody knew that rule and it was educational for them. It was so rewarding that I think that was the moment when I started to shift my rules mindset and started to really care about the community aspects of judging.

How has being a judge influenced your non-Magic life?

Nowadays I have less time than I used to for the rest of my hobbies and interests, but I still manage to spend a reasonable amount of time doing non-magic life things so I’m very happy to have this kind of balance.

Javier Alvarez nominated you because you helped to foster a community where Magic was nearly non-existent. What piece of advice would you give to someone attempting to grow a similar community?

It was not exactly non-existent, however it was a community poorly developed with only a small group of highly competitive players that drove away new players from the stores. The idea was that everybody could end up understanding that for Magic to exist and support the stores both casual and competitive players are required. The stores needed to learn to tailor their events to both kinds of customers and the player base needed to understand that not every tournament was for them.

The best piece of advice I can give to achieve this change (or any other change your community needs) is to not work alone! Try to certify new judges to help you, trust the people around you, and talk with them so you can understand their needs while taking into account their ideas. Remember that even if you are the one who takes the lead and start to change things you still need to work for your community!

What motivates you to continue being a judge?

The awesome people I have met and the great times I have had! I suppose if it weren’t for the community and friends, I would have stopped some time ago. Besides, it is very rewarding to see that the community keeps growing and now there are lots of new judges who want to take care of it!

What’s the best part about your local Magic community?

They are a great group of people who are very fun to hang out with that also happens to play Magic sometimes. I like that they are all involved in the game at multiple levels and that they’re friendly towards each other even if one of them is more competitive-minded while the other likes to experiment with rogue decks and pet cards. I really like when we organize some big Sunday Magic games with wacky prizes at a random house with barbeque, beer and a guitar to play songs when we’re drunk (is it acceptable for a judge to get drunk sometimes, right? :D).

What is your favorite non-judging moment that happened with other judges?

The 2nd Iberian Judge Conference this past September in Barcelona, we had some seminars, however the best part was the socializing. We had a big pool to swim in, played some games, ate together, and talked about all you can imagine and more. I hope to see all of you again this year!

What’s the biggest rule-breaking play you’ve ever made as a player?

I remember opening a Mana Bloom in the Dragon’s Maze Prerelease. After briefly reading the card, I was all like ‘oh this card is bonkers and it should go straight into my bant flash deck full of rares!’ It happened that I read the card wrong and instead of activating the ability to adding one mana each turn, I was adding X mana each turn. When we finally caught it we were in round 3, game 2, and I was playing against another fellow judge! If you could chat with one person, real or fictional, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

There are lots of people I would like to chat with, but because we’re talking mainly about Magic I’m going for Mark Rosewater. I really admire the work and passion he puts into the game, and I’m very interested in design, color pie philosophy, and (of course) upcoming magic sets we don’t know any information about yet! What would you be doing now if Magic no longer existed?

I would have more time to read books, play war games, board games and listen to music! But seriously, I think I have enough cards to still play the game with my friends and family until the end of my days. What character in Magic (real or fictional) represents you the best, and why?

Probably some RUG character, a combination of the Simic and Izzet guilds. One of my passions is knowledge and I want to learn as much as I can about all kind of things. However, my interests are so broad that, like an Izzet mage, I end jumping from issue to issue as my impulses shift. On the other side, while I’m reading or studying a topic I’m extremely analytical and value results based on observation and experimentation a lot. The framework of my beliefs are Simic, as I understand that a scientific knowledge of nature (including human nature like beliefs or feelings) is what will allow our species to reach its maximum potential both in a social and in a technical way. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks to all the people I have met. I wouldn’t be who I am without you! Two Truths and a Lie

Two of the following statements are true and one is false. Figure out which! 1. I’m still in a relationship with a girl I accidentally stole from a friend.

2. I have played 73 games at Defenders of the Realm and have yet to beat the game.

3. I read “The Lord of the Rings” at the age of 9 because I heard from a friend that it was a roleplaying game. The answer to the last Two Truths and a Lie... Jonas has not developed an app that has more than 40,000 downloads, so sadly, it (being imaginary) has not connected people who need favors with people that want to help. Sounds like a great idea though!

Written by W. Matt Williams and David Homan